For the 3rd time on the same iMac, I've found an empty In Tray that isn't really empty, although you can't see any messages in it. This In Tray should not be empty. A "Search" of all local mail folders for messages that are "to" the words "Sherm" (his computer) reveals dozens of messages that claim to be in the "in tray". Double-clicking them while on this found set list view does exactly what you expect; it displays the message.
But confoundedly, the messages are not visible in the In Tray. This happened with PowerMail 5.01. I launched with the command & option keys down, and tried various combinations of all the top half; compacting, verify, low level db rebuild... but nothing makes any difference at all. The Mail db is only 8mb, and it does a low level rebuild in a few seconds. So I upgraded to 5.1 and did all the same rebuild stuff again. No help. Then I "repaired permissions" and although it found several parts of iPhoto that needed fixing, this also didn't return the missing messages to the In Tray. Last time this happened, I tried all this same stuff, but I also upgraded from Jaguar to Panther, just in case. I noticed that PowerMail does offer better support for a few features in Panther, such as filter in list view. What finally worked for me last time was to export 100% of all the messages, then delete all the messages, then reimport the exported messages back in. It took me a few tries to get the whole procedure done correctly. I thought that maybe the db had gotten message up because it had happened so soon after beginning to use PowerMail, and I had imported all the old messages from Claris Emailer. But now, the 3rd time, I don't have that excuse anymore. What I have done, as a temporary work around, is to do a "Search" as mentioned above; trying to match everything in the In Tray that I can. They do show up in the Found set. Then I drag all those to a new folder (In Tray3). Dragging them to the In Tray doesn't do it, they are invisible in the In Tray. Dropping them to a new folder, then dragging from the new folder to the In Tray doesn't do it either. Something is wrong with the In Tray again. I've tried everything I can think of, any better solutions? This is a serious problem. Mail shouldn't just disappear! Best, Dave Nathanson Mac Medix
