dovecot - Dec 2009 - checking all folders for new mail (IMAP STATUS command)

Hello,

I use Thunderbird as IMAP client and do a lot of server-side filtering
with Sieve scripts. To be notified of new mails, I want to check all
folders (a lot of them...) at once for new mails, and not only the
inbox.

According to
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Checking_for_new_messages_in_other_folders_-_Thunderbird
it should be sufficient to enable one setting -- given that the IMAP
server returns the STATUS command correctly. I still run Dovecot 1.0
(from Debian 4.0), and it seems this version doesn't support the IMAP
STATUS command, as I have to explictly query each folder with the
second mentioned setting.

What is the recommended way of checking all folders for new mails? Is
there any server-side setting I can activate? Do newer versions of
Dovecot support the STATUS command in the way Thunderbird expects it?
Or does Dovecot even offer an option like the mentioned
IMAP_CHECK_ALL_FOLDERS=1 and IMAP_ENHANCEDIDLE=1 in Courier?

Sorry for my maybe dumb question... :-)

Thanks,
Florian

On Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:30:14 +0100, Florian Effenberger <floeff at
gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I use Thunderbird as IMAP client and do a lot of server-side filtering
> with Sieve scripts. To be notified of new mails, I want to check all
> folders (a lot of them...) at once for new mails, and not only the
> inbox.
> 
> According to
>
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Checking_for_new_messages_in_other_folders_-_Thunderbird
> it should be sufficient to enable one setting -- given that the IMAP
> server returns the STATUS command correctly. I still run Dovecot 1.0
> (from Debian 4.0), and it seems this version doesn't support the IMAP
> STATUS command, as I have to explictly query each folder with the
> second mentioned setting.
> 
> What is the recommended way of checking all folders for new mails? Is
> there any server-side setting I can activate? Do newer versions of
> Dovecot support the STATUS command in the way Thunderbird expects it?
> Or does Dovecot even offer an option like the mentioned
> IMAP_CHECK_ALL_FOLDERS=1 and IMAP_ENHANCEDIDLE=1 in Courier?
> 
> Sorry for my maybe dumb question... :-)
> 
> Thanks,
> Florian
This might be help you...
**quote**
If Thunderbird doesn't recognize that a folder contains unread messages try
setting mail.imap.use_status_for_biff true. It causes Thunderbird to
explicitly select each folder to update the message summaries, rather than
using the STATUS command. It has more overhead, but some IMAP servers don't
return STATUS correctly. 
**quote**

On 28.12.2009, at 8.30, Florian Effenberger wrote:
> According to
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Checking_for_new_messages_in_other_folders_-_Thunderbird
> it should be sufficient to enable one setting -- given that the IMAP
> server returns the STATUS command correctly. I still run Dovecot 1.0
> (from Debian 4.0), and it seems this version doesn't support the IMAP
> STATUS command, as I have to explictly query each folder with the
> second mentioned setting.
Which v1.0? (Which one's Debian 4.0? :) I wish Debian used Ubuntu-style
year+month numbers as versions. The only Debian versions I remember are stable,
testing and unstable..)

Anyway, I don't think there have been any actual STATUS command related bugs
in Dovecot. If opening the mailbox shows that there are new mails, it's more
likely that it's a Thunderbird bug/configuration issue.
> Or does Dovecot even offer an option like the mentioned
> IMAP_CHECK_ALL_FOLDERS=1
A quick google lookup didn't really tell what this does. My best guess is
that it sets \Marked flag for LIST replies, which Dovecot does by default and
Thunderbird completely ignores.
> and IMAP_ENHANCEDIDLE=1 in Courier?
This is done by default, if compiled with dnotify/inotify (dovecot
--build-options shows). But it's not related to your problem anyway.

>> Seems I am lucky then:
>> Build options: ioloop=poll notify=dnotify
>
> dnotify is deprecated (and buggy)... use inotify on the server instead.
I guess that requires recompilation of the package?