Thunderbird does store local IMAP mail copy in AppData\Roaming not AppData\Local of profile
Categories
(Thunderbird :: OS Integration, defect)
Tracking
(Not tracked)
People
(Reporter: blaubaer, Unassigned, NeedInfo)
References
(Blocks 1 open bug)
Details
Updated•15 years ago
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Comment 51•3 years ago
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Again if someone has 10GB+ of email, those would be moved back and force between the client computer and server at each login and logout of end-user set with roaming profile on a Windows domain that is a real issue and is just not possible, it does not work well in practice...
This is really a "bug" in TB that shall be addressed... or should I better say a by default misconfiguration on Windows platform? Which may be more accurate!
@Thomas,
If Thunderbird want to make headway in organisations such as business, gov, etc... this bug really need to be addressed. I don't know if you have way to raise awareness about the issue within the team and put it on the roadmap somehow... I am happy to discuss the matter if need be... There is already a functional usable solution which is just to change manually* setting in TB (but cumbersome!) that would not take much time or resources to TB team to implement by default, while making a huge difference to end-users... More detailed info in bug 1399793 (now marked as duplicate of this bug).
All it would require to fix it seems, is a change in one default setting within TB (a path) upon setup of IMAP account(s)!
This change shall make no difference for average users, but would drastically improve situation by default for roaming profile users on Windows!
I am not trying to promote Windows or business/organisation setup but to prevent TB getting causing issues and damaging its own reputation for bad side effects it may introduce for those users. If that make sense!
*cumbersome as it requires manual setup each a user login to new machine as well as many steps to be done in a careful way per user, per machine!
@Wayne,
It is really not clear nor understandable what are the technical issues that prevent TB team to change a default setting in TB (already available in IMAP account preferences) for IMAP cache to be relocated on the client PC outside the windows user roaming profile into the windows user local profile. I don't see how that can break anything for the application itself, search being done locally (on client computer) or server side (on IMAP server) anyway... from my testing I haven't found any issues...
If there is an open discussion organised about this matter, I would be glad to participate to it and explain the problematic, because I don't think the problematic (and simple solution) is clearly understood by the dev team as it may require knowledge and experience with Windows domains and roaming profiles.
As a explained at multiple occasion, local cached data shall reside in the Window user local profile not in the roaming one (which shall solely be used for configuration/preferences) as IMAP cached data is not meant to be shared on multiple computers, because TB would in any case reload/update everything upon use from the IMAP server anyway...
Hope that make sense.
Regards,
Richard
Comment 52•3 years ago
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Even if Windows domain is not of matter, moving the locally saved messages to AppData/Local on Windows or ~/.cache on Linux would have the advantage for daily local update software, as this would severely reduce the footprint of the daily backup chunks of personal local data.
But only the mbox files should be moved to AppData/Local on Windows or ~/.cache on Linux, but not the .msf files, as they contain local user data such as local keywords or thread pane view/column settings which are not part of the data on the foreign IMAP server. So this can not be achieved by just manually changing the current IMAP account settings.
Comment 53•3 years ago
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Ok, now I understand a bit better the problematic with this issue which due to user TB preferences (pane view/column settings) being tangled with IMAP cached data (within .msf files)! Correct me if I am wrong here!
I still think:
- short term the default IMAP server path (IMAP cache) shall be changed to local area, because it is more problematic for people to have to wait 10mn+ to login/logout to/from a machine than having to reset pane view/column settings first time when moving to another computer...
and - then long term having user preference untangled from IMAP cache (unless handled by IMAP server?) and properly set separately on their own! Is msf file really the proper way to store user preferences in the first place, I wonder?!
@Alessandro,
I put you in copy of this comment/bug because separating user preference from local cache IMAP data may be something to consider improving while revamping the message list UI which is on your blueprint/timetable... for sometime in the near future...
@all,
Windows has two locations (three in practice but two mostly used by third party apps) in the User profile:
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AppData/Local (~/.cache on Linux it seems, as per previous comment)
-- used for cached data (for quick access/offline use) that can be re-generated/synced -
AppData/Roaming (supposedly ~/ on Linux except ~/.cache)
-- one for preference data (for roaming use - set once by end-user used everywhere)
Both contains local user data but not for the same purpose, and it seems Linux as well...
Thunderbird already setup a user profile in both location... and use both location... but not necessarily adequately for all data it handles...
Local shall contained any local data mostly locally cached data on the client computer... that can be rebuilt/reconstructed from server info... so both mbox files (containing local cached message content) and msf files (containing index and msg header info) shall be placed in this location... basically anything that can be rebuild from IMAP server upon first startup...
--> Not meant to be file system copied back and forth between Windows client computer and server upon sign in/out on the computer... as other sync mechanism (IMAP) are in place to keep the data up-to-date and backed up/synced between client<->server
Roaming shall contained any roaming data mostly user preferences... that are set by end-user as fit best and shall remain the same on all computer when roaming... thread pane view/column settings fall into that category but I am not sure to understand why such settings were placed in msf file instead of sqlite pref file, probably by convenience originally as they may be set on a per folder settings (unless those are handled via the IMAP server somehow but I am not aware :-)
--> Meant to be copied back and forth between Windows client computer and server upon sign in/out on computer...
All those are user local data that is why they are in the user profile, but their purpose differ greatly that is why there are stored in different location on Windows... and on Linux as well...
Not sure what is meant by local keywords in the previous comment, may need clarification... but a saved search (the settings only) would fall in user preferences (aka AppData\Roaming location), but an saved search or auto-completion search cache would fall as local data (aka AppData\Local location)... if that make sense...
It shall be the same for any pref/cache data over all in TB... for example I would expect an offline cached network calendar stored in the appData\Local on a Windows computer... and so on... but that may be pushing it I guess :-)
Regards,
Richard
Comment 54•3 years ago
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I put you in copy of this comment/bug because separating user preference from local cache IMAP data may be something to consider improving while revamping the message list UI which is on your blueprint/timetable... for sometime in the near future...
Thanks for the ping.
Comment 55•3 years ago
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(In reply to Richard Leger from comment #53)
Ok, now I understand a bit better the problematic with this issue which due to user TB preferences (pane view/column settings) being tangled with IMAP cached data (within .msf files)! Correct me if I am wrong here!
I still think:
- short term the default IMAP server path (IMAP cache) shall be changed to local area, because it is more problematic for people to have to wait 10mn+ to login/logout to/from a machine than having to reset pane view/column settings first time when moving to another computer...
The lost of pane view/column settings may be bearable, but not the lost of message linked additional properties which can not be saved on the server such as "local keywords".
- then long term having user preference untangled from IMAP cache (unless handled by IMAP server?) and properly set separately on their own! Is msf file really the proper way to store user preferences in the first place, I wonder?!
Good point!
Not sure what is meant by local keywords in the previous comment, may need clarification...
In messages list you can right-click on a message and choose that option to colourize items to your own taste. This data is not backed by the IMAP server, so should be saved in the Roaming space. I guess the same applies for the junk status flag and maybe some more TB specific properties, which currently are all stored in the .msf files.
but a saved search (the settings only) would fall in user preferences (aka AppData\Roaming location), but an saved search or auto-completion search cache would fall as local data (aka AppData\Local location)... if that make sense...
It shall be the same for any pref/cache data over all in TB... for example I would expect an offline cached network calendar stored in the appData\Local on a Windows computer... and so on... but that may be pushing it I guess :-)
Correct!
Comment 57•2 years ago
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Engineering-wise, we now we have the infrastructure already in place in Gecko to place profile files in local. We just need to use it. We didn't have this 13 years ago when this bug was filed. This is now long-handing fruit.
The ImapMail/ directory in TB profile should not contain the filters file (I've accidentally deleted all my filters recently, for this very reason).
The same problem exists under Linux. Having ImapMail/ in the home dir requires me to add special exceptions in the backup strategy, just for Thunderbird. Whereas there is a specific folder for this kind of data already: ~/.cache/thunderbird/<profile>/ , which can be exempt from roaming, across all applications. This matches the "local" profile on Windows. So, this change wouldn't be Windows-specific, but makes sense cross-platform.
Updated•2 years ago
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Updated•2 years ago
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Updated•1 year ago
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Description
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