'entries' directory

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tooc
Posts: 8
Joined: December 11th, 2017, 4:32 am

'entries' directory

Post by tooc »

In Windows 7, this the directory Thunderbird\Profiles\abcdefgh.default\cache2\entries

It contains thousands of files, typically several K in size.

The enormous number of files is a problem for me since I am using cloud storage to sync TBird with another machine so that I can 'seamlessly' use the same mail system on one or the other.

I do realise that I have to shut down TBird on one machine before starting it up on the other, and I also have to wait for the cloud service to complete the sync.

It works! However, the cloud service struggles to cope with the number of files, and crashes several times before finally completing the sync.

I have looked at a few of the files (named for example, 00026318CC0B9605582FA13DC009532A8134C1FF) and I can't see anything that a layman would understand.

So, what are these files?

More importantly, do I need to sync them? Hopefully not!

And are there any other directories that I don't need to sync.
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tanstaafl
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Joined: July 30th, 2003, 5:06 pm

Re: 'entries' directory

Post by tanstaafl »

You don't need to sync them. Its a cache of image files and SSL certificates, used mainly for HTML messages.

Personally, I've limited the cache size to 50MB using tools -> options -> advanced -> network & disk space. You can safely empty it with the <clear now> button if you want.

If your settings (prefs.js) and address books (*.mab) rarely change, think about not syncing the entire profile, but syncing just the mail or imapmail directory tree, depending upon whether you use POP or IMAP accounts. You could manually copy the remainder of the profile and take the risk that it either doesn't get out of sync, or causes little problems if it does. If one of your email providers supports CardDAV you could sync your address books that way (rather than by syncing the *.mab files), using the CardBook add-on at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunde ... ok/?src=ss
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tanstaafl
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Re: 'entries' directory

Post by tanstaafl »

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_fol ... hunderbird for more information about what is in the profile.
tooc
Posts: 8
Joined: December 11th, 2017, 4:32 am

Re: 'entries' directory

Post by tooc »

Many thanks! All done and problem resolved!
tooc
Posts: 8
Joined: December 11th, 2017, 4:32 am

Re: 'entries' directory

Post by tooc »

Erm .......... problem not quite resolved!

Not knowing anything about how the size relates to functionality or performance, I (randomly) set the disk cache at 20MB. However, when I return to the Options menu I see that it is set back at 350MB (the original, presumably default, setting). Is there a way of making my choice take effect?

Everything seemed to be ok at first because I had cleared the cache. Now I am having to periodically clear it manually.
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tanstaafl
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Joined: July 30th, 2003, 5:06 pm

Re: 'entries' directory

Post by tanstaafl »

It looks like either something broke recently or I was using a older version (I have several installed) when I quoted the 50MB cache) . I used the ViewAbout add-on at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunde ... src=search to view about:cache. I had cleared the cache, set it to zero and restarted. about:cache lists maximum storage settings for a memory, disk and app cache of 200, 358 and 500MB respectively, and uses 137KB of the disk cache despite no message being selected and no new message being fetched. Looking at the contents of the cache its clear that the cache is actually being used by the add-ons. I don't know if you can override these settings using the config editor. browser.cache.disk.capacity for example is listed as 358400 and "user set", which is a lie. There is also a browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value with the same values.

browser.cache.disk.enable defaults to true. I set it to false, cleared and zeroed the cache and restarted. It ignored my disabling the disk cache. The basic problem is Thunderbird too closely integrated with Gecko so we inherit all sorts of behavior that might make sense for Firefox, but really doesn't for a email client. I don't want a app cache for example and its existence is not even mentioned in tools -> options. One of the reasons why I stopped using Firefox (this was before Firefox Quantum, I don't know if it acts the same) was it also ignored many changes I made to the cache settings, and I began to mistrust it.
tooc
Posts: 8
Joined: December 11th, 2017, 4:32 am

Re: 'entries' directory

Post by tooc »

I now got round to telling my cloud service (OneDrive) not to sync the 'entries' folder, thinking that my local files would no longer update the cloud.

Wrong! In effect I was saying that I am no longer interested in the 'entries' folder residing in the cloud - so OneDrive kindly removed my local version! I presume that if I had deleted the directory myself from the local drive, then OneDrive would have removed it also from the cloud.

Anyway, back to TBird. It now always says that my cache is using 0 bytes, but I haven't come across any problems yet. My Lightning calendar is working and so is my mail.

I am trying not to get too excited! Can anyone see any issues that might arise?

If not, I will delete the 'enries' directory from the cloud too and do away with it altogether! What a relief that would be!

I now eyeing the 'doomed' directory for the same treatment. Its name seems to be asking for it, doesn't it?
tooc
Posts: 8
Joined: December 11th, 2017, 4:32 am

Re: 'entries' directory

Post by tooc »

I have been thwarted yet again. TBird has re-created the 'entries' directory!
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