The problem I'm fighting against here is that when reopening a connection the c-client's mh driver will loose knowledge of which messages were removed.
That problem is insurmountable.
If it is a problem for you, the solution is simple: do not use mh format.
And wrt *that* "flag", my sources seem to be clear - a removed message is prepended with a ',' or with a '#' [1] (that's what one of the mh users is seeing in RL as well).
Like POP style deletion, what mh calls "deletion" seems similar to IMAP deletion (and c-client implements strict IMAP semantics). That similarity is deceptive. Once you do a careful study of how mh actually works and what IMAP requires, it becomes clear that it is impossible to implement the IMAP semantics of deletion using mh deletion. There is a difference between "working some of the time" and "working all the time"; and it is not an option to deviate from strict compliance with IMAP requirements.
If it was possible to do it, I would have done it 12 years ago.
The solution is not to use mh format.
-- Mark --
http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum.
