Re: [Evolution] Getting access to a folder on my computer as a local focalder in evolution.

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

> I have two accounts under my evolution, running under Fedora 17 on my
> home computer.  One is an account providing folders on my email server.
> The other is called On This Computer and contains local folders not on
> the server.  I want to transfer a folder listed on the server account to
> the On This Computer account.

What format is the mail folder?

> This was a directory in my account on the server and I downloaded it to
> my local computer, thinking I could make it visible to evolution in the
> On This computer Account.  But I can't figure out how to do that.
>
> For reasons I won't go into, I also deleted the directory on my account
> on the server, so it is no longer there.  I can upload it again to my
> account on the server.  I will do that if it is necessary.  But I
> thought that, if I had a directory containing files of email messages on
> my local computer, no matter where I obtained it,  I should be able to
> make those messages visible to evolution in the On This Computer
> account.

The info in "On This Computer" is in the private folders that Evo uses -
it's never a good idea to fiddle with those unless you really, really
know what you are doing.

> Help would be appreciated and if possible a link to a document
> explaining how to do such things.

Create a folder in your home directory called something like
"Mailfromserver" and put the messages (either the monolithic MBOX
file(s) or the Maildir structure) in there.  In Evolution create a new
account (Edit -> Preferences -> Add), fill in the "Identity" page  with
at least a name and email address (it doesn't have to be real, it just
has to parse), click Next (and Skip Lookup!).  On the next page the
critical thing is "Server Type" - if it is a single MBOX file then
select "Standard Unix mbox spool file"; if it's multiple MBOX files,
select "Standard Unix mbox spool directory"; and if it's a Maildir
structure, select "Maildir-format mail directories".  In the box below
you then need to point to the correct place in your home directory that
you put the mail.  Then press "continue" to select how to send the mail
for the "account" (it doesn't matter what, but select "sendmail" then
you don't have to configure anything else).  Click "continue" and give
the account a meaningful name.

When you get back to Evo proper you will see a new account in the left
hand pane and that should contain the mail from the server.

You can leave the mail like this if you want, but I would probably
suggest copying the mail from this temporary account into a new folder
in "On This Computer".  Once the mail is copied to where you want it you
can delete the account you just created.

Doing it this way makes sure that Evo is always in control of its own
private folders and doesn't come across any nasty surprises.

P.