[WinPartners] Bizarre Eudora duplicate attachment problem...

[Kerem B Limon]

I'm trying to debug a bizarre Eudora duplicate attachment problem with
v6.2.1/Windows.

We have a user who would like to 'emulate' POP using our IMAP-only mail service.
For various reasons, offline or disconnected mode in IMAP under Eudora hasn't
worked for him and he's been a long-time POP user. He's content with keeping
his mail in local Eudora mailboxes (and his machine is backed up daily, and the
only e-mail client he uses). (This is however not the source of the problem, as
you'll see in a bit.)

We've set up a simple null-match filter that matches every incoming new message
in his IMAP inbox and then does a 'Transfer To' to his local In mailbox. He
then files the messages as he sees fit.

This works well, except for attachments. He is getting each attachment file
decoded twice and thus filling up double the space.

For example, if he receives mail with attachment.txt, two files with the same
exact time/date stamp called attachment.txt and attachment1.txt are created
inside his 'Eudora Attachments Folder' as defined in the Eudora
settings/eudora.ini file (e.g. C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application
Data\Qualcomm\Eudora\Attach or C:\Users\<username>\Eudora\Attach, depending on
your configuration).

Here are some bizarre observations from debugging this:

- The tome of a Eudora manual claims that when checking IMAP folders, a matching
folder cache hierarchy is created in the user's Eudora data folder, under a
folder named 'IMAP'. This is true. The manual then further claims that
attachments in messages in IMAP folders, if any and are set to be downloaded,
are downloaded into a folder called 'Attach' under the corresponding locally
cached folder. This is not the case. No matter what the settings are, the
attachments always show up under the user's main local 'Eudora Attachments
Folder' as specified in the Eudora settings dialog/eudora.ini file.

- Even if I set Eudora to download 'Minimal headers only' under the 'Incoming
Mail' options, the attachment is downloaded and created in the main local
'Eudora Attachments Folder'.

- If I set Eudora to download 'Full message except attachments over' and set it
to the minimum possible of 1K, the attachments are still at least partly (2K)
downloaded  and created in the main local 'Eudora Attachments Folder' *as soon
as the message is previewed -or- opened*.

- I cannot set that to 0 K, which, according to the manual means infinity and
allows all attachments to be downloaded.

- When I manually or via a filter transfer or copy the message to a local
mailbox, two copies of the attachment are decoded and created in the main local
'Eudora Attachments Folder', with names <attachment-name>.<ext> and
<attachment-name>1.<ext>. The timestamps on these are exactly the same. The
existing--if any--previously downloaded attachment file with the same name when
the message was previewed as above is actually overwritten (I verify this
looking at the time stamps and waiting a bit before transferring/copying).

In summary, if I do any transfer/copy action on IMAP-stored mail to a local
mailbox, whether it's manual or via a filter, I duplicate attachments locally.
I cannot seem to get around this.

Suggestions? I've found only two references in Google Groups which confirm the
problem with past versions of Eudora, but no fix.

If we can't resolve it here, what is our escalation path to Eudora?

Thanks in advance,
-Kerem

Kerem B. Limon
kerem.limon at mit.edu /e-mail