Re: [Jmap] Draft messages - mutability

[Neil Jenkins <[e-mail]>]

On Tue, 25 Apr 2017, at 11:02 AM, Chris Newman wrote:
> I see a lot of cost and no benefit to making a draft a different
> datatype from a message.

I don't see any benefit to making it a different data type. However,
what we currently have is that, like IMAP, a message is immutable except
for flags/mailboxes. This is a pain for client authors trying to keep
track of a single draft as it is saved through multiple revisions
(especially when the user has multiple clients). One possible solution
to this is to simply say any message with the \Draft flag set is fully
mutable (while keeping the same id). I think we would also want the
server to enforce that a message cannot be changed from/to draft state
after creation. If it starts a draft it stays a draft, or vice versa.
>From a protocol perspective, since most messages won't be drafts (with a
normal user) you still get the efficiency of immutable messages (you
only have to refetch flags/mailboxes, not the whole message) for most of
the messages in the mail store. But it will be easier for MUAs to handle
drafts, and particularly allow for a much better experience when editing
the same draft message across multiple devices.
Neil.