New Module: Request for Input -- Mail::Maildir

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Date: 21 Jun 2004 10:21:02 -0700

Hello,

I have written a first version of a Mail::Maildir module. Before I
submit the module to PAUSE, I thought I would briefly discuss my
module here, and solicit some input.

"Maildir" and "Maildir++" are the names of a particular folder and
file format for storing internet email. The original specification
for the format can be found here: http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html.
The updated specification for Maildir++ can be found here:
http://www.inter7.com/courierimap/README.maildirquota.html.

There is prior art for this module: http://www.leapster.org/maildir/
offers a Mail::Maildir package that was (to my knowledge) not
submitted to PAUSE and cannot (to my knowledge) be found on CPAN.
This module offers a fairly simple API to Maildir and does not appear
to include full Maildir++ support. The author claims the package is
"badly coded" and "may not be necessarily stable or bug-free." The
package does not include any automated testing.

Another interesting package is Mail::Folder, which includes an
implementation of Maildir, again, not Maildir++. This fundamental
strategy of the Mail::Folder module appears to be to implement a
*Folder Reader* -- for example, upon calling open() for
Mail::Folder:Maildir, various activities happen automatically, such as
cleaning messages from tmp, moving messages from new to cur and
modifying/adding message headers (AFAICT).

Then there is the successor to Mail::Folder, Mail::Box. This would be
the intuitively ideal place to put my module in some respects.
Mail::Box contains a very light implementation of Maildirs that
appears to primarily revolve around Maildir create/delete/isValid, and
a message iterator with the intelligence to move things from tmp, new
and cur in the appropriate fashion. This functionality *does* overlap
with what is released in my module. However, Mail::Box does not
include an implementation of Maildir++ AFAICT. In particular, I
cannot find code that permits the manipulation of maildirsize files,
nor code that creates folders with maildirfolder files. It also has
an implementation of folders for Maildir that I do not understand,
since Maildir does not permit folders, and Maildir++ folders are
somewhat different than what is implemented. This may be simply a
misunderstanding on my part.

Mail::Maildir, the package I have written, departs in some ways from
all of the above. Rather than providing a *Maildir Reader* sort of
interface like Mail::Folder and Mail::Box, I have opted to tackle
merely the folder management aspect of Maildir and Maildir++. So, for
example, here is a partial list of the API call types that are
supposed to be publicly available from my module:

* open
* create
* delete
* upgradeToPlusplus
* setFolder
* createFolder
* createNamedTmpMessage
* moveTmpToNew
* moveNewToCur
* trashMessage
* getQuotaBytes
* getQuotaMessages
* setQuota
* getMaildirUsage
* calculateMaildirSize
* listFolders
* listMessages

The purposes one might use Mail::Maildir for include the following:

* mail injection scripts
* Maildir management UIs
* quota management

I continue to believe that Mail::Maildir would be a useful perl
package independently of Mail::Box, primarily because it need not be
as heavy as that larger package for basic Maildir management
functions. Perhaps I also believe that the general strategy of having
the actual filesystem level abstraction in separate, independent
packages, and the Reader implementation somewhere else that can
consume those separate, independent packages, is a sound one.

But I'm not sure. So I am actively soliciting your comments,
suggestions, and input in the hopes that I can find a useful way to
contribute this functionality.

Thanks,

-Eddie
edward ((dot)) abrams {{at}} corp ((dot)) terralycos ((dot)) com

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