1710220 - Can't resave a draft/template message (with attachments) opened for editing for the second time.

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Thunderbird :: Message Compose Window, defect)

Description

[Alexander Bergmann]

I was testing the latest development version of Thunderbird, i.e. Daily 90.0a1 (2021-05-08), in order to prepare my own add-on Mail Merge for the upcoming major release of Thunderbird 91.

I ran into a problem, that opened messages with attachments could not be saved as a draft or template. Further investigation showed this to be a problem directly in Thunderbird.

In a new profile:

1. Create a new message with an attachment
2. Save the message as a draft or template
3. Close the message compose window
4. Open the saved message
5. Save the message as a draft or template - a first time
6. Save the message as a draft or template - a second time

I get the following error message:

Unable to save your message as a draft.
There was an error attaching image.jpg. Please check that you have access to the file.

This problem also affects saving the message as a template as well. And it gets triggered by the "Auto Save" function, in case the user edits the opened message in between both auto save intervals.

I can reproduce this problem reliably in a new profile with both Windows 10 Version 20H2 Build 19042.964 (64bit) and Arch Linux (64bit) using Thunderbird Daily 90.0a1 (2021-05-08) (64bit). (It works in Thunderbird 78!)

Comment 1

[Alexander Bergmann]

In the /tmp folder on my Arch Linux system, once I open the saved message in step (4), a file "nsmail.jpg" is created. However, this file is being deleted, when I save the message as a draft or template for the first time in step (5).

I guess it is reasonable to assume, that this deletion of the file is responsible for the file not being found, when the message gets saved a second time in step (6).

In Thunderbird 78 the same temporary file gets created, when the message is opened in step (4). But the file does not get deleted, when the message is saved - for the first time in step (5) or the second time in step (6).

Comment 2

[Alfred Peters [:infofrommozilla]]

(In reply to Alexander Bergmann from comment #1)

In the /tmp folder on my Arch Linux system, once I open the saved message in step (4), a file "nsmail.jpg" is created. However, this file is being deleted, when I save the message as a draft or template for the first time in step (5).

I can confirm this for Windows.

In Thunderbird 78 the same temporary file gets created, when the message is opened in step (4). But the file does not get deleted, when the message is saved - for the first time in step (5) or the second time in step (6).

Agreed.

If I set the pref mailnews.send.jsmodule to FALSE it works also.

So a regression by Bug 1211292?
Ping Chen, could that be the case?

Comment 3

[Ping Chen [:rnons] (away)]

Thanks, will make a fix soon.

Comment 4

[Ping Chen [:rnons] (away)]

Attachment: Bug 1710220 - Do not remove temporary attachment files in MimePart.jsm. r=mkmelin

When editing a draft containing attachments, a temporary file is created for each attachment. If those temporary files are removed, saving for the second time fails.

Comment 5

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/9cf86ddb673c
Do not remove temporary attachment files in MimePart.jsm. r=mkmelin

Comment 6

[Ping Chen [:rnons] (away)]

Comment on attachment 9221026 [details]
Bug 1710220 - Do not remove temporary attachment files in MimePart.jsm. r=mkmelin

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #): bug 1211292
User impact if declined: When re-editing a draft with attachments, saving it for the second time fails
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): c-c
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): Low

Comment 7

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Comment on attachment 9221026 [details]
Bug 1710220 - Do not remove temporary attachment files in MimePart.jsm. r=mkmelin

[Triage Comment]
Approved for beta

Comment 8

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Thunderbird 89.0b4:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-beta/rev/060ecf58915e