Localized Mailbox Names

The IMAP protocol specifies that mailbox names use modified UTF-7 encoding. Messaging Server supports localized character sets on external interfaces so that mailbox names can be localized. Internally, however, the system converts the localized name to UTF-7. Thus, a folder that has a localize mailbox name on a client will have a corresponding mailbox file name in UTF-7. (Note that IMAP error messages will output mailbox names in UTF-7 and not the localized character set.)

In general, most message store utilities that require mailbox names expect the names in the localized character set, although they may have an option flag that allows a different character set to be used. These utilities include reconstruct, mboxutil, imsbackup, imsrestore, and hashdir. However, imexpire requires that the mailbox name, specified as the attribute folderpattern,be in UTF-7. Using a localized name will not work.

To obtain the appropriate folderpattern for imexpire it may be necessary to convert a localized mailbox name to the modified UTF-7 equivalent. This can be done using the mboxutil -E command as follows:

The first mboxutil shows the localized filename. The second mboxutil shows the filename in modified UTF-7. It is also possible to use the IMAP list command:

To convert the local charset to modified UTF-7 encoding, use the mboxutil command with the -E option:

Note that mboxutil -E can be used for any command that requires the use of a UTF-7 mailbox name including imexpire.