On Tue, 16 Sep 2003, Mark Crispin wrote: > On Tue, 16 Sep 2003, Rob Siemborski wrote: > > I don't think IMAP has anything to say on the matter, really, since the > > specification has remained silent on the issue. [snip] > Note the words "zero or more". > > Why "zero"? Because of the next sentence, where "matching levels of > hierarchy" are mentioned. > > Perhaps the wording in the specification could be better, but it is there > nonetheless.
Yes, obviously if the server is maintaining the trailing-hierarchy-separator-means-directory convention, than a trailing % needs to advertise the mailbox. I'm not disputing this at all. Nor am I disputing the choice some server implementors can make to use such a convention. I just don't think such a convention is (or should be) required by the specification. > > Really, I don't see the need for a server to ever advertise a \NoSelect > > mailbox with no children, since it doesn't have any useful information -- > > the user can't do anything *but* create a mailbox there. > > This is incorrect. There is other information. The name exists. You may > get an error if you try to create that name as a mailbox; if so, the only > way to create that mailbox is to delete that name as a directory. > > As a thought exercise, imagine if "mkdir" followed by "ls" in the UNIX > shell did not list the newly-created directory. Or of "ls" did not list a > directory when you deleted the last name inside it. That is the type of > filesystem that was created with Cyrus, and which some people seem to > think should be the one and only type in IMAP. But IMAP isn't exporting a UNIX filesystem, it's exporting a namespace of mailboxes. And if there's no way a given mailbox can contain messages, and it has no inferors currently, its not very useful to the user. (Yes, if you are interested in pieces of hierarchy for their own sake, then maybe you care). Note that this does not mean that I feel it is *incorrect* to use this convention, only that servers shouldn't be forced to do so. -Rob -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Rob Siemborski | Andrew Systems Group * Research Systems Programmer PGP:0x5CE32FCC | Cyert Hall 207 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * 412.268.7456 -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK---- Version: 3.12 GCS/IT/CM/PA d- s+: a-- C++++$ ULS++++$ P+++$ L+++(++++) E W+ N o? K- w O- M-- V-- PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP+ t+@ 5+++ R@ tv-@ b+ DI+++ G e h r- y? ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
