296567 - snews:// links not properly handled if an account with that NNTP server already exists

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, defect)

Description

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

(Originally reported by [e-mail] in #firefox and #thunderbird)

If a user has already set up a NNTP account with a server, and hasn't gone to
Account Settings > Server Settings and selected the "[ ] Use SSL" option, then
any click on a snews:// link that points to that same NNTP server won't work
properly, as the connection won't use SSL.

To reproduce:

1. Create a new newsgroup account using NNTP server secnews.netscape.com
2. Don't subscribe to any newsgroups.
3. Go to http://www.mozilla.org/support/#forums
4. Click on the link under "Newsgroups" for "General Issues"
   (snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.mozilla.user.general)

Actual results: an error message saying that the newsgroup doesn't exist on that
server.

Expected results: Thunderbird opens, adds that newsgroup to the existing NNTP
account, and updates the account settings to use SSL -- or -- adds a new account
to that NNTP server that does use SSL, and adds the newsgroup to that new account.

Additional notes:
I've also noticed that if I create a NNTP account that doesn't use SSL, use
"Subscribe..." to get the list of newsgroups, then go into "Account Settings"
and check off "Use SSL", then press "Subscribe..." and "Refresh", I still get
the same list of newsgroups. It's not until I close Thunderbird and re-open and
press "Subscribe..." and then "Refresh" that I get the updated list of
newsgroups. I'm thinking that the connection object is being cached, maybe? At
any rate, when the user switches the SSL setting, the newsgroup "Subscribe..."
cache should be thrown away so that the user always sees the correct list of
newsgroups that's being shown according to the access mechanism being used.

Comment 1

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

Forgot to mention: if you *don't* already have a NNTP account with the
servername, then things work fine. That is to say, TB creates a NNTP account and
sets the "Use SSL" property (based, I presume, on the fact that the link snews://)