Hash-style filename suboptimal in maildir exports

[hassanakbar4]

component_MailArchive: User Interface type_enhancement | by rcross@amsl.com

---

This really is a niggle. If you ask it to download messages as a maildir, the filenames in the maildir are semi-random text. Some of the names start with hyphens, most (all?) end with = signs both of which can confuse software that expects normal maildir names, since they implement message flags by renaming the files with punctuated stuff.

A normal maildir naming convention would be something like this:

tttttttttt.rrrrr.listname.ietf.org

where ttttttttt is the timestamp of the message, the usual Unix 1970 epoch in seconds, and rrrrr is a number random enough to keep messages delivered at the same time from colliding. The rest of the name is something that looks like a domain name; a name with the listname could make debugging easier. Tnx.

Regards, John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Taughannock Networks, Trumansburg NY

Are the current file names particularly troublesome in practice?

The ones that start with hyphens certainly are, the mixed upper and lower case can be a problem on file systems that fold case (MacOS and Windows), and the # at the end of each name can confuse software that puts tags like ,U=1234 at the ends of maildir file names when it's updating message flags since maildir file names don't normally contain anywhere else.

Since maildir names normally start with a time stamp, you can use that to sort them into date order by sorting the filenames.

R's, John

---

Issue migrated from trac:1797 at 2021-09-22 18:49:15 +0500

[hassanakbar4]

@hassanakbar4 changed type from defect to enhancement

[hassanakbar4]

@hassanakbar4 changed status from new to accepted