Forum OpenACS Q&A: IMAP Aolserver module

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1: IMAP Aolserver module
Posted by Vlad Seryakov on 12/20/01 09:51 PM
I released first version of IMAP module for AOLServer. It is basically interface to UW c-client library. Not tested very well but seems to be working.
Can be downloaded from ftp://www.crystalballinc.com/pub/vlad/nsmail.tar.gz
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2: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by Jonathan Ellis on 12/21/01 12:25 AM
something using this would strike me as a much better way to rewrite webmail...  users even have the option of using any imap client they want rather than the web interface.
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3: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by John Sequeira on 12/21/01 02:25 PM
Vlad,

That sounds pretty cool.  I have two questions:  If you've bound the interface to the client library,  does that mean that a client can connect to it as Jonathan suggests?  Or does it mean that the web server can now treat IMAP servers as a data source?

If it's the former,  then I think using IMAP folders could also be a pretty good second option for file-storage.  Does that sound possible?

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4: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by Vlad Seryakov on 12/21/01 03:44 PM
I don't quite understand about first option, but i think i implemented second one, server can be used as IMAP datasource, you can open many sessions to IMAP servers and retrieve/store information into mailboxes.
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5: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by Don Baccus on 12/21/01 05:23 PM
It might be possible to use the content repository as the interface to IMAP folders and content.

I wouldn't think of this as a replacement for the way file storage does stuff (for large content clearly the way to go is to use the option to map content to the server's file system).

But it would provide a nice layer to write a webmail package on top of, and would make integrating IMAP content and non-IMAP content in a package a snap.

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6: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by David Walker on 12/21/01 06:01 PM
I would prefer to see file storage implemented with a directory
structure using DAV than to see it as IMAP.  Windows already has
some support for treating DAV folders a lot like filesystem folders.
(I haven't delved into how the security would work or interact with
ACS permissions).
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7: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by Don Baccus on 12/21/01 07:18 PM
Again ... the place to do such mapping is in the content repository, which already has support for two mappings (db and the file system), letting you map to existing files in the filesystem, too (as used by static-pages).

This is all transparent to client packages like file storage.

Implementing CR mapping to IMAP doesn't exclude the possibility of mapping to DAV or whatever.

With the CR mapping to IMAP it would be possible to present seamless file and mail views to the user from file storage, but file storage isn't where the work should be done.

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8: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by John Sequeira on 12/21/01 08:12 PM
Don,

I believe we've got some nomenclature issues in this discussion.  Dave W and I were talking about implementing different _front_ ends to be able to browse oACS data... not about changing the storage structure on the back end or bypassing the CR mapping.

Imagine double clicking a folder icon from within Ximian's Evolution and browsing file-storage data,  or mounting a WebDAV folder in Windows Explorer that links to the same data.

I misunderstood Vlad's original post and thought that this was possible,  but in hindsight my question didn't make sense.  Using an IMAP server to proxy file-storage data is probably not worth it and clearly not what Vlad intended.

In general,  I find getting to oACS data w/non-browser clients via RSS/WebDAV/NNTP/IMAP/Jabber/etc pretty intriguing,  and that motivated my wishful thinking.

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9: Response to IMAP Aolserver module (response to 1)
Posted by Vlad Seryakov on 12/22/01 02:15 AM
Actually my intent was to build something similar PHP IMAP, because i am goign to build Web Mail app based on it.