/* ======================================================================== * Copyright 1988-2006 University of Washington * * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. * You may obtain a copy of the License at * * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 * * * ======================================================================== */ Mailbox Name Conventions Mark Crispin 5 October 2005 Please refer to the file drivers.txt for related information. I. Special names Special names appear by themselves. I.a. INBOX The name INBOX is special and refers to primary incoming message mailbox on the local system. I.b. #mhinbox (UNIX only) The name #mhinbox is special and refers to the primary incoming mh format mailbox on the local system. Don't worry about this if you don't know what mh format is. II. Special prefixes All names which start with a "#" have a "special prefix" which identifies an alternative namespace. Special prefixes appear in front of some additional text which constitutes a suffix. II.a. #mh/ (UNIX only) The prefix #mh/ is special and refers to the mh format mailbox named with the suffix. For example, #mh/foo refers to the mh format mailbox named foo. Don't worry about this if you don't know what mh format is. II.b. #news. (UNIX only) The prefix #news. is special and refers to the newsgroup named with the suffix. For example, #news.comp.mail.misc refers to the newsgroup named comp.mail.misc. II.c. #ftp/ (UNIX only) The prefix #ftp/ is special and refers to the anonymous ftp filesystem named with the suffix. For example, #ftp/foo/bar refers to the file /foo/bar in the anonymous FTP filesystem. Anonymous FTP files are available to anonymous IMAP logins. II.d. #public/ (UNIX only) The prefix #public/ is special and refers to the public files filesystem named with the suffix. For example, #public/foo/bar refers to the file /foo/bar in the public filesystem. Public files are available to anonymous IMAP logins. II.e. #shared/ (UNIX only) The prefix #shared/ is special and refers to the shared files filesystem named with the suffix. For example, #shared/foo/bar frefers to the file /foo/bar in the shared filesystem. III. Remote names All names which start with "{" are remote names, and are in the form "{" remote_system_name [":" port] [flags] "}" [mailbox_name] where: remote_system_name Internet domain name or bracketed IP address of server. port optional TCP port number, default is the default port for that service flags optional flags, one of the following: "/service=" service mailbox access service, default is "imap" "/user=" user remote user name for login on the server "/authuser=" user remote authentication user; if specified this is the user name whose password is used (e.g. administrator) "/anonymous" remote access as anonymous user "/debug" record protocol telemetry in application's debug log "/secure" do not transmit a plaintext password over the network "/imap", "/imap2", "/imap2bis", "/imap4", "/imap4rev1" equivalent to /service=imap "/pop3" equivalent to /service=pop3 "/nntp" equivalent to /service=nntp "/norsh" do not use rsh or ssh to establish a preauthenticated IMAP session "/ssl" use the Secure Socket Layer to encrypt the session "/validate-cert" validate certificates from TLS/SSL server (this is the default behavior) "/novalidate-cert" do not validate certificates from TLS/SSL server, needed if server uses self-signed certificates "/tls" force use of start-TLS to encrypt the session, and reject connection to servers that do not support it "/tls-sslv23" use the depreciated SSLv23 client when negotiating TLS to the server. This is necessary with some broken servers which (incorrectly) think that TLS is just another way of doing SSL. "/notls" do not do start-TLS to encrypt the session, even with servers that support it "/readonly" request read-only mailbox open (IMAP only; ignored on NNTP, and an error with SMTP and POP3) "/loser" disable various protocol features and perform various client-side workarounds; for example, it disables the SEARCH command in IMAP and does client-side searching instead. The precise measures taken by /loser depend upon the protocol and are subject to change over time. /loser is intended for use with defective servers which do not implement the protocol specification correctly. It should be used only as a last resort since it will seriously degrade performance. mailbox_name remote mailbox name, default is INBOX For example: {imap.foo.com}INBOX opens an IMAP connection to system imap.foo.com and selects INBOX. IV. All other names All other names are treated as local file names, relative to the user's home directory. Read drivers.txt for more details.