Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf files

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6MaxPayne
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Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf files

Post by 6MaxPayne »

Hi,

Is it possible to request it to be looked at for a future version?

I was wondering if Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf files for folders without having to click on each folder individually, especially if (like me) you have a lot of message folders because you have OCD on filing things?

I'm running Thunderbird 60.4.0 on Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) with SP1.

Thanks.
Last edited by 6MaxPayne on August 4th, 2019, 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
JYLD
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by JYLD »

You could build a batch file or powershell script or something to gather all .msf files and delete them. Then TB will rebuild them the next time you start up TB.
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makaiguy
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by makaiguy »

JYLD wrote:You could build a batch file or powershell script or something to gather all .msf files and delete them. Then TB will rebuild them the next time you start up TB.
Don't know if I'd have thought of this out-of-box solution. Nice.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by DanRaisch »

gather all .msf files and delete them. Then TB will rebuild them the next time you start up TB.
Note that doing so will also remove all customization of the folders in terms of sort order and any modification of column order/display.
JYLD
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by JYLD »

Exit TB and then...
Run this at a command prompt to delete all .msf files in the TB profile.

For /R C:\Insert Directory Path to your TB Profile\ %G IN (*.msf) do del "%G"


Note: If you put this command in a batch file then %G needs to be changed to %%G. And the do statement would likely need to change to " do echo del "%%G" "

For more info see https://ss64.com/nt/for_r.html
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by DanRaisch »

How would all of this extra effort be better than compacting? Menu path File->Compact Folders?
JYLD
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by JYLD »

It wouldn't if compact folders achieved that for which the OP is looking. I understood his question to be he wanted to execute a repair folder on all folders without having to do it manually folder by folder.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by DanRaisch »

Compacting through that menu path is, at a minimum, by account, not by folder.
JYLD
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by JYLD »

Certainly, but compacting doesn't rebuild the .msf files like repair does. Or does it?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by DanRaisch »

Yes, it does. It removes messages marked for deletion from each folder and then regenerates the .msf files.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by tanstaafl »

What do you expect rebuilding *.msf files to accomplish? Are yours frequently getting corrupted? If they are I suggest you focus on why they are getting corrupted since you may have bigger problems than you realize.

The folder listing (cached in the *.msf file) gets updated when you open a remote folder (IMAP account). If you have a IMAP account you can also configure the folder properties to automatically check for new mail in that folder too. That effectively opens the folder and updates the listing without you having to click on anything.
tomdkat
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by tomdkat »

DanRaisch wrote:Yes, it does. It removes messages marked for deletion from each folder and then regenerates the .msf files.
I wasn't aware of this. Thanks for posting this info!

Peace...
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DanRaisch
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by DanRaisch »

You're welcome.
user700512
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Re: Thunderbird already has a feature to rebuild all msf fil

Post by user700512 »

DanRaisch wrote:Yes, it does. It removes messages marked for deletion from each folder and then regenerates the .msf files.
Not really.

If an .msf file is missing, or it is corrupt, or it is present, but Thunderbird cannot open it, then compacting all folders does not compact the folder(s) with unreadable .msf(s), hence no new .msf is generated by compact and the folder has to be opened manually in order to rebuild the .msf.

I have 750 folders, which I access from 2 Thunderbird installations on 2 different PCs. Quite often all .msf files become unreadable to one or both Thunderbird installations and there is no way to rebuild all .msf files, except opening one by one all 750 folders. It is a PA…

I hope some happy day the .msf concept will be dropped.
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