Vladimir -
Thank you. I agree that there should be a specific definition for
UIDVALIDITY, and that the text should clarify that these are unsigned as
well as non-zero.
For better or worse, the syntax rules define semantics in IMAP. I agree
that it is not a good thing to depend upon this; and that sloppy text
(such as you identified) should be cleaned up.
Of course, the client command:
zz UID FETCH 10:4294967295
is valid, although I wonder why the client went to that trouble instead
of the more straightforward:
zz UID FETCH 10:*
If UIDs do not persist in a mailbox, then STATUS should return a higher
UIDVALIDITY value than any previous UIDVALIDITY returned for that mailbox
(including a previous STATUS command). Hence the suggestion of using a
32-bit time value (unsigned), which won't expire until 2106 so none of us
will need to worry about fixing it.
-- Mark --
http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
