Editing a draft with a different "From:" address

[StR]

Kostya,

Today, I encountered an interesting edge case.
First, I started writing an e-mail in a different client (IMAP), then I saved a draft their.
That draft had a "From:" address (identity in terms of Aquamail) that is not configured for this account in Aquamail.
Then, I went to Drafts in Aquamail with the intent to complete and send the message.
When I clicked on the message in the message list, Aquamail opened an editor, but the saved e-mail body was positioned as if it was a forwarded message (with a check mark to exclude it and an option to edit it in place).

While finishing the message (I edited it "in place"), - I got distracted to a different app (phone). So, Aquamail automatically saved the message to Drafts.
So, when I opened that same message in the first client, the message (obviously) lost the original "From:".
(Just in case: the message is in plain text in both clients.)

I understand that Aqua is working here as intended by the creator, so it is not really a bug.
But here is what my concerns are, and what I'd wish to be different.
1. Once I opened the Draft message in Aquamail, I've lost the draft with the original "From:" no matter what:
If Aqua saves a draft, it overwrites the old one. If I tell Aqua "cancel", it will probably delete that draft completely (haven't tested that really, didn't want to risk it).
And looking at the message list I have no way of telling that the message has a different "From:".

2. I am guessing that the logic behind this behavior is: ok, this message doesn't seem to be from here, so, we must be "forwarding" it. But then, I am not sure if overwriting the original "Draft" is in line with that intent.
(On another hand, I am guessing, you don't want to leave a ghosty draft behind as some other clients happily do even in a standard situation.)

3. So, what I'd want and expect to happen?

In the ideal world, - I'd want that "From:" to be preserved with an option of replacing it with the configured identities (at the time of sending,  or at the beginning and at the time of sending, as it happens when writing a reply).
I understand that you might have a hesitation: no, that identity is not configured here, so, the message might bounce. But if I am messing with identities at that level, I probably know what I am doing.
(I can see a scenario when someone by mistake saves an incoming message to Drafts, and then, can get confused. Still ...)

Also, I am thinking aloud: probably, it would be nice to see the "From:" in the message list in Drafts, - at least for those messages that have it different from the known identities. Or, maybe it will make it too messy... I don't know.

[Kostya Vasilyev]

Any draft content synced from the mail server is shown as "quoted" -- but it's really not, it's not indented, and there is no "Such and such wrote this and that back then" header above it.

The only reason the text is not shown right in the editor is -- it may be HTML, and it may have arbitrarily complex formatting which the rich text editor won't be able to show.

This may seem somewhat confusing, but -- I feel that this is preferable to only keeping the plain text part and losing all formatting.

If you write something new (above the "quoted but not really quoted" existing content) -- it will be merged, when sending, together with the "existing content", as seamlessly as possible. No "quoting header", no indentation or horizontal line to separate the two.


Now the "from" issue is entirely unrelated.

Yes, the app has its own idea about who the sender (the from address) really is, and it would be quite difficult to preserve it from the original draft (e.g. what if you switch the "from" account / identity while on the compose screen?)

[StR]

Any draft content synced from the mail server is shown as "quoted" -- but it's really not, it's not indented, and there is no "Such and such wrote this and that back then" header above it.

The only reason the text is not shown right in the editor is -- it may be HTML, and it may have arbitrarily complex formatting which the rich text editor won't be able to show.

This may seem somewhat confusing, but -- I feel that this is preferable to only keeping the plain text part and losing all formatting.

If you write something new (above the "quoted but not really quoted" existing content) -- it will be merged, when sending, together with the "existing content", as seamlessly as possible. No "quoting header", no indentation or horizontal line to separate the two.

I agree with your approach for the HTML portion. (That's why I mentioned that I had plain text.) - I understand now that Aqua just doesn't differentiate its behavior.
This part was just unexpected.
 

Now the "from" issue is entirely unrelated.

Yes, the app has its own idea about who the sender (the from address) really is, and it would be quite difficult to preserve it from the original draft (e.g. what if you switch the "from" account / identity while on the compose screen?)

I understand that it might be hard to decide what's the preferred behavior.
(Even though I don't think I quite understand your argument "what if you switch the "from" account / identity while on the compose screen?"  I.e., f it is switched, - then it is switched, that's what I've done, hopefully continuously.)

While I logically understand why Aqua did what it did, I feel sort of "cheated": once I opened the message, I had no way of backing away without ANY changes. I.e. there is no way of looking at that draft message without modifying (read: messing it up). For comparison, Thunderbird gives a possibility to view a draft message without changing it. (I understand, there is a difference between a desktop and a mobile device, but...)
But even that part is not as important as a fact that I had no control over the fate of that message.
I guess, what would be helpful in this case (as a smallest thing that should not affect the rest) is the ability to say: get out of this message without modifying it. ("Cancel changes, keep the draft as it was.")


@Paris Geek:

you case is really an edge one: other app + identity + phone ringing at the same time etc.

Actually, - the phone ringing is what happened in my case, - but if you think carefully, re-reading my description, you'll see that the phone ring didn't play any role: the message was "doomed" (to be modified).

But I see your point about "Primum non nocere".

[mikeone]

@StR @Paris Geek

But I see your point about "Primum non nocere".

However, the quote is fully:
"primum non nocere, secundum cavere, tertium sanare"

[StR]

However, the quote is fully:
"primum non nocere, secundum cavere, tertium sanare"

... and
Noli illegitimi carborundum 

[Kostya Vasilyev]

Re: editing text/plain vs. text/html

Consistency. Avoiding questions like "why is my draft sometimes shown below and sometimes in the editor".

Re: once I opened the message, I had no way of backing away without ANY changes

There is - tapping the Back key and if necessary choosing "discard changes".

But if the window gets "paused" unexpectedly, e.g. a phone call -- yes, this will save without prompting. It has to.