Closed Bug 67172 Opened 24 years ago Closed 21 years ago

Deleted/Moved mail reappears in IMAP folder

Categories

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Message Display, defect)

Product:
SeaMonkey
Component:
MailNews: Message Display
Platform:
x86
Other
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: selmer, Assigned: sspitzer)

Details

1/29 MTEST

On 1/26 MTEST, I deleted 5 messages from my Inbox as I read them using
shift-delete.  I continued reading the next email.  After a bit of that, all 5
of the deleted messages showed up as new in my Inbox.  These were not resends,
they were the original deleted messages.

In subsequent use, I've seen this happen with individual messages a couple
times, but I can't pin down any pattern.

Today, I also saw this when dragging a message out of a filtered-to folder back
to the Inbox.  The message never showed up in the Inbox and a little later it
showed up as new in the original folder.  This actually happened multiple times.
 The implication is that the copy to the Inbox failed and therefore the
operation was undone, possibly by the server.

Funny thing is, when I used the context menu to move the message it then showed
up in the Inbox immediately and hasn't bounced back into the original folder
after a period of waiting.  Perhaps that's spurious random data, but it *is*
curious.
cc'ing bienvenu for any ideas on what could be happening.
Original delete problem was on winNT4
DragNDrop problem was on win98
haven't attempted to cross-test platforms yet
This is IMAP? This can happen when the server loses the flag changes due to
dropped state or server crashes. Also, if we make multiple connections to the
same folder for some reason, the second conection will not tend to inherit the
state of the first connection because our imap server does not do that work. We
try very hard not to make simultaneous connections to the same server. I've only
seen this bug when the server has been going up and down a lot.
is this the same as #65630?
No, I suspect Steve is talking about IMAP, and the other guy is talking about a
local folder. My bet is that 65630 is because that message doesn't have an
X-Mozilla-Status header, though I haven't looked at the attachment yet.
QA Contact: esther → sheelar
This is IMAP (Netscape mail server.)
Summary: Deleted/Moved mail reappears in folder → Deleted/Moved mail reappears in IMAP folder
See #61816 - this is almost certainly caused by the mailbox being opened as
read-only, something that often happens with my server. Mozilla gives no warning
in this instance and all IMAP operations that attempt to change the state of the
server will fail.
-mike
change qa contact to karen- this is imap folder problem
QA Contact: sheelar → huang
had that same problem, used right click menus. Had to restart moz to get the msg
header out of the window
In 20010827 I have "Mark it as deleted" set for IMAP delete behavior.  When
messages are DnD moved or filtered, they disappear from the UI (!), although
what is really happening is they are moved, then marked for deletion.  When the
folder is refreshed next the marked messages come flooding in to the UI.

This is confusing behavior at best.
When moving a message from a IMAP box, it disapears, but is not deleted from the
server because it then reappears if the IMAP mailbox is checked again.

Work around: copy the message rather then moving it, and then delete it. 
Deleting from a IMAP box works fine, while 'moving' causes unexpected behavior.  

I have actually seen a few bugs that are dependent on this one.  
shwag, what build are you using, which imap delete model, and what kind of IMAP
server?
In relatively recent builds, I still see this happening if I read a message,
mark it unread, and then try to drag it to the INBOX of my imap account.  If I
don't mark it read, it stays in the INBOX.
Steve, I'm confused - where was the message originally when you read it? In a
folder other than your inbox? An imap folder? A local folder? A different
account/server? Or were you trying to drag it from your inbox to your inbox?
Looking at the summary, I notice my last comment may be off topic.  I don't see
the original problem anymore.  

My last comment applied to msgs filtered to a different IMAP folder of the same
account which were then dragged back to the inbox.
This bug sucks.  I just reverted back to .9.8 because I can't even use my email
setup the way I'd like.  I tried today's daily build, and the bug still exists.

I download my messages via IMAP, and they remain in my IMAP inbox.  After I am
done with the message I most often move it to my Local Folders.  When I move a
message to my local folder, it gets copied across and removed from the inbox,
but then when I refresh my IMAP inbox, the messages that were removed all
reappear again.  I have to delete each one, because when they are just moved,
they reappear.  

I do not know what kind of IMAP server I am using.  Maybe it is IIS.  
perhaps you could help us out and attach/send me a protocol log, after editing
out any sensitive info?

http://www.mozilla.org/quality/mailnews/mail-troubleshoot.html#imap


adding shwag to cc list in an effort to get a protocol log.
I see this problem as well with moving messages from my IMAP Inbox to a local
folder - the message briefly vanishes from the inbox, but whenever the inbox
gets refreshed (such as clicking "get messages") the message reappears.  Copy
followed by delete works fine.  I'm running:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:0.9.9) Gecko/20020313
My IMAP server is a UW IMAP server running on a Linux box.

Moved messages reappear in Mozilla both when I drag and drop or use the Move To
menu.

[FYI, I also saw this problem in Netscape 4.77 before I changed to Mozilla.  If
I dragged a message from Inbox to a local folder, it would later reappear.  If,
however, I right-clicked on the message and selected Move To->local folder, the
message would move correctly.]

If there was ever a bug that should have the severity upgraded, this would be
it.  It would be most embarresing if Mozilla went 1.0 with this bug. 
This happened to me yesterday on build 2002041717 (1.0 RC1) when I rebooted my
mail server without closing mozilla first.  All the mail that I had deleted came
back in.  I'm using standard imap server with RedHat 7.2 distro.
yes, that's because you rebooted your mail server and it apparently just dropped
all the delete changes on the floor :-) that's not a client problem.
This bug also happens if you do any deleting / dragging while offline (I am on
today's build, 2002051608)

If setting is "move to trash", the message dissappears when deleted offline and
then reappears. (This first may be a server bug, my trash folder is wonky, but
the rest of it is clearly Moz's fault.) If "mark as deleted", it LOSES ITS
DELETED MARK! If "remove immediately", reappears.

If I were new to Mozilla, and didn't know that this has worked in the past
(don't remember when) a bug this fundamental would make me throw up my hands and
give up on Mozilla as an offline-able mail client.

VERY SERIOUS.
One reliable way to get this to happen is to use the
<folder>/properties/offline/"Download Now" button.
I'm not sure if it's related, but I've seen some quirky behaviour reading
deleting of messages when a subfolder is in threaded mode.

I'm subscribed to the FreeBSD -stable and -security mailing lists, and have
these lists filtered server-side into their own IMAP subfolders. I then use
Mozilla to access the mail (Courier IMAP on server side). From time to time,
when deleting messages (from memory, individual ones, possibly when they're the
root message of a thread) I'll get some completely un-related messages end up as
a thread, or some that I then can't seem to delete, etc. I'll try to see if I
can find an exact series of steps to reproduce the problem.
My latest experience - build 2002080718 - I am online and get my mail, I go
offline by breaking the connection physically, then later I tell Mozilla I'm
offline, then I delete some stuff, then I tell Mozilla I'm back online (though
it is not quite yet true) and it gives a "cannot connect to server" dialog but
by the time I click OK the computer has gone back online and then all the
deleted messages reappear.

I tried upping this from "normal" to "major" because it is still happening to me
(on build 2002080718) and it has not even recieved a priority yet. This really
makes a whole functionality (offline mail, which is the primary benefit of
having a mail client) difficult and buggy. Tell me off, but I do not know how
else to direct attention to this bug which appears to have been forgotten, this
is the minimal action I can take. I am not looking for a magic insta-fix here,
just some indication that this is on somebody's radar screen.
Additional note to the above case:

that was from dragging the messages to an offline folder. As others have
reported, if I actually copy then delete the message, things seem to work.
I'm going to make one more attempt to revive this zombie bug, by writing
something here that will get cc'ed, because I think that this bug matters.

If this bug is changed to "assigned", OR upped in priority or severity, before
November 6, 2002, I will personally send $15 to whoever believably claims
responsibility. Whether or not that happens, when this bug is finally marked
"fixed", I will come back to Mozilla (I'm leaving now) and test it for 1 month,
and if the bug does not reappear AND my inbox does not get in some other way
scrambled, I will send $25 to whoever the bug was assigned to.

This is not a joke.

Goodbye.
I was in online imap connection,
multiple accounts to one server,
when deleting mail, following the account [server setting - when I delete a 
message] option :
- with "mark it as deleted" : when compacting folder, marked deleted mail 
revert to non-deleted.
- with "move it to the trash folder" : when emptying trash, messages are gone 
from mozilla client, but still there (e.g. i can still see them with my webmail 
client, marked deleted)
- with "remove it immediately" : they come back the next time the client is 
refreshing from the server.

at the same time, everything is working fine with the webmail client, so this 
is not a server problem.

Hope this could help to fix the bug (i'm not a programmer). Due to this bug i 
cannot use mozilla mail client anymore :-(

xavier, what's your mail server? a protocol log showing each of these things
happening would be useful:

http://www.mozilla.org/quality/mailnews/mail-troubleshoot.html#imap


My server is qmail with UW IMAP on a linux box (SME server 5.5). I have other 
imap accounts on another servers and they work fine. The poster of message #19 
had also the problem with an UW IMAP server. Sorry for the protocol log, maybe 
i'll sent it later ... 
I quickly read over this bug, but it seems like we have several different bugs
here with similar symptoms:
1. Delete flags are dropped (possibly due to server problem - possible solution:
write out data more often to server)
2. Moving mails from a folder which is a filter target to the inbox. message
will not stay in inbox, at least not unread. (what selmer mentioned in the
original description and in comment 13 / comment 15.)
3. In combination with offline

I have seen 2. myself. This is because Mozilla Mailnews reapplies the filter to
the message, if it's unread and in inbox. I filed it as bug 128581 back then.

I would suggest to file a new bug about 3. and see, what is the problem with 1.
(e.g. confirm/decline that it's server problems) and what (if anything) can be
done about 1..
My own opinion on the above: 1 is a non-critical feature request to deal with
poor servers. 2 is another bug. 3 is the heart of this bug, and is critical.

Steps to reproduce 3: Go offline, both physically and in mozilla. Drag a message
from IMAP inbox to a local mail folder. Choose "get new messages". Hit "OK, go
online". Hit "OK, connection failed". Go online physically. Choose "get new
messages". Message reappears. 

[if you're hardwired into the internet, you can set mozilla to connect to server
127.0.0.1 then use ipchains(lin) or <A
href="http://www.steelbytes.com/software_network.html">porttunnel(win)</a> to
connect/disconnect forwarding of port 143 and log traffic.

Here's a log of outbound traffic showing that it is not the server's problem: 
1 authenticate login
xxxx
xxxx
2 select "INBOX"
3 UID fetch 1:* (FLAGS)
4 UID fetch 12535 (UID RFC822.SIZE FLAGS BODY.PEEK[HEADER.FIELDS (From To Cc
Subject Date Message-ID Priority X-Priority References Newsgroups)])
5 UID fetch 12535 (UID RFC822.SIZE BODY.PEEK[])

This is a serious problem. Since mozilla checks new mail automatically whenever
online, and since you can't leave mailnews offline as you browse (separate
feature/bugs), if you live on dialup it is as a practical matter impossible to
prevent mozilla from sometimes trying to get new mail while physically detached;
and then all the work you have done filing your inbound mail is lost.
jquinn, the heart of a bug is what the original reporter saw. I don't think
selmer used offline, so I think that should be moved to another bug.

> Steps to reproduce 3: Go offline, both physically and in mozilla. Drag a
> message from IMAP inbox to a local mail folder. Choose "get new messages".
> "OK, go online". Hit "OK, connection failed". Go online physically. Choose
> new messages". Message reappears.

What happens, if you tell Mozilla about the network status *correctly*? Meaning,
first switch Mozilla to Offline, *then*, break the connection, then move the
msg, then open the physical connection, *then* switch Mozilla to online, then
Get New messages?
As suggested, behavior 3 resubmitted as bug 180484. Quick answer: the
failed-connection step is probably necessary. More at 180484.
OK, I think the status on this bug should be (referring to the classifications
in comment 32)

behaviour 1 (server drops delete). duplicate of bug 61816.
behaviour 2 (Moz reapplies filters). duplicate of bug 128581
behaviour 3 (Moz forgets offline actions after replaying them fails 1 time).
duplicate of bug 145048

I don't know which bug this should be marked against as a duplicate, but let's
get rid of this bug. Among other things, that would let the 12 votes of this bug
get redistributed where they belong.
I'm using 1.2, on which I thought this bug was resolved (see bug 145058). I had
used it for about a month without problems. Then I was gone for 2 months, using
the computer but not connecting to the internet. Now I got back and I find this
bug happening again.

This is not the behavior from bug 145058. No failed connection is involved. I
can reproduce this with 4 steps, while connected to the internet:
1. set mozilla state to offline
2. delete a message
3. set mozilla state to online
4. "get new messages"

I am *very* discouraged to find this bug still existing, and somewhat confused
by how it simply reappeared when it had seemed to be gone. Unfortunately, the 2
month time lag makes it hard to remember all the changes that might have caused
this reappearance.
anecdotal note:

I just upgraded to from 1.2.1 to 1.3b (today's daily is broken) to do get some
port logs for this bug on the latest. The bug had showed up 3 times in a row -
twice in quick succession - in 1.2.1, but I cannot quickly reproduce it on 1.3b.
Be assured, I will be using this functionality, and I will post a comment here
if I see this bug again. 
I just noticed this as a severe problem using 1.3b. I'm using delete
immediately, the IMAP server is Imail, I'm running Win98. Even messages that get
filtered on arrival to different message folder reappear in the inbox.
Compacting the mail folder after the delete/move/filter action seems to prevent
messages from reappearing.  I suggest this as a workaround for anyone who has
this problem frequently.
Compacting the folder in between is not a viable solution if the delets were
made while offline.
WFM in 1.4
anyone else still having this problem in 1.4, or better yet, 1.5b? If not, I'm
going to mark this wfm.
wfm
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 21 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
Product: Browser → Seamonkey
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