Inbox not from IMAP root (prefix) folder

[golem]

Hi,
I created a "root" folder on the Yahoo Email server, which contains subfolders for INBOX, Sent Items, Deleted Items etc. (since the latest Outlook versions do not allow to change IMAP folders individually anymore). I set up the Email account on AquaMail using the "root" prefix, and it works fine for Sent Items, Deleted Items etc., but the inbox is still synced with the original (parent) one, not the one in the subfolder "root". The "Folders" menu apparently only shows the original inbox, not the correct "root/INBOX".
Thanks for pointing out what's going wrong.
Best,
golem

[StR]

As far as I know, there is only one "INBOX" in IMAP server. (It's the same for POP3, and probably for EWS, ...)
In any case, - the notion which folder is "Inbox" is internal for the server, and you cannot change that, regardless of the name of other folders.

Also, just in case, - keep in mind that even though Aquamail will treat the folders you created (Sent, Deleted) as such, if you set the appropriate designation ("Sync as [sent]", "Sync as [deleted]"), but,
The server will not understand that. So, if you were to do something in Yahoo web interface (delete messages, send messages), - Yahoo server will save the sent and deleted messages in the respective "original" folders, not in those those you created for Aquamail under "root/".

[golem]

I still think there should be a way to use a different folder as Inbox, just as the Sent and Deleted folders. I was looking for an option to designate "Sync as [inbox]", or even that the Inbox in the specified root folder is taken as default Inbox. At least this is the way Outlook 2013 and 2016 handle it, which is why I can only use the "root\Inbox" from Outlook.
Personally I don't mind having my Inbox in a subfolder on the web interface, I never use it.
To be clear, my folder structure on the server looks like this:

<parent>
   Inbox (Yahoo default)
   Sent (Yahoo default)
   Deleted (Yahoo default)
   <root>
      INBOX (new)
      Sent Items (new)
      Deleted Items (new)

Outlook takes everything from within the <root> folder when specifying its name as folder prefix. AquaMail only takes Sent and Deleted from the root-folder, but the Inbox from the parent folder.
Would be great to have this, I can't see any other way of using both Outlook and AquaMail with an alternative Yahoo Deleted folder (which is necessary because Yahoo permanently deletes messages from Deleted without warning).
Thanks,
golem

[StR]

The behavior of INBOX is different from all other boxes/folders. It is defined by the corresponding IMAP protocol standard (RFC):
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501

   The case-insensitive mailbox name INBOX is a special name reserved to
   mean "the primary mailbox for this user on this server".  The
   interpretation of all other names is implementation-dependent.

(emphasis is mine)

I might be wrong (in which case Kostya will correct me when he chimes in), - but I believe there is certain special functionality implemented by IMAP protocol with respect INBOX only. So, what you are suggesting would essentially mean disregarding all the conventions and working around the protocol standards in order to emulate the same behavior on a different set of folders.
Even if it would be fully possible from the programming point of view, that will likely require some additional effort (possibly a considerable one), the question would be "Why?"
(As in "Why reinvent the wheel that has been designed, standardized, and is working fine, - especially if you are not offering any cardinal advantages?")

Yes, you can build a bike with square wheels, and you can even ride it under special conditions (See, e.g., https://www.sciencenews.org/article/riding-square-wheels ), and it is fun to build and run it. But you would not be building it for selling in stores, would you?

[mikeone]

(since the latest Outlook versions do not allow to change IMAP folders individually anymore).

Correct, you cannot move or rename default folders such as Inbox, Deleted Items, or Calendar:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Move-or-rename-a-folder-e20fedab-6214-4648-a0bf-937d8e05f170

In addition to that Outlook doesn’t allow you to change the names of the default Outlook folders such as your Inbox, Sent Items, Calendar and Contacts folder. The “Rename Folder” option for these folders is simply disabled (greyed out).

The reasoning behind this is mainly based on standardization and to prevent accidental renaming.

[golem]

Hi,
ok, I guess this issue is indeed not important, because I just realized that Outlook also includes the parent (default) Inbox, even when using an IMAP prefix folder. So now I just use all the IMAP folders I need except INBOX from the "root" subfolders (which is how Outlook needs it), and the default Inbox. Problem solved.
As for the "Why": Now this is indeed not an issue anymore, although I would have considered it pretty important if there was no other way to use both Outlook and Aquamail with alternative Trash folder. Also I had a good laugh when I saw this discussion on Latin Spanish and Spanish Spanish, and people asking for a region-specific Spanish in their free/cheap Mail app... no offense, but there is probably a bigger difference between German German and Austrian or Swiss German, and I could not think of a reason asking for such a feature... anyhow, keep going, and if you ever release a desktop version of AquaMail I will be the first to trash Outlook for good.
golem

[Kostya Vasilyev]

AquaMail 1) can request the IMAP prefix automatically (the NAMESPACE extension) or 2) let you enter one.

However:

INBOX is always INBOX, even if there is a prefix in use (as @mikeone wrote above).

Consider this folder listing from Fastmail, which uses a predefined INBOX as its prefix (and yeah, whoever thought it was a good idea to call the default namespace exactly same as a very special folder... I'll answer this, the developers of Dovecot and Cyrus...)

k1 namespace
* NAMESPACE (("INBOX." ".")) (("user." ".")) (("" "."))

k2 list "" "*"
* LIST (\HasChildren) "." INBOX
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." "INBOX.0 e-carte"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Archive) "." INBOX.Archive
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Drafts) "." INBOX.Drafts
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.Fedora
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.Important
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.Inbox.nested1
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.Inbox.nested2
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Junk) "." "INBOX.Junk Mail"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.Linode
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \XNotes) "." INBOX.Notes
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.Samples
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Sent) "." "INBOX.Sent Items"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren \Trash) "." INBOX.Trash
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.migrated.Drafts
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.migrated.Inbox
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.migrated.Notes
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.migrated.Sent
* LIST (\HasChildren) "." INBOX.migrated.dovecot
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." "INBOX.migrated.dovecot.nested inside 3"
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.migrated.imap-protocol
* LIST (\HasChildren) "." INBOX.test1
* LIST (\HasChildren) "." INBOX.test1.test2
* LIST (\HasNoChildren) "." INBOX.test1.test2.test3

I guess the only thing where Aqua comes up short here is -- it should let you access both folders, the "real" INBOX and your "nested" INBOX.INBOX. This could be considered a bug, but it's such a rare case...