On Sat, Dec 20, 20081:37 AM, the following words from [email protected] [email protected], emerged from a plethora of SPAM ...
>Greetings all, > >I've just run across a serious problem, for me, and could use any advice >anyone has. I stand to lose years of email if I cannot fix the issue. > >Under PowerMail 6, I exported some mail folders using File -> Database - >> Export... for archiving purposes. I would rather have used the new >Archive and Cleanup feature, but apparently no one thought about adding >the ability to select specific folders for Archiving... > >So, I exported quite a few folders into the PowerMail Exchange format, >preserving folder hierarchy and including attachments. I then threw all >those exported folders into the Trash, deleted the Trash, and compacted >the Message Database. > >I believe the Export actions were successful, as all the exported >databases have different sizes (some are 44kb, others a few MB, and so >on). I believe the attachments were also included, but I have not >verified that yet. > >The problem comes when I try to Import those exported databases. When I >import them, I get the folder structure, but there is *no mail at all* >in any of the sub- folders. Messages in the top level folder (if there >were any) are there, but not in any of the sub- folders. By way of example: > >Friends > Barb > Bob > Kelsey > Retirement > Trip > Marley > >Any messages in Friends are present after importing, but all the mail in >the sub- folders (Barb, Bob, etc.) and sub- sub- folders (Retirement and >Trip) are gone. This is a serious problem. > >I've tried rebuilding the sort indexes and search indexes, but that did >not work. I have not tried a low level database rebuild as I do not >have trouble compacting the database. > >Does anyone know what might be going wrong? Any advice on how to >recover the messages in those exported message databases? > >Tim > > > That is not good news. I considered a second user environment after I too discovered that I had to archive the entire database instead of specific folders. While PM is my email client of choice, I never fully trust any email program so I made a backup and began exporting specific folders. But it wasn't clear to me which was the best export option for wanting to import into a new user environment. So, I have only exported a few folders. Then I decided to wait to hear comments from other PM users before deleting the folders in PM. If the messages in your subfolder were not exported and you did not have a backup, then I think PM should really put up some kind of red flags letting people know that export only works for top-level folders before the export proceeds. Tool tips of some kind or warnings would provide answers to questions and prevent loss of data with all the options in the File>Database menu. I would check that PM didn't flatten your folder and move all messages in subfolders to the parent folder. (I'm sure you already did this, but thought I'd try to offer something.) I glanced through the "manual" regarding backups, archives and exports. The only thing I found noteworthy is the suggestion to use text-based options of the Export function. This made me concerned about what happens to HTML messages, so I didn't want to proceed with exporting messages older than a year to a new user environment. The manual could provide some clarity but it doesn't. When I did not find more details when performing the different operations, it left me to uneasy. So I hope you get a solution to your issue because it may also help me to continue or make a change of plans. -- The one thing that everybody wants is to be free, to talk to eat to drink to walk to think, to please, to wish, and to do it now. - Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), U.S. author * Mac Pro 2 GHz Quad Xeon * OS X 10.4.10 * 5 GB RAM *
