515037 - folder properties default setting on local folders is set 'same as server settings'. Can cause mass delete.

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Thunderbird :: Account Manager, defect)

Description

[Torsten]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1.2) Gecko/20090729 Firefox/3.5.2 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: Mozilla Thunderbird version 2.0.0.23 (20090812)

The folder properties settings for 'deleted', 'draft', and 'sent' on local folders is set to be the same as server settings. I am sure I am not the only user who keeps all his mail on local folders, but none on the server, so server settings don't matter to me. However, an automatic update of thunderbird suddenly left me with just 7 days of sent emails rather than the 11 years that I need my records for. This was noticed too late to revert to a back up.
Please set the default as 'do not delete any' so that others do not encounter the same disaster. 

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. update thunderbird while having full sent folder, but server settings of 7 day delete.
2. check sent folder to find all deleted except the last 7 days.
3. nervous breakdown
Actual Results:  
deleted 11 years of crucial records.

Expected Results:  
automatic updates should not cause a loss of data, however if loss is possible/likely then a warning splash screen should pop up. 

Great product! First ever real problem I've encountered. But quite a doozy!

Also, this default setting may not be new. It may well be that one of my mail servers was updated and the settings on it were changed. Regardless, thunderbird should have a default setting on the side of caution and should be set to not delete.

Comment 1

[rsx11m]

Testing with Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.5pre) Gecko/20091010 Shredder/3.0pre, changing folder-specific retention settings no longer spreads to other folders after bug 515316 was fixed. However, creating a new folder or subfolder gets "Use my account settings" as the default, and the settings in the Folder Properties (though they are disabled) reflect the server settings. Thus, the other aspect of this bug to apply "do not delete any" as the default is yet not satisfied.

Comment 2

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

rsx11m, does bug 515316 patch need to be applied for v2?

please set proper severity when keyword=dataloss

Comment 3

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

we need to dup this or change status.
rsx11m you can still reproduce?

FWIW here are other retention bugs https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?type1-0-0=substring&query_format=advanced&short_desc=retention%20retain%20delet%20gone%20lost%20settings&field0-0-0=longdesc&short_desc_type=anywordssubstr&longdesc=retention%20&type0-0-0=anywordssubstr&value0-0-0=policy%20setting&field1-0-0=longdesc&resolution=---&longdesc_type=allwordssubstr&product=MailNews%20Core&product=Thunderbird

Comment 4

[rsx11m]

I couldn't reproduce the initial report to start with, only that the default retention settings for a folder are inherited from the account settings,
which in turn default to "Don't delete anything". For Local Folders, folder properties default to the "Disk Space" settings in the Account Settings. I think this intuitively makes sense and shouldn't be changed, otherwise a change in the account settings won't propagate by default to the account's folders
any more, causing other issues for the user.

As for the initial problem of the account settings changing after an upgrade, this was filed against 2.0.0.23 and a lot has been changed and fixed in these settings. There is bug 555214 with an almost identical report, which may be
a duplicate of this one. Nevertheless, there is bug 626609 reporting custom folder settings to be reverted after an upgrade, so while the 2.0.0.x cause
may have been fixed, it may indicate another regression with similar effects for the 3.1.x branch.

Comment 5

[:aceman]

So this should basically be closed?