[imp] Deleted messages not moved to trash from client

[Simon Wilson]

<quote>"given that I have selected the correct Webmail option (and set
the corresponding option in all my clients), why is it when a remote  
IMAP client
(Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail) executes a "delete" command  
and that command is
received by the IMAP server is it not translated into a "move" to the  
trash folder
command?"</quote>

When any one of those remote IMAP clients connect what you have done  
in WebMail has absolutely nothing to do with anything. WebMail is just  
another "remote IMAP client" like Outlook (OK, maybe not like Outlook  
LOL), etc. Just as Outlook not displaying anything correctly is not  
the fault of your iPhone which does, neither is it the fault of Horde  
or WebMail (Imp) which also does.

The commands that you have given to Imp to move to deleted items  
folder when I delete a message just tells WebMail "when I delete a  
message, tell the IMAP server to copy it to Deleted Items, and to then  
purge it immediately from the original folder". Those commands are  
being executed in your IMAP server, not Horde / Imp. Imp just knows to  
send those commands.

Outlook does not have the capability to send those commands. In fact  
it sucks as an IMAP client. :) All it will do is send the delete (and  
the move? I can't remember), not the purge, although you can tell it  
to purge on exit I believe.

So your issue lies with the clients that you are using not being able  
to interface with IMAP in an intelligent manner. Thunderbird isn't too  
bad I don't think from memory with IMAP... Imp / Dimp rocks though.  
You can actually watch the process happen in Dimp as it deletes then  
purges messages you hit delete for.

You cannot (I don't believe, maybe someone else can shed more light  
here) tell IMAP to do that process on behalf of the client, as it is a  
string of commands as noted above that has to come from a client that  
knows which ones to send on your behalf. As far as I know, Gmail,  
iPhone are able to send those, Outlook is not.

Just one terminology thing too - in IMAP, subfolders *are* separate  
mailboxes, so Inbox is a different mailbox to "Inbox.Deleted items".  
Hence why in IMAP when you tell your client to delete a message it  
tells IMAP to copy the message to the folder that your client has been  
told is where trash goes, then to delete and purge from the original  
mailbox. When you tell it to empty Trash, it knows (cos you've told  
it, or it's programmed to know) that Trash or Deleted Items, or  
whatever it is called, is your trash, and when you want to delete from  
there to do a straight delete and purge, not move to another folder  
(mailbox).

Hope some of that makes sense... LOL.

Simon Wilson.




Quoting "E. John Messersmith III"

Well, I don't know what Gmail is doing either but the iPhone gets it right
in all cases and all clients get it right when using Gmail. I'm
not being angry here just very frustrated. I don't know how I can be any
clearer. It is either a configuration parameter of IMAP or Horde or both.

Webmail - which I think is also part of the Horde project - gets it right
too! So what is it doing? I go to Mail Options->Deleting and Moving  
Messages and I simply
check the option "When deleting messages, move them to your Trash  
folder instead of
marking them as deleted?" I select a message and click the Delete  
link. No marking for
deletion; no counting; no nothing - just a simple move from one folder  
to another -
everything is still in one Mailbox. So the "delete" command simply  
gets translated (or is
made equivalent to) a "move" to the trash folder command. The client  
doesn't have to do
anything. As long as the server moves the message to the trash folder  
the new state is
simply reflected (updated) in the client. Why is this so difficult to  
understand? Is
there something obvious I'm missing?

So my question remains: given that I have selected the correct Webmail  
option (and set
the corresponding option in all my clients), why is it when a remote  
IMAP client
(Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail) executes a "delete" command  
and that command is
received by the IMAP server is it not translated into a "move" to the  
trash folder
command?