Re: RFC mailbox interface

[Brian Stafford <brian stafford uklinux net>]

On Thu, 22 November 20:24 Kenneth Haley wrote:
> On 11.22.2001 05:23 Pawel Salek wrote:
>> 
>> On 2001.11.22 10:56 Kenneth Haley wrote:
>>> Does the API really need getAllHeaders, getBody, and getAll or would 
>>> getAll be enough and let the client seperate out the headers?
>> 
>> Yes. Think of IMAP or similar protocol: You do not want to fetch all the 
>> messages just to access subjects and dates. Actually, even more
>> fine-grained API would be appreciated (if only implementation is not too 
>> difficult): getBodyPart(partNo) - to download attachments on request only.
>> 
> 
> Wouldn't that require MIME parsing in the lib?  I don't know how IMAP 
> handles this but it's likely to be to much for a simple mailbox lib.

IMAP itself requires MIME capability both on server and client side.  A full 
IMAP client library is a major undertaking; see the list archive for 
discussion on why this is the case.

MIME parsing aside, Pawel is right to want a fine grained API.  If the mailbox 
storage is managed by a server on a remote host (like with IMAP), fine grained 
control implies less network traffic and therefore better perceived 
performance on slow links.

Brian Stafford