294721 - "check this folder for new messages" does not work for some folders

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Thunderbird :: General, defect)

Description

[TGOS]

I have several folders on my IMAP server and I have server side filters that
filter mail according to TO header. So I have one mailbox for every mail address
I have. I have the option to check for new mails checked on every folder.

When I sent two test mails to myself (to two different mail addresses), I see
one of them appaer in the right folder if I click on Get New Messages (it got
sorted by the server and TB found it), but the other one does not appear. It
never appears. 

However, when I click the folder where it should have been placed after sorting,
it does appear (then the folder has a (1) next to it) and I can select and read it.

I don't know how to debug this problem, but I can reproduce it, always. And it
is always the same folder showing the problem. How can I debug it? How can I
exclude a server side problem? The server uses SSL, so sniffing traffic won't work.

Comment 1

[TGOS]

Okay, this really seems to happen more than once a while. Could it be releated
to folders with a space in the name? I have one with a space in the name and it
looks like there are never new messages if I start (I have fetch on start
enabled), but there are always mails if I click on it and make it the active folder.

Comment 2

[Jay Levitt]

Attachment: Log file of the fail case steps

Comment 3

[Jay Levitt]

I can recreate this 100% of the time with Thunderbird 1.5b2 and Cyrus IMAPD 2.2.12.  I believe it also happens with Thunderbird 1.0, as that's what got me upgrading in the first place...

1. Create test folder "folder" in Thunderbird on account "tbtest".  
2. Under Tools / Account Settings / Offline, make sure it is NOT checked for offline use.
3. Under Tools / Account Settings / Server / Advanced, uncheck IDLE.
4. Set up server-side filtering so an address, tbtest-folder, goes to that folder.
5. From another machine, send a message to tbtest-folder.
6. Start up Thunderbird.
7. Select tbtest's Inbox folder.
8. Click "Get mail".  Note that "folder" does not show any messages present.
9. Click the down-arrow next to "Get mail", and click "Get all new messages".  Still nothing.
10. Click the down-arrow next to "Get mail", and click "tbtest".  Still nothing.
11. Right-click tbtest, and select "Get messages for account".  Nothing.
12. Go to Tools / Account Settings / Offline, and enable "folder" for offline viewing.
13. Select File / Offline / Download/Sync Now, and download mail messages.
14. Magic!  "folder" now shows one unread message.

IMAP log of this is attached.  I'm happy to give anyone access to my mail server if this turns out to be server-specific.  

Also, I'd request this severity be changed to "major", since this (perceptually) results in delayed e-mail..

Comment 4

[David :Bienvenu]

I don't see us checking "folder" for new messages. Are you sure that the check mark is checked when you look in folder properties?

Re folder with spaces in the name, that can cause a problem if the server doesn't return the STATUS response correctly, with the folder name quoted. That's assuming I'm reading the RFC correctly, but I'd be surprised if Cyrus gets it wrong. Your log doesn't show a folder with spaces in the name, however.

Comment 5

[Jay Levitt]

David wrote: "I don't see us checking "folder" for new messages. Are you sure that the check mark is checked when you look in folder properties?"

Umm.. err... oh.

I see.

Well, OK, then.

Any reason there shouldn't be a default preference for this, similar to "When I create new folders, select them for offline use"?  I can even see why you'd leave the default on - most people don't have server-side filtering, so messages only move to folders when they put them there, and it's quicker not to check each folder - but for those of us with server-side filtering, having to manually check the box on each folder created is unexpected.  

I hadn't even discovered the existence of this preference, due to the similar "Check for new messages" under server option.  

Instead of, or in addition to, a default preference, maybe just a checkbox for "Check this folder for new messages" when creating a folder, and/or a "Set folders..." button on the Server settings page near that checkbox (again, mirroring the Offline settings).  Ideally, we'd have all three for a consistent UI.  This seems ripe for a beginner TB coder, since two of the three would just be exposing an existing preference; David, if you could give me a 30-second pointer on where to go look for this, I might tackle it.

As for spaces, I've never had any trouble with spaces in folders, so the OP will have to answer to that one - then we can change this to an ENH or close it.

Comment 6

[Ray Booysen]

As per Comment #5, folder was not marked.

Comment 7

[Jay Levitt]

But I'm not the OP - can we wait till they confirm the same on their system?

Comment 8

[Ray Booysen]

Woops, I thought you were.  My mistake.

Comment 9

[David :Bienvenu]

there's a hidden global pref that will cause all folders to get checked for new messages - mail.check_all_imap_folders_for_new 

Comment 10

[TGOS]

Okay, after some forth and back with GMX I could get one of the programmers and he thinks you are right and they are not behaving as requested by the RFC. They have changed their server software and now it finally seems to work. So thank you very much for your time.

Just one more question: Should the Thunderbird parser be more forgiving? After all even if the folder was not in quotes, the parser could still have parsed correctly. It knows there is "(...)" at the end and before there is the command repeated I think (status), so it could say everything in between (minus two spaces) is the name of the folder, right? Or is this some kind of political decission so people don't think "why sticking to the RFC if clients don't demand that"? Outlook for example seems to not care, it worked without the quotes. On the other hand, IE doesn't seem to care for correct HTML either, so maybe MS is not the best paragon.

IMHO this bug should be closed as invalid.

Comment 11

[David :Bienvenu]

thx for getting the gmx folks to fix their server; that will probably save them and us a fair amount of grief going forward.

Re handling invalid imap syntax sent by the server, we've got lots of other stuff to do, like making sure we handle all the valid syntax :-)  The speed with with the gmx people fixed their server says a lot about how bad it is for a server to send down invalid syntax.