250706 - message draft lost if unable to login to IMAP server

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, defect)

Description

[Brett Russ]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040615 Firefox/0.9
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040615 Firefox/0.9

This is similar to 216755, 232252, and 243184 but this situation seems to
warrant its own bug.  

Basically, I found it when composing an email with my "From" identity set to an
IMAP account that my ISP disabled.  I went to close the email and was prompted
to save which I tried to do.  It tried to login to the IMAP server to store the
message in the drafts folder.  I was prompted with a login box, but my
credentials were not accepted, so when re-prompted with the login box again I
clicked cancel and the message was dropped/lost/disappeared.  I should have
gotten the opportunity to return to the message and select a different identity
to save into or save it manually (Save as...).

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. compose an email using an identity that will prompt for credentials upon
draft save
2. induce a draft save
3. click cancel in the credentials/login box

Actual Results:  
message lost forever

Expected Results:  
Given me back my message window where I could:
1) choose another identity and try to save draft there OR
2) file->save as... to manually save the message somewhere OR
3) copy the text to the clipboard or otherwise preserve it without Tbird assistance

version 0.7 (20040615)

Comment 1

[Brett Russ]

Attachment: Ethereal trace of IMAP activity during reproduction of bug

I took a trace while reproducing this bug.  Here were the exact steps I used
(and traced during these exact steps):

-create new mail account using bogus credentials:
username: 7777qqqq
protocol: IMAP
server: pop.charter.net

-compose new mail using that identity
-enter anything in subject
-attempt to close compose window
-when prompted, select "save" of message
-select "cancel" to first login prompt
-select "cancel" to next login prompt
-message window disappears

Comment 2

[Brett Russ]

(In reply to comment #1)
> -select "cancel" to first login prompt
> -select "cancel" to next login prompt

Perhaps a separate bug, but why do I get prompted for login again if I've
cancelled the first time?  I can see if I tried to login and failed, but cancel
is me actively requesting to "forget about it".

Also, I wanted to add that I reproduced this one on 0.7.1.

thanks!
Brett

Comment 3

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

This is an automated message, with ID "auto-resolve01".

This bug has had no comments for a long time. Statistically, we have found that
bug reports that have not been confirmed by a second user after three months are
highly unlikely to be the source of a fix to the code.

While your input is very important to us, our resources are limited and so we
are asking for your help in focussing our efforts. If you can still reproduce
this problem in the latest version of the product (see below for how to obtain a
copy) or, for feature requests, if it's not present in the latest version and
you still believe we should implement it, please visit the URL of this bug
(given at the top of this mail) and add a comment to that effect, giving more
reproduction information if you have it.

If it is not a problem any longer, you need take no action. If this bug is not
changed in any way in the next two weeks, it will be automatically resolved.
Thank you for your help in this matter.

The latest beta releases can be obtained from:
Firefox:     http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/
Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/releases/1.5beta1.html
Seamonkey:   http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

Comment 4

[Brett Russ]

Bug still appears in Thunderbird 1.0.6.  I just reproduced it by following the
steps in comment #1.

Comment 5

[Pierre]

*** This bug has been confirmed by popular vote. ***

Comment 6

[Brett Russ]

(In reply to comment #4)
> Bug still appears in Thunderbird 1.0.6.  I just reproduced it by following the
> steps in comment #1.

Bug still appears in Thunderbird 2.0.0.21.  Same steps as comment 1.

Comment 7

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

are you game to try a beta version?  
 http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/early_releases/
they are stable, but backup your profile before using

Comment 8

[Brett Russ]

(In reply to comment #7)
> are you game to try a beta version?  
>  http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/early_releases/
> they are stable, but backup your profile before using

OK, tried 3.0b2 on Linux (same OS as all former tries), using steps from comment 1:

-compose new mail using that identity
-enter anything in subject
-attempt to close compose window
-when prompted, select "save" of message

here, instead of displaying a login prompt, the message sits forever with the "Copying message to Drafts folder..." displayed in the status bar.  Keep in mind this was a bogus account, never authenticated between the add of the acct and the compose of the mail.

I can try to close the window again, at which point it offers me the option to continue waiting or force quit.  The former puts me back at the infinite wait for draft save and the latter does discard the message (as expected).

Comment 10

[Normand Fortier]

Thunderbird deletes draft message when unable to send

Problem:
- I write a message, complete with "to" addresses, subject field, email body (text only)
- I save the message, which then appears in the "Draft" folder
- I click on "Send"
- a dialog pops up saying the imap server is not available
- I click "Cancel"
- the message window closes, the message is deleted from the draft folder
- I loose the content of the message.

Expected behaviour: failure to send a message should
- automatically save it to the draft folder if it is not already there
- not delete it from the draft folder if it was already saved.

Thunderbird 52.5.2 (64 bits), Archlinux.

Comment 11

[Tristan Miller]

Problem is still reproducible with Thunderbird 52.9.1 (64-bit on openSUSE Leap 15.0).

Steps to reproduce:

1. Start writing a new message with the identity whose SMTP configuration is not currently working (for example, it is not accepting logins, or the login credentials are incorrect and not known), and try to send the message.
2. A "Login Failed" dialog appears with the message "Login to server example.com failed" and buttons "Retry", "Enter New Password", and "Cancel".
3. Press "Cancel".
4. A "Confirm" dialog appears with the message "There was an error saving the message to Sent. retry?" and buttons "OK" and "Cancel".
5. Press "Cancel".
6. Composer window closes, resulting in loss of the message.

Comment 13

[mw]

Just a line to confirm that this bug is still alive and kicking. I just lost the content of a somewhat complex email which p* me to no end, I must say.