/**
  * Fetches index data from IMAP server
  */
 private function get_index_data($mailbox, $sort_field, $sort_order, $mbox_data = array())
 {
     if (empty($mbox_data)) {
         $mbox_data = $this->imap->folder_data($mailbox);
     }
     if ($mbox_data['EXISTS']) {
         // fetch sorted sequence numbers
         $index = $this->imap->index_direct($mailbox, $sort_field, $sort_order);
     } else {
         $index = new rcube_result_index($mailbox, '* SORT');
     }
     return $index;
 }