On Tue, 6 Jan 2004, Arnt Gulbrandsen wrote: > > Alt.Fan doesn't exist, but Alt.Fan.Mark.Crispin might. > In IMAP terms, alt.fan is \noselect \haschildren.
Yes, but such a name shows up with a % wildcard. It does not necessarily show up with a * wildcard. > Doesn't that make a mockery of \noselect? Not at all. In some mail stores, the superior name really does not exist. In others, it does. The client must infer that a superior level of hierarchy exists, but only as a superior level of hierarchy. As a name, it may exist as a mailbox, it may exist as a directory, or it may have no independent existence. The only real difference between "exist as a directory" and "have no independent existence" is that it probably does not work to issue a CREATE with the former. IMAP tries to reconcile multiple forms of mail store with sharply different semantics. Rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, there is no such thing as an IMAP "ideal" mail store. IMAP's definition of hierarchy is a wretched compromise born out of at least a year of non-productive discussions with me caught in the middle. Those who suffered through it (including me!) are not particularly interested in seeing these discussions reopened. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum.
