[ale] IMAP and sub folders

[Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts]

Both mbox and Maildir formats, as well as the Dovecot mail server, all
support sub-folders.  The only limitation with mbox is that a "mailbox"
is actually a single file on the server filesystem, so it cannot contain
anything below it.  However, you can easily set up a directory instead,
and this directory can contain as many sub-folders, mailboxes, etc. as
you want.

In other words, with mbox, you must choose whether a folder is a
directory (container) or just a plain mailbox file.  With Maildir, each
mailbox is actually a directory containing one file per message, so it
can allow sub-folders of mailboxes.  But note that some clients, such as
Mutt, still do not allow you to create sub-folders of mailboxes even
with Maildir, since they confuse the directory browser.

Using mbox, you can accomplish your "OT" goal by either creating two
separate mailboxes, i.e. ALE and ALE-OT, or you can create an ALE
directory and have two sub-folders, i.e. Linux and OT.

For more information, see:

http://wiki.dovecot.org/MailboxFormats

http://wiki.mutt.org/?MuttFaq/Maildir

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maildir

Alan

On 1/20/2006 8:46 AM, Philip Polstra wrote:
> That is exactly your problem.  I have an IMAP server set up and I'm
> using MBOX for now because I haven't had the time to convert to
> maildir.  The only real drawback is that you can't do the subfolders.
>
> On 1/20/06, *Christopher Fowler* <cfowler at outpostsentinel.com
> <mailto:cfowler at outpostsentinel.com>> wrote:
>
>     It maybe because I'm using MBOX format and not Maildir format.  In
>     evolution if I try to make a sub folder called "OT" to ale then I
>     get an
>     error messages "Parent folder does not allow sub
>     folders".  Something on
>     that line...
>
>
>     On Thu, 2006-01-19 at 22:22 -0500, Pat Regan wrote:
>     > Keith Hopkins wrote:
>     > > Christopher Fowler wrote:
>     > >> I'm using Evolution connecting to Dovecot IMAP server on
>     FC2.  Is it
>     > >> possible to create IMAP folders with mailboxes under those
>     folders.  I
>     > >> want to do what is possible with Outlook.
>     > >>
>     > >>
>     > >
>     > > Hey Chris,
>     > >
>     > >   Both the IMAP standards and Evolution support sub-folders,
>     but I'm
>     > > unsure of how Dovecot implements IMAP.  If it doesn't work for
>     you right
>     > > off, dig into the Dovecot docs and see if it is a configurable
>     option,
>     > > or else try replacing it with another IMAP server.
>     >
>     > A friend of mine is running Dovecot on his mail server.  I believe
>     > Dovecot can do subfolders, but not with MBOX.  I am not absolutely
>     > positive if this is the case with the most recent versions, but
>     it might
>     > be a good place to start.
>     >
>     > Pat
>