Problem
Soft Deleted documents are being deleted almost immediately rather than after the number of hours specified in the Database properties. This issue typically occurs when a mail database is closed and then re-opened. In some cases it may take a number of minutes (perhaps 10 to 15 min) to observe the issue, but in other cases it occurs when the database is closed and immediately re-opened.
This issue is observed with databases (including mail files) created using Notes 6.5.3 FP1 and Notes 6.5.4, as well as Notes mail files which have been upgraded to those releases from Notes 4.x. The issue is not dependent on the version of the Notes 6.x mail template being used.
The issue is not specific to databases based on the Notes mail template, and it can occur in databases based on custom templates which initially have the Database property "Allow Soft Deletions" enabled, but have not had the "Soft Delete Expire Time in Hours" option reset from the default value of 48.
The issue does not occur in cases where a template design has been modified so that the Database property "Allow Soft Deletions" is disabled initially.
Solution
This issue occurs because an internal database header setting for the soft deletion time is being written as 0 unexpectedly when creating new databases or when upgrading older databases which do not have the setting previously. This issue has been reported to Quality Engineering as SPR# KYOE6B9929, and is currently under investigation.
It is a regression issue which occurred as an unintended effect of the fix for the issue described in the following document:
"Users Change Soft Delete Timeout but Documents Still Removed from Trash Folder after 48 Hours" (# 1169807).
Workarounds
To avoid the issue in the future:
Modify the deletion hours setting in the mail template. This can be done using either the Notes client or the Domino Designer client. Open the database, select File > Database > Properties, and go to the Beanie tab in the InfoBox for Database properties. Set the "Soft delete expire time in hours" setting to a different value (the default is 48) and click on the arrow to accept the new value. Now reset the setting back to the desired value.
To avoid the issue with existing mail files:
Method #1: In the User Interface
The users should change the soft deletion expire time to a new value and then back to the original or desired value. For example, if the value is 48 (the default), set it to 49 and then back to 48. To access the expire time, select the database and from the menu select File > Database > Properties. Go to the Beanie tab (last tab) in the InfoBox for Database properties. Set the "Soft Delete Expire Time in Hours" property to a different value and click on the arrow to accept the new value. Now reset the setting back to the desired value and click on the arrow.
Method #2: Programmatic change to the mail template
Add the following code to the mail template's Database Script PostOpen event. The Database Script design element is listed under Other > Database Resources in Domino Designer.
Note: Simply disabling and re-enabling using the SetOption method does not result in the header entry being updated as desired.
Dim hours As Integer
Set db=source.Database
If db.getoption(dbopt_softdelete) Then
hours%=db.undeleteexpiretime
db.undeleteexpiretime=hours%+1
db.undeleteexpiretime=hours%
End If
MOD