Message Filters Not Running or Not Working When Run Manually
Categories
(Thunderbird :: Filters, defect)
Tracking
(thunderbird_esr78+ wontfix, thunderbird_esr102 affected)
People
(Reporter: lkalmus, Unassigned)
References
(Depends on 1 open bug)
Details
Attachments
(2 files)
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:80.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/80.0
Steps to reproduce:
I have had filters running for many years without issues. Now in TB 78.2.0 most messages are properly filtered upon arrival (after Junk classification) but some are not ever processed. Even when I run the filters on the folder (inbox) they do nothing. Editing a filter and making NO changes will cause the filter to operate correctly, manually on the next try. After that, doesn't work again.
Actual results:
Nothing. New emails are sometimes ignored but mostly are processed by the same filter.
Expected results:
Emails should have been moved to the correct folder.
There are several filter defects.
- As reported elsewhere, filters are shown as "yes" in the user interface but are actually "no" in msgFilterRules.dat.
- Filters mostly run when new emails arrive but many times they don't and leave messages in the inbox.
- Running a filter manually on an email left in the inbox doesn't work. Editing the filter with no changes, causes the filter to run the next time it is run manually. After that, it no longer works again.
- Filters that have several alternative (OR) statements seem to stop filtering if the initial statement fails.
- The filterlog.html file indicates certain filter executions fail because the source folder is the same as the target folder. This is never true. Filters are always run on the inbox and always copy and/or move the email to another folder.
- Sometimes filters will work but move the email to the wrong folder, usually to a folder immediately next to the target folder. As if an index were pointing to one folder from where it should be pointing.
I moved to V78 because error 6 was happening in V68 but that didn't help and added a lot more filter errors.
Forgot to mention, running Win 10, V 2004, Build 19041.450; imap
|
||
Comment 4•5 years ago
|
||
Thank you for such a comprehensive analysis.
#1 is bug 1660917 which will be fixed soon
#4 you have filed as bug 1661870
Have a look at https://mzl.la/31IACpC lists some issues which may affect version 78. But we may need to file bugs for more. We could morph this bug to one of those issues.
Have you created an exclusion in your anti virus product for the Thunderbird profile folder to prevent the massage files from being locked by scanning when the filters are to be run? This is a fairly common cause of filter failure.
Have you enabled filtering after classification. I note your account is IMAP, and access to the message body is not always an option when filters are executed before classification. Making execution after classification delays the filtering until the entire message is available.
|
||
Comment 6•5 years ago
|
||
AFAIK this is not a wide spread problem (certainly works for me). You'd have to track down exactly what's wrong.
|
|
||
Comment 7•3 years ago
|
||
Les,
Do you still see this when using version 102?
Yes. What I see more clearly now are the following:
Filters run when I start TB but don't operate on new emails in the inbox that appear as having been read. Appearing to have been read occurs, I believe, if I have looked at those emails on my iPhone. My phone is set to POP mail and my desktop is IMAP. Most of the time I don't even look at emails on my phone but they are still shown as having been read when TB gets them on startup. During the day, this doesn't happen. I don't have any idea why.
Second, filtering effectiveness seems to be sporadic. Sometimes it works correctly, sometimes not. There's no pattern I can see. I have redefined filters from time to time to include more options. This usually works.
When I run the filters manually now, they mostly seem to work including those emails that were shown previously as having been read. Mostly means I get the same sporadic results as when they run automatically.
I have given up trying to get this right and just manually run the filters after TB start and also manually move incorrectly filtered messages when I find them.
I am running filters BEFORE junk classification because running them after had far worse filtering results and I had to reset all my filters from after back to before.
At this moment, I am running TB v 102.2.2 and
Windows 11 Pro
Version 21H2
Installed on 11/16/2021
OS build 22000.918
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.918.0
|
|
||
Comment 9•3 years ago
|
||
(In reply to Les from comment #8)
Yes. What I see more clearly now are the following:
Filters run when I start TB but don't operate on new emails in the inbox that appear as having been read. Appearing to have been read occurs, I believe, if I have looked at those emails on my iPhone. My phone is set to POP mail and my desktop is IMAP. Most of the time I don't even look at emails on my phone but they are still shown as having been read when TB gets them on startup. During the day, this doesn't happen. I don't have any idea why.
Unclear to me what should with this pop <> imap situation
Second, filtering effectiveness seems to be sporadic. Sometimes it works correctly, sometimes not. There's no pattern I can see. I have redefined filters from time to time to include more options. This usually works.
When I run the filters manually now, they mostly seem to work including those emails that were shown previously as having been read. Mostly means I get the same sporadic results as when they run automatically.
I have given up trying to get this right and just manually run the filters after TB start and also manually move incorrectly filtered messages when I find them.
Are these things still happening?? (which are quite weird)
- The filterlog.html file indicates certain filter executions fail because the source folder is the same as the target folder. This is never true. Filters are always run on the inbox and always copy and/or move the email to another folder.
- Sometimes filters will work but move the email to the wrong folder, usually to a folder immediately next to the target folder. As if an index were pointing to one folder from where it should be pointing.
I am running filters BEFORE junk classification because running them after had far worse filtering results and I had to reset all my filters from after back to before.
Can you estimate the improvement - for example is the number of failed filtering cut in half by changing to BEFORE junk?
|
|
||
Comment 10•2 years ago
|
||
Does this still reproduce in version 115?
Also see questions in comment 9
|
Reporter | |
Comment 11•2 years ago
|
||
Not that I have noticed.
But, emails are not filtered if they are received as having been read. I.e., unread emails are properly filtered but new ones marked as read are not looked at. For some reason this may happen because the emails are also on my phone but come in as having been read when in reality they weren't looked at.
Description
•