Commenting on the entry about Getting Things Done in Apple Mail, a poster wrote:

I’ve noticed that when setting a tag to move to a smartfolder, it doesn’t actually move the original message to the folder instead it only copies it there. I find that not a useful feature, is there anyway around this ?

The reason a Mail Act-on rule can’t move a message to a smart mailbox is a simple one. Smart mailboxes don’t really exist. They are just dynamically-updating saved searches, the criteria for which are saved in an XML file called SmartMailboxes.plist in your Mail folder.

For example, after the jump you will find some of the code for my “Next Actions” smart mailbox from that file:

It is just a collection of keys and strings. You will see that this saved search collects together any email that is marked with either an “Untagged”, “Wait” or “Action” MailTags project tag. It also contains some information on how to display the messages.

There is no actual folder in my Mail folder where these emails are stored. They are all in the Inbox. Clicking on my Next Actions Smart Mailbox just activates this saved search and returns the results.

Tags: Apple Mail, smart mailbox

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This entry was posted on Thursday, 10th November, 2005 at 9:50 am and is filed under Apple Mail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.