92939 - Going on-line using the browser fails to send pending mail (= Unsent Messages)

Status: NEW

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Backend, defect)

Description

[emmet]

From Bugzilla Helper:
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:0.9.2+)
Gecko/20010727
BuildID:    2001072703

If you write an email offline and click on 'send later' then
go online by clicking on the network socket icon or using
the menu option *in the browser* then the email is *not* sent
(when the preferences indicate that it should be). If you go
online using in the mailer then the email *is* sent.

Mail should be sent in when you go online anywhere in the
mozilla system. This bug also occurs when the mailer is 
iconised (in Windows), so loaded.

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:

Comment 1

[grylchan]

Ok Confirmed with 20010726 commercial builds on NT 4.0, linux 2.2,
and mac 9.0.4

If you have message in Unsent messages folder (as a result
of doing a send later while offline) and you go online
via theFile Menu or Icon in the Browser, your message
won't be sent. It doesn't matter what pref you set in
the ask me before I go online (send unsent mesgs, don't send,
automatically send) pref.

But this raises all new questions.

-Should mail be sent from unsent messages folder if you
 go online via the browser? (we don't have a file|send
 unsent messages) menu item in the browser
-If they have the prefs set to 'always ask if you want to download'
 when going offline' or 'always ask to send unsent messages 
 when going online', should these windows also pop up
 if you go online/offline via the browser rather than Messenger?
-What about other windows with the offline/online icon:
 Composer, Addressbook, Search or Subscribe windows
 Should they pop up the always ask windows and automatically 
 send unsent messages? 
 Do we need to add work online/offline to their respective file menus?
-If we implemented the steps above, would we alienate more people
 with extra pop up windows when they only expected this to occur
 in Messenger?

Kind of similar to bug 83216 and I know you were reluctant
to do that one David. But at least that bug dealt with
mail window as these other windows are not mail related.

Leaving Bug status as is for now and ccing others for their
opinions.
 

Comment 2

[emmet]

I have just noted a possibly broader character of this bug.

If you are offline and using the mailer and then click on <CTRL>-T 
to check mail the mailer pops up a dialogue asking if you want to
go online (why?!) and then if you do then **'mailer fails to send
pending mail'**  :-)

Comment 3

[David :Bienvenu]

Jennifer, didn't we reach some sort of conclusion about this?

Comment 4

[jglick]

We didn't really discuss much about the behavior from the browser. How did 
4.x handle this?  I guess the question is do we see each component as a 
separate app with its own settings? Or is it One app with multiple components?  
Right now, the "Offline & Diskspace" prefs are located in a "global" hierarcy.  
We could either:

1. Keep offline/onlife prefs in global area, and always obey the settings, 
regardless of which "component" you go online or offline from.

2. Treat Mail a separate app. Move the mail specific offline/online stuffs into 
the Mail prefs section. Only obey settings when in the Mail app.

3. Keep offline/online prefs in global area, but only obey the Mail 
specific settings when the Mail app is running. For example, user wants to be 
asked to send unsent messages.  User goes online with browser but never launched 
Mail, so don't ask. Versus, user goes online with browser and Mail is running 
but doesn't have focus, so ask user about unsent messages.

Thoughts?

Comment 5

[grylchan]

In 4.x..

If you have the main pref set to
  - Ask me if I want to send my unsent messsages
    result: if you go online via browser, composer, addressbook, etc..
            a message does pop up asking you if you want to send
            your unsent mesgs assuming you have unsent mesgs.
            It does not pop up if there are no unsent mesgs.
  - Automatically send my unsent messages
    result: if you go online via browser, composer, addressbook, etc..
            unsent messages are automatically unsent

Keep in mind 4.x didn't have the pref/prompt for "Do you want to
download Mesgs before going offline", so if we did have it
in 4.x, it would always pop up?

Looking at 4.x, I would guess tie in the send unsent messages to
any window where you can go online. But I wouldn't tie in
the pref "to ask me to download mesgs before going offline" to
any window except ones related to messenger. just my opinion.

Comment 6

[grylchan]

oops typo
> result: if you go online via browser, composer, addressbook, etc..
>      unsent messages are automatically unsent

That last word should be 'sent' not 'unsent'. They should be 
automatically sent.

Comment 7

[David :Bienvenu]

*** Bug 184827 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 8

[David :Bienvenu]

*** Bug 196464 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 9

[Branen Salmon]

Though a globally shared online/offline state might be convenient for some, it
can be a major nuisance for others.  The problem lies in the assumption that no
one will ever have a reason to browse online while handling mail offline or
vice-versa, which is false.

Example: My IMAP server does not support SSL, so I tunnel my IMAP connections
over SSH.  Because the SSH connections tend to die, I keep Thunderbird offline
to compose and read mail, only going online to send and synchronize.  But while
reading and composing, I often like to go online with Firebird to check out
URLs, etc, in my email.

Honestly, the separation of online/offline states was the primary reason I
switched from Seamonkey to Firebird/Thunderbird, and I'd hate to see that
advantage squandered.  (Of course, local overrides could always be used as a
compromise.)

Comment 10

[John Coonrod]

At present, Mozilla DOES have a unified on/off line state for the browser/email
configuration - yet it fails to deliver mail properly. If you go online in the
browser, and then switch to mail, you will never get a chance to send your
unsent mail. Branen's comment does relate to Firebird, but not to Mozilla -
Mozilla still  has this as a serious bug.

Comment 11

[John Coonrod]

This bug still exists in 1.5b. Also - if you exit in "offline" mode and the
restart the program, you are never given the option to send the unsent mail.

Anytime the Mailnews window goes active - if mozilla is online and there are
messages in the unsent folder, this should trigger the dialog.

Comment 12

[Serge Gautherie (:sgautherie)]

(In reply to comment #11)
> This bug still exists in 1.5b.

[Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.7a) Gecko/20040219] (W98SE)

(Mozilla Trunk behaviour still is:)
Unsent Messages will be sent the next time you go from offline to online
_within_ MailNews (not Browser).

> Anytime the Mailnews window goes active - if mozilla is online and there are
> messages in the unsent folder, this should trigger the dialog.

What is wanted, since the line status of Mozilla Suite is shared, is a NNv4.x
like behaviour:
if MailNews is not active in memory (not yet loaded): no sending;
if MailsNews is active in memory (opened in background, minimized, without
visible window): prompt/send the messages according to preferences.

How I see it:
MailNews observes the (shared) line status change event, and acts on it.

Moreover:
when online, MailNews should send (unsent) and check (new) messages, per prefs;
when offline, stay idle.

Updating:
*(H) PC -> All, per comment 1.
*(OS) Windows 2000 -> All, per comment 1.
+(K) 4xp, per comment 5.

SideNote:
As in comment 9, I would also like the line status not to be shared between
MailNews and Browser ... but that is not this bug...

Comment 13

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

amazingly enough, still true

Comment 14

[David :Bienvenu]

-> nobody