274310 - Can't replace attachment with a link to a separate file

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 2920

(SeaMonkey :: General, defect)

Description

[sturges]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8a6) Gecko/20041210
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8a6) Gecko/20041210

Storing a single small email in large email Mozilla folder causes the archive
bit to be set making the big [Windows] file eligible for backup.

In order to reduce the size of email files [that need to be backed up or in
general] it should be possible to store large attachments in a separate location.

There is no possibility, within Mozilla, to export an attachment as a separate
file in a different folder replacing the exported attachment by a link to its
new location.


Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. If you receive an email with a large attachment which you don't need or wish
to save in another location there is is no mechanism to remove the attachment
from the email.
2.
3.

Comment 1

[Sander]

I'm going to mark this as a duplicate of bug 2920, which is about the ability to
remove attachments from the accompanying email.
If what you really want is the complete mechanism for removing from the email
(bug 2920), saving in a different location (already possible: right-click, save
as), and then somehow "linking" the email to the new attachment location, feel
free to reopen, although I highly suspect that request would be WONTFIX. (If
only on account of the confusion when such links become invalid as files move
around.)

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 2920 ***

Comment 2

[sturges]

It was my intention to do both; 
a) to remove unwanted attachments definitively or 
b) to remove large attachments and store them as separate files [being replaced
with a link reference to its new location]. I recognise that the link can be
broken by a manipulation done by the user but that is their responsibility and
could be intentional [as in a) if it is decided to later delete the attachment
saved as a file or move it elsewhere]
By removing large atachments from the mail store the size of these stores can be
kept at a manageable level without loss of functionality and incremental backups
will run quicker.