Here's a better idea, now that I'm emboldened by having working CI for
Windows frankenbuilds, and since I broke some stuff in this area on
MSYS[1], which caused me to look more closely at this area.

Why don't we just nuke pgwin32_is_junction() from orbit, and teach
Windows how to lstat()?  We're already defining our own replacement
stat() used in both MSVC and MSYS builds along with our own junction
point-based symlink() and readlink() functions, and lstat() was
already suggested in a comment in win32stat.c.

There's one curious change in the draft patch attached: you can't
unlink() a junction point, you have to rmdir() it.  Previously, things
that traverse directories without ever calling pgwin32_is_junction()
would see junction points as S_ISDIR() and call rmdir(), which was OK,
but now they see S_ISLNK() and call unlink().  So I taught unlink() to
try both things.  Which is kinda weird, and not beautiful, especially
when combined with the existing looping weirdness.

0001 is a copy of v2 of Melih Mutlu's CI patch[2] to show cfbot how to
test this on MSYS (alongside the normal MSVC result), but that's not
part of this submission.

[1] 
https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/b9ddf605-6b36-f90d-7c30-7b3e95c46276%40dunslane.net
[2] 
https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/CAGPVpCSKS9E0An4%3De7ZDnme%2By%3DWOcQFJYJegKO8kE9%3Dgh8NJKQ%40mail.gmail.com
From ec732571a1fa88fefcf9834987114716eb9c5998 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Melih Mutlu <memu...@microsoft.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2022 14:46:05 +0300
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Added Windows with MinGW environment in Cirrus CI

---
 .cirrus.yml | 79 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 65 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.cirrus.yml b/.cirrus.yml
index f23d6cae55..3d8c4cd813 100644
--- a/.cirrus.yml
+++ b/.cirrus.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ env:
   CHECKFLAGS: -Otarget
   PROVE_FLAGS: --timer
   PGCTLTIMEOUT: 120 # avoids spurious failures during parallel tests
-  TEMP_CONFIG: ${CIRRUS_WORKING_DIR}/src/tools/ci/pg_ci_base.conf
   PG_TEST_EXTRA: kerberos ldap ssl
 
 
@@ -338,13 +337,30 @@ task:
     cores_script: src/tools/ci/cores_backtrace.sh macos "${HOME}/cores"
 
 
+WINDOWS_ENVIRONMENT_BASE: &WINDOWS_ENVIRONMENT_BASE
+    env:
+      # Half the allowed per-user CPU cores
+      CPUS: 4
+      # The default working dir is in a directory msbuild complains about
+      CIRRUS_WORKING_DIR: "c:/cirrus"
+      TEMP_CONFIG: ${CIRRUS_WORKING_DIR}/src/tools/ci/pg_ci_base.conf
+
+      # Avoids port conflicts between concurrent tap test runs
+      PG_TEST_USE_UNIX_SOCKETS: 1
+
+    only_if: $CIRRUS_CHANGE_MESSAGE !=~ '.*\nci-os-only:.*' || $CIRRUS_CHANGE_MESSAGE =~ '.*\nci-os-only:[^\n]*windows.*'
+
+    sysinfo_script: |
+      chcp
+      systeminfo
+      powershell -Command get-psdrive -psprovider filesystem
+      set
+
 task:
+  << : *WINDOWS_ENVIRONMENT_BASE
   name: Windows - Server 2019, VS 2019
 
   env:
-    # Half the allowed per-user CPU cores
-    CPUS: 4
-
     # Our windows infrastructure doesn't have test concurrency above the level
     # of a single vcregress test target. Due to that, it's useful to run prove
     # with multiple jobs. For the other tasks it isn't, because two sources
@@ -354,15 +370,11 @@ task:
     # likely can be improved upon further.
     PROVE_FLAGS: -j10 --timer
 
-    # The default cirrus working dir is in a directory msbuild complains about
-    CIRRUS_WORKING_DIR: "c:/cirrus"
     # Avoid re-installing over and over
     NO_TEMP_INSTALL: 1
     # git's tar doesn't deal with drive letters, see
     # https://postgr.es/m/b6782dc3-a7b0-ed56-175f-f8f54cb08d67%40dunslane.net
     TAR: "c:/windows/system32/tar.exe"
-    # Avoids port conflicts between concurrent tap test runs
-    PG_TEST_USE_UNIX_SOCKETS: 1
     PG_REGRESS_SOCK_DIR: "c:/cirrus/"
     # -m enables parallelism
     # verbosity:minimal + Summary reduce verbosity, while keeping a summary of
@@ -393,12 +405,6 @@ task:
     cpu: $CPUS
     memory: 4G
 
-  sysinfo_script: |
-    chcp
-    systeminfo
-    powershell -Command get-psdrive -psprovider filesystem
-    set
-
   setup_additional_packages_script: |
     REM choco install -y --no-progress ...
 
@@ -456,6 +462,51 @@ task:
       path: "crashlog-*.txt"
       type: text/plain
 
+task:
+  << : *WINDOWS_ENVIRONMENT_BASE
+  name: Windows - Server 2019, MinGW64
+  windows_container:
+    image: $CONTAINER_REPO/windows_ci_mingw64:latest
+    cpu: $CPUS
+    memory: 4G
+  env:
+    CCACHE_DIR: C:/msys64/ccache
+    BUILD_DIR: "%CIRRUS_WORKING_DIR%/build"
+
+  ccache_cache:
+    folder: ${CCACHE_DIR}
+
+  mingw_info_script:
+    - C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc "where gcc"
+    - C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc "gcc --version"
+    - C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc "where perl"
+    - C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc "perl --version"
+
+  configure_script:
+    - C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc "mkdir %BUILD_DIR% &&
+      cd %BUILD_DIR% &&
+      %CIRRUS_WORKING_DIR%/configure
+        --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32
+        --enable-cassert
+        --enable-tap-tests
+        --with-icu
+        --with-libxml
+        --with-libxslt
+        --with-lz4
+        --enable-debug
+        CC='ccache gcc'
+        CXX='ccache g++'"
+
+  build_script:
+    C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc "cd %BUILD_DIR% && make -s world-bin -j${CPUS}"
+
+  upload_caches: ccache
+
+  tests_script:
+  - set "NoDefaultCurrentDirectoryInExePath=0"
+  - C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc "cd %BUILD_DIR% && make -s ${CHECK} ${CHECKFLAGS} -j${CPUS} TMPDIR=%BUILD_DIR%/tmp_install"
+
+  on_failure: *on_failure
 
 task:
   name: CompilerWarnings
-- 
2.36.1

From 2390efc8ffebcb975c0c96b63479a1f22bf8e422 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Thomas Munro <thomas.mu...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2022 15:19:38 +1200
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Provide lstat() for Windows.

Junction points will be reported with S_ISLNK(x.st_mode), like in POSIX.
stat() will follow symlinks, like in POSIX (but only one level before it
gives up, unlike in POSIX).

Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CA%2BhUKGLfOOeyZpm5ByVcAt7x5Pn-%3DxGRNCvgiUPVVzjFLtnY0w%40mail.gmail.com
---
 src/include/port/win32_port.h | 18 +++++++-
 src/port/win32stat.c          | 79 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 92 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/include/port/win32_port.h b/src/include/port/win32_port.h
index 4de5bf3bf6..b8cf2e1480 100644
--- a/src/include/port/win32_port.h
+++ b/src/include/port/win32_port.h
@@ -286,10 +286,11 @@ struct stat						/* This should match struct __stat64 */
 
 extern int	_pgfstat64(int fileno, struct stat *buf);
 extern int	_pgstat64(const char *name, struct stat *buf);
+extern int	_pglstat64(const char *name, struct stat *buf);
 
 #define fstat(fileno, sb)	_pgfstat64(fileno, sb)
 #define stat(path, sb)		_pgstat64(path, sb)
-#define lstat(path, sb)		_pgstat64(path, sb)
+#define lstat(path, sb)		_pglstat64(path, sb)
 
 /* These macros are not provided by older MinGW, nor by MSVC */
 #ifndef S_IRUSR
@@ -335,6 +336,21 @@ extern int	_pgstat64(const char *name, struct stat *buf);
 #define S_ISREG(m) (((m) & S_IFMT) == S_IFREG)
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * In order for lstat() to be able to report junction points as symlinks, we
+ * need to hijack a bit in st_mode, since neither MSVC nor MinGW provides
+ * S_ISLNK and there aren't any spare bits.  We'll steal the one for character
+ * devices, because we don't otherwise make use of those.
+ */
+#ifdef S_ISLNK
+#error "S_ISLNK is already defined"
+#endif
+#ifdef S_IFLNK
+#error "S_IFLNK is already defined"
+#endif
+#define S_IFLNK S_IFCHR
+#define S_ISLNK(m) (((m) & S_IFLNK) == S_IFLNK)
+
 /*
  * Supplement to <fcntl.h>.
  * This is the same value as _O_NOINHERIT in the MS header file. This is
diff --git a/src/port/win32stat.c b/src/port/win32stat.c
index e03ed5f35c..686c510fed 100644
--- a/src/port/win32stat.c
+++ b/src/port/win32stat.c
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
 
 #ifdef WIN32
 
+#define UMDF_USING_NTSTATUS
+
 #include "c.h"
+#include "port/win32ntdll.h"
+
 #include <windows.h>
 
 /*
@@ -107,12 +111,10 @@ fileinfo_to_stat(HANDLE hFile, struct stat *buf)
 }
 
 /*
- * Windows implementation of stat().
- *
- * This currently also implements lstat(), though perhaps that should change.
+ * Windows implementation of lstat().
  */
 int
-_pgstat64(const char *name, struct stat *buf)
+_pglstat64(const char *name, struct stat *buf)
 {
 	/*
 	 * Our open wrapper will report STATUS_DELETE_PENDING as ENOENT.  We
@@ -129,10 +131,79 @@ _pgstat64(const char *name, struct stat *buf)
 
 	ret = fileinfo_to_stat(hFile, buf);
 
+	/*
+	 * Unfortunately it's not possible for fileinfo_to_stat() to see a
+	 * FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT flag with just a handle, so at this point
+	 * junction points appear as directories.  Ask for the full attributes
+	 * while we still have the handle open.  Someone else can unlink the file
+	 * while we have it open, but they can't create another file with the same
+	 * name.
+	 */
+	if (ret == 0 && S_ISDIR(buf->st_mode))
+	{
+		DWORD		attr;
+
+		attr = GetFileAttributes(name);
+		if (attr == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES)
+		{
+			DWORD		err;
+
+			/* If it's been unlinked since we opened it, report as ENOENT. */
+			err = GetLastError();
+			if (err == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED &&
+				pg_RtlGetLastNtStatus() == STATUS_DELETE_PENDING)
+				errno = ENOENT;
+			else
+				_dosmaperr(err);
+
+			ret = -1;
+		}
+		else if (attr & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT)
+		{
+			buf->st_mode &= ~S_IFDIR;
+			buf->st_mode |= S_IFLNK;
+		}
+	}
+
 	CloseHandle(hFile);
 	return ret;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Windows implementation of stat().
+ */
+int
+_pgstat64(const char *name, struct stat *buf)
+{
+	int			ret;
+
+	ret = _pglstat64(name, buf);
+
+	/* Do we need to follow a symlink (junction point)? */
+	if (ret == 0 && S_ISLNK(buf->st_mode))
+	{
+		char		next[MAXPGPATH];
+
+		if (readlink(name, next, sizeof(next)) < 0)
+			return -1;
+
+		ret = _pglstat64(next, buf);
+		if (ret == 0 && S_ISLNK(buf->st_mode))
+		{
+			/*
+			 * We're only prepared to go one hop, because we only expect to
+			 * deal with the simple cases that we create.  The error for too
+			 * many symlinks is supposed to be ELOOP, but Windows hasn't got
+			 * it.
+			 */
+			errno = EIO;
+			return -1;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 /*
  * Windows implementation of fstat().
  */
-- 
2.36.1

From 2d44c134f62872889439db6910709af745901dd9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Thomas Munro <thomas.mu...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2022 15:25:10 +1200
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Remove pgwin32_is_junction().

Now that lstat() reports junction points with S_IFLNK, there is no need
for sparate code paths for Windows in a few places.  The coding around
pgwin32_is_junction() was a bit suspect anyway, as we never checked for
errors.

Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CA%2BhUKGLfOOeyZpm5ByVcAt7x5Pn-%3DxGRNCvgiUPVVzjFLtnY0w%40mail.gmail.com
---
 src/backend/commands/tablespace.c    |  3 +--
 src/backend/replication/basebackup.c | 12 +-----------
 src/backend/storage/file/fd.c        |  5 -----
 src/backend/utils/adt/misc.c         |  7 -------
 src/bin/pg_checksums/pg_checksums.c  |  4 ----
 src/bin/pg_rewind/file_ops.c         |  4 ----
 src/common/file_utils.c              | 21 --------------------
 src/include/port.h                   |  1 -
 src/include/port/win32_port.h        |  1 -
 src/port/dirmod.c                    | 29 +++++++++++++---------------
 10 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 72 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c b/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c
index cb7d46089a..b74f40aac6 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/tablespace.c
@@ -827,8 +827,7 @@ destroy_tablespace_directories(Oid tablespaceoid, bool redo)
 	/*
 	 * Try to remove the symlink.  We must however deal with the possibility
 	 * that it's a directory instead of a symlink --- this could happen during
-	 * WAL replay (see TablespaceCreateDbspace), and it is also the case on
-	 * Windows where junction points lstat() as directories.
+	 * WAL replay (see TablespaceCreateDbspace).
 	 *
 	 * Note: in the redo case, we'll return true if this final step fails;
 	 * there's no point in retrying it.  Also, ENOENT should provoke no more
diff --git a/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c b/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c
index 637c0ce459..638de07035 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c
@@ -1320,13 +1320,7 @@ sendDir(bbsink *sink, const char *path, int basepathlen, bool sizeonly,
 		}
 
 		/* Allow symbolic links in pg_tblspc only */
-		if (strcmp(path, "./pg_tblspc") == 0 &&
-#ifndef WIN32
-			S_ISLNK(statbuf.st_mode)
-#else
-			pgwin32_is_junction(pathbuf)
-#endif
-			)
+		if (strcmp(path, "./pg_tblspc") == 0 && S_ISLNK(statbuf.st_mode))
 		{
 #if defined(HAVE_READLINK) || defined(WIN32)
 			char		linkpath[MAXPGPATH];
@@ -1809,11 +1803,7 @@ static void
 convert_link_to_directory(const char *pathbuf, struct stat *statbuf)
 {
 	/* If symlink, write it as a directory anyway */
-#ifndef WIN32
 	if (S_ISLNK(statbuf->st_mode))
-#else
-	if (pgwin32_is_junction(pathbuf))
-#endif
 		statbuf->st_mode = S_IFDIR | pg_dir_create_mode;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c b/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c
index f904f60c08..566ebe26a0 100644
--- a/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c
+++ b/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c
@@ -3377,7 +3377,6 @@ SyncDataDirectory(void)
 	 */
 	xlog_is_symlink = false;
 
-#ifndef WIN32
 	{
 		struct stat st;
 
@@ -3389,10 +3388,6 @@ SyncDataDirectory(void)
 		else if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
 			xlog_is_symlink = true;
 	}
-#else
-	if (pgwin32_is_junction("pg_wal"))
-		xlog_is_symlink = true;
-#endif
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SYNCFS
 	if (recovery_init_sync_method == RECOVERY_INIT_SYNC_METHOD_SYNCFS)
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/adt/misc.c b/src/backend/utils/adt/misc.c
index 89690be2ed..412039ea6b 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/adt/misc.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/adt/misc.c
@@ -283,9 +283,7 @@ pg_tablespace_location(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	char		sourcepath[MAXPGPATH];
 	char		targetpath[MAXPGPATH];
 	int			rllen;
-#ifndef WIN32
 	struct stat st;
-#endif
 
 	/*
 	 * It's useful to apply this function to pg_class.reltablespace, wherein
@@ -316,10 +314,6 @@ pg_tablespace_location(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	 * created with allow_in_place_tablespaces enabled.  If a directory is
 	 * found, a relative path to the data directory is returned.
 	 */
-#ifdef WIN32
-	if (!pgwin32_is_junction(sourcepath))
-		PG_RETURN_TEXT_P(cstring_to_text(sourcepath));
-#else
 	if (lstat(sourcepath, &st) < 0)
 	{
 		ereport(ERROR,
@@ -330,7 +324,6 @@ pg_tablespace_location(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 	if (!S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
 		PG_RETURN_TEXT_P(cstring_to_text(sourcepath));
-#endif
 
 	/*
 	 * In presence of a link or a junction point, return the path pointing to.
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_checksums/pg_checksums.c b/src/bin/pg_checksums/pg_checksums.c
index dc20122c89..324ccf7783 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_checksums/pg_checksums.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_checksums/pg_checksums.c
@@ -384,11 +384,7 @@ scan_directory(const char *basedir, const char *subdir, bool sizeonly)
 			if (!sizeonly)
 				scan_file(fn, segmentno);
 		}
-#ifndef WIN32
 		else if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) || S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
-#else
-		else if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) || pgwin32_is_junction(fn))
-#endif
 		{
 			/*
 			 * If going through the entries of pg_tblspc, we assume to operate
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_rewind/file_ops.c b/src/bin/pg_rewind/file_ops.c
index 6cb288f099..7d98283c79 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_rewind/file_ops.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_rewind/file_ops.c
@@ -431,11 +431,7 @@ recurse_dir(const char *datadir, const char *parentpath,
 			/* recurse to handle subdirectories */
 			recurse_dir(datadir, path, callback);
 		}
-#ifndef WIN32
 		else if (S_ISLNK(fst.st_mode))
-#else
-		else if (pgwin32_is_junction(fullpath))
-#endif
 		{
 #if defined(HAVE_READLINK) || defined(WIN32)
 			char		link_target[MAXPGPATH];
diff --git a/src/common/file_utils.c b/src/common/file_utils.c
index 966b987d64..71c232d983 100644
--- a/src/common/file_utils.c
+++ b/src/common/file_utils.c
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ fsync_pgdata(const char *pg_data,
 	 */
 	xlog_is_symlink = false;
 
-#ifndef WIN32
 	{
 		struct stat st;
 
@@ -88,10 +87,6 @@ fsync_pgdata(const char *pg_data,
 		else if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
 			xlog_is_symlink = true;
 	}
-#else
-	if (pgwin32_is_junction(pg_wal))
-		xlog_is_symlink = true;
-#endif
 
 	/*
 	 * If possible, hint to the kernel that we're soon going to fsync the data
@@ -465,21 +460,5 @@ get_dirent_type(const char *path,
 #endif
 	}
 
-#if defined(WIN32) && !defined(_MSC_VER)
-
-	/*
-	 * If we're on native Windows (not Cygwin, which has its own POSIX
-	 * symlinks), but not using the MSVC compiler, then we're using a
-	 * readdir() emulation provided by the MinGW runtime that has no d_type.
-	 * Since the lstat() fallback code reports junction points as directories,
-	 * we need an extra system call to check if we should report them as
-	 * symlinks instead, following our convention.
-	 */
-	if (result == PGFILETYPE_DIR &&
-		!look_through_symlinks &&
-		pgwin32_is_junction(path))
-		result = PGFILETYPE_LNK;
-#endif
-
 	return result;
 }
diff --git a/src/include/port.h b/src/include/port.h
index d39b04141f..4b978f61bd 100644
--- a/src/include/port.h
+++ b/src/include/port.h
@@ -284,7 +284,6 @@ extern int	pgunlink(const char *path);
 #if defined(WIN32) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
 extern int	pgsymlink(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
 extern int	pgreadlink(const char *path, char *buf, size_t size);
-extern bool pgwin32_is_junction(const char *path);
 
 #define symlink(oldpath, newpath)	pgsymlink(oldpath, newpath)
 #define readlink(path, buf, size)	pgreadlink(path, buf, size)
diff --git a/src/include/port/win32_port.h b/src/include/port/win32_port.h
index b8cf2e1480..72a0dd572e 100644
--- a/src/include/port/win32_port.h
+++ b/src/include/port/win32_port.h
@@ -238,7 +238,6 @@ int			setitimer(int which, const struct itimerval *value, struct itimerval *oval
  */
 extern int	pgsymlink(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
 extern int	pgreadlink(const char *path, char *buf, size_t size);
-extern bool pgwin32_is_junction(const char *path);
 
 #define symlink(oldpath, newpath)	pgsymlink(oldpath, newpath)
 #define readlink(path, buf, size)	pgreadlink(path, buf, size)
diff --git a/src/port/dirmod.c b/src/port/dirmod.c
index 7ce042e75d..01f9d1362b 100644
--- a/src/port/dirmod.c
+++ b/src/port/dirmod.c
@@ -111,6 +111,19 @@ pgunlink(const char *path)
 	{
 		if (errno != EACCES)
 			return -1;
+
+		/*
+		 * Also try with rmdir(), because that's how you remove junction
+		 * points.  Since we pretend junction points are symlinks, various code
+		 * might try to call unlink().  We'll preserve unlink()'s errno though;
+		 * if we got ENOENT then unlink() will presumably return the same next
+		 * time around, ENOTEMPTY shouldn't be possible for a junction point,
+		 * and EACCES is what unlink() returned.
+		 */
+		if (rmdir(path) == 0)
+				break;
+		errno = EACCES;
+
 		if (++loops > 100)		/* time out after 10 sec */
 			return -1;
 		pg_usleep(100000);		/* us */
@@ -336,20 +349,4 @@ pgreadlink(const char *path, char *buf, size_t size)
 	return r;
 }
 
-/*
- * Assumes the file exists, so will return false if it doesn't
- * (since a nonexistent file is not a junction)
- */
-bool
-pgwin32_is_junction(const char *path)
-{
-	DWORD		attr = GetFileAttributes(path);
-
-	if (attr == INVALID_FILE_ATTRIBUTES)
-	{
-		_dosmaperr(GetLastError());
-		return false;
-	}
-	return ((attr & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT) == FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT);
-}
 #endif							/* defined(WIN32) && !defined(__CYGWIN__) */
-- 
2.36.1

Reply via email to