### 2.1 Local Mailboxes ¶

Local mailboxes store mail in files on the local file system. A local mailbox URL is:

    type://path[;params]

The path defines its location in the file system. For example:

    mbox:///var/spool/mail/gray

Optional params is a semicolon-separated list of optional arguments that configures indexed directory structure. See local URL parameters, for a detailed description.

The local mailbox types are:

mbox ¶

  A traditional UNIX mailbox format. Messages are stored sequentially in a single file. Each message begins with a ‘`From`’ line, identifying its sender and date when it was received. A single empty line separates two adjacent messages.

  This is the default format.

maildir ¶

  The Maildir mailbox format. Each message is kept in a separate file with a unique name. Each mailbox is therefore a directory. This mailbox format eliminates file locking and makes message access much faster.

  This format was originally described by D. J. Bernstein in http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html.

mh ¶

  MH Message Handling System format. Each message is kept in a separate file named after its sequential numeric identifier within the mailbox. Deleted messages are not removed, but instead the corresponding file is renamed by prepending a comma to its original name. Each mailbox is a directory. Mailboxes can be nested.

  This format was originally developed by RAND Corporation. Mailutils implementation is compatible both with the original implementation and with its descendant nmh.

file ¶

  This type can be used when accessing an existing mailbox of any of the formats defined above. The actual mailbox format is determined automatically. This type is assumed when a mailbox is referred to by its full pathname.