Writing a GNOME mail client

[Scott Wimer <scottw dev cgibuilder com>]

It seems that people (including myself) are getting hung up in the
details of the local Message storage.  In the mid-ware API
description that I mailed out 
(http://dev.cgibuilder.com/scottw/code/gmail/mid-ware.api), The 
local Message storage is separate from the actual source medium of
the messages.  This lets the system work well for all sorts of
different data types, be they emails, news postings, web pages, 
simple notes you've made to yourself, whatever.

All that is necessary is that the API functions for dealing with
each source are implemented.

In the Message storage arena....

We've got 2 realistic proposed methods of storing methods:
	1: 1 big data file per grouping of Messages
	2: 1 directory per grouping, one file per Message

Using the mid-level API setup, we should be able to let the user
choose from either aproach, since the storage stuff just plugs in
to the mid layer.  Also, we could adopt other strategies without
needing to change the API.  One that comes to mind is a scheme where
we store multiple Messages per data file, but set a target data file
size that we try not to exceed; when we do, we create another data
file and begin filling it.  This is sort of a comprimise aproach.


I'm not sure what development track others are going to take yet.
I will be starting code for the mid-level API just as soon as finals
get over with.  Hopefully before that even.  I'm hoping that people
will help me make this API good enough that it can be used as the
framework that I see it to be.  

regards,
scottwimer
--
Scott Wimer
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