Deleting an email doesnt delete .mozeml file

[foxcorner]

Hi all,

Mac OS X 10.4.11. Thunderbird 2.0.0.12. PPC.

I've enabled Spotlight searching, which breaks emails
into separate .mozeml files. All's working well, and
Spotlight searches fine.

However, I've noticed that when I delete an email from
Thunderbird, and then delete it from Thunderbird's
Trash folder, the email's mozeml file is not deleted from
the disk. Curiously, the file is no longer openable with
Thunderbird (how does *that* happen?). But more
importantly, I want it to be sent to the file sytem's
Trash folder so that I can save disk space by deleting
old emails.

If the mozeml files stay around, disk usage will grow
without bounds.

Any ideas on how to tell Thunderbird to delete mozeml
files when deleted from Thunderbird trash?

Thanks,
Dan

[bkennelly]

Looking at the source for the Spotlight component, it looks like the extra files should get deleted automatically.

Are there any related messages in the Error Console after you delete a message?

[foxcorner]

Thanks for responding. No, nothing new appears in the console when I delete emails from a trash folder. It's late, so I haven't verified that the mozeml files didn't get deleted...

One thing: It's possible I'm not using the latest Spotlight component, as I picked up whatever was pointed to by a how-to web page I was reading. Could you point me at the latest, please?

Thanks!
Dan

[tanstaafl]

I've heard of the optional Spotlight support but wasn't aware it effected how messages were stored. Can you confirm

1. That the .mozeml files aren't in addition to the mbox file - that you can use them with no mbox files? i.e. there is no "Inbox." file.

2. That you still have .msf files such as Inbox.msf?

3. That it creates .directories whose name end in .mozmsgs to hold the .mozeml files for the folder. For example ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/default.a6j/Mail/Local Folders/Inbox.mozmsgs

I'd like to update the article describing the Thunderbird profile.

using spotlight and google desktop index with thunderbird
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=290057
http://razal.de/~ibn/techblog/mac/thund ... light.html
source code showing references to ".mozeml" and ".mozmsgs"

I am a little confused that if they could replace mbox files with .mozeml files they didn't take the next step and offer optional maildir support for all platforms.

[bkennelly]

tanstaafl,

As you guessed, the .mozeml files are in addition to the mbox files. Thunderbird continues to use the mbox and MSF files. The Spotlight Integration component listens for new messages and copies up to 20k of each new message to the .mozeml files in the .mozmsgs folder. When a message is deleted, the .mozeml file is deleted.

It is only available on Mac builds.

[tanstaafl]

Thanks. I updated http://kb.mozillazine.org/Files_and_fol ... hunderbird

If somebody could post some more details how Spotlight actually works with Thunderbird (I read the bug report etc. - I'm looking for issues and how you worked around them etc.) I don't mind writing an article about it for other users.

[foxcorner]

Well, I can still verify that when I delete an email from a trash folder,
it disappears from Thunderbird (presumably it's gone from the mbox
file now), but the associated mozeml file is still around. Here's the
name of a junk email:

578764426.93085693841437%40shopprobe.com.mozeml

It's still there on the disk. Thunderbird won't open it any more,
but vim shows the contents are as I expect.

How do I find out which version of the Spotlight enabler I'm using,
and where do I find the latest?

Thanks,
Dan

[bkennelly]

It looks like Thunderbird recognizes the ".mozeml" files and translates the name to a URI to open the original file (in the mbox). That is why you cannot open the file after the original is deleted.

I can't help with the version or latest, sorry.

[foxcorner]

Thanks for the explanation. Still want to get it to delete the .mozeml files when I delete the original from Thunderbird.

[DavidWilla]

Related question which it looks like was answered in this thread, but please confirm:
When I use Finder Search for a File Name, I find the appropriate document, an .mozeml ... which will not open.
Is that because: 1.) I've deleted it in Thunderbird (and it didn't automatically archive as I thought I had done); or 2.) I should/can use some particular application to open it?
Thanks.