Bug 258537 - Mail folder location documented incorrectly in Help
Summary: Mail folder location documented incorrectly in Help
Status: RESOLVED UNMAINTAINED
Alias: None
Product: kmail
Classification: Applications
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: 1.13.5
Platform: Ubuntu Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: kdepim bugs
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2010-12-02 04:39 UTC by abrahams
Modified: 2015-04-12 09:48 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:


Attachments
2. entry (Zugänge = Accounts) (73.91 KB, image/png)
2010-12-03 17:39 UTC, Hans-Rudi Denzler
Details

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Description abrahams 2010-12-02 04:39:22 UTC
Version:           1.13.5 (using KDE 4.5.3) 
OS:                Linux

According to the kmail help file, mail is kept in ~/Mail.  That is incorrect; it is kept in .kde/share/apps/kmail/mail.  At least in my Kubuntu system (10.04), ~/Mail does not exist at all.

Another related problem is that you can't just copy a Mail file from some other installation and plug it into the mail location cited above.  If you try to do that, you get a message:

KMail could not create folder '/home/pwa/.kde/share/apps/kmail/mail';
please make sure that you can view and modify the content of the folder '/home/pwa'.

That message appears to be bogus.


Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
Place a file in .kde/share/apps/kmail/mail and try to start kmail.

Actual Results:  
Message cited above.

Expected Results:  
Replacement file treated as the existing message set.

OS: Linux (x86_64) release 2.6.35-23-generic
Compiler: cc
Comment 1 Hans-Rudi Denzler 2010-12-02 10:14:14 UTC
Have you checked with dolphin .kde4/share/config/ (Filter: kmail) ?
~/.kde4/share/config> grep kmail/mail kmail*
Comment 2 abrahams 2010-12-02 17:49:14 UTC
I see now that the location of the mail file is indeed set in kmailrc.  But there's still a problem in that the documentation does not correspond to reality.  I don't know how or where kmailrc is constructed, but if that's where the location of the mail file is established, then it needs to be corrected.  Even if the location is distribution-dependent (which it really shouldn't be), that fact needs mention in the help file.
Comment 3 Hans-Rudi Denzler 2010-12-02 21:39:00 UTC
Alt + F2: help:/kmail -> Version 1.7 (2004-07-13)
KMail Version 2.0.89/4.6 Beta1 I have an Akonadi resource 'KMail Folders' with
/home/user/.kde4/share/apps/kmail/mail (Alt + F2: akonadi).

(see pictures of http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/PIM/Akonadi)
Comment 4 abrahams 2010-12-02 23:25:21 UTC
If the Mail folder is not always where the help file says it is, then something needs to be fixed.  And if the location is to be variable, there should be a way to set it without having to edit kmailrc.
Comment 5 Hans-Rudi Denzler 2010-12-03 11:04:11 UTC
Have you checked KMail settings > Zugänge (2. entry) > Receiving. There I find the Akonadi resources as in comment #2. How is it in KDE 4.5.3 ?

If I use kfind with Search in: 'home directory' and Content > Containing text: 'Mail folder in wrong' then I see in case of KMail Folders in which file(s) the mails are stored. In case of Akonadi, mails are also stored in the Akonadi data base (4.6 Beta1).

In the File menu there is an import command. After importing you can also find out where everything is stored and you can check consistency.
Comment 6 abrahams 2010-12-03 15:55:22 UTC
Perhaps I should clarify what I think the problem is.  I've solved my own problem, since I now know how to find the mail file and also how to change its location.  I see two things that need fixing:

1, If the mail is not *always* in ~/Mail, then the help file should not say without qualification that it is there.

2. The kmail settings should include the location of the mail file, without any reference to Akonadi.  It shouldn't be necessary for an ordinary user to know anything about Akonadi, which is after all a tool for implementers.

To answer your question about KDE 4.5.3: if you bring up the kmail settings from "Configure kmail", you get a tab with six choices: Identities, Accounts, Appearance, Composer, Security, and Misc.  Nothing about "Entry", and nothing I can find for setting the location of the mail file.
Comment 7 Hans-Rudi Denzler 2010-12-03 17:39:39 UTC
Created attachment 54051 [details]
2. entry (Zugänge = Accounts)
Comment 8 abrahams 2010-12-03 22:59:12 UTC
I don't see that screen when I go to the same place.  We clearly aren't working with the same version of kmail since mine is in English and yours is in German. I don't know if that's the only difference. My version is 1.13.5 under KDE Development version 4.5.3.
Comment 9 Hans-Rudi Denzler 2010-12-04 12:00:45 UTC
As mentioned in Comment #3 I use KDE: 4.5.80 (4.6 Beta1). I changed the language to English for the screenshot but only the title 'Configure Kmail' is in English.
One can see that Akonadi is seamlessly integrated. Alt + F2: akonadi with resource filter kmail2.
Comment 10 abrahams 2010-12-07 02:34:56 UTC
I would guess now that since the problem lies in kmailrc, the fix would come from the Kubuntu team rather than from the KDE team.  Is it indeed the case that kmailrc is built by the Kubuntu team?
Comment 11 Laurent Montel 2015-04-12 09:48:29 UTC
Thank you for taking the time to file a bug report.

KMail2 was released in 2011, and the entire code base went through significant changes. We are currently in the process of porting to Qt5 and KF5. It is unlikely that these bugs are still valid in KMail2.

We welcome you to try out KMail 2 with the KDE 4.14 release and give your feedback.