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[fetchmail] Problem trying to fetch from a mbox containing a dummy IMAP message

2002-06-20 18:41:19
Hello,

I am currently running fetchmail 5.9.11 on HP-UX11.00.

Fetchmail is starting using the following options :

$ fetchmail -d 120 -e 1 -l 2097152 -B 20 -a -t 60 --smtphost
localhost/4025 --nobounce -v -v \
        -f fetchmailrc -L fetchmail.log

The fetchmailrc file contains the single following line :

$ cat fetchmailrc
poll "pop.dummypopserver.com" protocol POP3 port 110 username "username"
password "password" mimedecode forcecr

This kind of configuration used to work fine on a lot of POP servers
and for different email accounts until yesterday.
For the first time, i was faced with an email inbox that contains
this fake message with the X-IMAP header used by IMAP clients to
resynchronize their state from a previous session with the server
(if what i have read on some forums is accurate).

The problem that i have is that fetchmails retrieves this dummy
message and then, decides not to fetch it ('retained'):

see transact.c, function readheaders

/*
 * The University of Washington IMAP server (the reference
 * implementation of IMAP4 written by Mark Crispin) relies
 * on being able to keep base-UID information in a special
 * message at the head of the mailbox.  This message should
 * neither be deleted nor forwarded.
*/
if (num == 1 && !strncasecmp(line, "X-IMAP:", 7)) {
        free(line);
      free(msgblk.headers);
      msgblk.headers = NULL;
      return(PS_RETAINED);
}

Because of the -e 1 option given to fetchmail, it issues a QUIT
(this option cannot be changed as I need to protect myself from
line drops) and then reconnects and gets the same dummy message
again and again, never fetching the remaining messages.

My question is the following :
Is there a way, without changing/removing the -e 1 option,
to fetch emails using the POP3 protocol from a mail box in which
the first message is a "dummy X-IMAP message"?.

Another question would be : Is it normal that the POP protocol
shows this dummmy message or should it be hidden to the POP clients?

Below is an example of this fake message that i got by
connecting directly to the pop server :

==========================================================================
$ telnet pop.dummypopserver.com 110
Trying...
Connected to pop.dummypopserver.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
user username
pass password
+OK Example POP server (version 1.1, VS-2) at dummy-mail.com starting.
+OK Password required for username.
+OK username has 8 messages (21603 octets).
LIST
+OK 8 messages (21603 octets)
1 562
2 1056
3 1066
4 1069
5 1119
6 2818
7 2818
8 11095
.
RETR 1
+OK Message follows
Date: 19 Jun 2002 14:32:17 -0700
From: Mail System Internal Data 
<MAILER-DAEMON(_at_)smtp-xx-yyy(_dot_)dummy-mail(_dot_)com>
Subject: DON'T DELETE THIS MESSAGE -- FOLDER INTERNAL DATA
Message-ID: <1024768908(_at_)smtp-xx-yyy(_dot_)dummy-mail(_dot_)com>
X-IMAP: 102449987 0000000009
X-UIDL: ZH=e94JW!!R;/e9=0Td9
Status: RO

This text is part of the internal format of your mail folder, and is not
a real message.  It is created automatically by the mail system software.
If deleted, important folder data will be lost, and it will be re-created
with the data reset to initial values.

.
QUIT
+OK Pop server at root-mail.com signing off.
Connection closed by foreign host.
==========================================================================

Thank you for your help,

Regards.


Pierre-Michel


__________________________________________________________

   Pierre-Michel ANSEL
   mailto:pma(_at_)whitepajama(_dot_)com        http://www.whitepajama.com

   White Pajama                 Phone:(1) 510-259-2774
   24610 Industrial Blvd        Fax:  (1) 510-723-1158
   Hayward, CA, 94545
   USA
__________________________________________________________




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