Re: Deleting mail from server with pop3

[Scott Gifford <sgifford@suspectclass.com>]

Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net> writes:

> * Paul Moore <gustav@morpheus.demon.co.uk>  on Sun, 12 May 2002
> | What I would prefer would be to delete each message immediately after
> | it has been downloaded. I looked at the code in pop3.el, and there
> | doesn't seem to be a way to achieve this as the code stands. And my
> | elisp skills are definitely not up to something like this...
> 
> That is impossible given how POP works.
> 
> The DELE command marks messages for deletion.  The only time that a POP
> server will expunge messages from the spool is if the connection closes
> cleanly.  That is, when the client sends a QUIT command.  If the connection
> drops then the server will remove the DELE marks once the server timeout
> has elapsed.

Some servers work this way, some do not.  I used to use cucipop, which
didn't delete messages until a QUIT (although it had a compile-time
option to do the opposite); now my hosting provider users QPOP, and
that *does* delete messages if I just terminate the connection without
sending a QUIT.

One (annoying) way to get this behaviour guaranteed by all POP servers
is to fetch each message in its own POP session.  A compromise is to
fetch a batch of messages (5-10-25) in each session, so if you do get
duplicates, at least it won't be that many...

-----ScottG.