X-Git-Url: http://git.madism.org/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fmanual.txt;h=24cf9c683f5228df8247784e556fa764de89803d;hb=ef6cefebd708b73cf06da24eda4a919448f1e965;hp=6c8cec7993c17c968e09852573a2c04cb6afb7ff;hpb=58fbf95737a7601f6e139e39b9f69d102c7e858d;p=apps%2Fmadmutt.git diff --git a/doc/manual.txt b/doc/manual.txt index 6c8cec7..24cf9c6 100644 --- a/doc/manual.txt +++ b/doc/manual.txt @@ -1,7820 +1,10274 @@ - The Mutt E-Mail Client - by Michael Elkins - version 1.5.8 - - ``All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less.'' -me, circa 1995 - ______________________________________________________________________ - - Table of Contents - - 1. Introduction - 1.1 Mutt Home Page - 1.2 Mutt-ng Home Page - 1.3 Mailing Lists - 1.4 Software Distribution Sites - 1.5 IRC - 1.6 Weblog - 1.7 Copyright - - 2. Getting Started - 2.1 Moving Around in Menus - 2.2 Editing Input Fields - 2.3 Reading Mail - The Index and Pager - 2.3.1 The Message Index - 2.3.1.1 Status Flags - 2.3.2 The Pager - 2.3.3 Threaded Mode - 2.3.4 Miscellaneous Functions - 2.4 Sending Mail - 2.4.1 Editing the message header - 2.4.2 Using Mutt with PGP - 2.4.3 Sending anonymous messages via mixmaster. - 2.5 Forwarding and Bouncing Mail - 2.6 Postponing Mail - 2.7 Reading news via NNTP - - 3. Configuration - 3.1 Syntax of Initialization Files - 3.2 Defining/Using aliases - 3.3 Changing the default key bindings - 3.4 Defining aliases for character sets - 3.5 Setting variables based upon mailbox - 3.6 Keyboard macros - 3.7 Using color and mono video attributes - 3.8 Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers - 3.9 Alternative addresses - 3.10 Mailing lists - 3.11 Using Multiple spool mailboxes - 3.12 Defining mailboxes which receive mail - 3.13 User defined headers - 3.14 Defining the order of headers when viewing messages - 3.15 Specify default save filename - 3.16 Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing - 3.17 Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at once - 3.18 Change settings based upon message recipients - 3.19 Change settings before formatting a message - 3.20 Choosing the cryptographic key of the recipient - 3.21 Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer - 3.22 Executing functions - 3.23 Message Scoring - 3.24 Spam detection - 3.25 Setting variables - 3.26 Reading initialization commands from another file - 3.27 Removing hooks - - 4. Advanced Usage - 4.1 Regular Expressions - 4.2 Patterns - 4.2.1 Pattern Modifier - 4.2.2 Complex Patterns - 4.2.3 Searching by Date - 4.3 Using Tags - 4.4 Using Hooks - 4.4.1 Message Matching in Hooks - 4.5 Usingg the sidebar - 4.6 External Address Queries - 4.7 Mailbox Formats - 4.8 Mailbox Shortcuts - 4.9 Handling Mailing Lists - 4.10 Editing threads - 4.10.1 Linking threads - 4.10.2 Breaking threads - 4.11 Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support - 4.12 POP3 Support (OPTIONAL) - 4.13 IMAP Support (OPTIONAL) - 4.13.1 The Folder Browser - 4.13.2 Authentication - 4.14 Managing multiple IMAP/POP accounts (OPTIONAL) - 4.15 Start a WWW Browser on URLs (EXTERNAL) - 4.16 Compressed folders Support (OPTIONAL) - 4.16.1 Open a compressed mailbox for reading - 4.16.2 Write a compressed mailbox - 4.16.3 Append a message to a compressed mailbox - 4.16.4 Encrypted folders - - 5. Mutt's MIME Support - 5.1 Using MIME in Mutt - 5.1.1 Viewing MIME messages in the pager - 5.1.2 The Attachment Menu - 5.1.3 The Compose Menu - 5.2 MIME Type configuration with mime.types - 5.3 MIME Viewer configuration with mailcap - 5.3.1 The Basics of the mailcap file - 5.3.2 Secure use of mailcap - 5.3.3 Advanced mailcap Usage - 5.3.3.1 Optional Fields - 5.3.3.2 Search Order - 5.3.3.3 Command Expansion - 5.3.4 Example mailcap files - 5.4 MIME Autoview - 5.5 MIME Multipart/Alternative - 5.6 MIME Lookup - - 6. Reference - 6.1 Command line options - 6.2 Configuration Commands - 6.3 Configuration variables - 6.3.1 abort_nosubject - 6.3.2 abort_unmodified - 6.3.3 alias_file - 6.3.4 alias_format - 6.3.5 allow_8bit - 6.3.6 allow_ansi - 6.3.7 arrow_cursor - 6.3.8 ascii_chars - 6.3.9 ask_follow_up - 6.3.10 ask_x_comment_to - 6.3.11 askbcc - 6.3.12 askcc - 6.3.13 assumed_charset - 6.3.14 attach_format - 6.3.15 attach_sep - 6.3.16 attach_split - 6.3.17 attribution - 6.3.18 auto_tag - 6.3.19 autoedit - 6.3.20 beep - 6.3.21 beep_new - 6.3.22 bounce - 6.3.23 bounce_delivered - 6.3.24 catchup_newsgroup - 6.3.25 certificate_file - 6.3.26 charset - 6.3.27 check_new - 6.3.28 collapse_unread - 6.3.29 compose_format - 6.3.30 config_charset - 6.3.31 confirmappend - 6.3.32 confirmcreate - 6.3.33 connect_timeout - 6.3.34 content_type - 6.3.35 copy - 6.3.36 crypt_autoencrypt - 6.3.37 crypt_autopgp - 6.3.38 crypt_autosign - 6.3.39 crypt_autosmime - 6.3.40 crypt_replyencrypt - 6.3.41 crypt_replysign - 6.3.42 crypt_replysignencrypted - 6.3.43 crypt_timestamp - 6.3.44 crypt_use_gpgme - 6.3.45 crypt_verify_sig - 6.3.46 date_format - 6.3.47 default_hook - 6.3.48 delete - 6.3.49 delete_untag - 6.3.50 digest_collapse - 6.3.51 display_filter - 6.3.52 dotlock_program - 6.3.53 dsn_notify - 6.3.54 dsn_return - 6.3.55 duplicate_threads - 6.3.56 edit_headers - 6.3.57 editor - 6.3.58 encode_from - 6.3.59 envelope_from - 6.3.60 escape - 6.3.61 fast_reply - 6.3.62 fcc_attach - 6.3.63 fcc_clear - 6.3.64 file_charset - 6.3.65 folder - 6.3.66 folder_format - 6.3.67 followup_to - 6.3.68 followup_to_poster - 6.3.69 force_name - 6.3.70 forward_decode - 6.3.71 forward_decrypt - 6.3.72 forward_edit - 6.3.73 forward_format - 6.3.74 forward_quote - 6.3.75 from - 6.3.76 gecos_mask - 6.3.77 group_index_format - 6.3.78 hdrs - 6.3.79 header - 6.3.80 help - 6.3.81 hidden_host - 6.3.82 hide_limited - 6.3.83 hide_missing - 6.3.84 hide_thread_subject - 6.3.85 hide_top_limited - 6.3.86 hide_top_missing - 6.3.87 history - 6.3.88 honor_followup_to - 6.3.89 hostname - 6.3.90 ignore_list_reply_to - 6.3.91 imap_authenticators - 6.3.92 imap_delim_chars - 6.3.93 imap_force_ssl - 6.3.94 imap_headers - 6.3.95 imap_home_namespace - 6.3.96 imap_keepalive - 6.3.97 imap_list_subscribed - 6.3.98 imap_pass - 6.3.99 imap_passive - 6.3.100 imap_peek - 6.3.101 imap_reconnect - 6.3.102 imap_servernoise - 6.3.103 imap_user - 6.3.104 implicit_autoview - 6.3.105 include - 6.3.106 include_onlyfirst - 6.3.107 indent_string - 6.3.108 index_format - 6.3.109 inews - 6.3.110 ispell - 6.3.111 keep_flagged - 6.3.112 list_reply - 6.3.113 locale - 6.3.114 mail_check - 6.3.115 mailcap_path - 6.3.116 mailcap_sanitize - 6.3.117 maildir_trash - 6.3.118 mark_old - 6.3.119 markers - 6.3.120 mask - 6.3.121 max_line_length - 6.3.122 mbox - 6.3.123 mbox_type - 6.3.124 menu_context - 6.3.125 menu_scroll - 6.3.126 message_format - 6.3.127 meta_key - 6.3.128 metoo - 6.3.129 mh_purge - 6.3.130 mh_seq_flagged - 6.3.131 mh_seq_replied - 6.3.132 mh_seq_unseen - 6.3.133 mime_forward - 6.3.134 mime_forward_decode - 6.3.135 mime_forward_rest - 6.3.136 mime_subject - 6.3.137 mix_entry_format - 6.3.138 mixmaster - 6.3.139 move - 6.3.140 msgid_format - 6.3.141 narrow_tree - 6.3.142 news_cache_dir - 6.3.143 news_server - 6.3.144 newsrc - 6.3.145 nntp_context - 6.3.146 nntp_load_description - 6.3.147 nntp_pass - 6.3.148 nntp_poll - 6.3.149 nntp_reconnect - 6.3.150 nntp_user - 6.3.151 operating_system - 6.3.152 pager - 6.3.153 pager_context - 6.3.154 pager_format - 6.3.155 pager_index_lines - 6.3.156 pager_stop - 6.3.157 pgp_auto_decode - 6.3.158 pgp_autoinline - 6.3.159 pgp_check_exit - 6.3.160 pgp_clearsign_command - 6.3.161 pgp_decode_command - 6.3.162 pgp_decrypt_command - 6.3.163 pgp_encrypt_only_command - 6.3.164 pgp_encrypt_sign_command - 6.3.165 pgp_entry_format - 6.3.166 pgp_export_command - 6.3.167 pgp_getkeys_command - 6.3.168 pgp_good_sign - 6.3.169 pgp_ignore_subkeys - 6.3.170 pgp_import_command - 6.3.171 pgp_list_pubring_command - 6.3.172 pgp_list_secring_command - 6.3.173 pgp_long_ids - 6.3.174 pgp_mime_auto - 6.3.175 pgp_replyinline - 6.3.176 pgp_retainable_sigs - 6.3.177 pgp_show_unusable - 6.3.178 pgp_sign_as - 6.3.179 pgp_sign_command - 6.3.180 pgp_sort_keys - 6.3.181 pgp_strict_enc - 6.3.182 pgp_timeout - 6.3.183 pgp_use_gpg_agent - 6.3.184 pgp_verify_command - 6.3.185 pgp_verify_key_command - 6.3.186 pipe_decode - 6.3.187 pipe_sep - 6.3.188 pipe_split - 6.3.189 pop_auth_try_all - 6.3.190 pop_authenticators - 6.3.191 pop_checkinterval - 6.3.192 pop_delete - 6.3.193 pop_host - 6.3.194 pop_last - 6.3.195 pop_pass - 6.3.196 pop_reconnect - 6.3.197 pop_user - 6.3.198 post_indent_string - 6.3.199 post_moderated - 6.3.200 postpone - 6.3.201 postponed - 6.3.202 preconnect - 6.3.203 print - 6.3.204 print_command - 6.3.205 print_decode - 6.3.206 print_split - 6.3.207 prompt_after - 6.3.208 query_command - 6.3.209 quit - 6.3.210 quote_empty - 6.3.211 quote_quoted - 6.3.212 quote_regexp - 6.3.213 read_inc - 6.3.214 read_only - 6.3.215 realname - 6.3.216 recall - 6.3.217 record - 6.3.218 reply_regexp - 6.3.219 reply_self - 6.3.220 reply_to - 6.3.221 resolve - 6.3.222 reverse_alias - 6.3.223 reverse_name - 6.3.224 reverse_realname - 6.3.225 rfc2047_parameters - 6.3.226 save_address - 6.3.227 save_empty - 6.3.228 save_name - 6.3.229 save_unsubscribed - 6.3.230 score - 6.3.231 score_threshold_delete - 6.3.232 score_threshold_flag - 6.3.233 score_threshold_read - 6.3.234 send_charset - 6.3.235 sendmail - 6.3.236 sendmail_wait - 6.3.237 shell - 6.3.238 shorten_hierarchy - 6.3.239 show_new_news - 6.3.240 show_only_unread - 6.3.241 sidebar_delim - 6.3.242 sidebar_visible - 6.3.243 sidebar_width - 6.3.244 sig_dashes - 6.3.245 sig_on_top - 6.3.246 signature - 6.3.247 signoff_string - 6.3.248 simple_search - 6.3.249 sleep_time - 6.3.250 smart_wrap - 6.3.251 smileys - 6.3.252 smime_ask_cert_label - 6.3.253 smime_ca_location - 6.3.254 smime_certificates - 6.3.255 smime_decrypt_command - 6.3.256 smime_decrypt_use_default_key - 6.3.257 smime_default_key - 6.3.258 smime_encrypt_command - 6.3.259 smime_encrypt_with - 6.3.260 smime_get_cert_command - 6.3.261 smime_get_cert_email_command - 6.3.262 smime_get_signer_cert_command - 6.3.263 smime_import_cert_command - 6.3.264 smime_is_default - 6.3.265 smime_keys - 6.3.266 smime_pk7out_command - 6.3.267 smime_sign_command - 6.3.268 smime_sign_opaque_command - 6.3.269 smime_timeout - 6.3.270 smime_verify_command - 6.3.271 smime_verify_opaque_command - 6.3.272 smtp_auth_password - 6.3.273 smtp_auth_username - 6.3.274 smtp_host - 6.3.275 smtp_port - 6.3.276 sort - 6.3.277 sort_alias - 6.3.278 sort_aux - 6.3.279 sort_browser - 6.3.280 sort_re - 6.3.281 spam_separator - 6.3.282 spoolfile - 6.3.283 ssl_ca_certificates_file - 6.3.284 ssl_client_cert - 6.3.285 ssl_min_dh_prime_bits - 6.3.286 ssl_starttls - 6.3.287 ssl_use_sslv3 - 6.3.288 ssl_use_tlsv1 - 6.3.289 status_chars - 6.3.290 status_format - 6.3.291 status_on_top - 6.3.292 strict_mime - 6.3.293 strict_threads - 6.3.294 stuff_quoted - 6.3.295 suspend - 6.3.296 text_flowed - 6.3.297 thorough_search - 6.3.298 thread_received - 6.3.299 tilde - 6.3.300 timeout - 6.3.301 tmpdir - 6.3.302 to_chars - 6.3.303 trash - 6.3.304 tunnel - 6.3.305 umask - 6.3.306 uncollapse_jump - 6.3.307 use_8bitmime - 6.3.308 use_domain - 6.3.309 use_from - 6.3.310 user_agent - 6.3.311 visual - 6.3.312 wait_key - 6.3.313 weed - 6.3.314 wrap_search - 6.3.315 wrapmargin - 6.3.316 write_bcc - 6.3.317 write_inc - 6.3.318 x_comment_to - 6.3.319 xterm_icon - 6.3.320 xterm_set_titles - 6.3.321 xterm_title - 6.4 Functions - 6.4.1 generic - 6.4.2 index - 6.4.3 pager - 6.4.4 alias - 6.4.5 query - 6.4.6 attach - 6.4.7 compose - 6.4.8 postpone - 6.4.9 browser - 6.4.10 pgp - 6.4.11 editor - - 7. Miscellany - 7.1 Acknowledgements - 7.2 About this document - - ______________________________________________________________________ - - 11.. IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn - - MMuutttt is a small but very powerful text-based MIME mail client. Mutt - is highly configurable, and is well suited to the mail power user with - advanced features like key bindings, keyboard macros, mail threading, - regular expression searches and a powerful pattern matching language - for selecting groups of messages. - - This documentation additionaly contains documentation to MMuutttt--NNGG, a - fork from Mutt with the goal to fix all the little annoyances of Mutt, - to integrate all the Mutt patches that are floating around in the web, - and to add other new features. Features specific to Mutt-ng will be - discussed in an extra section. Don't be confused when most of the - documentation talk about Mutt and not Mutt-ng, Mutt-ng contains all - Mutt-ng features, plus many more. - - 11..11.. MMuutttt HHoommee PPaaggee - - http://www.mutt.org/ - - 11..22.. MMuutttt--nngg HHoommee PPaaggee - - http://mutt-ng.berlios.de/ - - 11..33.. MMaaiilliinngg LLiissttss - - +o mutt-ng-users@lists.berlios.de -- This is where the mutt-ng user - support happens. - - +o mutt-ng-devel@lists.berlios.de -- The development mailing list for - mutt-ng - - 11..44.. SSooffttwwaarree DDiissttrriibbuuttiioonn SSiitteess - - So far, there are no official releases of Mutt-ng, but you can - download daily snapshots from http://mutt-ng.berlios.de/snapshots/ - - 11..55.. IIRRCC - - Visit channel _#_m_u_t_t_n_g on irc.freenode.net (www.freenode.net) to chat - with other people interested in Mutt-ng. - - 11..66.. WWeebblloogg - - If you want to read fresh news about the latest development in Mutt- - ng, and get informed about stuff like interesting, Mutt-ng-related - articles and packages for your favorite distribution, you can read - and/or subscribe to our Mutt-ng development weblog. - - 11..77.. CCooppyyrriigghhtt - - Mutt is Copyright (C) 1996-2000 Michael R. Elkins and + The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client + + by Andreas Krennmair and others originally based on mutt by Michael Elkins and others - This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify - it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by - the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at - your option) any later version. - - This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but - WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of - MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU - General Public License for more details. - - You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License - along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software - Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA. - - 22.. GGeettttiinngg SSttaarrtteedd - - This section is intended as a brief overview of how to use Mutt. - There are many other features which are described elsewhere in the - manual. There is even more information available in the Mutt FAQ and - various web pages. See the Mutt Page for more details. - - The keybindings described in this section are the defaults as - distributed. Your local system administrator may have altered the - defaults for your site. You can always type ``?'' in any menu to - display the current bindings. - - The first thing you need to do is invoke mutt, simply by typing mutt - at the command line. There are various command-line options, see - either the mutt man page or the ``reference''. - - 22..11.. MMoovviinngg AArroouunndd iinn MMeennuuss - - Information is presented in menus, very similar to ELM. Here is a - table showing the common keys used to navigate menus in Mutt. - - j or Down next-entry move to the next entry - k or Up previous-entry move to the previous entry - z or PageDn page-down go to the next page - Z or PageUp page-up go to the previous page - = or Home first-entry jump to the first entry - * or End last-entry jump to the last entry - q quit exit the current menu - ? help list all keybindings for the current menu - - 22..22.. EEddiittiinngg IInnppuutt FFiieellddss - - Mutt has a builtin line editor which is used as the primary way to - input textual data such as email addresses or filenames. The keys - used to move around while editing are very similar to those of Emacs. - - ^A or bol move to the start of the line - ^B or backward-char move back one char - Esc B backward-word move back one word - ^D or delete-char delete the char under the cursor - ^E or eol move to the end of the line - ^F or forward-char move forward one char - Esc F forward-word move forward one word - complete complete filename or alias - ^T complete-query complete address with query - ^K kill-eol delete to the end of the line - ESC d kill-eow delete to the end ot the word - ^W kill-word kill the word in front of the cursor - ^U kill-line delete entire line - ^V quote-char quote the next typed key - history-up recall previous string from history - history-down recall next string from history - backspace kill the char in front of the cursor - Esc u upcase-word convert word to upper case - Esc l downcase-word convert word to lower case - Esc c capitalize-word capitalize the word - ^G n/a abort - n/a finish editing + version devel-r473 + + Abstract + + Michael Elinks on mutt, circa 1995: ``All mail clients suck. This one just + sucks less.'' - Sven Guckes on mutt, ca. 2003: ``But it still sucks!'' + + -------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + Table of Contents + + 1. Introduction + + 1. Overview + + 2. Mutt-ng Home Page + + 3. Mailing Lists + + 4. Software Distribution Sites + + 5. IRC + + 6. Weblog + + 7. Copyright + + 2. Getting Started + + 1. Basic Concepts + + 1.1. Screens and Menus + + 1.2. Configuration + + 1.3. Functions + + 1.4. Interaction + + 1.5. Modularization + + 1.6. Patterns + + 2. Screens and Menus + + 2.1. Index + + 2.2. Pager + + 2.3. File Browser + + 2.4. Sidebar + + 2.5. Help + + 2.6. Compose Menu + + 2.7. Alias Menu + + 2.8. Attachment Menu + + 2.9. Key Menu + + 3. Moving Around in Menus + + 4. Editing Input Fields + + 5. Reading Mail - The Index and Pager + + 5.1. The Message Index + + 5.2. The Pager + + 5.3. Threaded Mode + + 5.4. Miscellaneous Functions + + 6. Sending Mail + + 6.1. Composing new messages + + 6.2. Replying + + 6.3. Editing the message header + + 6.4. Using Mutt-ng with PGP + + 6.5. Sending anonymous messages via mixmaster + + 7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail + + 8. Postponing Mail + + 3. Configuration + + 1. Locations of Configuration Files + + 2. Basic Syntax of Initialization Files + + 3. Expansion within variables + + 3.1. Commands' Output + + 3.2. Environment Variables + + 3.3. Configuration Variables + + 3.4. Self-Defined Variables + + 3.5. Pre-Defined Variables + + 3.6. Type Conversions + + 4. Defining/Using aliases + + 5. Changing the default key bindings + + 6. Defining aliases for character sets + + 7. Setting variables based upon mailbox + + 8. Keyboard macros + + 9. Using color and mono video attributes + + 10. Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers + + 11. Alternative addresses + + 12. Format = Flowed + + 12.1. Introduction + + 12.2. Receiving: Display Setup + + 12.3. Sending + + 12.4. Additional Notes + + 13. Mailing lists + + 14. Using Multiple spool mailboxes + + 15. Defining mailboxes which receive mail + + 16. User defined headers + + 17. Defining the order of headers when viewing messages + + 18. Specify default save filename + + 19. Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing + + 20. Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at + once + + 21. Change settings based upon message recipients + + 22. Change settings before formatting a message + + 23. Choosing the cryptographic key of the recipient + + 24. Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer + + 25. Executing functions + + 26. Message Scoring + + 27. Spam detection + + 28. Setting variables + + 29. Reading initialization commands from another file + + 30. Removing hooks + + 31. Sharing Setups + + 31.1. Character Sets + + 31.2. Modularization + + 31.3. Conditional parts + + 32. Obsolete Variables + + 4. Advanced Usage + + 1. Regular Expressions + + 2. Patterns + + 2.1. Complex Patterns + + 2.2. Patterns and Dates + + 3. Format Strings + + 3.1. Introduction + + 3.2. Conditional Expansion + + 3.3. Modifications and Padding + + 4. Using Tags + + 5. Using Hooks + + 5.1. Message Matching in Hooks + + 6. Using the sidebar + + 7. External Address Queries + + 8. Mailbox Formats + + 9. Mailbox Shortcuts + + 10. Handling Mailing Lists + + 11. Editing threads + + 11.1. Linking threads + + 11.2. Breaking threads + + 12. Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support + + 13. POP3 Support (OPTIONAL) + + 14. IMAP Support (OPTIONAL) + + 14.1. The Folder Browser + + 14.2. Authentication + + 15. NNTP Support (OPTIONAL) + + 15.1. Again: Scoring + + 16. SMTP Support (OPTIONAL) + + 17. Managing multiple IMAP/POP/NNTP accounts (OPTIONAL) + + 18. Start a WWW Browser on URLs (EXTERNAL) + + 19. Compressed folders Support (OPTIONAL) + + 19.1. Open a compressed mailbox for reading + + 19.2. Write a compressed mailbox + + 19.3. Append a message to a compressed mailbox + + 19.4. Encrypted folders + + 5. Mutt-ng's MIME Support + + 1. Using MIME in Mutt + + 1.1. Viewing MIME messages in the pager + + 1.2. The Attachment Menu + + 1.3. The Compose Menu + + 2. MIME Type configuration with mime.types + + 3. MIME Viewer configuration with mailcap + + 3.1. The Basics of the mailcap file + + 3.2. Secure use of mailcap + + 3.3. Advanced mailcap Usage + + 3.4. Example mailcap files + + 4. MIME Autoview + + 5. MIME Multipart/Alternative + + 6. MIME Lookup + + 6. Security Considerations + + 1. Passwords + + 2. Temporary Files + + 3. Information Leaks + + 3.1. Message-ID: headers + + 3.2. mailto:-style links + + 4. External applications + + 4.1. mailcap + + 4.2. Other + + 7. Reference + + 1. Command line options + + 2. Patterns + + 3. Configuration Commands + + 4. Configuration variables + + 5. Functions + + 5.1. generic + + 5.2. index + + 5.3. pager + + 5.4. alias + + 5.5. query + + 5.6. attach + + 5.7. compose + + 5.8. postpone + + 5.9. browser + + 5.10. pgp + + 5.11. editor + + 8. Miscellany + + 1. Acknowledgments + +Chapter 1. Introduction + + Table of Contents + + 1. Overview + + 2. Mutt-ng Home Page + + 3. Mailing Lists + + 4. Software Distribution Sites + + 5. IRC + + 6. Weblog + + 7. Copyright + +1. Overview + + Mutt-ng is a small but very powerful text-based MIME mail client. Mutt-ng + is highly configurable, and is well suited to the mail power user with + advanced features like key bindings, keyboard macros, mail threading, + regular expression searches and a powerful pattern matching language for + selecting groups of messages. + + This documentation additionally contains documentation to Mutt-NG, a fork + from Mutt with the goal to fix all the little annoyances of Mutt, to + integrate all the Mutt patches that are floating around in the web, and to + add other new features. Features specific to Mutt-ng will be discussed in + an extra section. Don't be confused when most of the documentation talk + about Mutt and not Mutt-ng, Mutt-ng contains all Mutt features, plus many + more. + +2. Mutt-ng Home Page + + http://www.muttng.org + +3. Mailing Lists + + o mutt-ng-users@lists.berlios.de -- This is where the mutt-ng user + support happens. + + o mutt-ng-devel@lists.berlios.de -- The development mailing list for + mutt-ng + +4. Software Distribution Sites + + So far, there are no official releases of Mutt-ng, but you can download + daily snapshots from http://mutt-ng.berlios.de/snapshots/ + +5. IRC + + Visit channel #muttng on irc.freenode.net (www.freenode.net) to chat with + other people interested in Mutt-ng. + +6. Weblog + + If you want to read fresh news about the latest development in Mutt-ng, + and get informed about stuff like interesting, Mutt-ng-related articles + and packages for your favorite distribution, you can read and/or subscribe + to our Mutt-ng development weblog. + +7. Copyright + + Mutt is Copyright (C) 1996-2000 Michael R. Elkins and + others + + This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it + under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free + Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) + any later version. + + This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but + WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY + or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License + for more details. + + You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along + with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 + Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA. + +Chapter 2. Getting Started + + Table of Contents + + 1. Basic Concepts + + 1.1. Screens and Menus + + 1.2. Configuration + + 1.3. Functions + + 1.4. Interaction + + 1.5. Modularization + + 1.6. Patterns + + 2. Screens and Menus + + 2.1. Index + + 2.2. Pager + + 2.3. File Browser + + 2.4. Sidebar + + 2.5. Help + + 2.6. Compose Menu + + 2.7. Alias Menu + + 2.8. Attachment Menu + + 2.9. Key Menu + + 3. Moving Around in Menus + + 4. Editing Input Fields + + 5. Reading Mail - The Index and Pager + + 5.1. The Message Index + + 5.2. The Pager + + 5.3. Threaded Mode + + 5.4. Miscellaneous Functions + + 6. Sending Mail + + 6.1. Composing new messages + + 6.2. Replying + + 6.3. Editing the message header + + 6.4. Using Mutt-ng with PGP + + 6.5. Sending anonymous messages via mixmaster + + 7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail + + 8. Postponing Mail + +1. Basic Concepts + + 1.1. Screens and Menus + + mutt-ng offers different screens of which every has its special purpose: + + o The index displays the contents of the currently opened mailbox. + + o The pager is responsible for displaying messages, that is, the header, + the body and all attached parts. + + o The file browser offers operations on and displays information of all + folders mutt-ng should watch for mail. + + o The sidebar offers a permanent view of which mailboxes contain how + many total, new and/or flagged mails. + + o The help screen lists for all currently available commands how to + invoke them as well as a short description. + + o The compose menu is a comfortable interface take last actions before + sending mail: change subjects, attach files, remove attachements, etc. + + o The attachement menu gives a summary and the tree structure of the + attachements of the current message. + + o The alias menu lists all or a fraction of the aliases a user has + defined. + + o The key menu used in connection with encryption lets users choose the + right key to encrypt with. + + When mutt-ng is started without any further options, it'll open the users + default mailbox and display the index. + + 1.2. Configuration + + Mutt-ng does not feature an internal configuration interface or menu due + to the simple fact that this would be too complex to handle (currently + there are several hundred variables which fine-tune the behaviour.) + + Mutt-ng is configured using configuration files which allow users to add + comments or manage them via version control systems to ease maintenance. + + Also, mutt-ng comes with a shell script named grml-muttng kindly + contributed by users which really helps and eases the creation of a user's + configuration file. When downloading the source code via a snapshot or via + subversion, it can be found in the contrib directory. + + 1.3. Functions + + Mutt-ng offers great flexibility due to the use of functions: internally, + every action a user can make mutt-ng perform is named ``function.'' Those + functions are assigned to keys (or even key sequences) and may be + completely adjusted to user's needs. The basic idea is that the impatient + users get a very intuitive interface to start off with and advanced users + virtually get no limits to adjustments. + + 1.4. Interaction + + Mutt-ng has two basic concepts of user interaction: + + 1. There is one dedicated line on the screen used to query the user for + input, issue any command, query variables and display error and + informational messages. As for every type of user input, this requires + manual action leading to the need of input. + + 2. The automatized interface for interaction are the so called hooks. + Hooks specify actions the user wants to be performed at well-defined + situations: what to do when entering which folder, what to do when + displaying or replying to what kind of message, etc. These are + optional, i.e. a user doesn't need to specify them but can do so. + + 1.5. Modularization + + Although mutt-ng has many functionality built-in, many features can be + delegated to external tools to increase flexibility: users can define + programs to filter a message through before displaying, users can use any + program they want for displaying a message, message types (such as PDF or + PostScript) for which mutt-ng doesn't have a built-in filter can be + rendered by arbitrary tools and so forth. Although mutt-ng has an alias + mechanism built-in, it features using external tools to query for nearly + every type of addresses from sources like LDAP, databases or just the list + of locally known users. + + 1.6. Patterns + + Mutt-ng has a built-in pattern matching ``language'' which is as widely + used as possible to present a consistent interface to users. The same + ``pattern terms'' can be used for searching, scoring, message selection + and much more. + +2. Screens and Menus + + 2.1. Index + + The index is the screen that you usually see first when you start mutt-ng. + It gives an overview over your emails in the currently opened mailbox. By + default, this is your system mailbox. The information you see in the index + is a list of emails, each with its number on the left, its flags (new + email, important email, email that has been forwarded or replied to, + tagged email, ...), the date when email was sent, its sender, the email + size, and the subject. Additionally, the index also shows thread + hierarchies: when you reply to an email, and the other person replies + back, you can see the other's person email in a "sub-tree" below. This is + especially useful for personal email between a group of people or when + you've subscribed to mailing lists. + + 2.2. Pager + + The pager is responsible for showing the email content. On the top of the + pager you have an overview over the most important email headers like the + sender, the recipient, the subject, and much more information. How much + information you actually see depends on your configuration, which we'll + describe below. + + Below the headers, you see the email body which usually contains the + message. If the email contains any attachments, you will see more + information about them below the email body, or, if the attachments are + text files, you can view them directly in the pager. + + To give the user a good overview, it is possible to configure mutt-ng to + show different things in the pager with different colors. Virtually + everything that can be described with a regular expression can be colored, + e.g. URLs, email addresses or smileys. + + 2.3. File Browser + + The file browser is the interface to the local or remote file system. When + selecting a mailbox to open, the browser allows custom sorting of items, + limiting the items shown by a regular expression and a freely adjustable + format of what to display in which way. It also allows for easy navigation + through the file system when selecting file(s) to attach to a message, + select multiple files to attach and many more. + + 2.4. Sidebar + + The sidebar comes in handy to manage mails which are spread over different + folders. All folders users setup mutt-ng to watch for new mail will be + listed. The listing includes not only the name but also the number of + total messages, the number of new and flagged messages. Items with new + mail may be colored different from those with flagged mail, items may be + shortened or compress if they're they to long to be printed in full form + so that by abbreviated names, user still now what the name stands for. + + 2.5. Help + + The help screen is meant to offer a quick help to the user. It lists the + current configuration of key bindings and their associated commands + including a short description, and currently unbound functions that still + need to be associated with a key binding (or alternatively, they can be + called via the mutt-ng command prompt). + + 2.6. Compose Menu + + The compose menu features a split screen containing the information which + really matter before actually sending a message by mail or posting an + article to a newsgroup: who gets the message as what (recipient, + newsgroup, who gets what kind of copy). Additionally, users may set + security options like deciding whether to sign, encrypt or sign and + encrypt a message with/for what keys. + + Also, it's used to attach messages, news articles or files to a message, + to re-edit any attachment including the message itself. + + 2.7. Alias Menu + + The alias menu is used to help users finding the recipients of messages. + For users who need to contact many people, there's no need to remember + addresses or names completely because it allows for searching, too. The + alias mechanism and thus the alias menu also features grouping several + addresses by a shorter nickname, the actual alias, so that users don't + have to select each single recipient manually. + + 2.8. Attachment Menu + + As will be later discussed in detail, mutt-ng features a good and stable + MIME implementation, that is, is greatly supports sending and receiving + messages of arbitrary type. The attachment menu displays a message's + structure in detail: what content parts are attached to which parent part + (which gives a true tree structure), which type is of what type and what + size. Single parts may saved, deleted or modified to offer great and easy + access to message's internals. + + 2.9. Key Menu + + FIXME + +3. Moving Around in Menus + + Information is presented in menus, very similar to ELM. Here is a table + showing the common keys used to navigate menus in Mutt-ng. + + j or Down next-entry move to the next entry + k or Up previous-entry move to the previous entry + z or PageDn page-down go to the next page + Z or PageUp page-up go to the previous page + = or Home first-entry jump to the first entry + * or End last-entry jump to the last entry + q quit exit the current menu + ? help list all key bindings for the current menu + +4. Editing Input Fields + + Mutt-ng has a builtin line editor which is used as the primary way to + input textual data such as email addresses or filenames. The keys used to + move around while editing are very similar to those of Emacs. + + ^A or bol move to the start of the line + ^B or backward-char move back one char + Esc B backward-word move back one word + ^D or delete-char delete the char under the cursor + ^E or eol move to the end of the line + ^F or forward-char move forward one char + Esc F forward-word move forward one word + complete complete filename or alias + ^T complete-query complete address with query + ^K kill-eol delete to the end of the line + ESC d kill-eow delete to the end of the word + ^W kill-word kill the word in front of the cursor + ^U kill-line delete entire line + ^V quote-char quote the next typed key + history-up recall previous string from history + history-down recall next string from history + backspace kill the char in front of the cursor + Esc u upcase-word convert word to upper case + Esc l downcase-word convert word to lower case + Esc c capitalize-word capitalize the word + ^G n/a abort + n/a finish editing + + You can remap the editor functions using the bind command. For example, to + make the Delete key delete the character in front of the cursor rather + than under, you could use + + bind editor backspace + +5. Reading Mail - The Index and Pager + + Similar to many other mail clients, there are two modes in which mail is + read in Mutt-ng. The first is the index of messages in the mailbox, which + is called the ``index'' in Mutt-ng. The second mode is the display of the + message contents. This is called the ``pager.'' + + The next few sections describe the functions provided in each of these + modes. + + 5.1. The Message Index + + c change to a different mailbox + ESC c change to a folder in read-only mode + C copy the current message to another mailbox + ESC C decode a message and copy it to a folder + ESC s decode a message and save it to a folder + D delete messages matching a pattern + d delete the current message + F mark as important + l show messages matching a pattern + N mark message as new + o change the current sort method + O reverse sort the mailbox + q save changes and exit + s save-message + T tag messages matching a pattern + t toggle the tag on a message + ESC t toggle tag on entire message thread + U undelete messages matching a pattern + u undelete-message + v view-attachments + x abort changes and exit + display-message + jump to the next new message + @ show the author's full e-mail address + $ save changes to mailbox + / search + ESC / search-reverse + ^L clear and redraw the screen + ^T untag messages matching a pattern + + 5.1.1. Status Flags + + In addition to who sent the message and the subject, a short summary of + the disposition of each message is printed beside the message number. Zero + or more of the following ``flags'' may appear, which mean: + + D + + message is deleted (is marked for deletion) + + d + + message have attachments marked for deletion + + K + + contains a PGP public key + + N + + message is new + + O + + message is old + + P + + message is PGP encrypted + + r + + message has been replied to + + S + + message is signed, and the signature is succesfully verified + + s + + message is signed + + ! + + message is flagged + + * + + message is tagged + + Some of the status flags can be turned on or off using + + o set-flag (default: w) + + o clear-flag (default: W) + + Furthermore, the following flags reflect who the message is addressed to. + They can be customized with the $to_chars variable. + + + + + message is to you and you only + + T + + message is to you, but also to or cc'ed to others + + C + + message is cc'ed to you + + F + + message is from you + + L + + message is sent to a subscribed mailing list + + 5.2. The Pager + + By default, Mutt-ng uses its builtin pager to display the body of + messages. The pager is very similar to the Unix program less though not + nearly as featureful. + + go down one line + display the next page (or next message if at the end of a message) + - go back to the previous page + n search for next match + S skip beyond quoted text + T toggle display of quoted text + ? show key bindings + / search for a regular expression (pattern) + ESC / search backwards for a regular expression + \ toggle search pattern coloring + ^ jump to the top of the message + + In addition, many of the functions from the index are available in the + pager, such as delete-message or copy-message (this is one advantage over + using an external pager to view messages). + + Also, the internal pager supports a couple other advanced features. For + one, it will accept and translate the ``standard'' nroff sequences for + bold and underline. These sequences are a series of either the letter, + backspace (^H), the letter again for bold or the letter, backspace, ``_'' + for denoting underline. Mutt-ng will attempt to display these in bold and + underline respectively if your terminal supports them. If not, you can use + the bold and underline color objects to specify a color or mono attribute + for them. + + Additionally, the internal pager supports the ANSI escape sequences for + character attributes. Mutt-ng translates them into the correct color and + character settings. The sequences Mutt-ng supports are: + + ESC [ Ps;Ps;Ps;...;Ps m + where Ps = + 0 All Attributes Off + 1 Bold on + 4 Underline on + 5 Blink on + 7 Reverse video on + 3x Foreground color is x + 4x Background color is x + + Colors are + 0 black + 1 red + 2 green + 3 yellow + 4 blue + 5 magenta + 6 cyan + 7 white + + Mutt-ng uses these attributes for handling text/enriched messages, and + they can also be used by an external autoview script for highlighting + purposes. Note: If you change the colors for your display, for example by + changing the color associated with color2 for your xterm, then that color + will be used instead of green. + + 5.3. Threaded Mode + + When the mailbox is sorted by threads, there are a few additional + functions available in the index and pager modes. + + ^D delete-thread delete all messages in the current thread + ^U undelete-thread undelete all messages in the current thread + ^N next-thread jump to the start of the next thread + ^P previous-thread jump to the start of the previous thread + ^R read-thread mark the current thread as read + ESC d delete-subthread delete all messages in the current subthread + ESC u undelete-subthread undelete all messages in the current subthread + ESC n next-subthread jump to the start of the next subthread + ESC p previous-subthread jump to the start of the previous subthread + ESC r read-subthread mark the current subthread as read + ESC t tag-thread toggle the tag on the current thread + ESC v collapse-thread toggle collapse for the current thread + ESC V collapse-all toggle collapse for all threads + P parent-message jump to parent message in thread + + Note: Collapsing a thread displays only the first message in the thread + and hides the others. This is useful when threads contain so many messages + that you can only see a handful of threads on the screen. See %M in + index-format. For example, you could use "%?M?(#%03M)&(%4l)?" in + index-format to optionally display the number of hidden messages if the + thread is collapsed. + + See also: strict-threads. + + 5.4. Miscellaneous Functions + + create-alias (default: a) + + Creates a new alias based upon the current message (or prompts for a new + one). Once editing is complete, an alias command is added to the file + specified by the alias-file variable for future use. Note: Specifying an + alias-file does not add the aliases specified there-in, you must also + source the file. + + check-traditional-pgp (default: ESC P) + + This function will search the current message for content signed or + encrypted with PGP the "traditional" way, that is, without proper MIME + tagging. Technically, this function will temporarily change the MIME + content types of the body parts containing PGP data; this is similar to + the edit-type function's effect. + + display-toggle-weed (default: h) + + Toggles the weeding of message header fields specified by ignore commands. + + edit (default: e) + + This command (available in the ``index'' and ``pager'') allows you to edit + the raw current message as it's present in the mail folder. After you have + finished editing, the changed message will be appended to the current + folder, and the original message will be marked for deletion. + + edit-type (default: ^E on the attachment menu, and in the pager and index + menus; ^T on the compose menu) + + This command is used to temporarily edit an attachment's content type to + fix, for instance, bogus character set parameters. When invoked from the + index or from the pager, you'll have the opportunity to edit the top-level + attachment's content type. On the attach-menu, you can change any + attachment's content type. These changes are not persistent, and get lost + upon changing folders. + + Note that this command is also available on the compose-menu. There, it's + used to fine-tune the properties of attachments you are going to send. + + enter-command (default: ``:'') + + This command is used to execute any command you would normally put in a + configuration file. A common use is to check the settings of variables, or + in conjunction with macro to change settings on the fly. + + extract-keys (default: ^K) + + This command extracts PGP public keys from the current or tagged + message(s) and adds them to your PGP public key ring. + + forget-passphrase (default: ^F) + + This command wipes the passphrase(s) from memory. It is useful, if you + misspelled the passphrase. + + list-reply (default: L) + + Reply to the current or tagged message(s) by extracting any addresses + which match the regular expressions given by the lists commands, but also + honor any Mail-Followup-To header(s) if the honor-followup-to + configuration variable is set. Using this when replying to messages posted + to mailing lists helps avoid duplicate copies being sent to the author of + the message you are replying to. + + pipe-message (default: |) + + Asks for an external Unix command and pipes the current or tagged + message(s) to it. The variables pipe-decode, pipe-split, pipe-sep and + wait-key control the exact behavior of this function. + + resend-message (default: ESC e) + + With resend-message, mutt takes the current message as a template for a + new message. This function is best described as "recall from arbitrary + folders". It can conveniently be used to forward MIME messages while + preserving the original mail structure. Note that the amount of headers + included here depends on the value of the weed variable. + + This function is also available from the attachment menu. You can use this + to easily resend a message which was included with a bounce message as a + message/rfc822 body part. + + shell-escape (default: !) + + Asks for an external Unix command and executes it. The wait-key can be + used to control whether Mutt-ng will wait for a key to be pressed when the + command returns (presumably to let the user read the output of the + command), based on the return status of the named command. + + toggle-quoted (default: T) + + The pager uses the quote-regexp variable to detect quoted text when + displaying the body of the message. This function toggles the display of + the quoted material in the message. It is particularly useful when are + interested in just the response and there is a large amount of quoted text + in the way. + + skip-quoted (default: S) + + This function will go to the next line of non-quoted text which come after + a line of quoted text in the internal pager. + +6. Sending Mail + + The following bindings are available in the index for sending messages. + + m compose compose a new message + r reply reply to sender + g group-reply reply to all recipients + L list-reply reply to mailing list address + f forward forward message + b bounce bounce (remail) message + ESC k mail-key mail a PGP public key to someone + + Bouncing a message sends the message as is to the recipient you specify. + Forwarding a message allows you to add comments or modify the message you + are forwarding. These items are discussed in greater detail in the next + chapter forwarding-mail. + + 6.1. Composing new messages + + When you want to send an email using mutt-ng, simply press m on your + keyboard. Then, mutt-ng asks for the recipient via a prompt in the last + line: + + To: + + After you've finished entering the recipient(s), press return. If you want + to send an email to more than one recipient, separate the email addresses + using the comma ",". Mutt-ng then asks you for the email subject. Again, + press return after you've entered it. After that, mutt-ng got the most + important information from you, and starts up an editor where you can then + enter your email. + + The editor that is called is selected in the following way: you can e.g. + set it in the mutt-ng configuration: + + set editor = "vim +/^$/ -c ':set tw=72'" + set editor = "nano" + set editor = "emacs" + + If you don't set your preferred editor in your configuration, mutt-ng + first looks whether the environment variable $VISUAL is set, and if so, it + takes its value as editor command. Otherwise, it has a look at $EDITOR and + takes its value if it is set. If no editor command can be found, mutt-ng + simply assumes vi to be the default editor, since it's the most widespread + editor in the Unix world and it's pretty safe to assume that it is + installed and available. + + When you've finished entering your message, save it and quit your editor. + Mutt-ng will then present you with a summary screen, the compose menu. On + the top, you see a summary of the most important available key commands. + Below that, you see the sender, the recipient(s), Cc and/or Bcc + recipient(s), the subject, the reply-to address, and optionally + information where the sent email will be stored and whether it should be + digitally signed and/or encrypted. + + Below that, you see a list of "attachments". The mail you've just entered + before is also an attachment, but due to its special type (it's plain + text), it will be displayed as the normal message on the receiver's side. + + At this point, you can add more attachments, pressing a, you can edit the + recipient addresses, pressing t for the "To:" field, c for the "Cc:" + field, and b for the "Bcc: field. You can also edit the subject the + subject by simply pressing s or the email message that you've entered + before by pressing e. You will then again return to the editor. You can + even edit the sender, by pressing f, but this shall only be used with + caution. + + Alternatively, you can configure mutt-ng in a way that most of the above + settings can be edited using the editor. Therefore, you only need to add + the following to your configuration: + + set edit_headers + + Once you have finished editing the body of your mail message, you are + returned to the compose menu. The following options are available: + + a attach-file attach a file + A attach-message attach message(s) to the message + ESC k attach-key attach a PGP public key + d edit-description edit description on attachment + D detach-file detach a file + t edit-to edit the To field + ESC f edit-from edit the From field + r edit-reply-to edit the Reply-To field + c edit-cc edit the Cc field + b edit-bcc edit the Bcc field + y send-message send the message + s edit-subject edit the Subject + S smime-menu select S/MIME options + f edit-fcc specify an ``Fcc'' mailbox + p pgp-menu select PGP options + P postpone-message postpone this message until later + q quit quit (abort) sending the message + w write-fcc write the message to a folder + i ispell check spelling (if available on your system) + ^F forget-passphrase wipe passphrase(s) from memory + + Note: The attach-message function will prompt you for a folder to attach + messages from. You can now tag messages in that folder and they will be + attached to the message you are sending. Note that certain operations like + composing a new mail, replying, forwarding, etc. are not permitted when + you are in that folder. The %r in status-format will change to a 'A' to + indicate that you are in attach-message mode. + + 6.2. Replying + + 6.2.1. Simple Replies + + When you want to reply to an email message, select it in the index menu + and then press r. Mutt-ng's behaviour is then similar to the behaviour + when you compose a message: first, you will be asked for the recipient, + then for the subject, and then, mutt-ng will start the editor with the + quote attribution and the quoted message. This can e.g. look like the + example below. + + On Mon, Mar 07, 2005 at 05:02:12PM +0100, Michael Svensson wrote: + > Bill, can you please send last month's progress report to Mr. + > Morgan? We also urgently need the cost estimation for the new + > production server that we want to set up before our customer's + > project will go live. + + + You can start editing the email message. It is strongly recommended to put + your answer below the quoted text and to only quote what is really + necessary and that you refer to. Putting your answer on top of the quoted + message, is, although very widespread, very often not considered to be a + polite way to answer emails. + + The quote attribution is configurable, by default it is set to + + set attribution = "On %d, %n wrote:" + + + It can also be set to something more compact, e.g. + + set attribution = "attribution="* %n <%a> [%(%y-%m-%d %H:%M)]:" + + + The example above results in the following attribution: + + * Michael Svensson [05-03-06 17:02]: + > Bill, can you please send last month's progress report to Mr. + > Morgan? We also urgently need the cost estimation for the new + > production server that we want to set up before our customer's + > project will go live. + + + Generally, try to keep your attribution short yet information-rich. It is + not the right place for witty quotes, long "attribution" novels or + anything like that: the right place for such things is - if at all - the + email signature at the very bottom of the message. + + When you're done with writing your message, save and quit the editor. As + before, you will return to the compose menu, which is used in the same way + as before. + + 6.2.2. Group Replies + + In the situation where a group of people uses email as a discussion, most + of the emails will have one or more recipients, and probably several "Cc:" + recipients. The group reply functionality ensures that when you press g + instead of r to do a reply, each and every recipient that is contained in + the original message will receive a copy of the message, either as normal + recipient or as "Cc:" recipient. + + 6.2.3. List Replies + + When you use mailing lists, it's generally better to send your reply to a + message only to the list instead of the list and the original author. To + make this easy to use, mutt-ng features list replies. + + To do a list reply, simply press L. If the email contains a + Mail-Followup-To: header, its value will be used as reply address. + Otherwise, mutt-ng searches through all mail addresses in the original + message and tries to match them a list of regular expressions which can be + specified using the lists command. If any of the regular expression + matches, a mailing list address has been found, and it will be used as + reply address. + + lists linuxevent@luga\.at vuln-dev@ mutt-ng-users@ + + + Nowadays, most mailing list software like GNU Mailman adds a + Mail-Followup-To: header to their emails anyway, so setting lists is + hardly ever necessary in practice. + + 6.3. Editing the message header + + When editing the header of your outgoing message, there are a couple of + special features available. + + If you specify Fcc: filename Mutt-ng will pick up filename just as if you + had used the edit-fcc function in the compose menu. + + You can also attach files to your message by specifying Attach: filename [ + description ] where filename is the file to attach and description is an + optional string to use as the description of the attached file. + + When replying to messages, if you remove the In-Reply-To: field from the + header field, Mutt-ng will not generate a References: field, which allows + you to create a new message thread. + + Also see edit-headers. + + 6.4. Using Mutt-ng with PGP + + If you want to use PGP, you can specify + + Pgp: [ E | S | S ] + + ``E'' encrypts, ``S'' signs and ``S'' signs with the given key, + setting pgp-sign-as permanently. + + If you have told mutt to PGP encrypt a message, it will guide you through + a key selection process when you try to send the message. Mutt-ng will not + ask you any questions about keys which have a certified user ID matching + one of the message recipients' mail addresses. However, there may be + situations in which there are several keys, weakly certified user ID + fields, or where no matching keys can be found. + + In these cases, you are dropped into a menu with a list of keys from which + you can select one. When you quit this menu, or mutt can't find any + matching keys, you are prompted for a user ID. You can, as usually, abort + this prompt using ^G. When you do so, mutt will return to the compose + screen. + + Once you have successfully finished the key selection, the message will be + encrypted using the selected public keys, and sent out. + + Most fields of the entries in the key selection menu (see also + pgp-entry-format) have obvious meanings. But some explanations on the + capabilities, flags, and validity fields are in order. + + The flags sequence (%f) will expand to one of the following flags: + + R The key has been revoked and can't be used. + X The key is expired and can't be used. + d You have marked the key as disabled. + c There are unknown critical self-signature + packets. + + The capabilities field (%c) expands to a two-character sequence + representing a key's capabilities. The first character gives the key's + encryption capabilities: A minus sign (-) means that the key cannot be + used for encryption. A dot (.) means that it's marked as a signature key + in one of the user IDs, but may also be used for encryption. The letter e + indicates that this key can be used for encryption. + + The second character indicates the key's signing capabilities. Once again, + a ``-'' implies ``not for signing'', ``.'' implies that the key is marked + as an encryption key in one of the user-ids, and ``s'' denotes a key which + can be used for signing. + + Finally, the validity field (%t) indicates how well-certified a user-id + is. A question mark (?) indicates undefined validity, a minus character + (-) marks an untrusted association, a space character means a partially + trusted association, and a plus character (+) indicates complete validity. + + 6.5. Sending anonymous messages via mixmaster + + You may also have configured mutt to co-operate with Mixmaster, an + anonymous remailer. Mixmaster permits you to send your messages + anonymously using a chain of remailers. Mixmaster support in mutt is for + mixmaster version 2.04 (beta 45 appears to be the latest) and 2.03. It + does not support earlier versions or the later so-called version 3 betas, + of which the latest appears to be called 2.9b23. + + To use it, you'll have to obey certain restrictions. Most important, you + cannot use the Cc and Bcc headers. To tell Mutt-ng to use mixmaster, you + have to select a remailer chain, using the mix function on the compose + menu. + + The chain selection screen is divided into two parts. In the (larger) + upper part, you get a list of remailers you may use. In the lower part, + you see the currently selected chain of remailers. + + You can navigate in the chain using the chain-prev and chain-next + functions, which are by default bound to the left and right arrows and to + the h and l keys (think vi keyboard bindings). To insert a remailer at the + current chain position, use the insert function. To append a remailer + behind the current chain position, use select-entry or append. You can + also delete entries from the chain, using the corresponding function. + Finally, to abandon your changes, leave the menu, or accept them pressing + (by default) the Return key. + + Note that different remailers do have different capabilities, indicated in + the %c entry of the remailer menu lines (see mix-entry-format). Most + important is the ``middleman'' capability, indicated by a capital ``M'': + This means that the remailer in question cannot be used as the final + element of a chain, but will only forward messages to other mixmaster + remailers. For details on the other capabilities, please have a look at + the mixmaster documentation. + +7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail + + Often, it is necessary to forward mails to other people. Therefore, + mutt-ng supports forwarding messages in two different ways. + + The first one is regular forwarding, as you probably know it from other + mail clients. You simply press f, enter the recipient email address, the + subject of the forwarded email, and then you can edit the message to be + forwarded in the editor. The forwarded message is separated from the rest + of the message via the two following markers: + + ----- Forwarded message from Lucas User ----- + + From: Lucas User + Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 03:08:34 +0100 + To: Michael Random + Subject: Re: blackmail + + Pay me EUR 50,000.- cash or your favorite stuffed animal will die + a horrible death. + + + ----- End forwarded message ----- + + When you're done with editing the mail, save and quit the editor, and you + will return to the compose menu, the same menu you also encounter when + composing or replying to mails. + + The second mode of forwarding emails with mutt-ng is the so-called + bouncing: when you bounce an email to another address, it will be sent in + practically the same format you send it (except for headers that are + created during transporting the message). To bounce a message, press b and + enter the recipient email address. By default, you are then asked whether + you really want to bounce the message to the specified recipient. If you + answer with yes, the message will then be bounced. + + To the recipient, the bounced email will look as if he got it like a + regular email where he was Bcc: recipient. The only possibility to find + out whether it was a bounced email is to carefully study the email headers + and to find out which host really sent the email. + +8. Postponing Mail + + At times it is desirable to delay sending a message that you have already + begun to compose. When the postpone-message function is used in the + compose menu, the body of your message and attachments are stored in the + mailbox specified by the postponed variable. This means that you can + recall the message even if you exit Mutt-ng and then restart it at a later + time. + + Once a message is postponed, there are several ways to resume it. From the + command line you can use the ``-p'' option, or if you compose a new + message from the index or pager you will be prompted if postponed messages + exist. If multiple messages are currently postponed, the postponed menu + will pop up and you can select which message you would like to resume. + + Note: If you postpone a reply to a message, the reply setting of the + message is only updated when you actually finish the message and send it. + Also, you must be in the same folder with the message you replied to for + the status of the message to be updated. + + See also the postpone quad-option. + +Chapter 3. Configuration + + Table of Contents + + 1. Locations of Configuration Files + + 2. Basic Syntax of Initialization Files + + 3. Expansion within variables + + 3.1. Commands' Output + + 3.2. Environment Variables + + 3.3. Configuration Variables + + 3.4. Self-Defined Variables + + 3.5. Pre-Defined Variables + + 3.6. Type Conversions + + 4. Defining/Using aliases + + 5. Changing the default key bindings + + 6. Defining aliases for character sets + + 7. Setting variables based upon mailbox + + 8. Keyboard macros + + 9. Using color and mono video attributes + + 10. Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers + + 11. Alternative addresses + + 12. Format = Flowed + + 12.1. Introduction + + 12.2. Receiving: Display Setup + + 12.3. Sending + + 12.4. Additional Notes + + 13. Mailing lists + + 14. Using Multiple spool mailboxes + + 15. Defining mailboxes which receive mail + + 16. User defined headers + + 17. Defining the order of headers when viewing messages + + 18. Specify default save filename + + 19. Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing + + 20. Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at once + + 21. Change settings based upon message recipients + + 22. Change settings before formatting a message + + 23. Choosing the cryptographic key of the recipient + + 24. Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer + + 25. Executing functions + + 26. Message Scoring + + 27. Spam detection + + 28. Setting variables + + 29. Reading initialization commands from another file + + 30. Removing hooks + + 31. Sharing Setups + + 31.1. Character Sets + + 31.2. Modularization + + 31.3. Conditional parts + + 32. Obsolete Variables + +1. Locations of Configuration Files + + While the default configuration (or ``preferences'') make Mutt-ng usable + right out of the box, it is often desirable to tailor Mutt-ng to suit your + own tastes. When Mutt-ng is first invoked, it will attempt to read the + ``system'' configuration file (defaults set by your local system + administrator), unless the ``-n'' commandline option is specified. This + file is typically /usr/local/share/muttng/Muttngrc or /etc/Muttngrc, + Mutt-ng users will find this file in /usr/local/share/muttng/Muttrc or + /etc/Muttngrc. Mutt will next look for a file named .muttrc in your home + directory, Mutt-ng will look for .muttngrc. If this file does not exist + and your home directory has a subdirectory named .mutt, mutt try to load a + file named .muttng/muttngrc. + + .muttrc (or .muttngrc for Mutt-ng) is the file where you will usually + place your commands to configure Mutt-ng. + +2. Basic Syntax of Initialization Files + + An initialization file consists of a series of commands. Each line of the + file may contain one or more commands. When multiple commands are used, + they must be separated by a semicolon (;). + + set realname='Mutt-ng user' ; ignore x- + + The hash mark, or pound sign (``#''), is used as a ``comment'' character. + You can use it to annotate your initialization file. All text after the + comment character to the end of the line is ignored. For example, + + my_hdr X-Disclaimer: Why are you listening to me? # This is a comment + + Single quotes (') and double quotes (") can be used to quote strings which + contain spaces or other special characters. The difference between the two + types of quotes is similar to that of many popular shell programs, namely + that a single quote is used to specify a literal string (one that is not + interpreted for shell variables or quoting with a backslash [see next + paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a string for which should be + evaluated. For example, backtics are evaluated inside of double quotes, + but not for single quotes. + + \ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh. For + example, if want to put quotes ``"'' inside of a string, you can use ``\'' + to force the next character to be a literal instead of interpreted + character. + + set realname="Michael \"MuttDude\" Elkins" + + ``\\'' means to insert a literal ``\'' into the line. ``\n'' and ``\r'' + have their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively. + + A \ at the end of a line can be used to split commands over multiple + lines, provided that the split points don't appear in the middle of + command names. + + Please note that, unlike the various shells, mutt-ng interprets a ``\'' at + the end of a line also in comments. This allows you to disable a command + split over multiple lines with only one ``#''. + + # folder-hook . \ + set realname="Michael \"MuttDude\" Elkins" + + When testing your config files, beware the following caveat. The backslash + at the end of the commented line extends the current line with the next + line - then referred to as a ``continuation line''. As the first line is + commented with a hash (#) all following continuation lines are also part + of a comment and therefore are ignored, too. So take care of comments when + continuation lines are involved within your setup files! + + Abstract example: + + line1\ + line2a # line2b\ + line3\ + line4 + line5 + + line1 ``continues'' until line4. however, the part after the # is a + comment which includes line3 and line4. line5 is a new line of its own and + thus is interpreted again. + + The commands understood by mutt are explained in the next paragraphs. For + a complete list, see the commands. + +3. Expansion within variables + + Besides just assign static content to variables, there's plenty of ways of + adding external and more or less dynamic content. + + 3.1. Commands' Output + + It is possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an + initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in + backquotes (``) as in, for example: + + my_hdr X-Operating-System: `uname -a` + + The output of the Unix command ``uname -a'' will be substituted before the + line is parsed. Note that since initialization files are line oriented, + only the first line of output from the Unix command will be substituted. + + 3.2. Environment Variables + + UNIX environments can be accessed like the way it is done in shells like + sh and bash: Prepend the name of the environment by a ``$'' sign. For + example, + + set record=+sent_on_$HOSTNAME + + sets the record variable to the string +sent_on_ and appends the value of + the evironment variable $HOSTNAME. + + Note: There will be no warning if an environment variable is not defined. + The result will of the expansion will then be empty. + + 3.3. Configuration Variables + + As for environment variables, the values of all configuration variables as + string can be used in the same way, too. For example, + + set imap_home_namespace = $folder + + would set the value of imap-home-namespace to the value to which folder is + currently set to. + + Note: There're no logical links established in such cases so that the the + value for imap-home-namespace won't change even if folder gets changed. + + Note: There will be no warning if a configuration variable is not defined + or is empty. The result will of the expansion will then be empty. + + 3.4. Self-Defined Variables + + Mutt-ng flexibly allows users to define their own variables. To avoid + conflicts with the standard set and to prevent misleading error messages, + there's a reserved namespace for them: all user-defined variables must be + prefixed with user_ and can be used just like any ordinary configuration + or environment variable. + + For example, to view the manual, users can either define two macros like + the following + + macro generic "!less -r /path/to/manual" "Show manual" + macro pager "!less -r /path/to/manual" "Show manual" + + for generic, pager and index. The alternative is to define a custom + variable like so: + + set user_manualcmd = "!less -r /path/to_manual" + macro generic "$user_manualcmd" "Show manual" + macro pager "$user_manualcmd" "Show manual" + macro index "$user_manualcmd" "Show manual" + + to re-use the command sequence as in: + + macro index "$user_manualcmd | grep '\^[ ]\\+~. '" "Show Patterns" + + Using this feature, arbitrary sequences can be defined once and recalled + and reused where necessary. More advanced scenarios could include to save + a variable's value at the beginning of macro sequence and restore it at + end. + + When the variable is first defined, the first value it gets assigned is + also the initial value to which it can be reset using the reset command. + + The complete removal is done via the unset keyword. + + After the following sequence: + + set user_foo = 42 + set user_foo = 666 + + the variable $user_foo has a current value of 666 and an initial of 42. + The query + + set ?user_foo + + will show 666. After doing the reset via + + reset user_foo + + a following query will give 42 as the result. After unsetting it via + + unset user_foo + + any query or operation (except the noted expansion within other + statements) will lead to an error message. + + 3.5. Pre-Defined Variables + + In order to allow users to share one setup over a number of different + machines without having to change its contents, there's a number of + pre-defined variables. These are prefixed with muttng_ and are read-only, + i.e. they cannot be set, unset or reset. The reference chapter lists all + available variables. + + Please consult the local copy of your manual for their values as they may + differ from different manual sources. Where the manual is installed in can + be queried (already using such a variable) by running: + + muttng -Q muttng_docdir + + To extend the example for viewing the manual via self-defined variables, + it can be made more readable and more portable by changing the real path + in: + + set user_manualcmd = '!less -r /path/to_manual' + + to: + + set user_manualcmd = "!less -r $muttng_docdir/manual.txt" + + which works everywhere if a manual is installed. + + Please note that by the type of quoting, muttng determines when to expand + these values: when it finds double quotes, the value will be expanded + during reading the setup files but when it finds single quotes, it'll + expand it at runtime as needed. + + For example, the statement + + folder-hook . "set user_current_folder = $muttng_folder_name" + + will be already be translated to the following when reading the startup + files: + + folder-hook . "set user_current_folder = some_folder" + + with some_folder being the name of the first folder muttng opens. On the + contrary, + + folder-hook . 'set user_current_folder = $muttng_folder_name' + + will be executed at runtime because of the single quotes so that + user_current_folder will always have the value of the currently opened + folder. + + A more practical example is: + + folder-hook . 'source ~/.mutt/score-$muttng_folder_name' + + which can be used to source files containing score commands depending on + the folder the user enters. + + 3.6. Type Conversions + + A note about variable's types during conversion: internally values are + stored in internal types but for any dump/query or set operation they're + converted to and from string. That means that there's no need to worry + about types when referencing any variable. As an example, the following + can be used without harm (besides makeing muttng very likely behave + strange): + + set read_inc = 100 + set folder = $read_inc + set read_inc = $folder + set user_magic_number = 42 + set folder = $user_magic_number + +4. Defining/Using aliases + + Usage: alias key address [ , address, ... ] + + It's usually very cumbersome to remember or type out the address of + someone you are communicating with. Mutt-ng allows you to create + ``aliases'' which map a short string to a full address. + + Note: if you want to create an alias for a group (by specifying more than + one address), you must separate the addresses with a comma (``,''). + + To remove an alias or aliases (``*'' means all aliases): + + unalias [ * | key ... ] + + alias muttdude me@cs.hmc.edu (Michael Elkins) + alias theguys manny, moe, jack + + Unlike other mailers, Mutt-ng doesn't require aliases to be defined in a + special file. The alias command can appear anywhere in a configuration + file, as long as this file is source. Consequently, you can have multiple + alias files, or you can have all aliases defined in your muttrc. + + On the other hand, the create-alias function can use only one file, the + one pointed to by the alias-file variable (which is ˜/.muttrc by + default). This file is not special either, in the sense that Mutt-ng will + happily append aliases to any file, but in order for the new aliases to + take effect you need to explicitly source this file too. + + For example: + + source /usr/local/share/Mutt-ng.aliases + source ~/.mail_aliases + set alias_file=~/.mail_aliases + + To use aliases, you merely use the alias at any place in mutt where mutt + prompts for addresses, such as the To: or Cc: prompt. You can also enter + aliases in your editor at the appropriate headers if you have the + edit-headers variable set. + + In addition, at the various address prompts, you can use the tab character + to expand a partial alias to the full alias. If there are multiple + matches, mutt will bring up a menu with the matching aliases. In order to + be presented with the full list of aliases, you must hit tab with out a + partial alias, such as at the beginning of the prompt or after a comma + denoting multiple addresses. + + In the alias menu, you can select as many aliases as you want with the + select-entry key (default: RET), and use the exit key (default: q) to + return to the address prompt. + +5. Changing the default key bindings + + Usage: bind map key function + + This command allows you to change the default key bindings (operation + invoked when pressing a key). + + map specifies in which menu the binding belongs. Multiple maps may be + specified by separating them with commas (no additional whitespace is + allowed). The currently defined maps are: + + generic + + This is not a real menu, but is used as a fallback for all of the + other menus except for the pager and editor modes. If a key is not + defined in another menu, Mutt-ng will look for a binding to use in + this menu. This allows you to bind a key to a certain function in + multiple menus instead of having multiple bind statements to + accomplish the same task. + + alias + + The alias menu is the list of your personal aliases as defined in + your muttrc. It is the mapping from a short alias name to the full + email address(es) of the recipient(s). + + attach + + The attachment menu is used to access the attachments on received + messages. + + browser + + The browser is used for both browsing the local directory + structure, and for listing all of your incoming mailboxes. + + editor + + The editor is the line-based editor the user enters text data. + + index + + The index is the list of messages contained in a mailbox. + + compose + + The compose menu is the screen used when sending a new message. + + pager + + The pager is the mode used to display message/attachment data, and + help listings. + + pgp + + The pgp menu is used to select the OpenPGP keys used for + encrypting outgoing messages. + + postpone + + The postpone menu is similar to the index menu, except is used + when recalling a message the user was composing, but saved until + later. + + key is the key (or key sequence) you wish to bind. To specify a control + character, use the sequence \Cx, where x is the letter of the control + character (for example, to specify control-A use ``\Ca''). Note that the + case of x as well as \C is ignored, so that \CA, \Ca, \cA and \ca are all + equivalent. An alternative form is to specify the key as a three digit + octal number prefixed with a ``\'' (for example \177 is equivalent to + \c?). + + In addition, key may consist of: + + \t tab + tab + backtab / shift-tab + \r carriage return + \n newline + \e escape + escape + up arrow + down arrow + left arrow + right arrow + Page Up + Page Down + Backspace + Delete + Insert + Enter + Return + Home + End + Space bar + function key 1 + function key 10 + + key does not need to be enclosed in quotes unless it contains a space (`` + ''). + + function specifies which action to take when key is pressed. For a + complete list of functions, see the functions. The special function noop + unbinds the specified key sequence. + +6. Defining aliases for character sets + + Usage: charset-hook alias charset Usage: iconv-hook charset local-charset + + The charset-hook command defines an alias for a character set. This is + useful to properly display messages which are tagged with a character set + name not known to mutt. + + The iconv-hook command defines a system-specific name for a character set. + This is helpful when your systems character conversion library insists on + using strange, system-specific names for character sets. + +7. Setting variables based upon mailbox + + Usage: folder-hook [!]regexp command + + It is often desirable to change settings based on which mailbox you are + reading. The folder-hook command provides a method by which you can + execute any configuration command. regexp is a regular expression + specifying in which mailboxes to execute command before loading. If a + mailbox matches multiple folder-hook's, they are executed in the order + given in the muttrc. + + Note: if you use the ``!'' shortcut for spoolfile at the beginning of the + pattern, you must place it inside of double or single quotes in order to + distinguish it from the logical not operator for the expression. + + Note that the settings are not restored when you leave the mailbox. For + example, a command action to perform is to change the sorting method based + upon the mailbox being read: + + folder-hook mutt set sort=threads + + However, the sorting method is not restored to its previous value when + reading a different mailbox. To specify a default command, use the pattern + ``.'': + + folder-hook . set sort=date-sent + +8. Keyboard macros + + Usage: macro menu key sequence [ description ] + + Macros are useful when you would like a single key to perform a series of + actions. When you press key in menu menu, Mutt-ng will behave as if you + had typed sequence. So if you have a common sequence of commands you type, + you can create a macro to execute those commands with a single key. + + menu is the maps which the macro will be bound. Multiple maps may be + specified by separating multiple menu arguments by commas. Whitespace may + not be used in between the menu arguments and the commas separating them. + + key and sequence are expanded by the same rules as the bind. There are + some additions however. The first is that control characters in sequence + can also be specified as ^x. In order to get a caret (`^'') you need to + use ^^. Secondly, to specify a certain key such as up or to invoke a + function directly, you can use the format and . + For a listing of key names see the section on bind. Functions are listed + in the functions. + + The advantage with using function names directly is that the macros will + work regardless of the current key bindings, so they are not dependent on + the user having particular key definitions. This makes them more robust + and portable, and also facilitates defining of macros in files used by + more than one user (eg. the system Muttngrc). + + Optionally you can specify a descriptive text after sequence, which is + shown in the help screens. + + Note: Macro definitions (if any) listed in the help screen(s), are + silently truncated at the screen width, and are not wrapped. + +9. Using color and mono video attributes + + Usage: color object foreground background [ regexp ] Usage: color index + foreground background pattern Usage: uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ] + + If your terminal supports color, you can spice up Mutt-ng by creating your + own color scheme. To define the color of an object (type of information), + you must specify both a foreground color and a background color (it is not + possible to only specify one or the other). + + object can be one of: + + o attachment + + o body (match regexp in the body of messages) + + o bold (highlighting bold patterns in the body of messages) + + o error (error messages printed by Mutt-ng) + + o header (match regexp in the message header) + + o hdrdefault (default color of the message header in the pager) + + o index (match pattern in the message index) + + o indicator (arrow or bar used to indicate the current item in a menu) + + o markers (the ``+'' markers at the beginning of wrapped lines in the + pager) + + o message (informational messages) + + o normal + + o quoted (text matching quote-regexp in the body of a message) + + o quoted1, quoted2, ..., quotedN (higher levels of quoting) + + o search (highlighting of words in the pager) + + o signature + + o status (mode lines used to display info about the mailbox or message) + + o tilde (the ``˜'' used to pad blank lines in the pager) + + o tree (thread tree drawn in the message index and attachment menu) + + o underline (highlighting underlined patterns in the body of messages) + + foreground and background can be one of the following: + + o white + + o black + + o green + + o magenta + + o blue + + o cyan + + o yellow + + o red + + o default + + o colorx + + foreground can optionally be prefixed with the keyword bright to make the + foreground color boldfaced (e.g., brightred). + + If your terminal supports it, the special keyword default can be used as a + transparent color. The value brightdefault is also valid. If Mutt-ng is + linked against the S-Lang library, you also need to set the COLORFGBG + environment variable to the default colors of your terminal for this to + work; for example (for Bourne-like shells): + + set COLORFGBG="green;black" + export COLORFGBG + + Note: The S-Lang library requires you to use the lightgray and brown + keywords instead of white and yellow when setting this variable. + + Note: The uncolor command can be applied to the index object only. It + removes entries from the list. You must specify the same pattern specified + in the color command for it to be removed. The pattern ``*'' is a special + token which means to clear the color index list of all entries. + + Mutt-ng also recognizes the keywords color0, color1, …, colorN-1 (N + being the number of colors supported by your terminal). This is useful + when you remap the colors for your display (for example by changing the + color associated with color2 for your xterm), since color names may then + lose their normal meaning. + + If your terminal does not support color, it is still possible change the + video attributes through the use of the ``mono'' command: + + Usage: mono [ regexp ] Usage: mono index attribute + pattern Usage: unmono index pattern [ pattern ... ] + + where attribute is one of the following: + + o none + + o bold + + o underline + + o reverse + + o standout + +10. Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers + + Usage: [un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ] + + Messages often have many header fields added by automatic processing + systems, or which may not seem useful to display on the screen. This + command allows you to specify header fields which you don't normally want + to see. + + You do not need to specify the full header field name. For example, + ``ignore content-'' will ignore all header fields that begin with the + pattern ``content-''. ``ignore *'' will ignore all headers. + + To remove a previously added token from the list, use the ``unignore'' + command. The ``unignore'' command will make Mutt-ng display headers with + the given pattern. For example, if you do ``ignore x-'' it is possible to + ``unignore x-mailer''. + + ``unignore *'' will remove all tokens from the ignore list. + + For example: + + # Sven's draconian header weeding + ignore * + unignore from date subject to cc + unignore organization organisation x-mailer: x-newsreader: x-mailing-list: + unignore posted-to: + +11. Alternative addresses + + Usage: [un]alternates regexp [ regexp ... ] + + With various functions, mutt will treat messages differently, depending on + whether you sent them or whether you received them from someone else. For + instance, when replying to a message that you sent to a different party, + mutt will automatically suggest to send the response to the original + message's recipients -- responding to yourself won't make much sense in + many cases. (See reply-to.) + + Many users receive e-mail under a number of different addresses. To fully + use mutt's features here, the program must be able to recognize what + e-mail addresses you receive mail under. That's the purpose of the + alternates command: It takes a list of regular expressions, each of which + can identify an address under which you receive e-mail. + + The unalternates command can be used to write exceptions to alternates + patterns. If an address matches something in an alternates command, but + you nonetheless do not think it is from you, you can list a more precise + pattern under an unalternates command. + + To remove a regular expression from the alternates list, use the + unalternates command with exactly the same regexp. Likewise, if the regexp + for a alternates command matches an entry on the unalternates list, that + unalternates entry will be removed. If the regexp for unalternates is + ``*'', all entries on alternates will be removed. + +12. Format = Flowed + + 12.1. Introduction + + Mutt-ng contains support for so-called format=flowed messages. In the + beginning of email, each message had a fixed line width, and it was enough + for displaying them on fixed-size terminals. But times changed, and + nowadays hardly anybody still uses fixed-size terminals: more people + nowaydays use graphical user interfaces, with dynamically resizable + windows. This led to the demand of a new email format that makes it + possible for the email client to make the email look nice in a resizable + window without breaking quoting levels and creating an incompatible email + format that can also be displayed nicely on old fixed-size terminals. + + For introductory information on format=flowed messages, see + . + + 12.2. Receiving: Display Setup + + When you receive emails that are marked as format=flowed messages, and is + formatted correctly, mutt-ng will try to reformat the message to optimally + fit on your terminal. If you want a fixed margin on the right side of your + terminal, you can set the following: + + set wrapmargin = 10 + + + The code above makes the line break 10 columns before the right side of + the terminal. + + If your terminal is so wide that the lines are embarrassingly long, you + can also set a maximum line length: + + set max_line_length = 120 + + + The example above will give you lines not longer than 120 characters. + + When you view at format=flowed messages, you will often see the quoting + hierarchy like in the following example: + + >Bill, can you please send last month's progress report to Mr. + >Morgan? We also urgently need the cost estimation for the new + >production server that we want to set up before our customer's + >project will go live. + + + This obviously doesn't look very nice, and it makes it very hard to + differentiate between text and quoting character. The solution is to + configure mutt-ng to "stuff" the quoting: + + set stuff_quoted + + + This will lead to a nicer result that is easier to read: + + > Bill, can you please send last month's progress report to Mr. + > Morgan? We also urgently need the cost estimation for the new + > production server that we want to set up before our customer's + > project will go live. + + + 12.3. Sending + + If you want mutt-ng to send emails with format=flowed set, you need to + explicitly set it: + + set text_flowed + + + Additionally, you have to use an editor which supports writing + format=flowed-conforming emails. For vim, this is done by adding w to the + formatoptions (see :h formatoptions and :h fo-table) when writing emails. + + Also note that format=flowed knows about ``space-stuffing'', that is, when + sending messages, some kinds of lines have to be indented with a single + space on the sending side. On the receiving side, the first space (if any) + is removed. As a consequence and in addition to the above simple setting, + please keep this in mind when making manual formattings within the editor. + Also note that mutt-ng currently violates the standard (RfC 3676) as it + does not space-stuff lines starting with: + + o > This is not the quote character but a right angle used for other + reasons + + o From with a trailing space. + + o just a space for formatting reasons + + Please make sure that you manually prepend a space to each of them. + + 12.4. Additional Notes + + For completeness, the delete-space variable provides the mechanism to + generate a DelSp=yes parameter on outgoing messages. According to the + standard, clients receiving a format=flowed messages should delete the + last space of a flowed line but still interpret the line as flowed. + Because flowed lines usually contain only one space at the end, this + parameter would make the receiving client concatenate the last word of the + previous with the first of the current line without a space. This makes + ordinary text unreadable and is intended for languages rarely using + spaces. So please use this setting only if you're sure what you're doing. + +13. Mailing lists + + Usage: [un]lists regexp [ regexp ... ] Usage: [un]subscribe regexp [ + regexp ... ] + + Mutt-ng has a few nice features for using-lists. In order to take + advantage of them, you must specify which addresses belong to mailing + lists, and which mailing lists you are subscribed to. Once you have done + this, the list-reply function will work for all known lists. Additionally, + when you send a message to a subscribed list, mutt will add a + Mail-Followup-To header to tell other users' mail user agents not to send + copies of replies to your personal address. Note that the Mail-Followup-To + header is a non-standard extension which is not supported by all mail user + agents. Adding it is not bullet-proof against receiving personal CCs of + list messages. Also note that the generation of the Mail-Followup-To + header is controlled by the followup-to configuration variable. + + More precisely, Mutt-ng maintains lists of patterns for the addresses of + known and subscribed mailing lists. Every subscribed mailing list is + known. To mark a mailing list as known, use the ``lists'' command. To mark + it as subscribed, use ``subscribe''. + + You can use regular expressions with both commands. To mark all messages + sent to a specific bug report's address on mutt's bug tracking system as + list mail, for instance, you could say ``subscribe [0-9]*@bugs.guug.de''. + Often, it's sufficient to just give a portion of the list's e-mail + address. + + Specify as much of the address as you need to to remove ambiguity. For + example, if you've subscribed to the Mutt-ng mailing list, you will + receive mail addressed to mutt-users@mutt.org. So, to tell Mutt-ng that + this is a mailing list, you could add ``lists mutt-users'' to your + initialization file. To tell mutt that you are subscribed to it, add + ``subscribe mutt-users'' to your initialization file instead. If you also + happen to get mail from someone whose address is mutt-users@example.com, + you could use ``lists mutt-users@mutt\\.org'' or ``subscribe + mutt-users@mutt\\.org'' to match only mail from the actual list. + + The ``unlists'' command is used to remove a token from the list of known + and subscribed mailing-lists. Use ``unlists *'' to remove all tokens. + + To remove a mailing list from the list of subscribed mailing lists, but + keep it on the list of known mailing lists, use ``unsubscribe''. + +14. Using Multiple spool mailboxes + + Usage: mbox-hook [!]pattern mailbox + + This command is used to move read messages from a specified mailbox to a + different mailbox automatically when you quit or change folders. pattern + is a regular expression specifying the mailbox to treat as a ``spool'' + mailbox and mailbox specifies where mail should be saved when read. + + Unlike some of the other hook commands, only the first matching pattern is + used (it is not possible to save read mail in more than a single mailbox). + +15. Defining mailboxes which receive mail + + Usage: [un]mailboxes [!]filename [ filename ... ] + + This command specifies folders which can receive mail and which will be + checked for new messages. By default, the main menu status bar displays + how many of these folders have new messages. + + When changing folders, pressing space will cycle through folders with new + mail. + + Pressing TAB in the directory browser will bring up a menu showing the + files specified by the mailboxes command, and indicate which contain new + messages. Mutt-ng will automatically enter this mode when invoked from the + command line with the -y option. + + The ``unmailboxes'' command is used to remove a token from the list of + folders which receive mail. Use ``unmailboxes *'' to remove all tokens. + + Note: new mail is detected by comparing the last modification time to the + last access time. Utilities like biff or frm or any other program which + accesses the mailbox might cause Mutt-ng to never detect new mail for that + mailbox if they do not properly reset the access time. Backup tools are + another common reason for updated access times. + + Note: the filenames in the mailboxes command are resolved when the command + is executed, so if these names contain shortcuts (such as ``='' and + ``!''), any variable definition that affect these characters (like folder + and spoolfile) should be executed before the mailboxes command. + +16. User defined headers + + Usage: my_hdr string unmy_hdr field [ field ... ] + + The ``my_hdr'' command allows you to create your own header fields which + will be added to every message you send. + + For example, if you would like to add an ``Organization:'' header field to + all of your outgoing messages, you can put the command + + my_hdr Organization: A Really Big Company, Anytown, USA + + in your .muttrc. + + Note: space characters are not allowed between the keyword and the colon + (``:''). The standard for electronic mail (RFC822) says that space is + illegal there, so Mutt-ng enforces the rule. + + If you would like to add a header field to a single message, you should + either set the edit-headers variable, or use the edit-headers function + (default: ``E'') in the send-menu so that you can edit the header of your + message along with the body. + + To remove user defined header fields, use the ``unmy_hdr'' command. You + may specify an asterisk (``*'') to remove all header fields, or the fields + to remove. For example, to remove all ``To'' and ``Cc'' header fields, you + could use: + + unmy_hdr to cc + +17. Defining the order of headers when viewing messages + + Usage: hdr_order header1 header2 header3 + + With this command, you can specify an order in which mutt will attempt to + present headers to you when viewing messages. + + ``unhdr_order *'' will clear all previous headers from the order list, + thus removing the header order effects set by the system-wide startup + file. + + hdr_order From Date: From: To: Cc: Subject: + +18. Specify default save filename + + Usage: save-hook [!]pattern filename + + This command is used to override the default filename used when saving + messages. filename will be used as the default filename if the message is + From: an address matching regexp or if you are the author and the message + is addressed to: something matching regexp. + + See pattern-hook for information on the exact format of pattern. + + Examples: + + save-hook me@(turing\\.)?cs\\.hmc\\.edu$ +elkins + save-hook aol\\.com$ +spam + + Also see the fcc-save-hook command. + +19. Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing + + Usage: fcc-hook [!]pattern mailbox + + This command is used to save outgoing mail in a mailbox other than record. + Mutt-ng searches the initial list of message recipients for the first + matching regexp and uses mailbox as the default Fcc: mailbox. If no match + is found the message will be saved to record mailbox. + + See pattern-hook for information on the exact format of pattern. + + Example: fcc-hook [@.]aol\\.com$ +spammers + + The above will save a copy of all messages going to the aol.com domain to + the `+spammers' mailbox by default. Also see the fcc-save-hook command. + +20. Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at once + + Usage: fcc-save-hook [!]pattern mailbox + + This command is a shortcut, equivalent to doing both a fcc-hook and a + save-hook with its arguments. + +21. Change settings based upon message recipients + + Usage: reply-hook [!]pattern command Usage: send-hook [!]pattern command + Usage: send2-hook [!]pattern command + + These commands can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands + based upon recipients of the message. pattern is a regular expression + matching the desired address. command is executed when regexp matches + recipients of the message. + + reply-hook is matched against the message you are replying to, instead of + the message you are sending. send-hook is matched against all messages, + both new and replies. Note: reply-hooks are matched before the send-hook, + regardless of the order specified in the users's configuration file. + + send2-hook is matched every time a message is changed, either by editing + it, or by using the compose menu to change its recipients or subject. + send2-hook is executed after send-hook, and can, e.g., be used to set + parameters such as the sendmail variable depending on the message's sender + address. + + For each type of send-hook or reply-hook, when multiple matches occur, + commands are executed in the order they are specified in the muttrc (for + that type of hook). + + See pattern-hook for information on the exact format of pattern. + + Example: send-hook mutt "set mime_forward signature=''" + + Another typical use for this command is to change the values of the + attribution, signature and locale variables in order to change the + language of the attributions and signatures based upon the recipients. + + Note: the send-hook's are only executed ONCE after getting the initial + list of recipients. Adding a recipient after replying or editing the + message will NOT cause any send-hook to be executed. Also note that my_hdr + commands which modify recipient headers, or the message's subject, don't + have any effect on the current message when executed from a send-hook. + +22. Change settings before formatting a message + + Usage: message-hook [!]pattern command + + This command can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands + before viewing or formatting a message based upon information about the + message. command is executed if the pattern matches the message to be + displayed. When multiple matches occur, commands are executed in the order + they are specified in the muttrc. + + See pattern-hook for information on the exact format of pattern. + + Example: + + message-hook ~A 'set pager=builtin' + message-hook '~f freshmeat-news' 'set pager="less \"+/^ subject: .*\""' + +23. Choosing the cryptographic key of the recipient + + Usage: crypt-hook pattern keyid + + When encrypting messages with PGP or OpenSSL, you may want to associate a + certain key with a given e-mail address automatically, either because the + recipient's public key can't be deduced from the destination address, or + because, for some reasons, you need to override the key Mutt-ng would + normally use. The crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can + specify the ID of the public key to be used when encrypting messages to a + certain recipient. + + The meaning of "key id" is to be taken broadly in this context: You can + either put a numerical key ID here, an e-mail address, or even just a real + name. + +24. Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer + + Usage: push string + + This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer. The string may + contain control characters, key names and function names like the sequence + string in the macro command. You may use it to automatically run a + sequence of commands at startup, or when entering certain folders. + +25. Executing functions + + Usage: exec function [ function ... ] + + This command can be used to execute any function. Functions are listed in + the functions. ``exec function'' is equivalent to ``push ''. + +26. Message Scoring + + Usage: score pattern value Usage: unscore pattern [ pattern ... ] + + In situations where you have to cope with a lot of emails, e.g. when you + read many different mailing lists, and take part in discussions, it is + always useful to have the important messages marked and the annoying + messages or the ones that you aren't interested in deleted. For this + purpose, mutt-ng features a mechanism called ``scoring''. + + When you use scoring, every message has a base score of 0. You can then + use the score command to define patterns and a positive or negative value + associated with it. When a pattern matches a message, the message's score + will be raised or lowered by the amount of the value associated with the + pattern. + + score "~f nion@muttng\.org" 50 + score "~f @sco\.com" -100 + + If the pattern matches, it is also possible to set the score value of the + current message to a certain value and then stop evaluation: + + score "~f santaclaus@northpole\.int" =666 + + What is important to note is that negative score values will be rounded up + to 0. + + To make scoring actually useful, the score must be applied in some way. + That's what the score thresholds are for. Currently, there are three score + thresholds: + + o flag threshold: when a message has a score value equal or higher than + the flag threshold, it will be flagged. + + o read threshold: when a message has a score value equal or lower than + the read threshold, it will be marked as read. + + o delete threshold: when a message has a score value equal or lower than + the delete threshold, it will be marked as deleted. + + These three thresholds can be set via the variables score-threshold-flag, + score-threshold-read, score-threshold-delete and. By default, + score-threshold-read and score-threshold-delete are set to -1, which means + that in the default threshold configuration no message will ever get + marked as read or deleted. + + Scoring gets especially interesting when combined with the color command + and the ˜n pattern: + + color index black yellow "~n 10-" + color index red yellow "~n 100-" + + The rules above mark all messages with a score between 10 and 99 with + black and yellow, and messages with a score greater or equal 100 with red + and yellow. This might be unusual to you if you're used to e.g. slrn's + scoring mechanism, but it is more flexible, as it visually marks different + scores. + +27. Spam detection + + Usage: spam pattern format Usage: nospam pattern + + Mutt-ng has generalized support for external spam-scoring filters. By + defining your spam patterns with the spam and nospam commands, you can + limit, search, and sort your mail based on its spam attributes, as + determined by the external filter. You also can display the spam + attributes in your index display using the %H selector in the index-format + variable. (Tip: try %?H?[%H] ? to display spam tags only when they are + defined for a given message.) + + Your first step is to define your external filter's spam patterns using + the spam command. pattern should be a regular expression that matches a + header in a mail message. If any message in the mailbox matches this + regular expression, it will receive a ``spam tag'' or ``spam attribute'' + (unless it also matches a nospam pattern -- see below.) The appearance of + this attribute is entirely up to you, and is governed by the format + parameter. format can be any static text, but it also can include + back-references from the pattern expression. (A regular expression + ``back-reference'' refers to a sub-expression contained within + parentheses.) %1 is replaced with the first back-reference in the regex, + %2 with the second, etc. + + If you're using multiple spam filters, a message can have more than one + spam-related header. You can define spam patterns for each filter you use. + If a message matches two or more of these patterns, and the + $spam_separator variable is set to a string, then the message's spam tag + will consist of all the format strings joined together, with the value of + $spam_separator separating them. + + For example, suppose I use DCC, SpamAssassin, and PureMessage. I might + define these spam settings: + + spam "X-DCC-.*-Metrics:.*(....)=many" "90+/DCC-%1" + spam "X-Spam-Status: Yes" "90+/SA" + spam "X-PerlMX-Spam: .*Probability=([0-9]+)%" "%1/PM" + set spam_separator=", " + + If I then received a message that DCC registered with ``many'' hits under + the ``Fuz2'' checksum, and that PureMessage registered with a 97% + probability of being spam, that message's spam tag would read + 90+/DCC-Fuz2, 97/PM. (The four characters before ``=many'' in a DCC report + indicate the checksum used -- in this case, ``Fuz2''.) + + If the $spam_separator variable is unset, then each spam pattern match + supersedes the previous one. Instead of getting joined format strings, + you'll get only the last one to match. + + The spam tag is what will be displayed in the index when you use %H in the + $index_format variable. It's also the string that the ˜H pattern-matching + expression matches against for search and limit functions. And it's what + sorting by spam attribute will use as a sort key. + + That's a pretty complicated example, and most people's actual environments + will have only one spam filter. The simpler your configuration, the more + effective mutt can be, especially when it comes to sorting. + + Generally, when you sort by spam tag, mutt will sort lexically -- that is, + by ordering strings alphnumerically. However, if a spam tag begins with a + number, mutt will sort numerically first, and lexically only when two + numbers are equal in value. (This is like UNIX's sort -n.) A message with + no spam attributes at all -- that is, one that didn't match any of your + spam patterns -- is sorted at lowest priority. Numbers are sorted next, + beginning with 0 and ranging upward. Finally, non-numeric strings are + sorted, with ``a'' taking lower priority than ``z''. Clearly, in general, + sorting by spam tags is most effective when you can coerce your filter to + give you a raw number. But in case you can't, mutt can still do something + useful. + + The nospam command can be used to write exceptions to spam patterns. If a + header pattern matches something in a spam command, but you nonetheless do + not want it to receive a spam tag, you can list a more precise pattern + under a nospam command. + + If the pattern given to nospam is exactly the same as the pattern on an + existing spam list entry, the effect will be to remove the entry from the + spam list, instead of adding an exception. Likewise, if the pattern for a + spam command matches an entry on the nospam list, that nospam entry will + be removed. If the pattern for nospam is ``*'', all entries on both lists + will be removed. This might be the default action if you use spam and + nospam in conjunction with a folder-hook. + + You can have as many spam or nospam commands as you like. You can even do + your own primitive spam detection within mutt -- for example, if you + consider all mail from MAILER-DAEMON to be spam, you can use a spam + command like this: + + spam "^From: .*MAILER-DAEMON" "999" + +28. Setting variables + + Usage: set [no|inv]variable[=value] [ variable ... ] Usage: toggle + variable [variable ... ] Usage: unset variable [variable ... ] Usage: + reset variable [variable ... ] + + This command is used to set (and unset) variables. There are four basic + types of variables: boolean, number, string and quadoption. boolean + variables can be set (true) or unset (false). number variables can be + assigned a positive integer value. + + string variables consist of any number of printable characters. strings + must be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or tabs. You may also + use the ``C'' escape sequences \n and \t for newline and tab, + respectively. + + quadoption variables are used to control whether or not to be prompted for + certain actions, or to specify a default action. A value of yes will cause + the action to be carried out automatically as if you had answered yes to + the question. Similarly, a value of no will cause the the action to be + carried out as if you had answered ``no.'' A value of ask-yes will cause a + prompt with a default answer of ``yes'' and ask-no will provide a default + answer of ``no.'' + + Prefixing a variable with ``no'' will unset it. Example: set noaskbcc. + + For boolean variables, you may optionally prefix the variable name with + inv to toggle the value (on or off). This is useful when writing macros. + Example: set invsmart_wrap. + + The toggle command automatically prepends the inv prefix to all specified + variables. + + The unset command automatically prepends the no prefix to all specified + variables. + + Using the enter-command function in the index menu, you can query the + value of a variable by prefixing the name of the variable with a question + mark: + + set ?allow_8bit + + The question mark is actually only required for boolean and quadoption + variables. + + The reset command resets all given variables to the compile time defaults + (hopefully mentioned in this manual). If you use the command set and + prefix the variable with ``&'' this has the same behavior as the reset + command. + + With the reset command there exists the special variable ``all'', which + allows you to reset all variables to their system defaults. + +29. Reading initialization commands from another file + + Usage: source filename [ filename ... ] + + This command allows the inclusion of initialization commands from other + files. For example, I place all of my aliases in ˜/.mail_aliases so that + I can make my ˜/.muttrc readable and keep my aliases private. + + If the filename begins with a tilde (``˜''), it will be expanded to the + path of your home directory. + + If the filename ends with a vertical bar (|), then filename is considered + to be an executable program from which to read input (eg. source + ˜/bin/myscript|). + +30. Removing hooks + + Usage: unhook [ * | hook-type ] + + This command permits you to flush hooks you have previously defined. You + can either remove all hooks by giving the ``*'' character as an argument, + or you can remove all hooks of a specific type by saying something like + unhook send-hook. + +31. Sharing Setups + + 31.1. Character Sets + + As users may run mutt-ng on different systems, the configuration must be + maintained because it's likely that people want to use the setup + everywhere they use mutt-ng. And mutt-ng tries to help where it can. + + To not produce conflicts with different character sets, mutt-ng allows + users to specify in which character set their configuration files are + encoded. Please note that while reading the configuration files, this is + only respected after the corresponding declaration appears. It's advised + to put the following at the very beginning of a users muttngrc: + + set config_charset = "..." + + and replacing the dots with the actual character set. To avoid problems + while maintaining the setup, vim user's may want to use modelines as show + in: + + # vim:fileencoding=...: + + while, again, replacing the dots with the appropriate name. This tells vim + as which character set to read and save the file. + + 31.2. Modularization + + ``Modularization'' means to divide the setup into several files while + sorting the options or commands by topic. Especially for longer setups + (e.g. with many hooks), this helps maintaining it and solving trouble. + + When using separation, setups may be, as a whole or in fractions, shared + over different systems. + + 31.3. Conditional parts + + When using a configuration on different systems, the user may not always + have influence on how mutt-ng is installed and which features it includes. + + To solve this, mutt-ng contain a feature based on the ``ifdef'' patch + written for mutt. Its basic syntax is: + + ifdef + ifndef + + ...whereby can be one of: + + o a function name + + o a variable name + + o a menu name + + o a feature name + + All available functions, variables and menus are documented elsewhere in + this manual but ``features'' is specific to these two commands. To test + for one, prefix one of the following keywords with feature_: + + ncurses, slang, iconv, idn, dotlock, standalone, pop, nntp, imap, ssl, + gnutls, sasl, sasl2, libesmtp, compressed, color, classic_pgp, + classic_smime, gpgme, header_cache + + As an example, one can use the following in ˜/.muttngrc: + + ifdef feature_imap 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-imap' + ifdef feature_pop 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-pop' + ifdef feature_nntp 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-nntp' + + ...to only source ˜/.mutt-ng/setup-imap if IMAP support is built in, only + source ˜/.mutt-ng/setup-pop if POP support is built in and only source + ˜/.mutt-ng/setup-nntp if NNTP support is built in. + + An example for testing for variable names can be used if users use + different revisions of mutt-ng whereby the older one may not have a + certain variable. To test for the availability of imap-mail-check, use: + + ifdef imap_mail_check 'set imap_mail_check = 300' + + Provided for completeness is the test for menu names. To set + pager-index-lines only if the pager menu is available, use: + + ifdef pager 'set pager_index_lines = 10' + + For completeness, too, the opposite of ifdef is provided: ifndef which + only executes the command if the test fails. For example, the following + two examples are equivalent: + + ifdef feature_ncurses 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-ncurses' + ifndef feature_ncurses 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-slang' + + ...and... + + ifdef feature_slang 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-slang' + ifndef feature_slang 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-ncurses' + +32. Obsolete Variables + + In the process of ensuring and creating more consistency, many variables + have been renamed and some of the old names were already removed. Please + see sect-obsolete for a complete list. + +Chapter 4. Advanced Usage + + Table of Contents + + 1. Regular Expressions + + 2. Patterns + + 2.1. Complex Patterns + + 2.2. Patterns and Dates + + 3. Format Strings + + 3.1. Introduction + + 3.2. Conditional Expansion + + 3.3. Modifications and Padding + + 4. Using Tags + + 5. Using Hooks + + 5.1. Message Matching in Hooks + + 6. Using the sidebar + + 7. External Address Queries + + 8. Mailbox Formats + + 9. Mailbox Shortcuts + + 10. Handling Mailing Lists + + 11. Editing threads + + 11.1. Linking threads + + 11.2. Breaking threads + + 12. Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support + + 13. POP3 Support (OPTIONAL) + + 14. IMAP Support (OPTIONAL) + + 14.1. The Folder Browser + + 14.2. Authentication + + 15. NNTP Support (OPTIONAL) + + 15.1. Again: Scoring + + 16. SMTP Support (OPTIONAL) + + 17. Managing multiple IMAP/POP/NNTP accounts (OPTIONAL) + + 18. Start a WWW Browser on URLs (EXTERNAL) + + 19. Compressed folders Support (OPTIONAL) + + 19.1. Open a compressed mailbox for reading + + 19.2. Write a compressed mailbox + + 19.3. Append a message to a compressed mailbox + + 19.4. Encrypted folders + +1. Regular Expressions + + All string patterns in Mutt-ng including those in more complex patterns + must be specified using regular expressions (regexp) in the ``POSIX + extended'' syntax (which is more or less the syntax used by egrep and GNU + awk). For your convenience, we have included below a brief description of + this syntax. + + The search is case sensitive if the pattern contains at least one upper + case letter, and case insensitive otherwise. Note that ``\'' must be + quoted if used for a regular expression in an initialization command: + ``\\''. + + A regular expression is a pattern that describes a set of strings. Regular + expressions are constructed analogously to arithmetic expressions, by + using various operators to combine smaller expressions. + + Note that the regular expression can be enclosed/delimited by either " or + ' which is useful if the regular expression includes a white-space + character. See muttrc-syntax for more information on " and ' delimiter + processing. To match a literal " or ' you must preface it with \ + (backslash). + + The fundamental building blocks are the regular expressions that match a + single character. Most characters, including all letters and digits, are + regular expressions that match themselves. Any metacharacter with special + meaning may be quoted by preceding it with a backslash. + + The period ``.'' matches any single character. The caret ``^'' and the + dollar sign ``$'' are metacharacters that respectively match the empty + string at the beginning and end of a line. + + A list of characters enclosed by ``['' and ``]'' matches any single + character in that list; if the first character of the list is a caret + ``^'' then it matches any character not in the list. For example, the + regular expression [0123456789] matches any single digit. A range of ASCII + characters may be specified by giving the first and last characters, + separated by a hyphen ``-''. Most metacharacters lose their special + meaning inside lists. To include a literal ``]'' place it first in the + list. Similarly, to include a literal ``^'' place it anywhere but first. + Finally, to include a literal hyphen ``-'' place it last. + + Certain named classes of characters are predefined. Character classes + consist of ``[:'', a keyword denoting the class, and ``:]''. The following + classes are defined by the POSIX standard: + + [:alnum:] + + Alphanumeric characters. + + [:alpha:] + + Alphabetic characters. + + [:blank:] + + Space or tab characters. + + [:cntrl:] + + Control characters. + + [:digit:] + + Numeric characters. + + [:graph:] + + Characters that are both printable and visible. (A space is + printable, but not visible, while an ``a'' is both.) + + [:lower:] + + Lower-case alphabetic characters. + + [:print:] + + Printable characters (characters that are not control characters.) + + [:punct:] + + Punctuation characters (characters that are not letter, digits, + control characters, or space characters). + + [:space:] + + Space characters (such as space, tab and formfeed, to name a few). + + [:upper:] + + Upper-case alphabetic characters. + + [:xdigit:] + + Characters that are hexadecimal digits. + + A character class is only valid in a regular expression inside the + brackets of a character list. Note that the brackets in these class names + are part of the symbolic names, and must be included in addition to the + brackets delimiting the bracket list. For example, [[:digit:]] is + equivalent to [0-9]. + + Two additional special sequences can appear in character lists. These + apply to non-ASCII character sets, which can have single symbols (called + collating elements) that are represented with more than one character, as + well as several characters that are equivalent for collating or sorting + purposes: + + Collating Symbols + + A collating symbol is a multi-character collating element enclosed + in ``[.'' and ``.]''. For example, if ``ch'' is a collating + element, then [[.ch.]] is a regexp that matches this collating + element, while [ch] is a regexp that matches either ``c'' or + ``h''. + + Equivalence Classes + + An equivalence class is a locale-specific name for a list of + characters that are equivalent. The name is enclosed in ``[='' and + ``=]''. For example, the name ``e'' might be used to represent all + of ``è'' ``é'' and ``e''. In this case, [[=e=]] is a regexp that + matches any of ``è'', ``é'' and ``e''. + + A regular expression matching a single character may be followed by one of + several repetition operators: + + ? + + The preceding item is optional and matched at most once. + + * + + The preceding item will be matched zero or more times. + + + + + The preceding item will be matched one or more times. + + {n} + + The preceding item is matched exactly n times. + + {n,} + + The preceding item is matched n or more times. + + {,m} + + The preceding item is matched at most m times. + + {n,m} + + The preceding item is matched at least n times, but no more than m + times. + + Two regular expressions may be concatenated; the resulting regular + expression matches any string formed by concatenating two substrings that + respectively match the concatenated subexpressions. + + Two regular expressions may be joined by the infix operator ``|''; the + resulting regular expression matches any string matching either + subexpression. + + Repetition takes precedence over concatenation, which in turn takes + precedence over alternation. A whole subexpression may be enclosed in + parentheses to override these precedence rules. + + Note: If you compile Mutt-ng with the GNU rx package, the following + operators may also be used in regular expressions: + + \\y + + Matches the empty string at either the beginning or the end of a + word. + + \\B + + Matches the empty string within a word. + + \\< + + Matches the empty string at the beginning of a word. + + \\> + + Matches the empty string at the end of a word. + + \\w + + Matches any word-constituent character (letter, digit, or + underscore). + + \\W + + Matches any character that is not word-constituent. + + \\` + + Matches the empty string at the beginning of a buffer (string). + + \\' + + Matches the empty string at the end of a buffer. + + Please note however that these operators are not defined by POSIX, so they + may or may not be available in stock libraries on various systems. + +2. Patterns + + Mutt-ng's pattern language provides a simple yet effective way to set up + rules to match messages, e.g. for operations like tagging and scoring. A + pattern consists of one or more sub-pattern, which can be logically + grouped, ORed, and negated. For a complete listing of these patterns, + please refer to table patterns in the Reference chapter. + + It must be noted that in this table, EXPR, USER, ID and SUBJECT are + regular expressions. For ranges, the forms <[MAX], >>[MIN], [MIN]- and + -[MAX] are also possible. + + 2.1. Complex Patterns + + It is possible to combine several sub-patterns to a more complex pattern. + The most simple possibility is to logically AND several patterns by + stringing them together: + + ~s 'SPAM' ~U + + The pattern above matches all messages that contain ``SPAM'' in the + subject and are unread. + + To logical OR patterns, simply use the | operator. This one especially + useful when using local groups: + + ~f ("nion@muttng\.org"|"ak@muttng\.org"|"pdmef@muttng\.org") + (~b mutt-ng|~s Mutt-ng) + !~x '@synflood\.at' + + The first pattern matches all messages that were sent by one of the + mutt-ng maintainers, while the seconds pattern matches all messages that + contain ``mutt-ng'' in the message body or ``Mutt-ng'' in the subject. The + third pattern matches all messages that do not contain ``@synflood\.at'' + in the References: header, i.e. messages that are not an (indirect) reply + to one of my messages. A pattern can be logicall negated using the ! + operator. + + 2.2. Patterns and Dates + + When using dates in patterns, the dates must be specified in a special + format, i.e. DD/MM/YYYY. If you don't specify month or year, they default + to the current month or year. When using date ranges, and you specify only + the minimum or the maximum, the specified date will be excluded, e.g. + 01/06/2005- matches against all messages after Juni 1st, 2005. + + It is also possible to use so-called ``error margins'' when specifying + date ranges. You simply specify a date, and then the error margin. This + margin needs to contain the information whether it goes ``forth'' or + ``back'' in time, by using + and -. Then follows a number and a unit, i.e. + y for years, m for months, w for weeks and d for days. If you use the + special * sign, it means that the error margin goes to both ``directions'' + in time. + + ~d 01/01/2005+1y + ~d 18/10/2004-2w + ~d 28/12/2004*1d + + The first pattern matches all dates between January 1st, 2005 and January + 1st 2006. The second pattern matches all dates between October 18th, 2004 + and October 4th 2004 (2 weeks before 18/10/2004), while the third pattern + matches all dates 1 day around December 28th, 2004 (i.e. Dec 27th, 28th + and 29th). + + Relative dates are also very important, as they make it possible to + specify date ranges between a fixed number of units and the current date. + How this works can be seen in the following example: + + ~d >2w # messages older than two weeks + ~d <3d # messages newer than 3 days + ~d =1m # messages that are exactly one month old + +3. Format Strings + + 3.1. Introduction + + The so called Format Strings offer great flexibility when configuring + mutt-ng. In short, they describe what items to print out how in menus and + status messages. + + Basically, they work as this: for different menus and bars, there's a + variable specifying the layout. For every item available, there is a so + called expando. + + For example, when running mutt-ng on different machines or different + versions for testing purposes, it may be interesting to have the following + information always printed on screen when one is in the index: + + o the current hostname + + o the current mutt-ng version number + + The setting for the status bar of the index is controlled via the + status-format variable. For the hostname and version string, there's an + expando for $status_format: %h expands to the hostname and %v to the + version string. When just configuring: + + set status_format = "%v on %h: ..." + + mutt-ng will replace the sequence %v with the version string and %h with + the host's name. When you are, for example, running mutt-ng version 1.5.9i + on host mailhost, you'll see the following when you're in the index: + + Mutt-ng 1.5.9i on mailhost: ... + + In the index, there're more useful information one could want to see: + + o which mailbox is open + + o how man new, flagged or postponed messages + + o ... + + To include the mailbox' name is as easy as: + + set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: ... + + When the currently opened mailbox is Inbox, this will be expanded to: + + Mutt-ng 1.5.9i on mailhost: Inbox: ... + + For the number of certain types of messages, one more feature of the + format strings is extremely useful. If there aren't messages of a certain + type, it may not be desired to print just that there aren't any but + instead only print something if there are any. + + 3.2. Conditional Expansion + + To only print the number of messages if there are new messages in the + current mailbox, further extend $status_format to: + + set status_format = "%v on %h: %B %?n?%n new? ... + + This feature is called nonzero-printing and works as this: some expandos + may be optionally printed nonzero, i.e. a portion of the format string is + only evaluated if the value of the expando is different from zero. The + basic syntax is: + + %??? + + which tells mutt-ng to only look at if the value of + the %?&? + + Using this we can make mutt-ng to do the following: + + o make it print ``n new messages'' whereby n is the count but only if + there new ones + + o and make it print ``no new messages'' if there aren't any + + The corresponding configuration is: + + set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n new messages&no new messages? ... + + This doubles the use of the ``new messages'' string because it'll get + always printed. Thus, it can be shortened to: + + set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n&no? new messages ... + + As you might see from this rather simple example, one can create very + complex but fancy status messages. Please see the reference chapter for + expandos and those which may be printed nonzero. + + 3.3. Modifications and Padding + + Besides the information given so far, there're even more features of + format strings: + + o When specifying %_ instead of just %, mutt-ng will convert + all characters in the expansion of to lowercase. + + o When specifying %: instead of just %, mutt-ng will convert + all dots in the expansion of to underscores (_). + + Also, there's a feature called Padding supplied by the following two + expandos: %|X and %>X. + + %|X + + When this occurs, mutt-ng will fill the rest of the line with the + character X. In our example, filling the rest of the line with + dashes is done by setting: + + set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n&no? new messages %|-" + + %>X + + Since the previous expando stops at the end of line, there must be + a way to fill the gap between two items via the %>X expando: it + puts as many characters X in between two items so that the rest of + the line will be right-justified. For example, to not put the + version string and hostname of our example on the left but on the + right and fill the gap with spaces, one might use (note the space + after %>): + + set status_format = "%B: %?n?%n&no? new messages %> (%v on %h)" + +4. Using Tags + + Sometimes it is desirable to perform an operation on a group of messages + all at once rather than one at a time. An example might be to save + messages to a mailing list to a separate folder, or to delete all messages + with a given subject. To tag all messages matching a pattern, use the + tag-pattern function, which is bound to ``shift-T'' by default. Or you can + select individual messages by hand using the ``tag-message'' function, + which is bound to ``t'' by default. See patterns for Mutt-ng's pattern + matching syntax. + + Once you have tagged the desired messages, you can use the ``tag-prefix'' + operator, which is the ``;'' (semicolon) key by default. When the + ``tag-prefix'' operator is used, the next operation will be applied to all + tagged messages if that operation can be used in that manner. If the + auto-tag variable is set, the next operation applies to the tagged + messages automatically, without requiring the ``tag-prefix''. + + In macro or push commands, you can use the ``tag-prefix-cond'' operator. + If there are no tagged messages, mutt will "eat" the rest of the macro to + abort it's execution. Mutt-ng will stop "eating" the macro when it + encounters the ``end-cond'' operator; after this operator the rest of the + macro will be executed as normal. + +5. Using Hooks + + A hook is a concept borrowed from the EMACS editor which allows you to + execute arbitrary commands before performing some operation. For example, + you may wish to tailor your configuration based upon which mailbox you are + reading, or to whom you are sending mail. In the Mutt-ng world, a hook + consists of a regexp or patterns along with a configuration + option/command. See + + o folder-hook + + o send-hook + + o message-hook + + o save-hook + + o mbox-hook + + o fcc-hook + + o fcc-save-hook + + for specific details on each type of hook available. + + Note: if a hook changes configuration settings, these changes remain + effective until the end of the current mutt session. As this is generally + not desired, a default hook needs to be added before all other hooks to + restore configuration defaults. Here is an example with send-hook and the + my_hdr directive: + + send-hook . 'unmy_hdr From:' + send-hook ~C'^b@b\.b$' my_hdr from: c@c.c + + 5.1. Message Matching in Hooks + + Hooks that act upon messages (send-hook, save-hook, fcc-hook, + message-hook) are evaluated in a slightly different manner. For the other + types of hooks, a regexp is sufficient. But in dealing with messages a + finer grain of control is needed for matching since for different purposes + you want to match different criteria. + + Mutt-ng allows the use of the patterns language for matching messages in + hook commands. This works in exactly the same way as it would when + limiting or searching the mailbox, except that you are restricted to those + operators which match information mutt extracts from the header of the + message (i.e. from, to, cc, date, subject, etc.). + + For example, if you wanted to set your return address based upon sending + mail to a specific address, you could do something like: + + send-hook '~t ^me@cs\.hmc\.edu$' 'my_hdr From: Mutt-ng User ' + + which would execute the given command when sending mail to me@cs.hmc.edu. + + However, it is not required that you write the pattern to match using the + full searching language. You can still specify a simple regular expression + like the other hooks, in which case Mutt-ng will translate your pattern + into the full language, using the translation specified by the + default-hook variable. The pattern is translated at the time the hook is + declared, so the value of default-hook that is in effect at that time will + be used. + +6. Using the sidebar + + The sidebar, a feature specific to Mutt-ng, allows you to use a mailbox + listing which looks very similar to the ones you probably know from GUI + mail clients. The sidebar lists all specified mailboxes, shows the number + in each and highlights the ones with new email Use the following + configuration commands: + + set sidebar_visible="yes" + set sidebar_width=25 + + If you want to specify the mailboxes you can do so with: + + set mbox='=INBOX' + mailboxes INBOX \ + MBOX1 \ + MBOX2 \ + ... + + You can also specify the colors for mailboxes with new mails by using: + + color sidebar_new red black + color sidebar white black + + The available functions are: + + sidebar-scroll-up Scrolls the mailbox list up 1 page + sidebar-scroll-down Scrolls the mailbox list down 1 page + sidebar-next Highlights the next mailbox + sidebar-next-new Highlights the next mailbox with new mail + sidebar-previous Highlights the previous mailbox + sidebar-open Opens the currently highlighted mailbox + + Reasonable key bindings look e.g. like this: + + bind index \Cp sidebar-prev + bind index \Cn sidebar-next + bind index \Cb sidebar-open + bind pager \Cp sidebar-prev + bind pager \Cn sidebar-next + bind pager \Cb sidebar-open + + macro index B ':toggle sidebar_visible^M' + macro pager B ':toggle sidebar_visible^M' + + You can then go up and down by pressing Ctrl-P and Ctrl-N, and switch on + and off the sidebar simply by pressing 'B'. + +7. External Address Queries + + Mutt-ng supports connecting to external directory databases such as LDAP, + ph/qi, bbdb, or NIS through a wrapper script which connects to mutt using + a simple interface. Using the query-command variable, you specify the + wrapper command to use. For example: + + set query_command = "mutt_ldap_query.pl '%s'" + + The wrapper script should accept the query on the command-line. It should + return a one line message, then each matching response on a single line, + each line containing a tab separated address then name then some other + optional information. On error, or if there are no matching addresses, + return a non-zero exit code and a one line error message. + + An example multiple response output: + + Searching database ... 20 entries ... 3 matching: + me@cs.hmc.edu Michael Elkins mutt dude + blong@fiction.net Brandon Long mutt and more + roessler@guug.de Thomas Roessler mutt pgp + + There are two mechanisms for accessing the query function of mutt. One is + to do a query from the index menu using the query function (default: Q). + This will prompt for a query, then bring up the query menu which will list + the matching responses. From the query menu, you can select addresses to + create aliases, or to mail. You can tag multiple addresses to mail, start + a new query, or have a new query appended to the current responses. + + The other mechanism for accessing the query function is for address + completion, similar to the alias completion. In any prompt for address + entry, you can use the complete-query function (default: ^T) to run a + query based on the current address you have typed. Like aliases, mutt will + look for what you have typed back to the last space or comma. If there is + a single response for that query, mutt will expand the address in place. + If there are multiple responses, mutt will activate the query menu. At the + query menu, you can select one or more addresses to be added to the + prompt. + +8. Mailbox Formats + + Mutt-ng supports reading and writing of four different mailbox formats: + mbox, MMDF, MH and Maildir. The mailbox type is autodetected, so there is + no need to use a flag for different mailbox types. When creating new + mailboxes, Mutt-ng uses the default specified with the mbox-type variable. + + mbox. This is the most widely used mailbox format for UNIX. All messages + are stored in a single file. Each message has a line of the form: + + From me@cs.hmc.edu Fri, 11 Apr 1997 11:44:56 PST + + to denote the start of a new message (this is often referred to as the + ``From_'' line). + + MMDF. This is a variant of the mbox format. Each message is surrounded by + lines containing ``^A^A^A^A'' (four control-A's). + + MH. A radical departure from mbox and MMDF, a mailbox consists of a + directory and each message is stored in a separate file. The filename + indicates the message number (however, this is may not correspond to the + message number Mutt-ng displays). Deleted messages are renamed with a + comma (,) prepended to the filename. Note: Mutt detects this type of + mailbox by looking for either .mh_sequences or .xmhcache (needed to + distinguish normal directories from MH mailboxes). + + Maildir. The newest of the mailbox formats, used by the Qmail MTA (a + replacement for sendmail). Similar to MH, except that it adds three + subdirectories of the mailbox: tmp, new and cur. Filenames for the + messages are chosen in such a way they are unique, even when two programs + are writing the mailbox over NFS, which means that no file locking is + needed. + +9. Mailbox Shortcuts + + There are a number of built in shortcuts which refer to specific + mailboxes. These shortcuts can be used anywhere you are prompted for a + file or mailbox path. + + o ! -- refers to your spoolfile (incoming) mailbox + + o > -- refers to your mbox file + + o < -- refers to your record file + + o ^ -- refers to the current mailbox + + o - or !! -- refers to the file you've last visited + + o ˜ -- refers to your home directory + + o = or + -- refers to your folder directory + + o @alias -- refers to the save-hook as determined by the address of the + alias + +10. Handling Mailing Lists + + Mutt-ng has a few configuration options that make dealing with large + amounts of mail easier. The first thing you must do is to let Mutt know + what addresses you consider to be mailing lists (technically this does not + have to be a mailing list, but that is what it is most often used for), + and what lists you are subscribed to. This is accomplished through the use + of the lists commands in your muttrc. + + Now that Mutt-ng knows what your mailing lists are, it can do several + things, the first of which is the ability to show the name of a list + through which you received a message (i.e., of a subscribed list) in the + index menu display. This is useful to distinguish between personal and + list mail in the same mailbox. In the index-format variable, the escape + ``%L'' will return the string ``To '' when ``list'' appears in the + ``To'' field, and ``Cc '' when it appears in the ``Cc'' field + (otherwise it returns the name of the author). + + Often times the ``To'' and ``Cc'' fields in mailing list messages tend to + get quite large. Most people do not bother to remove the author of the + message they are reply to from the list, resulting in two or more copies + being sent to that person. The ``list-reply'' function, which by default + is bound to ``L'' in the index menu and pager, helps reduce the clutter by + only replying to the known mailing list addresses instead of all + recipients (except as specified by Mail-Followup-To, see below). + + Mutt-ng also supports the Mail-Followup-To header. When you send a message + to a list of recipients which includes one or several subscribed mailing + lists, and if the followup-to option is set, mutt will generate a + Mail-Followup-To header which contains all the recipients to whom you send + this message, but not your address. This indicates that group-replies or + list-replies (also known as ``followups'') to this message should only be + sent to the original recipients of the message, and not separately to you + - you'll receive your copy through one of the mailing lists you are + subscribed to. + + Conversely, when group-replying or list-replying to a message which has a + Mail-Followup-To header, mutt will respect this header if the + honor-followup-to configuration variable is set. Using list-reply will in + this case also make sure that the reply goes to the mailing list, even if + it's not specified in the list of recipients in the Mail-Followup-To. + + Note that, when header editing is enabled, you can create a + Mail-Followup-To header manually. Mutt-ng will only auto-generate this + header if it doesn't exist when you send the message. + + The other method some mailing list admins use is to generate a + ``Reply-To'' field which points back to the mailing list address rather + than the author of the message. This can create problems when trying to + reply directly to the author in private, since most mail clients will + automatically reply to the address given in the ``Reply-To'' field. + Mutt-ng uses the reply-to variable to help decide which address to use. If + set to ask-yes or ask-no, you will be prompted as to whether or not you + would like to use the address given in the ``Reply-To'' field, or reply + directly to the address given in the ``From'' field. When set to yes, the + ``Reply-To'' field will be used when present. + + The ``X-Label:'' header field can be used to further identify mailing + lists or list subject matter (or just to annotate messages individually). + The index-format variable's ``%y'' and ``%Y'' escapes can be used to + expand ``X-Label:'' fields in the index, and Mutt-ng's pattern-matcher can + match regular expressions to ``X-Label:'' fields with the ``˜y'' + selector. ``X-Label:'' is not a standard message header field, but it can + easily be inserted by procmail and other mail filtering agents. + + Lastly, Mutt-ng has the ability to sort the mailbox into threads. A thread + is a group of messages which all relate to the same subject. This is + usually organized into a tree-like structure where a message and all of + its replies are represented graphically. If you've ever used a threaded + news client, this is the same concept. It makes dealing with large volume + mailing lists easier because you can easily delete uninteresting threads + and quickly find topics of value. + +11. Editing threads + + Mutt-ng has the ability to dynamically restructure threads that are broken + either by misconfigured software or bad behavior from some correspondents. + This allows to clean your mailboxes formats) from these annoyances which + make it hard to follow a discussion. + + 11.1. Linking threads + + Some mailers tend to "forget" to correctly set the "In-Reply-To:" and + "References:" headers when replying to a message. This results in broken + discussions because Mutt-ng has not enough information to guess the + correct threading. You can fix this by tagging the reply, then moving to + the parent message and using the ``link-threads'' function (bound to & by + default). The reply will then be connected to this "parent" message. + + You can also connect multiple children at once, tagging them and using the + tag-prefix command (';') or the auto_tag option. + + 11.2. Breaking threads + + On mailing lists, some people are in the bad habit of starting a new + discussion by hitting "reply" to any message from the list and changing + the subject to a totally unrelated one. You can fix such threads by using + the ``break-thread'' function (bound by default to #), which will turn the + subthread starting from the current message into a whole different thread. + +12. Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support + + RFC1894 defines a set of MIME content types for relaying information about + the status of electronic mail messages. These can be thought of as + ``return receipts.'' + + Users can make use of it in one of the following two ways: + + o Berkeley sendmail 8.8.x currently has some command line options in + which the mail client can make requests as to what type of status + messages should be returned. + + o The SMTP support via libESMTP supports it, too. + + To support this, there are two variables: + + o dsn-notify is used to request receipts for different results (such as + failed message, message delivered, etc.). + + o dsn-return requests how much of your message should be returned with + the receipt (headers or full message). + + Please see the reference chapter for possible values. + +13. POP3 Support (OPTIONAL) + + If Mutt-ng was compiled with POP3 support (by running the configure script + with the --enable-pop flag), it has the ability to work with mailboxes + located on a remote POP3 server and fetch mail for local browsing. + + You can access the remote POP3 mailbox by selecting the folder + pop://popserver/. + + You can select an alternative port by specifying it with the server, i.e.: + pop://popserver:port/. + + You can also specify different username for each folder, i.e.: + pop://username@popserver[:port]/. + + Polling for new mail is more expensive over POP3 than locally. For this + reason the frequency at which Mutt-ng will check for mail remotely can be + controlled by the pop-mail-check variable, which defaults to every 60 + seconds. + + If Mutt-ng was compiled with SSL support (by running the configure script + with the --with-ssl flag), connections to POP3 servers can be encrypted. + This naturally requires that the server supports SSL encrypted + connections. To access a folder with POP3/SSL, you should use pops: + prefix, ie: pops://[username@]popserver[:port]/. + + Another way to access your POP3 mail is the fetch-mail function (default: + G). It allows to connect to pop-host, fetch all your new mail and place it + in the local spoolfile. After this point, Mutt-ng runs exactly as if the + mail had always been local. + + Note: If you only need to fetch all messages to local mailbox you should + consider using a specialized program, such as fetchmail + +14. IMAP Support (OPTIONAL) + + If Mutt-ng was compiled with IMAP support (by running the configure script + with the --enable-imap flag), it has the ability to work with folders + located on a remote IMAP server. + + You can access the remote inbox by selecting the folder + imap://imapserver/INBOX, where imapserver is the name of the IMAP server + and INBOX is the special name for your spool mailbox on the IMAP server. + If you want to access another mail folder at the IMAP server, you should + use imap://imapserver/path/to/folder where path/to/folder is the path of + the folder you want to access. + + You can select an alternative port by specifying it with the server, i.e.: + imap://imapserver:port/INBOX. + + You can also specify different username for each folder, i.e.: + imap://username@imapserver[:port]/INBOX. + + If Mutt-ng was compiled with SSL support (by running the configure script + with the --with-ssl flag), connections to IMAP servers can be encrypted. + This naturally requires that the server supports SSL encrypted + connections. To access a folder with IMAP/SSL, you should use + imaps://[username@]imapserver[:port]/path/to/folder as your folder path. + + Pine-compatible notation is also supported, i.e. + {[username@]imapserver[:port][/ssl]}path/to/folder + + Note that not all servers use / as the hierarchy separator. Mutt-ng should + correctly notice which separator is being used by the server and convert + paths accordingly. + + When browsing folders on an IMAP server, you can toggle whether to look at + only the folders you are subscribed to, or all folders with the + toggle-subscribed command. See also the imap-list-subscribed variable. + + Polling for new mail on an IMAP server can cause noticeable delays. So, + you'll want to carefully tune the imap-mail-check and timeout variables. + + Note that if you are using mbox as the mail store on UW servers prior to + v12.250, the server has been reported to disconnect a client if another + client selects the same folder. + + 14.1. The Folder Browser + + As of version 1.2, mutt supports browsing mailboxes on an IMAP server. + This is mostly the same as the local file browser, with the following + differences: + + o Instead of file permissions, mutt displays the string "IMAP", possibly + followed by the symbol "+", indicating that the entry contains both + messages and subfolders. On Cyrus-like servers folders will often + contain both messages and subfolders. + + o For the case where an entry can contain both messages and subfolders, + the selection key (bound to enter by default) will choose to descend + into the subfolder view. If you wish to view the messages in that + folder, you must use view-file instead (bound to space by default). + + o You can create, delete and rename mailboxes with the create-mailbox, + delete-mailbox, and rename-mailbox commands (default bindings: C, d + and r, respectively). You may also subscribe and unsubscribe to + mailboxes (normally these are bound to s and u, respectively). + + 14.2. Authentication + + Mutt-ng supports four authentication methods with IMAP servers: SASL, + GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, and LOGIN (there is a patch by Grant Edwards to add NTLM + authentication for you poor exchange users out there, but it has yet to be + integrated into the main tree). There is also support for the + pseudo-protocol ANONYMOUS, which allows you to log in to a public IMAP + server without having an account. To use ANONYMOUS, simply make your + username blank or "anonymous". + + SASL is a special super-authenticator, which selects among several + protocols (including GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, ANONYMOUS, and DIGEST-MD5) the most + secure method available on your host and the server. Using some of these + methods (including DIGEST-MD5 and possibly GSSAPI), your entire session + will be encrypted and invisible to those teeming network snoops. It is the + best option if you have it. To use it, you must have the Cyrus SASL + library installed on your system and compile mutt with the --with-sasl + flag. + + Mutt-ng will try whichever methods are compiled in and available on the + server, in the following order: SASL, ANONYMOUS, GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, LOGIN. + + There are a few variables which control authentication: + + o imap-user - controls the username under which you request + authentication on the IMAP server, for all authenticators. This is + overridden by an explicit username in the mailbox path (i.e. by using + a mailbox name of the form {user@host}). + + o imap-pass - a password which you may preset, used by all + authentication methods where a password is needed. + + o imap-authenticators - a colon-delimited list of IMAP authentication + methods to try, in the order you wish to try them. If specified, this + overrides mutt's default (attempt everything, in the order listed + above). + +15. NNTP Support (OPTIONAL) + + If compiled with ``--enable-nntp'' option, Mutt-ng can read news from a + newsserver via NNTP. You can open a newsgroup with the + ``change-newsgroup'' function from the index/pager which is by default + bound to i. + + The Default newsserver can be obtained from the $NNTPSERVER environment + variable. Like other news readers, info about subscribed newsgroups is + saved in a file as specified by the nntp-newsrc variable. Article headers + are cached and can be loaded from a file when a newsgroup is entered + instead loading from newsserver; currently, this caching mechanism still + is different from the header caching for maildir/IMAP. + + 15.1. Again: Scoring + + Especially for Usenet, people often ask for advanced filtering and scoring + functionality. Of course, mutt-ng has scoring and allows a killfile, too. + How to use a killfile has been discussed in score-command. + + What has not been discusses in detail is mutt-ng's built-in realname + filter. For may newsreaders including those for ``advanced users'' like + slrn or tin, there are frequent request for such functionality. The + solutions offered often are complicated regular expressions. + + In mutt-ng this is as easy as + + score ~* =42 + + + This tells mutt-ng to apply a score of 42 to all messages whose sender + specified a valid realname and a valid email address. Using + + score !~* =42 + + + on the contrary applies a score of 42 to all messages not matching those + criteria which are very strict: + + o Email addresses must be valid according to RFC 2822, see + + + o the name must consist of at least 2 fields whereby a field must not + end in a dot. This means that ``Joe User'' and ``Joe A. User'' are + valid while ``J. User'' and ``J. A. User'' aren't. + + o it's assumed that users are interested in reading their own mail and + mail from people who they have defined an alias for so that those 2 + groups of messages are excluded from the strict rules. + +16. SMTP Support (OPTIONAL) + + Mutt-ng can be built using a library called ``libESMTP'' which provides + SMTP functionality. When configure was called with --with-libesmtp or the + output muttng -v contains +USE_LIBESMTP, this will be or is the case + already. The SMTP support includes support for Delivery Status + Notification (see dsn section) as well as handling the 8BITMIME flag + controlled via use-8bitmime. + + To enable sending mail directly via SMTP without an MTA such as Postfix or + SSMTP and the like, simply set the smtp-host variable pointing to your + SMTP server. + + Authentication mechanisms are available via the smtp-user and smtp-pass + variables. + + Transport Encryption via the StartTLS command is also available. For this + to work, first of all Mutt-ng must be built with SSL or GNUTLS. Secondly, + the smtp-use-tls variable must be either set to ``enabled'' or + ``required.'' In both cases, StartTLS will be used if the server supports + it: for the second case, the connection will fail if it doesn't while + switching back to unencrypted communication for the first one. + + Some mail providers require user's to set a particular envelope sender, + i.e. they allow for only one value which may not be what the user wants to + send as the From: header. In this case, the variable smtp-envelope may be + used to set the envelope different from the From: header. + +17. Managing multiple IMAP/POP/NNTP accounts (OPTIONAL) + + If you happen to have accounts on multiple IMAP and/or POP servers, you + may find managing all the authentication settings inconvenient and + error-prone. The account-hook command may help. This hook works like + folder-hook but is invoked whenever you access a remote mailbox (including + inside the folder browser), not just when you open the mailbox. + + Some examples: + + account-hook . 'unset imap_user; unset imap_pass; unset tunnel' + account-hook imap://host1/ 'set imap_user=me1 imap_pass=foo' + account-hook imap://host2/ 'set tunnel="ssh host2 /usr/libexec/imapd"' + +18. Start a WWW Browser on URLs (EXTERNAL) + + If a message contains URLs (unified resource locator = address in the WWW + space like http://www.mutt.org/), it is efficient to get a menu with all + the URLs and start a WWW browser on one of them. This functionality is + provided by the external urlview program which can be retrieved at + ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/contrib/ and the configuration commands: + + macro index \cb |urlview\n + macro pager \cb |urlview\n + +19. Compressed folders Support (OPTIONAL) + + If Mutt-ng was compiled with compressed folders support (by running the + configure script with the --enable-compressed flag), Mutt can open folders + stored in an arbitrary format, provided that the user has a script to + convert from/to this format to one of the accepted. + + The most common use is to open compressed archived folders e.g. with gzip. + + In addition, the user can provide a script that gets a folder in an + accepted format and appends its context to the folder in the user-defined + format, which may be faster than converting the entire folder to the + accepted format, appending to it and converting back to the user-defined + format. + + There are three hooks defined (open-hook, close-hook and append-hook) + which define commands to uncompress and compress a folder and to append + messages to an existing compressed folder respectively. + + For example: + + open-hook \\.gz$ "gzip -cd %f > %t" + close-hook \\.gz$ "gzip -c %t > %f" + append-hook \\.gz$ "gzip -c %t >> %f" + + You do not have to specify all of the commands. If you omit append-hook, + the folder will be open and closed again each time you will add to it. If + you omit close-hook (or give empty command) , the folder will be open in + the mode. If you specify append-hook though you'll be able to append to + the folder. + + Note that Mutt-ng will only try to use hooks if the file is not in one of + the accepted formats. In particular, if the file is empty, mutt supposes + it is not compressed. This is important because it allows the use of + programs that do not have well defined extensions. Just use "." as a + regexp. But this may be surprising if your compressing script produces + empty files. In this situation, unset save-empty, so that the compressed + file will be removed if you delete all of the messages. + + 19.1. Open a compressed mailbox for reading + + Usage: open-hook regexp "command" + + The command is the command that can be used for opening the folders whose + names match regexp. + + The command string is the printf-like format string, and it should accept + two parameters: %f, which is replaced with the (compressed) folder name, + and %t which is replaced with the name of the temporary folder to which to + write. + + %f and %t can be repeated any number of times in the command string, and + all of the entries are replaced with the appropriate folder name. In + addition, %% is replaced by %, as in printf, and any other %anything is + left as is. + + The command should not remove the original compressed file. The command + should return non-zero exit status if it fails, so mutt knows something's + wrong. + + Example: + + open-hook \\.gz$ "gzip -cd %f > %t" + + If the command is empty, this operation is disabled for this file type. + + 19.2. Write a compressed mailbox + + Usage: close-hook regexp "command" + + This is used to close the folder that was open with the open-hook command + after some changes were made to it. + + The command string is the command that can be used for closing the folders + whose names match regexp. It has the same format as in the open-hook + command. Temporary folder in this case is the folder previously produced + by the %f" + + If the command is empty, this operation is disabled for this file type, + and the file can only be open in the readonly mode. + + close-hook is not called when you exit from the folder if the folder was + not changed. + + 19.3. Append a message to a compressed mailbox + + Usage: append-hook regexp "command" + + This command is used for saving to an existing compressed folder. The + command is the command that can be used for appending to the folders whose + names match regexp. It has the same format as in the open-hook command. + The temporary folder in this case contains the messages that are being + appended. + + The command should not remove the decompressed file. The command should + return non-zero exit status if it fails, so mutt knows something's wrong. + + Example: + + append-hook \\.gz$ "gzip -c %t >> %f" + + When append-hook is used, the folder is not opened, which saves time, but + this means that we can not find out what the folder type is. Thus the + default (mbox-type) type is always supposed (i.e. this is the format used + for the temporary folder). + + If the file does not exist when you save to it, close-hook is called, and + not append-hook. append-hook is only for appending to existing folders. + + If the command is empty, this operation is disabled for this file type. In + this case, the folder will be open and closed again (using open-hook and + close-hookrespectively) each time you will add to it. + + 19.4. Encrypted folders + + The compressed folders support can also be used to handle encrypted + folders. If you want to encrypt a folder with PGP, you may want to use the + following hooks: + + open-hook \\.pgp$ "pgp -f < %f > %t" + close-hook \\.pgp$ "pgp -fe YourPgpUserIdOrKeyId < %t > %f" + + Please note, that PGP does not support appending to an encrypted folder, + so there is no append-hook defined. + + Note: the folder is temporary stored decrypted in the /tmp directory, + where it can be read by your system administrator. So think about the + security aspects of this. + +Chapter 5. Mutt-ng's MIME Support + + Table of Contents + + 1. Using MIME in Mutt + + 1.1. Viewing MIME messages in the pager + + 1.2. The Attachment Menu + + 1.3. The Compose Menu + + 2. MIME Type configuration with mime.types + + 3. MIME Viewer configuration with mailcap + + 3.1. The Basics of the mailcap file + + 3.2. Secure use of mailcap + + 3.3. Advanced mailcap Usage + + 3.4. Example mailcap files + + 4. MIME Autoview + + 5. MIME Multipart/Alternative + + 6. MIME Lookup + + Quite a bit of effort has been made to make Mutt-ng the premier text-mode + MIME MUA. Every effort has been made to provide the functionality that the + discerning MIME user requires, and the conformance to the standards + wherever possible. When configuring Mutt-ng for MIME, there are two extra + types of configuration files which Mutt-ng uses. One is the mime.types + file, which contains the mapping of file extensions to IANA MIME types. + The other is the mailcap file, which specifies the external commands to + use for handling specific MIME types. + +1. Using MIME in Mutt + + There are three areas/menus in Mutt-ng which deal with MIME, they are the + pager (while viewing a message), the attachment menu and the compose menu. + + 1.1. Viewing MIME messages in the pager + + When you select a message from the index and view it in the pager, Mutt + decodes the message to a text representation. Mutt-ng internally supports + a number of MIME types, including text/plain, text/enriched, + message/rfc822, and message/news. In addition, the export controlled + version of Mutt-ng recognizes a variety of PGP MIME types, including + PGP/MIME and application/pgp. + + Mutt-ng will denote attachments with a couple lines describing them. These + lines are of the form: + + [-- Attachment #1: Description --] + [-- Type: text/plain, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 10000 --] + + Where the Description is the description or filename given for the + attachment, and the Encoding is one of + 7bit/8bit/quoted-printable/base64/binary. + + If Mutt-ng cannot deal with a MIME type, it will display a message like: + + [-- image/gif is unsupported (use 'v' to view this part) --] + + 1.2. The Attachment Menu + + The default binding for view-attachments is `v', which displays the + attachment menu for a message. The attachment menu displays a list of the + attachments in a message. From the attachment menu, you can save, print, + pipe, delete, and view attachments. You can apply these operations to a + group of attachments at once, by tagging the attachments and by using the + ``tag-prefix'' operator. You can also reply to the current message from + this menu, and only the current attachment (or the attachments tagged) + will be quoted in your reply. You can view attachments as text, or view + them using the mailcap viewer definition. + + Finally, you can apply the usual message-related functions (like + resend-message, and the reply and forward functions) to attachments of + type message/rfc822. + + See the help on the attachment menu for more information. + + 1.3. The Compose Menu + + The compose menu is the menu you see before you send a message. It allows + you to edit the recipient list, the subject, and other aspects of your + message. It also contains a list of the attachments of your message, + including the main body. From this menu, you can print, copy, filter, + pipe, edit, compose, review, and rename an attachment or a list of tagged + attachments. You can also modifying the attachment information, notably + the type, encoding and description. + + Attachments appear as follows: + + - 1 [text/plain, 7bit, 1K] /tmp/mutt-euler-8082-0 + 2 [applica/x-gunzip, base64, 422K] ~/src/mutt-0.85.tar.gz + + The '-' denotes that Mutt-ng will delete the file after sending (or + postponing, or canceling) the message. It can be toggled with the + toggle-unlink command (default: u). The next field is the MIME + content-type, and can be changed with the edit-type command (default: ^T). + The next field is the encoding for the attachment, which allows a binary + message to be encoded for transmission on 7bit links. It can be changed + with the edit-encoding command (default: ^E). The next field is the size + of the attachment, rounded to kilobytes or megabytes. The next field is + the filename, which can be changed with the rename-file command (default: + R). The final field is the description of the attachment, and can be + changed with the edit-description command (default: d). + +2. MIME Type configuration with mime.types + + When you add an attachment to your mail message, Mutt-ng searches your + personal mime.types file at ${HOME}/.mime.types, and then the system + mime.types file at /usr/local/share/mutt/mime.types or /etc/mime.types + + The mime.types file consist of lines containing a MIME type and a space + separated list of extensions. For example: + + application/postscript ps eps + application/pgp pgp + audio/x-aiff aif aifc aiff + + A sample mime.types file comes with the Mutt-ng distribution, and should + contain most of the MIME types you are likely to use. + + If Mutt-ng can not determine the mime type by the extension of the file + you attach, it will look at the file. If the file is free of binary + information, Mutt-ng will assume that the file is plain text, and mark it + as text/plain. If the file contains binary information, then Mutt-ng will + mark it as application/octet-stream. You can change the MIME type that + Mutt-ng assigns to an attachment by using the edit-type command from the + compose menu (default: ^T). The MIME type is actually a major mime type + followed by the sub-type, separated by a '/'. 6 major types: application, + text, image, video, audio, and model have been approved after various + internet discussions. Mutt-ng recognises all of these if the appropriate + entry is found in the mime.types file. It also recognises other major mime + types, such as the chemical type that is widely used in the molecular + modelling community to pass molecular data in various forms to various + molecular viewers. Non-recognised mime types should only be used if the + recipient of the message is likely to be expecting such attachments. + +3. MIME Viewer configuration with mailcap + + Mutt-ng supports RFC 1524 MIME Configuration, in particular the Unix + specific format specified in Appendix A of RFC 1524. This file format is + commonly referred to as the mailcap format. Many MIME compliant programs + utilize the mailcap format, allowing you to specify handling for all MIME + types in one place for all programs. Programs known to use this format + include Netscape, XMosaic, lynx and metamail. + + In order to handle various MIME types that Mutt-ng can not handle + internally, Mutt-ng parses a series of external configuration files to + find an external handler. The default search string for these files is a + colon delimited list set to + + ${HOME}/.mailcap:/usr/local/share/mutt/mailcap:/etc/mailcap:/etc/mailcap:/usr/etc/mailcap:/usr/local/etc/mailcap + + where $HOME is your home directory. + + In particular, the metamail distribution will install a mailcap file, + usually as /usr/local/etc/mailcap, which contains some baseline entries. + + 3.1. The Basics of the mailcap file + + A mailcap file consists of a series of lines which are comments, blank, or + definitions. + + A comment line consists of a # character followed by anything you want. + + A blank line is blank. + + A definition line consists of a content type, a view command, and any + number of optional fields. Each field of a definition line is divided by a + semicolon ';' character. + + The content type is specified in the MIME standard type/subtype method. + For example, text/plain, text/html, image/gif, etc. In addition, the + mailcap format includes two formats for wildcards, one using the special + '*' subtype, the other is the implicit wild, where you only include the + major type. For example, image/*, or video, will match all image types and + video types, respectively. + + The view command is a Unix command for viewing the type specified. There + are two different types of commands supported. The default is to send the + body of the MIME message to the command on stdin. You can change this + behavior by using %s as a parameter to your view command. This will cause + Mutt-ng to save the body of the MIME message to a temporary file, and then + call the view command with the %s replaced by the name of the temporary + file. In both cases, Mutt-ng will turn over the terminal to the view + program until the program quits, at which time Mutt will remove the + temporary file if it exists. + + So, in the simplest form, you can send a text/plain message to the + external pager more on stdin: + + text/plain; more + + Or, you could send the message as a file: + + text/plain; more %s + + Perhaps you would like to use lynx to interactively view a text/html + message: + + text/html; lynx %s + + In this case, lynx does not support viewing a file from stdin, so you must + use the %s syntax. Note: Some older versions of lynx contain a bug where + they will check the mailcap file for a viewer for text/html. They will + find the line which calls lynx, and run it. This causes lynx to + continuously spawn itself to view the object. + + On the other hand, maybe you don't want to use lynx interactively, you + just want to have it convert the text/html to text/plain, then you can + use: + + text/html; lynx -dump %s | more + + Perhaps you wish to use lynx to view text/html files, and a pager on all + other text formats, then you would use the following: + + text/html; lynx %s + text/*; more + + This is the simplest form of a mailcap file. + + 3.2. Secure use of mailcap + + The interpretation of shell meta-characters embedded in MIME parameters + can lead to security problems in general. Mutt-ng tries to quote + parameters in expansion of %s syntaxes properly, and avoids risky + characters by substituting them, see the mailcap-sanitize variable. + + Although mutt's procedures to invoke programs with mailcap seem to be + safe, there are other applications parsing mailcap, maybe taking less care + of it. Therefore you should pay attention to the following rules: + + Keep the %-expandos away from shell quoting. Don't quote them with single + or double quotes. Mutt-ng does this for you, the right way, as should any + other program which interprets mailcap. Don't put them into backtick + expansions. Be highly careful with eval statements, and avoid them if + possible at all. Trying to fix broken behaviour with quotes introduces new + leaks - there is no alternative to correct quoting in the first place. + + If you have to use the %-expandos' values in context where you need + quoting or backtick expansions, put that value into a shell variable and + reference the shell variable where necessary, as in the following example + (using $charset inside the backtick expansion is safe, since it is not + itself subject to any further expansion): + + text/test-mailcap-bug; cat %s; copiousoutput; test=charset=%{charset} \ + && test "`echo $charset | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'`" != iso-8859-1 + + 3.3. Advanced mailcap Usage + + 3.3.1. Optional Fields + + In addition to the required content-type and view command fields, you can + add semi-colon ';' separated fields to set flags and other options. + Mutt-ng recognizes the following optional fields: + + copiousoutput + + This flag tells Mutt-ng that the command passes possibly large + amounts of text on stdout. This causes Mutt-ng to invoke a pager + (either the internal pager or the external pager defined by the + pager variable) on the output of the view command. Without this + flag, Mutt-ng assumes that the command is interactive. One could + use this to replace the pipe to more in the lynx -dump example in + the Basic section: + + text/html; lynx -dump %s ; copiousoutput + + This will cause lynx to format the text/html output as text/plain + and Mutt-ng will use your standard pager to display the results. + + needsterminal + + Mutt-ng uses this flag when viewing attachments with auto-view, in + order to decide whether it should honor the setting of the + wait-key variable or not. When an attachment is viewed using an + interactive program, and the corresponding mailcap entry has a + needsterminal flag, Mutt-ng will use wait-key and the exit status + of the program to decide if it will ask you to press a key after + the external program has exited. In all other situations it will + not prompt you for a key. + + compose= + + This flag specifies the command to use to create a new attachment + of a specific MIME type. Mutt-ng supports this from the compose + menu. + + composetyped= + + This flag specifies the command to use to create a new attachment + of a specific MIME type. This command differs from the compose + command in that mutt will expect standard MIME headers on the + data. This can be used to specify parameters, filename, + description, etc. for a new attachment. Mutt-ng supports this from + the compose menu. + + print= + + This flag specifies the command to use to print a specific MIME + type. Mutt-ng supports this from the attachment and compose menus. + + edit= + + This flag specifies the command to use to edit a specific MIME + type. Mutt-ng supports this from the compose menu, and also uses + it to compose new attachments. Mutt-ng will default to the defined + editor for text attachments. + + nametemplate=