Author: andrew.kuchling Date: Wed Jan 24 21:08:13 2007 New Revision: 53546 Modified: python/branches/release25-maint/Doc/lib/libmailbox.tex Log: Strengthen warning about using lock() Modified: python/branches/release25-maint/Doc/lib/libmailbox.tex ============================================================================== --- python/branches/release25-maint/Doc/lib/libmailbox.tex (original) +++ python/branches/release25-maint/Doc/lib/libmailbox.tex Wed Jan 24 21:08:13 2007 @@ -58,14 +58,18 @@ \exception{KeyError} exception if the corresponding message is subsequently removed. -Be very cautious when modifying mailboxes that might also be changed -by some other process. The safest mailbox format to use for such -tasks is Maildir; try to avoid using single-file formats such as mbox -for concurrent writing. If you're modifying a mailbox, no matter what -the format, you must lock it by calling the \method{lock()} and -\method{unlock()} methods before making any changes. Failing to lock -the mailbox runs the risk of losing data if some other process makes -changes to the mailbox while your Python code is running. +\begin{notice}[warning] +Be very cautious when modifying mailboxes that might be +simultaneously changed by some other process. The safest mailbox +format to use for such tasks is Maildir; try to avoid using +single-file formats such as mbox for concurrent writing. If you're +modifying a mailbox, you +\emph{must} lock it by calling the \method{lock()} and +\method{unlock()} methods \emph{before} reading any messages in the file +or making any changes by adding or deleting a message. Failing to +lock the mailbox runs the risk of losing messages or corrupting the entire +mailbox. +\end{notice} \class{Mailbox} instances have the following methods: