POP3 has no means to announce new messages. The only way to learn about
new messages is to exit the current POP3 session and open a new one. POP3
is not intended for online interactive use. POP3 is intended to be used
to open a session, download the messages, then close.
IMAP is the protocol for online interactive use; and IMAP has mechanisms
to announce new messages.
On Wed, 7 May 2008, Pelle posted:
> I've got some trouble understanding the POP3 RFC (that is RFC1939).
> Acquiring the lock on a maildrop is meant to prevent changes and
> deletion of any messages before the update-state is active.
> But what does a lock on a maildrop mean concerning incoming messages?
> I would assume that the user won't see any new messages while the
> mailddrop is locked. However, this is in contradiction to the
> behaviour of most e-Mail systems I have seen.
-- Mark --
http://panda.com/mrc
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
