Re: [VM] N Stale messages are ignored
viewmail-i...@kosowsky.org writes: When I run this I get: (inbox label stale): No messages. Despite the fact that 'saving' gives me: 492 stale deleted messages are ignored In my experience, this situation happens only when a transfer from the IMAP server had to be aborted, either due to network problems or typing Ctrl-G. In that case, the downloaded messages would not have been properly initialized. So, the connection between them and the corresponding messages on the server would not have been established. VM knows them because they have invalid UIDs. I just tried this situation with vm-8.2.0b. When I attempt to save the folder, VM generates the following dialogue: Found 11 messages with invalid UIDs. Expunge them? (y or n) n They will be labelled 'stale' Since I answered 'n' to the questin, all those messages got labelled as stale. I can view them by doing `V C label stale'. If I answered 'y' to the question, then those messages would have been expunged from the cache folder and I would never hear from them again. If you haven't seen anthing like this, then you should assume that your cache folder is corrupted and regenerate it. To delete the cache folder, do `M-x buffer-menu' and find the entry corresponding to the damaged folder. The entry should have the full path name of the cache folder. Do `M-x delete-file' for that path name. Next time you visit the IMAP folder, VM will download fresh copies of all the messages. If downloading all the messages again would be too time-consuming, you can use the external messages feature, which is described in the VM manual. Cheers, Uday
Re: [VM] N Stale messages are ignored
Uday Reddy writes: If you haven't seen anthing like this, then you should assume that your cache folder is corrupted and regenerate it. To delete the cache folder, do `M-x buffer-menu' and find the entry corresponding to the damaged folder. The entry should have the full path name of the cache folder. Do `M-x delete-file' for that path name. Perhaps you might want to rename the cache folder instead of deleting it. If it has copies of essential messages that got deleted from the server, you would at least have them in that folder. Cheers, Uday
[VM] N Stale messages are ignored
I keep getting the above message when I save my Imap folder. I read in an old posting that one solution is to: - Run: vm-prune-imap-retrieved-list - Remove the imap-cache folder and then let VM regenerate it Is this still the best way to do this? Or is there something/easier/better/more automatic from within vm? Is there any meaningful risk that this will mess things up if I follow the above two steps? Also, out of curiosity, what tends to cause such stale message formation? Thanks!
Re: [VM] N Stale messages are ignored
viewmail-i...@kosowsky.org writes: I keep getting the above message when I save my Imap folder. I copy my old message below: `V l stale' shows the stale messages. This is one of the dark corners of IMAP handling. If everything is working correctly, the *only* time this warning should arise is when the IMAP server changes the UIDVALIDITY value. In that case, all the messages in the cache folder become stale and VM will get fresh copies of everything. In that case, you should answer yes to the question about expunge. If the message arises in any other situation, you should know that something has gone wrong and you should be very careful with what you do next. Two possibilities are: - VM has successfully recovered from whatever went wrong, and obtained fresh copies of the messages. In that case, it is fine to delete the stale copies and keep the good copies. - VM didn't recover from the problems correctly and the stale copies are all that you have. In that case, your safest course of action is to get rid of your imap-cache folder and let VM rebuild a new cache folder. Be warned! The IMAP code is not as fault-tolerant as it should be. Whenever you get vm-imap-protocol error with some other deeper error buried inside it, you should be wary. It is incredibly hard to write fault-tolerant code and I can't promise that I got it right. Getting rid of the imap-cache folder is the safest course of action. I read in an old posting that one solution is to: - Run: vm-prune-imap-retrieved-list - Remove the imap-cache folder and then let VM regenerate it Is this still the best way to do this? Note that I distinguished between two separate cases in my previous message. (i) UIDVALIDITY change and (ii) result of previous IMAP faults. You haven't said which case you are dealing with. The first case (UIDVALIDITY change) is straightforward. You can just get rid of all the stale messages. The second case is more complicated. That is why VM leaves it to you to figure out what went wrong and do the right thing. VM has no idea what faults might have occurred to cause those stale messages. For all it knows, the stale messages might be the only copies of those messages you have, and if you delete them, you might lose them forever. So, your best course is to find out what those stale messages are and whether they are redundant copies are essential ones. Cheers, Uday
Re: [VM] N Stale messages are ignored
Thanks Uday - comments inline Uday Reddy wrote at about 15:34:42 +0100 on Monday, August 5, 2013: viewmail-i...@kosowsky.org writes: I keep getting the above message when I save my Imap folder. I copy my old message below: `V l stale' shows the stale messages. When I run this I get: (inbox label stale): No messages. Despite the fact that 'saving' gives me: 492 stale deleted messages are ignored This is one of the dark corners of IMAP handling. If everything is working correctly, the *only* time this warning should arise is when the IMAP server changes the UIDVALIDITY value. In that case, all the messages in the cache folder become stale and VM will get fresh copies of everything. In that case, you should answer yes to the question about expunge. I don't get any question asked -- perhaps because vm thinks there are no Messages in the stale virtual folder If the message arises in any other situation, you should know that something has gone wrong and you should be very careful with what you do next. Two possibilities are: - VM has successfully recovered from whatever went wrong, and obtained fresh copies of the messages. In that case, it is fine to delete the stale copies and keep the good copies. - VM didn't recover from the problems correctly and the stale copies are all that you have. In that case, your safest course of action is to get rid of your imap-cache folder and let VM rebuild a new cache folder. I'm not sure what situations I am or how to determine... hence, not sure how I should respond... Be warned! The IMAP code is not as fault-tolerant as it should be. Whenever you get vm-imap-protocol error with some other deeper error buried inside it, you should be wary. It is incredibly hard to write fault-tolerant code and I can't promise that I got it right. Getting rid of the imap-cache folder is the safest course of action. I read in an old posting that one solution is to: - Run: vm-prune-imap-retrieved-list - Remove the imap-cache folder and then let VM regenerate it Is this still the best way to do this? Note that I distinguished between two separate cases in my previous message. (i) UIDVALIDITY change and (ii) result of previous IMAP faults. You haven't said which case you are dealing with. How do I know which case applies to me... the only way I even got a clue about stale messages is from the message I received 492 stale deleted messages are ignored The first case (UIDVALIDITY change) is straightforward. You can just get rid of all the stale messages. How would I do this? I don't seem to get a list of them to delete. The second case is more complicated. That is why VM leaves it to you to figure out what went wrong and do the right thing. VM has no idea what faults might have occurred to cause those stale messages. For all it knows, the stale messages might be the only copies of those messages you have, and if you delete them, you might lose them forever. So, your best course is to find out what those stale messages are and whether they are redundant copies are essential ones. Again, I don't even know what the stale messages are so I can't tell if they are redundant or not. Cheers, Uday Thanks again for your help!
