I guess this is more for the imap list, but this sounds like a bug in the IMAP specification to me. Was there ever any working group discussion of this? Is there any good reason *not* to want to create new keywords upon copy?
I don't think that anyone ever considered it. The actual text in RFC 3501 says:
The PERMANENTFLAGS list can also include the special flag \*,
which indicates that it is possible to create new keywords by
attempting to store those flags in the mailbox.
It's not clear whether "store those flags in the mailbox" includes flags being copied by a COPY command or set by an APPEND command, or if it is specific to an STORE command. It's easier to argue for this with APPEND rather than COPY.
There is a list of all valid keywords in mailbox metadata. That allows a client to build a menu of usable keywords.
Even if the specification gets changed, it will be a long time before UW imapd will be able to create flags in a mailbox as a result of a COPY or APPEND. Creating flags requires being able to access the mailbox metadata, and COPY/APPEND just append to the end of the mailbox without touching mailbox metadata.
Is there a good place in imapd we can hack "Junk" into the default keywords available for all newly created (in our case, mbx format) mailboxes?
Yes, just write a dummy message, select the mailbox, and store the flags.
-- Mark --
http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum.
