[Evolution] RFC2342: Namespace

[Matthew Keller <kellermg potsdam edu>]

Apologies if this has been asked before. The archives aren't readily
searchable, or I'd've done some more research before posting it- I did
search MY archives, but didn't find anything relevant.

I'm using Evolution 1.4.3 and I can't create IMAP folders against a
Courier IMAP server (latest version) unless they're "under" the INBOX,
and even the Courier-created mailboxes of Sent, Drafts and Trash are
displayed as subfolders of INBOX.

I've been using Evolution for years in a POP environment, so this is a
new thing for me. Any assistance would be very welcome. Below is a note
about this from the Courier FAQ.


q: I can't create any top-level folders, only subfolders of INBOX.

a: This is a configuration issue with your mail client. IMAP servers are
free to use any folder namespace arrangement that's technically
convenient for them. Courier-IMAP uses "INBOX." as the namespace for
private folders, and "shared." as the namespace for public, shared,
folders. The IMAP NAMESPACE extension (see
http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2342.txt) allows IMAP clients to
automatically discover where the server creates folders, and your IMAP
client should implement it.

This should be completely transparent to you, if your IMAP client
properly uses the NAMESPACE extension. If your IMAP client were to
automatically take advantage of self-configuration features offered by
RFC 2060 and RFC 2342, it would automatically discover, without any
additional configuration from the user, that:

     1. The folder namespace hierarchy separator is the . character
        
     2. Private folders are stored underneath the "INBOX." hierarchy
        
     3. Public folders are stored underneath the "shared." hierarchy
If you have to explicitly create folders that are subfolders of INBOX,
or if you explicitly have to name that "INBOX.foldername", this is due
to your IMAP client not being able to configure itself accordingly.




-- 
Matthew Keller
Enterprise Systems Analyst
Computing & Technology Services
State University of New York @ Potsdam
Potsdam, NY USA
http://mattwork.potsdam.edu/