[VM] deleting messages on imap server

[prayner]

I'm switching from using the university's exchange server as a spool
file to an imap server. This is so I can also see my inbox from my
phone etc.
The result I would like is that messages remain on the server after I
access them via vm but that they are deleted on the server when I
delete them with `d' then synchronize. 
Thus I've
(setq vm-imap-expunge-after-retrieving nil)
since otherwise messages disappear from the server when they're cached
locally in vm.
Now I set vm-primary-inbox to the imap server and
m-x vm
gets my messages no problem.
I have a local cache and can delete things and vm-save-folder no problem.
Those changes, however, are not communicated to the server.
`S' saves the local changes but does nothing on the server and
vm-imap-synchronize says `this is not an imap folder'
I suspect the problem is in using vm-primary-inbox to refer to the
imap server since I also have the server listed in
vm-imap-account-alist
and synchronisation works fine there.
I can confirm that when accessed as vm-primary-inbox via m-x vm
the value of vm-folder-access-method is nil suggesting it's a local
folder.
Should this be 'imap in this context?
I'm happy to live with the suggestion that I should always use
vm-visit-imap-folder to access an imap server but in that case I might
suggest adding some documentation that vm-primary-inbox is not
recommended.
Can someone confirm that the behaviour I'm seeing is
expected and that vm-visit-imap-folder will in fact do what I want.
thanks in advance
Peter





since other

-- 
Peter Rayner
Leader, Clean Air and Urban Landscapes NESP hub <http://www.nespurban.edu.au>
room 343 
School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, 3010, Vic, Australia
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