1901356 - Subject column doesn't display, all known fixed tried and failed

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Thunderbird :: Folder and Message Lists, defect)

Description

[Steven Baker]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:109.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/115.0

Steps to reproduce:

I run Thunderbird and connect with 2 different IMap servers which I will call IMap folder 1 and IMap folder 2. I do NOT use unified message folder, so I use separate tabs for each IMap server. Thunderbird was operating properly when I restarted my computer on June 3 and started Thunderbird. However, when I unlocked my computer this afternoon on June 7 one of the two IMap folders was not showing any columns and the list of emails was blank, although it indicated I had a a large number of emails. The other IMap folder showed the Subject column and the other columns I had selected.

I looked online for possible bug fixes and found info about adding columns using the column button. I added columns but the Subject column still didn't display in the IMap folder, but the selected columns I added did display. There is no button to add the Subject column,. I shut down and restarted my computer to see if that would resolve the issue, but this did not result in the Subject column showing for IMap folder 1. I then deleted the 2 json files from my profile as suggested and restarted Thunderbird. But this did not resolve the issue. I restarted Thunderbird yet again.

I then selected IMap folder 2 and selected the Subject column and tried to "Apply columns to .." the IMap folder 1. This did not fix the issue on IMap folder 1.

I have Thunderbird running on several other desktop computers, so I still have usable email. However, this laptop is my primary computer that I use for travel. I will wait 48 hours and try any fixes suggested. Then I will completely uninstall Thunderbird and all associated files and reinstall Thunderbird for scratch.

I think Thunderbird support should strongly consider adding Subject in the Column list as a failsafe way to fix this issue for users when it occurs. Programming for the Subject button in the column list can be coded so it can only be used to display Subject and not hide Subject. This option could fix corrupted json or other configuration files that have been damaged that cause this problem.

I have been using Thunderbird since before version 10.2 in 2012.

-Steven Baker

Actual results:

Nothing worked

Expected results:

Subject column should have been displayed.

Comment 1

[Steven Baker]

Running Win32 version on x64 version of Windows 7

Comment 2

[Steven Baker]

I exited Thunderbird and reviewed the session.json and the session.json.backup files in my profile. There was one difference between the IMap folder 1 that doesn't show the Subject column and IMap folder 2 that does show the Subject column is that "firstTab":false for IMap Folder 2 while
"firstTab":true for IMap Folder 1. This is expected and should not affect whether the Subject column displays

Comment 3

[Hartmut Welpmann [:welpy-cw]]

Please try repairing the affected folders via their properties. Besides that, version 102 isn't supported anymore.

Comment 4

[Vlad Lucaci, Thunderbird QA (:vlucaci)]

Hello!

I have tried to reproduce this issue with more recent Thunderbird versions(v128esr, v115.13.0) on Windows 7x86 (Virtual Machine) and did not manage.

If you can still reproduce this issue with the same repro steps, it would very helpful if you could indicate the affected versions on which you are able to reproduce it(besides the 102 version that is not supported anymore) and if time allows, help us with a regression range for this issue.
I will provide the steps necessary.

You have to determine a build that reproduces the issue. For this you can try the more recent Thunderbird versions (v128esr, v115.13.0)

Then you should find one that does NOT reproduce it. Detailed steps:

a. Open Mozregression app;
b. Click "File" -> "Run a single build";
c. On the "Single Run Wizard" pop-up, "Basic configuration", select "Thunderbird" and click "Next".
d. On the "Profile selection" page, just click the "Next" button.
e. On the "Build selection" select a date (dates before 2024-06-27 to have a better chance finding one that does not reproduce the issue) from the drop-down on the left and click "Finish".
f. Now the mozregression app will open a thunderbird build of the selected date and you can use it, close it and open another. (make a note of the version that does not reproduce the issue)

You will use mozregression app to "bisect" builds that reproduce the issue by builds that do not reproduce it in search of the one build/changeset that introduced the issue, in the first place:
a. Open mozregression-gui.exe
b. Click "File" -> "Run a new bisection"
c. On "Basic configuration" screen, select "Thunderbird" and click "Next" button.
d. Skip "Profile selection" screen by the "Next" button.
e. On the Bisection wizard screen, you will need to select a build that reproduces the issue and one that does not:
e1. In the "Last known good build:" section, select "date" on the right drop-down and the date of the build you found NOT to reproduce the issue.
e2. In the "First known bad build:" section, select "date" on the right drop-down and the date of the build you found to reproduce the issue.
f. Click "Finish" to start the bisection process.
g. Builds will open one-by-one, you will need to test each one of them and see whether the issue reproduces. If it reproduces, then you need to select the "bad" button in the mozregression window and if not, you need to select the "good" button.
h. When bisection is done, you will have the information in the "Log View" section of the mozregression window; bisection may also fail due to not enough builds, but the logs can always be useful.
Copy the logs in a text file and attach it to this bug.

If there is still information you need regarding the regression process, please request information from me.
Thank you for your contribution!

Comment 5

[Steven Baker]

This problem only affects the mail displayed from one of the two IMap servers I connect to with Thunderbird on this machine. Otherwise, Thunderbird works as expected (I just can't see the email Subject column in email on on one server). This strongly suggests that one of the Javascript configuration files has been damaged.

I believe I can find the cause of this bug. I just haven't had time to go through the steps, busy with other stuff. I am guessing that the problem is a corrupted Javascript configuration file. Trying to see this by looking manually in the Javascript files, and compare the two IMap server configurations is very difficult by eye in a single file. I was going blind trying to do this. Conventional diff tools I have don't work well with JavaScript.

I have Thunderbird installed on several other Windows 7 machines connecting to the same two IMap servers. The configuration of Thunderbird on these other systems should be the same. My plan is to install the identical version of Thunderbird on one of these machines. I always manually download new versions of Thunderbird (& Firefox) from https://ftp.mozilla.org, save the files and checksum files, and check the checksum of the downloaded file. So I have the identical version of the Thunderbird version that I can install on another computer. I install this as an update of one these other machines (similar to what I did on the problem system). I copy all of the configuration files from the other system and then I meticulously compare the Javascript files first with diff tools and then by hand if necessary. I will then know which Javascript configuration file or files is corrupted and how it is corrupted.

This process should determine what the corruption is but I won't know how the corruption happened. Trying to determine the cause of the corruption is probably impossible and not worth the effort. It could happen in hundreds of ways. That is why I think it makes sense for Thunderbird to have a built-in option to regenerate these configuration files. This will solve problems whenever Javascipt configuration files get corrupted by any means.

Comment 6

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

I've seen multiple other reports of this, but apparently not so much in bugzilla https://mzl.la/3SqycGc where I only find Bug 1757983 - No column for Subject in drafts folder

This is rare enough that a) I don't think you will find the cause b) I don't think it is worth the time investigating. Using version 115 you should do what is stated in comment 3. If that doesn't help then I would just in the Windows file explorer delete the .msf file for this folder.

Comment 7

[Steven Baker]

I installed the same version of Thunderbird on another Windows 7 machine that had an older version of Thunderbird. I then copied out the js files to a flash drives. I also ran a sha512 hash on the versions of Thunderbird binaries installed on the two machines and the binaries were identical.

I am comparing the session.js files on the affected Windows 7 machine with the Windows 7 machine that works as expected (no bugs). So far the differences I found seem benign. I will report the detailed differences later.

I also found a different problem today. Even if I change the default outgoing SMTP server, Thunderbird only sends email out to the old default SMTP server. I also assigned a different SMTP server for each IMAP server and made sure that each SMTP (outgoing mail) server has a different description. I restarted Thunderbird and also rebooted the computer which did not fix the problem.

Does Thunderbird still use an remnants of Windows Registry settings on Windows versions??

Comment 8

[Steven Baker]

I searched the profiles directory with grep for any files that had the term subject. On the broken Thunderbird system, only four files had the term subject:
folderCache.json:1
prefs.js:3 (also prefs.js-1:2 and prefs.js-3:2
session.json:1
xulstore.json:1

I compared these files on the affected Windows 7 machine with configuration files on the Windows 7 machine that works as expected (no bugs).
The files that seemed to have minor differences were:
session.json
the broken Thunderbird had 2 instances of the following:
"subject":true}}}
and the working Thunderbird had the same 2 instances

The files that stands out are:
prefs.js
the broken Thunderbird had several instances of the following:
"subjectCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"7""}
while the working Thunderbird did not include "subjectCol" at all

folderCache.json
"subjectCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"7"
while the working Thunderbird did not include "subjectCol" at all

xulstore,json
the broken Thunderbird had the following:
"subjectCol":{"ordinal":"9"}
while the working Thunderbird did not include "subjectCol"

There appear to be a potential issue with conflicting ordinal numbers for the subjectCol in prefs.js and foldercache.json versus xulstore.json.

When Thunderbird is shut down, I will try to remove the subjectCol entry in first xulstore.json in the broken Thunderbird so that it better matches the xulstore,json file in the working Thunderbird and see if that eliminates the problem. If this doesn't solve the problem, I will try to remove the subjectCol entry in folderCache.json and then prefs.js.

Comment 9

[Steven Baker]

Upgraded to V 115.9. Problem persists. This likely a problem with the a profile file that was somehow changed improperly.

Searched the following folder for the string subjectCol:
C:\Users\xxuser\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxprofile

The only files containing this string with the number of instances were as follows:
folderCache.json:1
xulstore.json:1
localstore.rdf:2
prefs-1.js:2
prefs-3.js:2
prefs.js:2

I plan to compare these profiles files with profile files of the same version of Thunderbird installed on other computers running Windows 7.

I suspect the problem is the same suggested above: a potential issue with conflicting ordinal numbers for the subjectCol in prefs.js and foldercache.json versus xulstore.json.

I know I could fix this issue by completely removing the Thunderbird installation on this machine and installing a clean version. I also know that I could create a new profile with the following command:
thunderbird -ProfileManager

But these are workarounds for the bug and don't help pinpoint the cause of the issue so that it could permanently fixed or remediated.

Comment 10

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

But these are workarounds for the bug and don't help pinpoint the cause of the issue so that it could permanently fixed or remediated.

True. But fortunately, reports of this have died off.

Have you learned any more, or resolved the problem?

Comment 11

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) from comment #10)

But these are workarounds for the bug and don't help pinpoint the cause of the issue so that it could permanently fixed or remediated.

True. But fortunately, reports of this have died off.

Have you learned any more, or resolved the problem?

Comment 12

[Phoenix]

Resolved per whiteboard