+<!-- vim:ft=sgml -->
<!doctype linuxdoc system>
-<article>
+<book>
-<title>The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client
-<author>by Michael Elkins <htmlurl url="mailto:me@cs.hmc.edu" name="<me@cs.hmc.edu>"> and others.
+<title>The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client
+<author>by Andreas Krennmair <htmlurl url="mailto:ak@synflood.at" name="<ak@synflood.at>"> and others
+ originally based on <em>mutt</em> by Michael Elkins <htmlurl url="mailto:me@cs.hmc.edu" name="<me@cs.hmc.edu>"> and others
<date>version @VERSION@
<abstract>
-``All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less.'' -me, circa 1995
+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!''
</abstract>
<toc>
-<sect>Introduction
+<chapt>Introduction <!--{{{-->
+
+<sect>Overview <!--{{{-->
<p>
<bf/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
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.
+<!--}}}-->
-<sect1>Mutt-ng Home Page
+<sect>Mutt-ng Home Page <!--{{{-->
<p>
<htmlurl url="http://www.muttng.org/"
name="http://www.muttng.org">
-<sect1>Mailing Lists
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Mailing Lists <!--{{{-->
<p>
<itemize>
<item><htmlurl url="https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/mutt-ng-devel" name="mutt-ng-devel@lists.berlios.de"> -- The development mailing list for mutt-ng
</itemize>
-<sect1>Software Distribution Sites
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Software Distribution Sites <!--{{{-->
<p>
So far, there are no official releases of Mutt-ng, but you can download
daily snapshots from <htmlurl url="http://mutt-ng.berlios.de/snapshots/" name="http://mutt-ng.berlios.de/snapshots/">
-<!--
-<itemize>
-<item><htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/"
-name="ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/">
-</itemize>
-<p>
-For a list of mirror sites, please refer to <htmlurl
-url="http://www.mutt.org/download.html"
-name="http://www.mutt.org/download.html">.
--->
+<!--}}}-->
-<sect1>IRC
+<sect>IRC <!--{{{-->
<p>
Visit channel <em/#muttng/ on <htmlurl
url="http://www.freenode.net/" name="irc.freenode.net
(www.freenode.net)"> to chat with other people interested in Mutt-ng.
+<!--}}}-->
-<sect1>Weblog
+<sect>Weblog <!--{{{-->
<p>
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
<htmlurl url="http://mutt-ng.supersized.org/" name="Mutt-ng development weblog">.
-<sect1>Copyright
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Copyright <!--{{{-->
<p>
Mutt is Copyright (C) 1996-2000 Michael R. Elkins
<me@cs.hmc.edu> and others
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
-<sect>Getting Started
-<p>
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<chapt>Getting Started <!--{{{-->
+
+ <sect>Basic Concepts <!--{{{-->
+
+ <sect1>Screens and Menus <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>mutt-ng offers different screens of which every has its special
+ purpose:
+
+ <itemize>
+
+ <item>The <em/index/ displays the contents of the currently opened
+ mailbox.
+
+ <item>The <em/pager/ is responsible for displaying messages, that
+ is, the header, the body and all attached parts.
+
+ <item>The <em/file browser/ offers operations on and displays
+ information of all folders mutt-ng should watch for mail.
+
+ <item>The <em/sidebar/ offers a permanent view of which mailboxes
+ contain how many total, new and/or flagged mails.
+
+ <item>The <em/help screen/ lists for all currently available
+ commands how to invoke them as well as a short description.
+
+ <item>The <em/compose/ menu is a comfortable interface take last
+ actions before sending mail: change subjects, attach files, remove
+ attachements, etc.
+
+ <item>The <em/attachement/ menu gives a summary and the tree
+ structure of the attachements of the current message.
+
+ <item>The <em/alias/ menu lists all or a fraction of the aliases
+ a user has defined.
+
+ <item>The <em/key/ menu used in connection with encryption lets
+ users choose the right key to encrypt with.
+
+ </itemize>
+
+ <p>When mutt-ng is started without any further options, it'll open
+ the users default mailbox and display the index.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Configuration <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>Mutt-ng does <em/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 <em/hundred/
+ variables which fine-tune the behaviour.)
+
+ <p>Mutt-ng is configured using configuration files which allow
+ users to add comments or manage them via version control systems
+ to ease maintenance.
+
+ <p>Also, mutt-ng comes with a shell script named <tt/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 <tt/contrib/ directory.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Functions <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Interaction <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>Mutt-ng has two basic concepts of user interaction:
+
+ <enum>
+
+ <item>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.
+
+ <item>The automatized interface for interaction are the so
+ called <em/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.
+
+ </enum>
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Modularization <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Patterns <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect>Screens and Menus <!--{{{-->
+
+ <sect1>Index <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Pager <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>File Browser <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
-This section is intended as a brief overview of how to use Mutt-ng. 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 <htmlurl url="http://www.mutt.org/mutt/"
-name="Mutt Page"> for more details.
--->
+ <sect1>Sidebar <!--{{{-->
-The key bindings 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.
+ <p>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.
-The first thing you need to do is invoke mutt-ng simply by typing muttng
-at the command line. There are various command-line options, see
-either the muttng man page or the <ref id="commandline" name="reference">.
+ <!--}}}-->
-If you have used mutt in the past the easiest thing to have a proper
-configuration file is to source ~/.muttrc in ~/.muttngrc.
+ <sect1>Help <!--{{{-->
-<sect1>Moving Around in Menus
+ <p>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).
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Compose Menu <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <p>Also, it's used to attach messages, news articles or files to
+ a message, to re-edit any attachment including the message
+ itself.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Alias Menu <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Attachment Menu <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Key Menu <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p><tt/FIXME/
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Moving Around in Menus <!--{{{-->
<p>
Information is presented in menus, very similar to ELM. Here is a table
? help list all key bindings for the current menu
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect1>Editing Input Fields<label id="editing">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Editing Input Fields<label id="editing"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
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
<tt/bind editor <delete> backspace/
-<sect1>Reading Mail - The Index and Pager
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Reading Mail - The Index and Pager <!--{{{-->
<p>
Similar to many other mail clients, there are two modes in which mail is
The next few sections describe the functions provided in each of these
modes.
-<sect2>The Message Index
+<sect1>The Message Index
<p>
<tscreen><verb>
^T untag messages matching a pattern
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect3>Status Flags
+<sect2>Status Flags
<p>
In addition to who sent the message and the subject, a short summary of
<tag/L/ message is sent to a subscribed mailing list
</descrip>
-<sect2>The Pager
+<sect1>The Pager
<p>
By default, Mutt-ng uses its builtin pager to display the body of messages.
display, for example by changing the color associated with color2 for
your xterm, then that color will be used instead of green.
-<sect2>Threaded Mode<label id="threads">
+<sect1>Threaded Mode<label id="threads">
<p>
When the mailbox is <ref id="sort" name="sorted"> by <em/threads/, there are
a few additional functions available in the <em/index/ and <em/pager/ modes.
See also: <ref id="strict_threads" name="$strict_threads">.
-<sect2>Miscellaneous Functions
+<sect1>Miscellaneous Functions
<p><bf/create-alias/<label id="create-alias"> (default: a)<newline>
Creates a new alias based upon the current message (or prompts for a
This function will go to the next line of non-quoted text which come
after a line of quoted text in the internal pager.
-<sect1>Sending Mail
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Sending Mail <!--{{{-->
<p>
The following bindings are available in the <em/index/ for sending
in greater detail in the next chapter <ref id="forwarding_mail"
name="``Forwarding and Bouncing Mail''">.
-Mutt-ng will then enter the <em/compose/ menu and prompt you for the
-recipients to place on the ``To:'' header field. Next, it will ask
-you for the ``Subject:'' field for the message, providing a default if
-you are replying to or forwarding a message. See also <ref id="askcc"
-name="$askcc">, <ref id="askbcc" name="$askbcc">, <ref
-id="autoedit" name="$autoedit">, <ref id="bounce"
-name="$bounce">, and <ref id="fast_reply"
-name="$fast_reply"> for changing how Mutt-ng asks these
-questions.
-
-Mutt-ng will then automatically start your <ref id="editor"
-name="$editor"> on the message body. If the <ref id="edit_headers"
-name="$edit_headers"> variable is set, the headers will be at
-the top of the message in your editor. Any messages you are replying
-to will be added in sort order to the message, with appropriate <ref
-id="attribution" name="$attribution">, <ref id="indent_string"
-name="$indent_string"> and <ref id="post_indent_string"
-name="$post_indent_string">. When forwarding a
-message, if the <ref id="mime_forward" name="$mime_forward">
-variable is unset, a copy of the forwarded message will be included. If
-you have specified a <ref id="signature" name="$signature">, it
-will be appended to the message.
-
-Once you have finished editing the body of your mail message, you are
+<sect1>Composing new messages <!--{{{-->
+
+<p>When you want to send an email using mutt-ng, simply press <tt/m/ on
+your keyboard. Then, mutt-ng asks for the recipient via a prompt in
+the last line:
+
+<verb>
+To:
+</verb>
+
+<p>After you've finished entering the recipient(s), press return. If you
+want to send an email to more than one recipient, separate the email
+addresses using the comma "<tt/,/". Mutt-ng then asks you for the email
+subject. Again, press return after you've entered it. After that, mutt-ng
+got the most important information from you, and starts up an editor
+where you can then enter your email.
+
+<p>The editor that is called is selected in the following way: you
+can e.g. set it in the mutt-ng configuration:
+
+<verb>
+set editor = "vim +/^$/ -c ':set tw=72'"
+set editor = "nano"
+set editor = "emacs"
+</verb>
+
+<p>If you don't set your preferred editor in your configuration, mutt-ng
+first looks whether the environment variable <tt/$VISUAL/ is set, and if
+so, it takes its value as editor command. Otherwise, it has a look
+at <tt/$EDITOR/ and takes its value if it is set. If no editor command
+can be found, mutt-ng simply assumes <tt/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.
+
+<p>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.
+
+<p>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.
+
+<p>At this point, you can add more attachments, pressing <tt/a/, you
+can edit the recipient addresses, pressing <tt/t/ for the "To:" field,
+<tt/c/ for the "Cc:" field, and <tt/b/ for the "Bcc: field. You can
+also edit the subject the subject by simply pressing <tt/s/ or the
+email message that you've entered before by pressing <tt/e/. You will
+then again return to the editor. You can even edit the sender, by pressing
+<tt/<esc>f/, but this shall only be used with caution.
+
+<p>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:
+
+<verb>
+set edit_headers
+</verb>
+
+<p>Once you have finished editing the body of your mail message, you are
returned to the <em/compose/ menu. The following options are available:
<tscreen><verb>
id="status_format" name="$status_format"> will change to
a 'A' to indicate that you are in attach-message mode.
-<sect2>Editing the message header
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect1>Replying <!--{{{-->
+
+ <sect2>Simple Replies <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>When you want to reply to an email message, select it in the index
+ menu and then press <tt/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.
+
+ <verb>
+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.
+ </verb>
+
+ <p>You can start editing the email message. It is strongly
+ recommended to put your answer <em/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.
+
+ <p>The quote attribution is configurable, by default it is set to
+ <verb>
+set attribution = "On %d, %n wrote:"
+ </verb>
+
+ <p>It can also be set to something more compact, e.g.
+ <verb>
+set attribution = "attribution="* %n <%a> [%(%y-%m-%d %H:%M)]:"
+ </verb>
+
+ <p>The example above results in the following attribution:
+ <verb>
+* Michael Svensson <svensson@foobar.com> [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.
+ </verb>
+
+ <p>Generally, try to keep your attribution short yet
+ information-rich. It is <em/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.
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect2>Group Replies <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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 <tt/g/ instead of <tt/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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect2>List Replies <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <p>To do a list reply, simply press <tt/L/. If the email contains
+ a <tt/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 <tt/lists/ command.
+ If any of the regular expression matches, a mailing
+ list address has been found, and it will be used as reply address.
+
+ <verb>
+lists linuxevent@luga\.at vuln-dev@ mutt-ng-users@
+ </verb>
+
+ <p>Nowadays, most mailing list software like GNU Mailman adds a
+ <tt/Mail-Followup-To:/ header to their emails anyway, so setting
+ <tt/lists/ is hardly ever necessary in practice.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect1>Editing the message header <!--{{{-->
<p>
When editing the header of your outgoing message, there are a couple of
special features available.
Also see <ref id="edit_headers" name="edit_headers">.
-<sect2>Using Mutt-ng with PGP
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect1>Using Mutt-ng with PGP <!--{{{-->
<p>
If you want to use PGP, you can specify
means a partially trusted association, and a plus character (<bf/+/)
indicates complete validity.
-<sect2>Sending anonymous messages via mixmaster.
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect1>Sending anonymous messages via mixmaster <!--{{{-->
<p>
You may also have configured mutt to co-operate with Mixmaster, an
mixmaster remailers. For details on the other capabilities, please
have a look at the mixmaster documentation.
-<sect1>Forwarding and Bouncing Mail<label id="forwarding_mail">
-<p>
+<!--}}}-->
-Bouncing and forwarding let you send an existing message to recipients
-that you specify. Bouncing a message uses the <ref id="sendmail"
-name="sendmail"> command to send a copy to alternative addresses as if
-they were the message's original recipients. Forwarding a message, on
-the other hand, allows you to modify the message before it is resent
-(for example, by adding your own comments).
+<!--}}}-->
-The following keys are bound by default:
+<sect>Forwarding and Bouncing Mail<label id="forwarding_mail"> <!--{{{-->
-<tscreen><verb>
-f forward forward message
-b bounce bounce (remail) message
-</verb></tscreen>
+<p>Often, it is necessary to forward mails to other people.
+Therefore, mutt-ng supports forwarding messages in two different
+ways.
+
+<p>The first one is regular forwarding, as you probably know it from
+other mail clients. You simply press <tt/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:
+
+<verb>
+----- Forwarded message from Lucas User <luser@example.com> -----
+
+From: Lucas User <luser@example.com>
+Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 03:08:34 +0100
+To: Michael Random <mrandom@example.com>
+Subject: Re: blackmail
+
+Pay me EUR 50,000.- cash or your favorite stuffed animal will die
+a horrible death.
-Forwarding can be done by including the original message in the new
-message's body (surrounded by indicating lines) or including it as a MIME
-attachment, depending on the value of the <ref id="mime_forward"
-name="$mime_forward"> variable. Decoding of attachments,
-like in the pager, can be controlled by the <ref id="forward_decode"
-name="$forward_decode"> and <ref id="mime_forward_decode"
-name="$mime_forward_decode"> variables,
-respectively. The desired forwarding format may depend on the content,
-therefore <em/$mime_forward/ is a quadoption which, for
-example, can be set to ``ask-no''.
-The inclusion of headers is controlled by the current setting of the
-<ref id="weed" name="$weed"> variable, unless <ref
-id="mime_forward" name="mime_forward"> is set.
+----- End forwarded message -----</verb>
-Editing the message to forward follows the same procedure as sending or
-replying to a message does.
+<p>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.
-<sect1>Postponing Mail<label id="postponing_mail">
+<p>The second mode of forwarding emails with mutt-ng is the
+so-called <em/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 <tt/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.
+
+<p>To the recipient, the bounced email will look as if he got it
+like a regular email where he was <tt/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.
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Postponing Mail<label id="postponing_mail"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
At times it is desirable to delay sending a message that you have
See also the <ref id="postpone" name="$postpone"> quad-option.
-<sect1>Reading news via NNTP<label id="reading_news">
-<p>
+<!--}}}-->
-If compiled with ``--enable-nntp'' option, Mutt-ng can read news from
-newsserver via NNTP. You can open a newsgroup with function
-``change-newsgroup'' (default: i). Default newsserver can be obtained
-from <em/NNTPSERVER/ environment variable. Like other news readers,
-info about subscribed newsgroups is saved in file by <ref
-id="nntp_newsrc" name="$nntp_newsrc"> variable. Article
-headers are cached and can be loaded from file when
-newsgroup entered instead loading from newsserver.
+<!--}}}-->
-<sect>Configuration
-<p>
+<chapt>Configuration <!--{{{-->
-While the default configuration (or ``preferences'') make Mutt-ng usable right out
+<sect>Locations of Configuration Files <!--{{{-->
+<p>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'' <ref
<tt>.muttrc</tt> (or <tt>.muttngrc</tt> for Mutt-ng) is the file where you will
usually place your <ref id="commands" name="commands"> to configure Mutt-ng.
-In addition, mutt supports version specific configuration files that are
-parsed instead of the default files as explained above. For instance, if
-your system has a <tt/Muttrc-0.88/ file in the system configuration
-directory, and you are running version 0.88 of mutt, this file will be
-sourced instead of the <tt/Muttngrc/ file. The same is true of the user
-configuration file, if you have a file <tt/.muttrc-0.88.6/ in your home
-directory, when you run mutt version 0.88.6, it will source this file
-instead of the default <tt/.muttrc/ file. The version number is the
-same which is visible using the ``-v'' <ref id="commandline"
-name="command line"> switch or using the <tt/show-version/ key (default:
-V) from the index menu.
+<!--}}}-->
-<sect1>Syntax of Initialization Files<label id="muttrc-syntax">
+<sect>Syntax of Initialization Files<label id="muttrc-syntax"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
An initialization file consists of a series of <ref id="commands"
The commands understood by mutt are explained in the next paragraphs.
For a complete list, see the <ref id="commands" name="command reference">.
-<sect1>Defining/Using aliases<label id="alias">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Defining/Using aliases<label id="alias"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/alias/ <em/key/ <em/address/ [ , <em/address/, ... ]
<em/select-entry/ key (default: RET), and use the <em/exit/ key
(default: q) to return to the address prompt.
-<sect1>Changing the default key bindings<label id="bind">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Changing the default key bindings<label id="bind"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/bind/ <em/map/ <em/key/ <em/function/
name="reference">. The special function <tt/noop/ unbinds the specified key
sequence.
-<sect1>Defining aliases for character sets <label id="charset-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Defining aliases for character sets <label id="charset-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/charset-hook/ <em/alias/ <em/charset/<newline>
Usage: <tt/iconv-hook/ <em/charset/ <em/local-charset/
conversion library insists on using strange, system-specific names
for character sets.
+<!--}}}-->
-<sect1>Setting variables based upon mailbox<label id="folder-hook">
+<sect>Setting variables based upon mailbox<label id="folder-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/folder-hook/ [!]<em/regexp/ <em/command/
folder-hook . set sort=date-sent
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect1>Keyboard macros<label id="macro">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Keyboard macros<label id="macro"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/macro/ <em/menu/ <em/key/ <em/sequence/ [ <em/description/ ]
<bf/Note:/ Macro definitions (if any) listed in the help screen(s), are
silently truncated at the screen width, and are not wrapped.
-<sect1>Using color and mono video attributes<label id="color">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Using color and mono video attributes<label id="color"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/color/ <em/object/ <em/foreground/ <em/background/ [ <em/regexp/ ]<newline>
Usage: <tt/color/ index <em/foreground/ <em/background/ <em/pattern/<newline>
<item>standout
</itemize>
-<sect1>Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers<label id="ignore">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers<label id="ignore"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/[un]ignore/ <em/pattern/ [ <em/pattern/ ... ]
unignore posted-to:
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect1>Alternative addresses<label id="alternates">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Alternative addresses<label id="alternates"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/[un]alternates/ <em/regexp/ [ <em/regexp/ ... ]<newline>
entry will be removed. If the <em/regexp/ for <tt/unalternates/
is ``*'', <em/all entries/ on <tt/alternates/ will be removed.
-<sect1>Mailing lists<label id="lists">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Format = Flowed <!--{{{-->
+
+<p>Mutt-ng contains support for so-called <tt/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.
+
+<p>For introductory information on <tt/format=flowed/ messages, see
+<htmlurl url="http://www.joeclark.org/ffaq.html"
+name="<http://www.joeclark.org/ffaq.html>">.
+
+<p>When you receive emails that are marked as <tt/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:
+
+<verb>
+set wrapmargin = 10
+</verb>
+
+<p>The code above makes the line break 10 columns before the right
+side of the terminal.
+
+<p>If your terminal is so wide that the lines are embarrassingly long,
+you can also set a maximum line length:
+
+<verb>
+set max_line_length = 120
+</verb>
+
+<p>The example above will give you lines not longer than 120
+characters.
+
+<p>When you view at <tt/format=flowed/ messages, you will often see
+the quoting hierarchy like in the following example:
+
+<verb>
+>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.
+</verb>
+
+<p>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:
+
+<verb>
+set stuff_quoted
+</verb>
+
+<p>This will lead to a nicer result that is easier to read:
+
+<verb>
+> 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.
+</verb>
+
+<p>If you want mutt-ng to send emails with <tt/format=flowed/ set, you
+need to explicitly set it:
+
+<verb>
+set text_flowed
+</verb>
+
+<p>Additionally, you have to use an editor which supports writing
+<tt/format=flowed/-conforming emails. For vim, this is done by
+adding <tt/w/ to the formatoptions (see <tt/:h formatoptions/ and
+<tt/:h fo-table/) when writing emails.
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Mailing lists<label id="lists"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/[un]lists/ <em/regexp/ [ <em/regexp/ ... ]<newline>
Usage: <tt/[un]subscribe/ <em/regexp/ [ <em/regexp/ ... ]
To remove a mailing list from the list of subscribed mailing lists,
but keep it on the list of known mailing lists, use ``unsubscribe''.
-<sect1>Using Multiple spool mailboxes<label id="mbox-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Using Multiple spool mailboxes<label id="mbox-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/mbox-hook/ [!]<em/pattern/ <em/mailbox/
pattern is used (it is not possible to save read mail in more than a single
mailbox).
-<sect1>Defining mailboxes which receive mail<label id="mailboxes">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Defining mailboxes which receive mail<label id="mailboxes"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/[un]mailboxes/ [!]<em/filename/ [ <em/filename/ ... ]
name="$folder"> and <ref id="spoolfile" name="$spoolfile">)
should be executed before the <tt/mailboxes/ command.
-<sect1>User defined headers<label id="my_hdr">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>User defined headers<label id="my_hdr"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage:<newline>
<tt/my_hdr/ <em/string/<newline>
unmy_hdr to cc
</quote>
-<sect1>Defining the order of headers when viewing messages<label id="hdr_order">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Defining the order of headers when viewing messages<label id="hdr_order"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/hdr_order/ <em/header1/ <em/header2/ <em/header3/
hdr_order From Date: From: To: Cc: Subject:
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect1>Specify default save filename<label id="save-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Specify default save filename<label id="save-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/save-hook/ [!]<em/pattern/ <em/filename/
Also see the <ref id="fcc-save-hook" name="fcc-save-hook"> command.
-<sect1>Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing<label id="fcc-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing<label id="fcc-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/fcc-hook/ [!]<em/pattern/ <em/mailbox/
the `+spammers' mailbox by default. Also see the <ref id="fcc-save-hook"
name="fcc-save-hook"> command.
-<sect1>Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at once<label
-id="fcc-save-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at once<label id="fcc-save-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/fcc-save-hook/ [!]<em/pattern/ <em/mailbox/
This command is a shortcut, equivalent to doing both a <ref id="fcc-hook" name="fcc-hook">
and a <ref id="save-hook" name="save-hook"> with its arguments.
-<sect1>Change settings based upon message recipients<label id="send-hook"><label id="reply-hook"><label id="send2-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Change settings based upon message recipients<label id="send-hook"><label id="reply-hook"><label id="send2-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/reply-hook/ [!]<em/pattern/ <em/command/<newline>
Usage: <tt/send-hook/ [!]<em/pattern/ <em/command/<newline>
subject, don't have any effect on the current message when executed
from a send-hook.
-<sect1>Change settings before formatting a message<label id="message-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Change settings before formatting a message<label id="message-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/message-hook/ [!]<em/pattern/ <em/command/
message-hook '~f freshmeat-news' 'set pager="less \"+/^ subject: .*\""'
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect1>Choosing the cryptographic key of the recipient<label id="crypt-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Choosing the cryptographic key of the recipient<label id="crypt-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/crypt-hook/ <em/pattern/ <em/keyid/
can either put a numerical key ID here, an e-mail address, or even
just a real name.
-<sect1>Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer<label id="push">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer<label id="push"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/push/ <em/string/
automatically run a sequence of commands at startup, or when entering
certain folders.
-<sect1>Executing functions<label id="exec">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Executing functions<label id="exec"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/exec/ <em/function/ [ <em/function/ ... ]
listed in the <ref id="functions" name="function reference">.
``exec function'' is equivalent to ``push <function>''.
-<sect1>Message Scoring<label id="score-command">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Message Scoring<label id="score-command"> <!--{{{-->
+
<p>
Usage: <tt/score/ <em/pattern/ <em/value/<newline>
Usage: <tt/unscore/ <em/pattern/ [ <em/pattern/ ... ]
-The <tt/score/ commands adds <em/value/ to a message's score if <em/pattern/
-matches it. <em/pattern/ is a string in the format described in the <ref
-id="patterns" name="patterns"> section (note: For efficiency reasons, patterns
-which scan information not available in the index, such as <tt>˜b</tt>,
-<tt>˜B</tt> or <tt>˜h</tt>, may not be used). <em/value/ is a
-positive or negative integer. A message's final score is the sum total of all
-matching <tt/score/ entries. However, you may optionally prefix <em/value/ with
-an equal sign (=) to cause evaluation to stop at a particular entry if there is
-a match. Negative final scores are rounded up to 0.
+<p>
+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''.
+
+<p>
+When you use scoring, every message has a base score of 0. You
+can then use the <tt/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.
+
+<verb>
+score "~f nion@muttng\.org" 50
+score "~f @sco\.com" -100</verb>
+
+<p>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:
+
+<verb>
+score "~f santaclaus@northpole\.int" =666</verb>
+
+<p>What is important to note is that negative score values will be
+rounded up to 0.
+
+<p>To make scoring actually useful, the score must be applied in
+some way. That's what the <em/score thresholds/ are for. Currently,
+there are three score thresholds:
+
+<itemize>
+
+ <item>flag threshold: when a message has a score value equal or higher
+ than the flag threshold, it will be flagged.
+
+ <item>read threshold: when a message has a score value equal or lower
+ than the read threshold, it will be marked as read.
+
+ <item>delete threshold: when a message has a score value equal or
+ lower than the delete threshold, it will be marked as deleted.
-The <tt/unscore/ command removes score entries from the list. You <bf/must/
-specify the same pattern specified in the <tt/score/ command for it to be
-removed. The pattern ``*'' is a special token which means to clear the list
-of all score entries.
+</itemize>
+
+<p>These three thresholds can be set via the variables <ref
+id="score_threshold_flag"
+name="$score_threshold_flag">, <ref
+id="score_threshold_read"
+name="$score_threshold_read">, <ref
+id="score_threshold_delete"
+name="$score_threshold_delete"> and. By
+default, <ref id="score_threshold_read"
+name="$score_threshold_read"> and <ref
+id="score_threshold_delete"
+name="$score_threshold_delete"> are set to
+<tt/-1/, which means that in the default threshold configuration no
+message will ever get marked as read or deleted.
+
+<p>Scoring gets especially interesting when combined with the <tt/color/ command
+and the <tt>˜n</tt> pattern:
+
+<verb>
+color black yellow "~n 10-"
+color red yellow "~n 100-"</verb>
-<sect1>Spam detection<label id="spam">
+<p>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.
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Spam detection<label id="spam"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/spam/ <em/pattern/ <em/format/<newline>
Usage: <tt/nospam/ <em/pattern/
spam "^From: .*MAILER-DAEMON" "999"
</verb></tscreen>
+<!--}}}-->
-<sect1>Setting variables<label id="set">
+<sect>Setting variables<label id="set"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/set/ [no|inv]<em/variable/[=<em/value/] [ <em/variable/ ... ]<newline>
Usage: <tt/toggle/ <em/variable/ [<em/variable/ ... ]<newline>
With the <tt/reset/ command there exists the special variable ``all'',
which allows you to reset all variables to their system defaults.
-<sect1>Reading initialization commands from another file<label id="source">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Reading initialization commands from another file<label id="source"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Usage: <tt/source/ <em/filename/ [ <em/filename/ ... ]
considered to be an executable program from which to read input (eg.
<tt>source ~/bin/myscript|</tt>).
-<sect1>Configuring features conditionally<label id="ifdef">
-<p>
-Usage: <tt/ifdef/ <em/item/ <em/command/<newline>
-Usage: <tt/ifndef/ <em/item/ <em/command/
+<!--}}}-->
+<sect>Removing hooks<label id="unhook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
-These commands allow testing for a variable, function or certain feature
-being available or not respectively, before actually executing the
-command given.
+Usage: <tt/unhook/ [ * | <em/hook-type/ ]
-<p>
-<tt/ifdef/ (short for ``if defined'') only executes the command upon
-availability while <tt/ifndef/ (short for ``if not defined'') does if
-not. The <em/command/ may be any valid fraction of a configuration file.
+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 <tt/unhook send-hook/.
-<p>
-All names of variables, functions and menus may be tested. Additionally, the
-following compile-features may be tested when prefixed with
-'<tt/feature_/':
-<tt/ncurses/, <tt/slang/, <tt/iconv/, <tt/idn/, <tt/dotlock/,
-<tt/standalone/, <tt/pop/, <tt/nntp/, <tt/imap/, <tt/ssl/, <tt/gnutls/,
-<tt/sasl/, <tt/sasl2/, <tt/libesmtp/, <tt/compressed/, <tt/color/,
-<tt/classic_pgp/, <tt/classic_smime/, <tt/gpgme/, <tt/header_cache/,
-<tt/gdbm/, <tt/qdbm/ and <tt/db4/.
+<!--}}}-->
-<p>
-Examples follow.
+ <sect>Sharing Setups<label id="sect:sharingsetups"> <!--{{{-->
-<p>
-To only source a file with IMAP related settings if IMAP support is
-compiled in, use:
-<tscreen><verb>
-ifdef feature_imap 'source ~/.mutt-ng/imap_setup'
-# or
-# ifdef imap_user 'source ~/.mutt-ng/imap_setup'
-# or
-# ...
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <sect1>Character Sets <!--{{{-->
-<p>
-To exit mutt-ng directly if no NNTP support is compiled in:
-<tscreen><verb>
-ifndef feature_nntp 'push q'
-# or
-# ifndef newsrc 'push q'
-# or
-# ...
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <p>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.
-<p>
-To only set the <ref id="imap_mail_check"
-name="$imap_mail_check"> variable if
-the system's mutt-ng is aware of it, use:
-<tscreen><verb>
-ifdef imap_mail_check 'set imap_mail_check=500'
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <p>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:
-<sect1>Removing hooks<label id="unhook">
-<p>
-Usage: <tt/unhook/ [ * | <em/hook-type/ ]
+ <verb>
+set config_charset = "..."</verb>
-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 <tt/unhook send-hook/.
+ <p>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:
+
+ <verb>
+# vim:fileencoding=...:</verb>
+
+ <p>while, again, replacing the dots with the appropriate name. This
+ tells vim as which character set to read and save the file.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Modularization <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>``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.
+
+ <p>When using separation, setups may be, as a whole or in
+ fractions, shared over different systems.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Conditional parts <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <p>To solve this, mutt-ng contain a feature based on the ``ifdef''
+ patch written for mutt. Its basic syntax is:
+
+ <verb>
+ifdef <item> <command>
+ifndef <item> <command></verb>
+
+ <p>...whereby <tt/<item>/ can be one of:
+
+ <itemize>
+
+ <item>a function name
+
+ <item>a variable name
+
+ <item>a menu name
+
+ <item>a feature name
+
+ </itemize>
+
+ <p>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
+ <tt/feature_/:
+
+ <verb>
+ncurses, slang, iconv, idn, dotlock, standalone, pop, nntp, imap, ssl,
+gnutls, sasl, sasl2, libesmtp, compressed, color, classic_pgp,
+classic_smime, gpgme, header_cache</verb>
+
+ <p>As an example, one can use the following in
+ <tt>˜/.muttngrc</tt>:
+
+ <verb>
+ifdef feature_imap 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-imap'
+ifdef feature_pop 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-pop'
+ifdef feature_nntp 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-nntp'</verb>
+
+ <p>...to only source <tt>˜/.mutt-ng/setup-imap</tt> if IMAP
+ support is built in, only source <tt>˜/.mutt-ng/setup-pop</tt>
+ if POP support is built in and only source
+ <tt>˜/.mutt-ng/setup-nntp</tt> if NNTP support is built in.
+
+ <p>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 <ref
+ id="imap_mail_check" name="$imap_mail_check">,
+ use:
+
+ <verb>
+ifdef imap_mail_check 'set imap_mail_check = 300'</verb>
+
+ <p>Provided for completeness is the test for menu names. To set <ref
+ id="pager_index_lines"
+ name="$pager_index_lines"> only if the pager
+ menu is available, use:
+
+ <verb>
+ifdef pager 'set pager_index_lines = 10'</verb>
+
+ <p>For completeness, too, the opposite of <tt/ifdef/ is provided:
+ <tt/ifndef/ which only executes the command if the test fails. For
+ example, the following two examples are equivalent:
-<sect>Advanced Usage
+ <verb>
+ifdef feature_ncurses 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-ncurses'
+ifndef feature_ncurses 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-slang'</verb>
-<sect1>Regular Expressions<label id="regexp">
+ <p>...and...
+
+ <verb>
+ifdef feature_slang 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-slang'
+ifndef feature_slang 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-ncurses'</verb>
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<chapt>Advanced Usage <!--{{{-->
+
+<sect>Regular Expressions<label id="regexp"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
All string patterns in Mutt-ng including those in more complex
<ref id="patterns" name="patterns"> must be specified
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.
-<sect1>Patterns<label id="patterns">
-<p>
-Many of Mutt-ng's commands allow you to specify a pattern to match
-(limit, tag-pattern, delete-pattern, etc.). There are several ways to select
-messages:
+<!--}}}-->
-<tscreen><verb>
-~A all messages
-~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body
-~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message
-~c USER messages carbon-copied to USER
-~C EXPR message is either to: or cc: EXPR
-~D deleted messages
-~d [MIN]-[MAX] messages with ``date-sent'' in a Date range
-~E expired messages
-~e EXPR message which contains EXPR in the ``Sender'' field
-~F flagged messages
-~f USER messages originating from USER
-~g cryptographically signed messages
-~G cryptographically encrypted messages
-~H EXPR messages with a spam attribute matching EXPR
-~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
-~k message contains PGP key material
-~i ID message which match ID in the ``Message-ID'' field
-~L EXPR message is either originated or received by EXPR
-~l message is addressed to a known mailing list
-~m [MIN]-[MAX] message in the range MIN to MAX *)
-~n [MIN]-[MAX] messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX *)
-~N new messages
-~O old messages
-~p message is addressed to you (consults alternates)
-~P message is from you (consults alternates)
-~Q messages which have been replied to
-~R read messages
-~r [MIN]-[MAX] messages with ``date-received'' in a Date range
-~S superseded messages
-~s SUBJECT messages having SUBJECT in the ``Subject'' field.
-~T tagged messages
-~t USER messages addressed to USER
-~U unread messages
-~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
-~V cryptographically verified messages
-~w EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `Newsgroups' field
- (if compiled with NNTP support)
-~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `References' field
-~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `X-Label' field
-~z [MIN]-[MAX] messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX *)
-~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
-~$ unreferenced messages (requires threaded view)
-~* ``From'' contains realname and (syntactically) valid
- address (excluded are addresses matching against
- alternates or any alias)
-</verb></tscreen>
+<sect>Patterns <!--{{{-->
-Where EXPR, USER, ID, and SUBJECT are
-<ref id="regexp" name="regular expressions">. Special attention has to be
-made when using regular expressions inside of patterns. Specifically,
-Mutt-ng's parser for these patterns will strip one level of backslash (\),
-which is normally used for quoting. If it is your intention to use a
-backslash in the regular expression, you will need to use two backslashes
-instead (\\).
+<p>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 <ref id="patterns"
+name="Patterns"> in the Reference chapter.
-*) The forms <tt/<[MAX]/, <tt/>[MIN]/,
-<tt/[MIN]-/ and <tt/-[MAX]/
-are allowed, too.
+<p>It must be noted that in this table, <tt/EXPR/, <tt/USER/,
+<tt/ID/ and <tt/SUBJECT/ are regular expressions. For ranges, the
+forms <tt/<[MAX]/, <tt/>>[MIN]/, <tt/[MIN]-/ and <tt/-[MAX]/
+are also possible.
-<sect2>Pattern Modifier
-<p>
+<sect1>Complex Patterns
-Note that patterns matching 'lists' of addresses (notably c,C,p,P and t)
-match if there is at least one match in the whole list. If you want to
-make sure that all elements of that list match, you need to prefix your
-pattern with ^.
-This example matches all mails which only has recipients from Germany.
+<p>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:
-<tscreen><verb>
-^~C \.de$
-</verb></tscreen>
+<verb>
+~s 'SPAM' ~U</verb>
-<sect2>Complex Patterns
-<p>
+<p>The pattern above matches all messages that contain ``SPAM'' in
+the subject and are unread.
-Logical AND is performed by specifying more than one criterion. For
-example:
+<p>To logical OR patterns, simply use the <tt/|/ operator. This one
+especially useful when using local groups:
-<tscreen><verb>
-~t mutt ~f elkins
-</verb></tscreen>
+<verb>
+~f ("nion@muttng\.org"|"ak@muttng\.org"|"pdmef@muttng\.org")
+(~b mutt-ng|~s Mutt-ng)
+!~x '@synflood\.at'</verb>
+
+<p>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 <tt/References:/ header, i.e.
+messages that are not an (indirect) reply to one of my messages. A
+pattern can be logicall negated using the <tt/!/ operator.
+
+<sect1>Patterns and Dates
+
+<p>When using dates in patterns, the dates must be specified in a
+special format, i.e. <tt>DD/MM/YYYY</tt>. 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. <tt>01/06/2005-</tt> matches
+against all messages <em/after/ Juni 1st, 2005.
+
+<p>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 <tt/+/ and <tt/-/.
+Then follows a number and a unit, i.e. <tt/y/ for years, <tt/m/ for
+months, <tt/w/ for weeks and <tt/d/ for days. If you use the special
+<tt/*/ sign, it means that the error margin goes to both
+``directions'' in time.
-would select messages which contain the word ``mutt'' in the list of
-recipients <bf/and/ that have the word ``elkins'' in the ``From'' header
-field.
+<verb>
+~d 01/01/2005+1y
+~d 18/10/2004-2w
+~d 28/12/2004*1d</verb>
-Mutt-ng also recognizes the following operators to create more complex search
-patterns:
+<p>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).
-<itemize>
-<item>! -- logical NOT operator
-<item>| -- logical OR operator
-<item>() -- logical grouping operator
-</itemize>
+<p>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:
-Here is an example illustrating a complex search pattern. This pattern will
-select all messages which do not contain ``mutt'' in the ``To'' or ``Cc''
-field and which are from ``elkins''.
+<verb>
+~d >2w # messages older than two weeks
+~d <3d # messages newer than 3 days
+~d =1m # messages that are exactly one month old</verb>
-<tscreen><verb>
-!(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins
-</verb></tscreen>
+<!--}}}-->
-Here is an example using white space in the regular expression (note
-the ' and &dquot; delimiters). For this to match, the mail's subject must
-match the ``^Junk +From +Me$'' and it must be from either ``Jim +Somebody''
-or ``Ed +SomeoneElse'':
+ <sect>Format Strings <!--{{{-->
-<tscreen><verb>
- '~s "^Junk +From +Me$" ~f ("Jim +Somebody"|"Ed +SomeoneElse")'
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <sect1>Introduction <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>The so called <em/Format Strings/ offer great flexibility when
+ configuring mutt-ng. In short, they describe what items to print
+ out how in menus and status messages.
-Note that if a regular expression contains parenthesis, or a vertical bar
-("|"), you <bf/must/ enclose the expression in double or single quotes since
-those characters are also used to separate different parts of Mutt-ng's
-pattern language. For example,
+ <p>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 <em/expando/.
+
+ <p>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:
-<tscreen><verb>
-~f "me@(mutt\.org|cs\.hmc\.edu)"
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <itemize>
-Without the quotes, the parenthesis wouldn't end.
-This would be separated to two OR'd patterns: <em/˜f me@(mutt\.org/
-and <em/cs\.hmc\.edu)/. They are never what you want.
+ <item>the current hostname
-<sect2>Searching by Date
-<p>
-Mutt-ng supports two types of dates, <em/absolute/ and <em/relative/.
+ <item>the current mutt-ng version number
-<bf/Absolute/. Dates <bf/must/ be in DD/MM/YY format (month and year are
-optional, defaulting to the current month and year). An example of a valid
-range of dates is:
+ </itemize>
-<tscreen><verb>
-Limit to messages matching: ~d 20/1/95-31/10
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <p>The setting for the status bar of the index is controlled via the
+ <ref id="status_format" name="$status_format">
+ variable. For the hostname and version string, there's an expando
+ for <tt>$status_format</tt>: <tt/%h/ expands to the
+ hostname and <tt/%v/ to the version string. When just configuring:
-If you omit the minimum (first) date, and just specify ``-DD/MM/YY'', all
-messages <em/before/ the given date will be selected. If you omit the maximum
-(second) date, and specify ``DD/MM/YY-'', all messages <em/after/ the given
-date will be selected. If you specify a single date with no dash (``-''),
-only messages sent on the given date will be selected.
+ <verb>
+set status_format = "%v on %h: ..."</verb>
-<bf/Error Margins/. You can add error margins to absolute dates.
-An error margin is a sign (+ or -), followed by a digit, followed by
-one of the following units:
-<verb>
-y years
-m months
-w weeks
-d days
-</verb>
-As a special case, you can replace the sign by a ``*'' character,
-which is equivalent to giving identical plus and minus error margins.
+ <p>mutt-ng will replace the sequence <tt/%v/ with the version string
+ and <tt/%h/ with the host's name. When you are, for example, running
+ mutt-ng version <tt/1.5.9i/ on host <tt/mailhost/, you'll see the
+ following when you're in the index:
-Example: To select any messages two weeks around January 15, 2001,
-you'd use the following pattern:
-<tscreen><verb>
-Limit to messages matching: ~d 15/1/2001*2w
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <verb>
+Mutt-ng 1.5.9i on mailhost: ...</verb>
+ <p>In the index, there're more useful information one could want to
+ see:
-<bf/Relative/. This type of date is relative to the current date, and may
-be specified as:
-<itemize>
-<item>><em/offset/ (messages older than <em/offset/ units)
-<item><<em/offset/ (messages newer than <em/offset/ units)
-<item>=<em/offset/ (messages exactly <em/offset/ units old)
-</itemize>
+ <itemize>
-<em/offset/ is specified as a positive number with one of the following
-units:
-<verb>
-y years
-m months
-w weeks
-d days
-</verb>
+ <item>which mailbox is open
-Example: to select messages less than 1 month old, you would use
-<tscreen><verb>
-Limit to messages matching: ~d <1m
-</verb></tscreen>
+ <item>how man new, flagged or postponed messages
+
+ <item>...
+
+ </itemize>
+
+ <p>To include the mailbox' name is as easy as:
+
+ <verb>
+set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: ...</verb>
+
+ <p>When the currently opened mailbox is <tt/Inbox/, this will be expanded
+ to:
+
+ <verb>
+Mutt-ng 1.5.9i on mailhost: Inbox: ...</verb>
+
+ <p>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.
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Conditional Expansion <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>To only print the number of messages if there are new messages in
+ the current mailbox, further extend
+ <tt/$status_format/ to:
+
+ <verb>
+set status_format = "%v on %h: %B %?n?%n new? ...</verb>
+
+ <p>This feature is called <em/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:
+
+ <verb>
+%?<item>?<string if nonzero>?</verb>
+
+ <p>which tells mutt-ng to only look at <tt><string if
+ nonzero></tt> if the value of the <tt>%<item%gt;</tt>
+ expando is different from zero. In our example, we used <tt/n/ as
+ the expando to check for and <tt/%n new/ as the optional nonzero
+ string.
+
+ <p>But this is not all: this feature only offers one alternative:
+ ``print something if not zero.'' Mutt-ng does, as you might guess,
+ also provide a logically complete version: ``if zero, print
+ something and else print something else.'' This is achieved by the
+ following syntax for those expandos which may be printed nonzero:
+
+ <verb>
+%?<item>?<string if nonzero>&<string if zero>?</verb>
+
+ <p>Using this we can make mutt-ng to do the following:
+
+ <itemize>
+
+ <item> make it print ``<em/n/ new messages'' whereby <em/n/ is the
+ count but only if there new ones
+
+ <item> and make it print ``no new messages'' if there aren't any
+
+ </itemize>
+
+ <p>The corresponding configuration is:
+
+ <verb>
+set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n new messages&no new messages? ...</verb>
+
+ <p>This doubles the use of the ``new messages'' string because it'll get
+ always printed. Thus, it can be shortened to:
+
+ <verb>
+set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n&no? new messages ...</verb>
+ <p>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.
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <sect1>Modifications and Padding <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>Besides the information given so far, there're even more features of
+ format strings:
+
+ <itemize>
+
+ <item>When specifying <tt>%_<item></tt> instead of
+ just <tt>%<item></tt>, mutt-ng will convert all
+ characters in the expansion of <tt><item></tt> to
+ lowercase.
+
+ <item>When specifying <tt>%:<item></tt> instead of just
+ <tt>%<item></tt>, mutt-ng will convert all dots in the
+ expansion of <tt><item></tt> to underscores
+ (<tt>_</tt>).
+
+ </itemize>
+
+ <p>Also, there's a feature called <em/Padding/ supplied by the
+ following two expandos: <tt/%|X/ and <tt/%>X/.
+
+ <descrip>
+
+ <tag><tt>%|X</tt></tag> When this occurs, mutt-ng will fill the
+ rest of the line with the character <tt/X/. In our example,
+ filling the rest of the line with dashes is done by setting:
-<bf/Note:/ all dates used when searching are relative to the
-<bf/local/ time zone, so unless you change the setting of your <ref
-id="index_format" name="$index_format"> to include a
-<tt/%[...]/ format, these are <bf/not/ the dates shown
-in the main index.
+ <verb>
+set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n&no? new messages %|-"</verb>
-<sect1>Using Tags
+ <tag><tt>%>X</tt></tag> Since the previous expando stops at
+ the end of line, there must be a way to fill the gap between
+ two items via the <tt>%>X</tt> expando: it puts as many
+ characters <tt>X</tt> 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 <tt>%></tt>):
+
+ <verb>
+set status_format = "%B: %?n?%n&no? new messages %> (%v on %h)"</verb>
+
+ </descrip>
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Using Tags <!--{{{-->
<p>
Sometimes it is desirable to perform an operation on a group of
operator; after this operator the rest of the macro will be executed as
normal.
-<sect1>Using Hooks<label id="hooks">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Using Hooks<label id="hooks"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
A <em/hook/ is a concept borrowed from the EMACS editor which allows you to
execute arbitrary commands before performing some operation. For example,
send-hook ~C'^b@b\.b$' my_hdr from: c@c.c
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect2>Message Matching in Hooks<label id="pattern_hook">
+<sect1>Message Matching in Hooks<label id="pattern_hook">
<p>
Hooks that act upon messages (<tt/send-hook, save-hook, fcc-hook,
message-hook/) are evaluated in a slightly different manner. For the other
<ref id="default_hook" name="$default_hook"> that is in effect
at that time will be used.
-<sect1>Using the sidebar<label id="sidebar">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Using the sidebar<label id="sidebar"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
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.
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'.
-<sect1>External Address Queries<label id="query">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>External Address Queries<label id="query"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Mutt-ng supports connecting to external directory databases such as LDAP,
ph/qi, bbdb, or NIS through a wrapper script which connects to mutt
menu. At the query menu, you can select one or more addresses to be
added to the prompt.
-<sect1>Mailbox Formats
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Mailbox Formats <!--{{{-->
<p>
Mutt-ng supports reading and writing of four different mailbox formats:
mbox, MMDF, MH and Maildir. The mailbox type is autodetected, so there
programs are writing the mailbox over NFS, which means that no file locking
is needed.
-<sect1>Mailbox Shortcuts<label id="shortcuts">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Mailbox Shortcuts<label id="shortcuts"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
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
name="default save folder"> as determined by the address of the alias
</itemize>
-<sect1>Handling Mailing Lists<label id="using_lists">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Handling Mailing Lists<label id="using_lists"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Mutt-ng has a few configuration options that make dealing with large
with large volume mailing lists easier because you can easily delete
uninteresting threads and quickly find topics of value.
-<sect1>Editing threads
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Editing threads <!--{{{-->
<p>
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.
-<sect2>Linking threads
+<sect1>Linking threads
<p>
Some mailers tend to "forget" to correctly set the "In-Reply-To:" and
You can also connect multiple children at once, tagging them and using the
tag-prefix command (';') or the auto_tag option.
-<sect2>Breaking threads
+<sect1>Breaking threads
<p>
On mailing lists, some people are in the bad habit of starting a new
by default to #), which will turn the subthread starting from the
current message into a whole different thread.
-<sect1>Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support <!--{{{-->
<p>
RFC1894 defines a set of MIME content types for relaying information
of your message should be returned with the receipt (headers or full
message). Refer to the man page on sendmail for more details on DSN.
-<sect1>POP3 Support (OPTIONAL)
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>POP3 Support (OPTIONAL) <!--{{{-->
<p>
If Mutt-ng was compiled with POP3 support (by running the <em/configure/
you should consider using a specialized program, such as <htmlurl
url="http://www.ccil.org/~esr/fetchmail" name="fetchmail">
-<sect1>IMAP Support (OPTIONAL)
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>IMAP Support (OPTIONAL) <!--{{{-->
<p>
If Mutt-ng was compiled with IMAP support (by running the <em/configure/
v12.250, the server has been reported to disconnect a client if another client
selects the same folder.
-<sect2>The Folder Browser
+<sect1>The Folder Browser
<p>
As of version 1.2, mutt supports browsing mailboxes on an IMAP
these are bound to <tt>s</tt> and <tt>u</tt>, respectively).
</itemize>
-<sect2>Authentication
+<sect1>Authentication
<p>
Mutt-ng supports four authentication methods with IMAP servers: SASL,
listed above).
</itemize>
-<sect1>Managing multiple IMAP/POP accounts (OPTIONAL)<label id="account-hook">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>NNTP Support (OPTIONAL)<label id="reading_news"> <!--{{{-->
+
+<p>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 <tt/i/.
+
+<p>The Default newsserver can be obtained from the
+<tt/$NNTPSERVER/ environment variable. Like other news readers,
+info about subscribed newsgroups is saved in a file as specified by the
+<ref id="nntp_newsrc" name="$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.
+
+<sect1>Again: Scoring <!--{{{-->
+
+ <p>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 <ref id="score-command" name="Message scoring">.
+
+ <p>What has not been discusses in detail is mutt-ng's built-in
+ realname filter. For may newsreaders including those for
+ ``advanced users'' like <em/slrn/ or <em/tin/, there are frequent
+ request for such functionality. The solutions offered often are
+ complicated regular expressions.
+
+ <p>In mutt-ng this is as easy as
+
+ <verb>
+score ~* =42
+ </verb>
+
+ <p>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
+
+ <verb>
+score !~* =42
+ </verb>
+
+ <p>on the contrary applies a score of 42 to all messages <em/not/
+ matching those criteria which are very strict:
+
+ <itemize>
+
+ <item>Email addresses must be valid according to RFC 2822, see
+ <htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc2822.txt"
+ name="<ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc2822.txt>">
+
+ <item>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.
+
+ <item>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.
+
+ </itemize>
+
+ <!--}}}-->
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Managing multiple IMAP/POP/NNTP accounts (OPTIONAL)<label id="account-hook"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
If you happen to have accounts on multiple IMAP and/or POP servers,
account-hook imap://host2/ 'set tunnel="ssh host2 /usr/libexec/imapd"'
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect1>Start a WWW Browser on URLs (EXTERNAL)<label id="urlview">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Start a WWW Browser on URLs (EXTERNAL)<label id="urlview"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
If a message contains URLs (<em/unified resource locator/ = address in the
WWW space like <em>http://www.mutt.org/</em>), it is efficient to get
macro pager \cb |urlview\n
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect1>Compressed folders Support (OPTIONAL)
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Compressed folders Support (OPTIONAL) <!--{{{-->
<p>
If Mutt-ng was compiled with compressed folders support (by running the
id="save_empty" name="$save_empty">, so that the compressed file
will be removed if you delete all of the messages.
-<sect2>Open a compressed mailbox for reading<label id="open-hook">
+<sect1>Open a compressed mailbox for reading<label id="open-hook">
<p>
Usage: <tt/open-hook/ <em/regexp/ &dquot;<em/command/&dquot;
If the <em/command/ is empty, this operation is disabled for this file
type.
-<sect2>Write a compressed mailbox<label id="close-hook">
+<sect1>Write a compressed mailbox<label id="close-hook">
<p>
Usage: <tt/close-hook/ <em/regexp/ &dquot;<em/command/&dquot;
<ref id="close-hook" name ="close-hook"> is not called when you exit
from the folder if the folder was not changed.
-<sect2>Append a message to a compressed mailbox<label id="append-hook">
+<sect1>Append a message to a compressed mailbox<label id="append-hook">
<p>
Usage: <tt/append-hook/ <em/regexp/ &dquot;<em/command/&dquot;
<ref id="open-hook" name="open-hook"> and <ref id="close-hook"
name="close-hook">respectively) each time you will add to it.
-<sect2>Encrypted folders
+<sect1>Encrypted folders
<p>
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
directory, where it can be read by your system administrator. So think
about the security aspects of this.
-<sect>Mutt-ng's MIME Support
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<chapt>Mutt-ng's MIME Support <!--{{{-->
<p>
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
IANA MIME types. The other is the <tt/mailcap/ file, which specifies
the external commands to use for handling specific MIME types.
-<sect1>Using MIME in Mutt
+<sect>Using MIME in Mutt <!--{{{-->
<p>
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.
-<sect2>Viewing MIME messages in the pager
+<sect1>Viewing MIME messages in the pager
<p>
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
[-- image/gif is unsupported (use 'v' to view this part) --]
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect2>The Attachment Menu<label id="attach_menu">
+<sect1>The Attachment Menu<label id="attach_menu">
<p>
The default binding for <tt/view-attachments/ is `v', which displays the
attachment menu for a message. The attachment menu displays a list of
See the help on the attachment menu for more information.
-<sect2>The Compose Menu<label id="compose_menu">
+<sect1>The Compose Menu<label id="compose_menu">
<p>
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
The final field is the description of the attachment, and can be
changed with the <tt/edit-description/ command (default: d).
-<sect1>MIME Type configuration with <tt/mime.types/
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>MIME Type configuration with <tt/mime.types/ <!--{{{-->
<p>
When you add an attachment to your mail message, Mutt-ng searches your
personal mime.types file at <tt>${HOME}/.mime.types</tt>, and then
various molecular viewers. Non-recognised mime types should only be used
if the recipient of the message is likely to be expecting such attachments.
-<sect1>MIME Viewer configuration with <tt/mailcap/
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>MIME Viewer configuration with <tt/mailcap/ <!--{{{-->
<p>
Mutt-ng supports RFC 1524 MIME Configuration, in particular the Unix
specific format specified in Appendix A of RFC 1524. This file format
usually as <tt>/usr/local/etc/mailcap</tt>, which contains some baseline
entries.
-<sect2>The Basics of the mailcap file
+<sect1>The Basics of the mailcap file
<p>
A mailcap file consists of a series of lines which are comments, blank,
or definitions.
</verb></tscreen>
This is the simplest form of a mailcap file.
-<sect2>Secure use of mailcap
+<sect1>Secure use of mailcap
<p>
The interpretation of shell meta-characters embedded in MIME parameters
can lead to security problems in general. Mutt-ng tries to quote parameters
&& test "`echo $charset | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'`" != iso-8859-1
</verb></tscreen>
-<sect2>Advanced mailcap Usage
+<sect1>Advanced mailcap Usage
<p>
-<sect3>Optional Fields
+<sect2>Optional Fields
<p>
In addition to the required content-type and view command fields, you
can add semi-colon ';' separated fields to set flags and other options.
to the next entry and use lynx to display the text/html object.
</descrip>
-<sect3>Search Order
+<sect2>Search Order
<p>
When searching for an entry in the mailcap file, Mutt-ng will search for
the most useful entry for its purpose. For instance, if you are
entry. If the program returns non-zero, Mutt-ng will use the second entry
for interactive viewing.
-<sect3>Command Expansion
+<sect2>Command Expansion
<p>
The various commands defined in the mailcap files are passed to the
<tt>/bin/sh</tt> shell using the system() function. Before the
specified in RFC 1524. The main purpose of these parameters is for
multipart messages, which is handled internally by Mutt-ng.
-<sect2>Example mailcap files
+<sect1>Example mailcap files
<p>
This mailcap file is fairly simple and standard:
<code>
application/ms-excel; open.pl %s
</code>
-<sect1>MIME Autoview<label id="auto_view">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>MIME Autoview<label id="auto_view"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
In addition to explicitly telling Mutt-ng to view an attachment with the
MIME viewer defined in the mailcap file, Mutt-ng has support for
This can be used with message-hook to autoview messages based on size, etc.
``unauto_view *'' will remove all previous entries.
-<sect1>MIME Multipart/Alternative<label id="alternative_order">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>MIME Multipart/Alternative<label id="alternative_order"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Mutt-ng has some heuristics for determining which attachment of a
multipart/alternative type to display. First, mutt will check the
To remove a MIME type from the <tt/alternative_order/ list, use the
<tt/unalternative_order/ command.
-<sect1>MIME Lookup<label id="mime_lookup">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>MIME Lookup<label id="mime_lookup"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Mutt-ng's mime_lookup list specifies a list of mime-types that should not
be treated according to their mailcap entry. This option is designed to
for any particular mime-type if it had been set, for example, in a global
muttrc.
-<sect>Reference
-<sect1>Command line options<label id="commandline">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<chapt>Reference <!--{{{-->
+
+<sect>Command line options<label id="commandline"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
Running <tt/mutt/ with no arguments will make Mutt-ng attempt to read your spool
mailbox. However, it is possible to read other mailboxes and
of ``data set for run #2''. In the body of the message will be the contents
of the file ``˜/run2.dat''.
-<sect1>Configuration Commands<label id="commands">
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Patterns<label id="patterns"> <!--{{{-->
+
+<p>
+<tscreen><verb>
+~A all messages
+~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body
+~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message
+~c USER messages carbon-copied to USER
+~C EXPR message is either to: or cc: EXPR
+~D deleted messages
+~d [MIN]-[MAX] messages with ``date-sent'' in a Date range
+~E expired messages
+~e EXPR message which contains EXPR in the ``Sender'' field
+~F flagged messages
+~f USER messages originating from USER
+~g cryptographically signed messages
+~G cryptographically encrypted messages
+~H EXPR messages with a spam attribute matching EXPR
+~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
+~k message contains PGP key material
+~i ID message which match ID in the ``Message-ID'' field
+~L EXPR message is either originated or received by EXPR
+~l message is addressed to a known mailing list
+~m [MIN]-[MAX] message in the range MIN to MAX *)
+~n [MIN]-[MAX] messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX *)
+~N new messages
+~O old messages
+~p message is addressed to you (consults alternates)
+~P message is from you (consults alternates)
+~Q messages which have been replied to
+~R read messages
+~r [MIN]-[MAX] messages with ``date-received'' in a Date range
+~S superseded messages
+~s SUBJECT messages having SUBJECT in the ``Subject'' field.
+~T tagged messages
+~t USER messages addressed to USER
+~U unread messages
+~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
+~V cryptographically verified messages
+~w EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `Newsgroups' field
+ (if compiled with NNTP support)
+~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `References' field
+~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `X-Label' field
+~z [MIN]-[MAX] messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX *)
+~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
+~$ unreferenced messages (requires threaded view)
+~* ``From'' contains realname and (syntactically) valid
+ address (excluded are addresses matching against
+ alternates or any alias)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Where EXPR, USER, ID, and SUBJECT are
+<ref id="regexp" name="regular expressions">. Special attention has to be
+made when using regular expressions inside of patterns. Specifically,
+Mutt-ng's parser for these patterns will strip one level of backslash (\),
+which is normally used for quoting. If it is your intention to use a
+backslash in the regular expression, you will need to use two backslashes
+instead (\\).
+
+*) The forms <tt/<[MAX]/, <tt/>[MIN]/,
+<tt/[MIN]-/ and <tt/-[MAX]/
+are allowed, too.
+
+<!--}}}-->
+
+<sect>Configuration Commands<label id="commands"> <!--{{{-->
<p>
The following are the commands understood by mutt.
<tt><ref id="unhook" name="unhook"></tt> <em/hook-type/
</itemize>
-<sect1>Configuration variables<label id="variables">
+<sect>Configuration variables<label id="variables">
<p>
- T\bTh\bhe\be M\bMu\but\btt\bt-\b-n\bng\bg E\bE-\b-M\bMa\bai\bil\bl C\bCl\bli\bie\ben\bnt\bt
+ T\bTh\bhe\be M\bMu\but\btt\bt N\bNe\bex\bxt\bt G\bGe\ben\bne\ber\bra\bat\bti\bio\bon\bn E\bE-\b-M\bMa\bai\bil\bl C\bCl\bli\bie\ben\bnt\bt
- by Michael Elkins <me@cs.hmc.edu> and others.
+ by Andreas Krennmair <ak@synflood.at> and others
+ originally based on _\bm_\bu_\bt_\bt by Michael Elkins <me@cs.hmc.edu> and others
- version devel-r372
+ version devel
A\bAb\bbs\bst\btr\bra\bac\bct\bt
- ``All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less.'' -me, circa 1995
+ 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!''
_\b1_\b. _\bI_\bn_\bt_\br_\bo_\bd_\bu_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
+ _\b1_\b._\b1 _\bO_\bv_\be_\br_\bv_\bi_\be_\bw
+
M\bMu\but\btt\bt-\b-n\bng\bg 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
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.
- _\b1_\b._\b1 _\bM_\bu_\bt_\bt_\b-_\bn_\bg _\bH_\bo_\bm_\be _\bP_\ba_\bg_\be
+ _\b1_\b._\b2 _\bM_\bu_\bt_\bt_\b-_\bn_\bg _\bH_\bo_\bm_\be _\bP_\ba_\bg_\be
http://www.muttng.org
- _\b1_\b._\b2 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bL_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs
+ _\b1_\b._\b3 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bL_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs
+\bo mutt-ng-users@lists.berlios.de -- This is where the mutt-ng user support
happens.
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 1
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 2
+
+\bo mutt-ng-devel@lists.berlios.de -- The development mailing list for mutt-ng
- _\b1_\b._\b3 _\bS_\bo_\bf_\bt_\bw_\ba_\br_\be _\bD_\bi_\bs_\bt_\br_\bi_\bb_\bu_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bS_\bi_\bt_\be_\bs
+ _\b1_\b._\b4 _\bS_\bo_\bf_\bt_\bw_\ba_\br_\be _\bD_\bi_\bs_\bt_\br_\bi_\bb_\bu_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bS_\bi_\bt_\be_\bs
So far, there are no official releases of Mutt-ng, but you can download daily
snapshots from http://mutt-ng.berlios.de/snapshots/
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 1
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 2
-
- _\b1_\b._\b4 _\bI_\bR_\bC
+ _\b1_\b._\b5 _\bI_\bR_\bC
Visit channel _\b#_\bm_\bu_\bt_\bt_\bn_\bg on irc.freenode.net (www.freenode.net) to chat with other
people interested in Mutt-ng.
- _\b1_\b._\b5 _\bW_\be_\bb_\bl_\bo_\bg
+ _\b1_\b._\b6 _\bW_\be_\bb_\bl_\bo_\bg
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.
- _\b1_\b._\b6 _\bC_\bo_\bp_\by_\br_\bi_\bg_\bh_\bt
+ _\b1_\b._\b7 _\bC_\bo_\bp_\by_\br_\bi_\bg_\bh_\bt
Mutt is Copyright (C) 1996-2000 Michael R. Elkins <me@cs.hmc.edu> and others
_\b2_\b. _\bG_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bS_\bt_\ba_\br_\bt_\be_\bd
- This section is intended as a brief overview of how to use Mutt-ng. 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. -->
+ _\b2_\b._\b1 _\bB_\ba_\bs_\bi_\bc _\bC_\bo_\bn_\bc_\be_\bp_\bt_\bs
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 3
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b1_\b._\b1 _\bS_\bc_\br_\be_\be_\bn_\bs _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu_\bs
+
+ mutt-ng offers different screens of which every has its special purpose:
+
+ +\bo The _\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx displays the contents of the currently opened mailbox.
+
+ +\bo The _\bp_\ba_\bg_\be_\br is responsible for displaying messages, that is, the header, the
+ body and all attached parts.
+
+ +\bo The _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be _\bb_\br_\bo_\bw_\bs_\be_\br offers operations on and displays information of all
+ folders mutt-ng should watch for mail.
+
+ +\bo The _\bs_\bi_\bd_\be_\bb_\ba_\br offers a permanent view of which mailboxes contain how many
+ total, new and/or flagged mails.
+
+ +\bo The _\bh_\be_\bl_\bp _\bs_\bc_\br_\be_\be_\bn lists for all currently available commands how to invoke
+ them as well as a short description.
+
+ +\bo The _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\be menu is a comfortable interface take last actions before send-
+ ing mail: change subjects, attach files, remove attachements, etc.
+
+ +\bo The _\ba_\bt_\bt_\ba_\bc_\bh_\be_\bm_\be_\bn_\bt menu gives a summary and the tree structure of the
+ attachements of the current message.
+
+ +\bo The _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs menu lists all or a fraction of the aliases a user has defined.
+
+ +\bo The _\bk_\be_\by 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b1_\b._\b2 _\bC_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
+
+ Mutt-ng does _\bn_\bo_\bt feature an internal configuration interface or menu due to the
+ simple fact that this would be too complex to handle (currently there are sev-
+ eral _\bh_\bu_\bn_\bd_\br_\be_\bd variables which fine-tune the behaviour.)
+
+ Mutt-ng is configured using configuration files which allow users to add com-
+ ments 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b1_\b._\b3 _\bF_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs
+
+ 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
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 4
+
+ 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b1_\b._\b4 _\bI_\bn_\bt_\be_\br_\ba_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
+
+ 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 informa-
+ tional 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 _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs. Hooks
+ specify actions the user wants to be performed at well-defined situa-
+ tions: 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b1_\b._\b5 _\bM_\bo_\bd_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
+
+ Although mutt-ng has many functionality built-in, many features can be dele-
+ gated 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b1_\b._\b6 _\bP_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs
+
+ 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b2 _\bS_\bc_\br_\be_\be_\bn_\bs _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu_\bs
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b1 _\bI_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx
+
+ 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
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 5
+
+ 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. Addi-
+ tionally, 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b2 _\bP_\ba_\bg_\be_\br
+
+ 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b3 _\bF_\bi_\bl_\be _\bB_\br_\bo_\bw_\bs_\be_\br
+
+ 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, limit-
+ ing 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b4 _\bS_\bi_\bd_\be_\bb_\ba_\br
+
+ 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 dif-
+ ferent 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b5 _\bH_\be_\bl_\bp
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 6
+
+ The help screen is meant to offer a quick help to the user. It lists the cur-
+ rent configuration of key bindings and their associated commands including a
+ short description, and currently unbound functions that still need to be asso-
+ ciated with a key binding (or alternatively, they can be called via the mutt-ng
+ command prompt).
- The key bindings 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.
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b6 _\bC_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\be _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu
- The first thing you need to do is invoke mutt-ng simply by typing muttng at the
- command line. There are various command-line options, see either the muttng
- man page or the _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section 6.1 , page 62).
+ 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.
- If you have used mutt in the past the easiest thing to have a proper configura-
- tion file is to source /.muttrc in /.muttngrc.
+ Also, it's used to attach messages, news articles or files to a message, to re-
+ edit any attachment including the message itself.
- _\b2_\b._\b1 _\bM_\bo_\bv_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bA_\br_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bd _\bi_\bn _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu_\bs
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b7 _\bA_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu
- Information is presented in menus, very similar to ELM. Here is a table show-
- ing the common keys used to navigate menus in Mutt-ng.
+ 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 nick-
+ name, the actual alias, so that users don't have to select each single recipi-
+ ent manually.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 3
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b8 _\bA_\bt_\bt_\ba_\bc_\bh_\bm_\be_\bn_\bt _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu
+
+ 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b2_\b._\b9 _\bK_\be_\by _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu
+
+ FIXME
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b3 _\bM_\bo_\bv_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bA_\br_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bd _\bi_\bn _\bM_\be_\bn_\bu_\bs
+
+ Information is presented in menus, very similar to ELM. Here is a table
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 7
+
+ 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
q quit exit the current menu
? help list all key bindings for the current menu
- _\b2_\b._\b2 _\bE_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bI_\bn_\bp_\bu_\bt _\bF_\bi_\be_\bl_\bd_\bs
+ _\b2_\b._\b4 _\bE_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bI_\bn_\bp_\bu_\bt _\bF_\bi_\be_\bl_\bd_\bs
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
^G n/a abort
<Return> n/a finish editing
- You can remap the _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bo_\br functions using the _\bb_\bi_\bn_\bd (section 3.3 , page 17) com-
+ You can remap the _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bo_\br functions using the _\bb_\bi_\bn_\bd (section 3.4 , page 24) com-
mand. For example, to make the _\bD_\be_\bl_\be_\bt_\be key delete the character in front of the
cursor rather than under, you could use
bind editor <delete> backspace
- _\b2_\b._\b3 _\bR_\be_\ba_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl _\b- _\bT_\bh_\be _\bI_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bP_\ba_\bg_\be_\br
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 8
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b5 _\bR_\be_\ba_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl _\b- _\bT_\bh_\be _\bI_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bP_\ba_\bg_\be_\br
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 con-
tents. This is called the ``pager.''
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 4
-
The next few sections describe the functions provided in each of these modes.
- _\b2_\b._\b3_\b._\b1 _\bT_\bh_\be _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bI_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx
+ _\b2_\b._\b5_\b._\b1 _\bT_\bh_\be _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bI_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx
c change to a different mailbox
ESC c change to a folder in read-only mode
^L clear and redraw the screen
^T untag messages matching a pattern
- _\b2_\b._\b3_\b._\b1_\b._\b1 _\bS_\bt_\ba_\bt_\bu_\bs _\bF_\bl_\ba_\bg_\bs
+ _\b2_\b._\b5_\b._\b1_\b._\b1 _\bS_\bt_\ba_\bt_\bu_\bs _\bF_\bl_\ba_\bg_\bs
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
d
message have attachments marked for deletion
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 9
+
K
contains a PGP public key
N
message is new
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 5
-
O
message is old
+\bo c\bcl\ble\bea\bar\br-\b-f\bfl\bla\bag\bg (default: W)
Furthermore, the following flags reflect who the message is addressed to. They
- can be customized with the _\b$_\bt_\bo_\b__\bc_\bh_\ba_\br_\bs (section 6.3.320 , page 143) variable.
+ can be customized with the _\b$_\bt_\bo_\b__\bc_\bh_\ba_\br_\bs (section 6.4.320 , page 158) variable.
+
message is to you and you only
L
message is sent to a subscribed mailing list
- _\b2_\b._\b3_\b._\b2 _\bT_\bh_\be _\bP_\ba_\bg_\be_\br
+ _\b2_\b._\b5_\b._\b2 _\bT_\bh_\be _\bP_\ba_\bg_\be_\br
By default, Mutt-ng uses its builtin pager to display the body of messages.
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 10
+
The pager is very similar to the Unix program _\bl_\be_\bs_\bs though not nearly as fea-
tureful.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 6
-
<Return> go down one line
<Space> display the next page (or next message if at the end of a message)
- go back to the previous page
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 _\bc_\bo_\bl_\bo_\br
- (section 3.7 , page 21) objects to specify a color or mono attribute for them.
+ (section 3.8 , page 27) objects to specify a color or mono attribute for them.
Additionally, the internal pager supports the ANSI escape sequences for charac-
ter attributes. Mutt-ng translates them into the correct color and character
6 cyan
7 white
- Mutt-ng uses these attributes for handling text/enriched messages, and they can
- also be used by an external _\ba_\bu_\bt_\bo_\bv_\bi_\be_\bw (section 5.4 , page 60) script for high-
- lighting purposes. N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: If you change the colors for your display, for
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 7
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 11
- example by changing the color associated with color2 for your xterm, then that
+ Mutt-ng uses these attributes for handling text/enriched messages, and they can
+ also be used by an external _\ba_\bu_\bt_\bo_\bv_\bi_\be_\bw (section 5.4 , page 74) script for high-
+ lighting purposes. N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: If you change the colors for your display, for exam-
+ ple by changing the color associated with color2 for your xterm, then that
color will be used instead of green.
- _\b2_\b._\b3_\b._\b3 _\bT_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\bd _\bM_\bo_\bd_\be
+ _\b2_\b._\b5_\b._\b3 _\bT_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\bd _\bM_\bo_\bd_\be
- When the mailbox is _\bs_\bo_\br_\bt_\be_\bd (section 6.3.289 , page 134) by _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs, there are
+ When the mailbox is _\bs_\bo_\br_\bt_\be_\bd (section 6.4.289 , page 149) by _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs, there are
a few additional functions available in the _\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx and _\bp_\ba_\bg_\be_\br modes.
^D delete-thread delete all messages in the current thread
N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: 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 _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (sec-
- tion 6.3.110 , page 90). For example, you could use "%?M?(#%03M)&(%4l)?" in
- _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.110 , page 90) to optionally display the number of
+ tion 6.4.110 , page 105). For example, you could use "%?M?(#%03M)&(%4l)?" in
+ _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.110 , page 105) to optionally display the number of
hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
- See also: _\b$_\bs_\bt_\br_\bi_\bc_\bt_\b__\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs (section 6.3.309 , page 141).
+ See also: _\b$_\bs_\bt_\br_\bi_\bc_\bt_\b__\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs (section 6.4.309 , page 156).
- _\b2_\b._\b3_\b._\b4 _\bM_\bi_\bs_\bc_\be_\bl_\bl_\ba_\bn_\be_\bo_\bu_\bs _\bF_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs
+ _\b2_\b._\b5_\b._\b4 _\bM_\bi_\bs_\bc_\be_\bl_\bl_\ba_\bn_\be_\bo_\bu_\bs _\bF_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs
c\bcr\bre\bea\bat\bte\be-\b-a\bal\bli\bia\bas\bs
(default: a)
Creates a new alias based upon the current message (or prompts for a new one).
- Once editing is complete, an _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs (section 3.2 , page 16) command is added to
- the file specified by the _\b$_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\b__\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.3.3 , page 65) variable for
- future use. N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: Specifying an _\b$_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\b__\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.3.3 , page 65) does not
- add the aliases specified there-in, you must also _\bs_\bo_\bu_\br_\bc_\be (section 3.26 , page
- 32) the file.
+ Once editing is complete, an _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs (section 3.3 , page 23) command is added to
+ the file specified by the _\b$_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\b__\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.4.3 , page 80) variable for
+ future use. N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: Specifying an _\b$_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\b__\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.4.3 , page 80) does not
+ add the aliases specified there-in, you must also _\bs_\bo_\bu_\br_\bc_\be (section 3.28 , page
+ 42) the file.
c\bch\bhe\bec\bck\bk-\b-t\btr\bra\bad\bdi\bit\bti\bio\bon\bna\bal\bl-\b-p\bpg\bgp\bp
(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. Techni-
- cally, this function will temporarily change the MIME content types of the body
- parts containing PGP data; this is similar to the _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b-_\bt_\by_\bp_\be (section 2.3.4 ,
- page 8) function's effect.
+ with PGP the "traditional" way, that is, without proper MIME tagging.
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 12
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 8
+ Technically, this function will temporarily change the MIME content types of
+ the body parts containing PGP data; this is similar to the _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b-_\bt_\by_\bp_\be (section
+ 2.5.4 , page 12) function's effect.
d\bdi\bis\bsp\bpl\bla\bay\by-\b-t\bto\bog\bgg\bgl\ble\be-\b-w\bwe\bee\bed\bd
(default: h)
Toggles the weeding of message header fields specified by _\bi_\bg_\bn_\bo_\br_\be (section
- 3.8 , page 23) commands.
+ 3.9 , page 30) commands.
e\bed\bdi\bit\bt
(default: e)
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 _\ba_\bt_\bt_\ba_\bc_\bh_\bm_\be_\bn_\bt _\bm_\be_\bn_\bu (section 5.1.2 , page 53), you can
+ content type. On the _\ba_\bt_\bt_\ba_\bc_\bh_\bm_\be_\bn_\bt _\bm_\be_\bn_\bu (section 5.1.2 , page 66), 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 _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\be _\bm_\be_\bn_\bu (section 5.1.3 ,
- page 53). There, it's used to fine-tune the properties of attachments you are
+ page 67). There, it's used to fine-tune the properties of attachments you are
going to send.
e\ben\bnt\bte\ber\br-\b-c\bco\bom\bmm\bma\ban\bnd\bd
This command is used to execute any command you would normally put in a config-
uration file. A common use is to check the settings of variables, or in con-
- junction with _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo_\bs (section 3.6 , page 20) to change settings on the fly.
+ junction with _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo_\bs (section 3.7 , page 27) to change settings on the fly.
e\bex\bxt\btr\bra\bac\bct\bt-\b-k\bke\bey\bys\bs
(default: ^K)
This command wipes the passphrase(s) from memory. It is useful, if you mis-
spelled the passphrase.
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 13
+
l\bli\bis\bst\bt-\b-r\bre\bep\bpl\bly\by
(default: L)
Reply to the current or tagged message(s) by extracting any addresses which
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 9
-
- match the regular expressions given by the _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs _\bo_\br _\bs_\bu_\bb_\bs_\bc_\br_\bi_\bb_\be (section 3.10 ,
- page 24) commands, but also honor any Mail-Followup-To header(s) if the
- _\b$_\bh_\bo_\bn_\bo_\br_\b__\bf_\bo_\bl_\bl_\bo_\bw_\bu_\bp_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.3.88 , page 85) configuration variable is set.
+ match the regular expressions given by the _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs _\bo_\br _\bs_\bu_\bb_\bs_\bc_\br_\bi_\bb_\be (section 3.12 ,
+ page 32) commands, but also honor any Mail-Followup-To header(s) if the
+ _\b$_\bh_\bo_\bn_\bo_\br_\b__\bf_\bo_\bl_\bl_\bo_\bw_\bu_\bp_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.4.88 , page 100) configuration variable is set.
Using this when replying to messages posted to mailing lists helps avoid dupli-
cate copies being sent to the author of the message you are replying to.
(default: |)
Asks for an external Unix command and pipes the current or tagged message(s) to
- it. The variables _\b$_\bp_\bi_\bp_\be_\b__\bd_\be_\bc_\bo_\bd_\be (section 6.3.200 , page 113), _\b$_\bp_\bi_\bp_\be_\b__\bs_\bp_\bl_\bi_\bt
- (section 6.3.202 , page 114), _\b$_\bp_\bi_\bp_\be_\b__\bs_\be_\bp (section 6.3.201 , page 114) and
- _\b$_\bw_\ba_\bi_\bt_\b__\bk_\be_\by (section 6.3.332 , page 145) control the exact behavior of this
+ it. The variables _\b$_\bp_\bi_\bp_\be_\b__\bd_\be_\bc_\bo_\bd_\be (section 6.4.200 , page 129), _\b$_\bp_\bi_\bp_\be_\b__\bs_\bp_\bl_\bi_\bt
+ (section 6.4.202 , page 129), _\b$_\bp_\bi_\bp_\be_\b__\bs_\be_\bp (section 6.4.201 , page 129) and
+ _\b$_\bw_\ba_\bi_\bt_\b__\bk_\be_\by (section 6.4.332 , page 161) control the exact behavior of this
function.
r\bre\bes\bse\ben\bnd\bd-\b-m\bme\bes\bss\bsa\bag\bge\be
message. This function is best described as "recall from arbitrary folders".
It can conveniently be used to forward MIME messages while preserving the orig-
inal mail structure. Note that the amount of headers included here depends on
- the value of the _\b$_\bw_\be_\be_\bd (section 6.3.333 , page 146) variable.
+ the value of the _\b$_\bw_\be_\be_\bd (section 6.4.333 , page 161) variable.
This function is also available from the attachment menu. You can use this to
easily resend a message which was included with a bounce message as a mes-
(default: !)
Asks for an external Unix command and executes it. The _\b$_\bw_\ba_\bi_\bt_\b__\bk_\be_\by (section
- 6.3.332 , page 145) can be used to control whether Mutt-ng will wait for a key
+ 6.4.332 , page 161) 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.
t\bto\bog\bgg\bgl\ble\be-\b-q\bqu\buo\bot\bte\bed\bd
(default: T)
- The _\bp_\ba_\bg_\be_\br uses the _\b$_\bq_\bu_\bo_\bt_\be_\b__\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp (section 6.3.225 , page 119) variable to
+ The _\bp_\ba_\bg_\be_\br uses the _\b$_\bq_\bu_\bo_\bt_\be_\b__\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp (section 6.4.225 , page 134) variable to
detect quoted text when displaying the body of the message. This function tog-
gles 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
This function will go to the next line of non-quoted text which come after a
line of quoted text in the internal pager.
- _\b2_\b._\b4 _\bS_\be_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 14
- The following bindings are available in the _\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx for sending messages.
+ _\b2_\b._\b6 _\bS_\be_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 10
+ The following bindings are available in the _\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx for sending messages.
m compose compose a new message
r reply reply to sender
Bouncing a message sends the message as is to the recipient you specify. For-
warding a message allows you to add comments or modify the message you are for-
warding. These items are discussed in greater detail in the next chapter
- _\b`_\b`_\bF_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bB_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\b'_\b' (section 2.5 , page 13).
-
- Mutt-ng will then enter the _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\be menu and prompt you for the recipients to
- place on the ``To:'' header field. Next, it will ask you for the ``Subject:''
- field for the message, providing a default if you are replying to or forwarding
- a message. See also _\b$_\ba_\bs_\bk_\bc_\bc (section 6.3.10 , page 67), _\b$_\ba_\bs_\bk_\bb_\bc_\bc (section
- 6.3.9 , page 66), _\b$_\ba_\bu_\bt_\bo_\be_\bd_\bi_\bt (section 6.3.17 , page 69), _\b$_\bb_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bc_\be (section
- 6.3.20 , page 69), and _\b$_\bf_\ba_\bs_\bt_\b__\br_\be_\bp_\bl_\by (section 6.3.60 , page 78) for changing
- how Mutt-ng asks these questions.
-
- Mutt-ng will then automatically start your _\b$_\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bo_\br (section 6.3.55 , page 77)
- on the message body. If the _\b$_\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b__\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs (section 6.3.54 , page 77) variable
- is set, the headers will be at the top of the message in your editor. Any mes-
- sages you are replying to will be added in sort order to the message, with
- appropriate _\b$_\ba_\bt_\bt_\br_\bi_\bb_\bu_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn (section 6.3.15 , page 68), _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bn_\bt_\b__\bs_\bt_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg (section
- 6.3.109 , page 90) and _\b$_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bt_\b__\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bn_\bt_\b__\bs_\bt_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg (section 6.3.212 , page 116).
- When forwarding a message, if the _\b$_\bm_\bi_\bm_\be_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd (section 6.3.136 , page 97)
- variable is unset, a copy of the forwarded message will be included. If you
- have specified a _\b$_\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\ba_\bt_\bu_\br_\be (section 6.3.259 , page 127), it will be appended
- to the message.
+ _\b`_\b`_\bF_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bB_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\b'_\b' (section 2.7 , page 20).
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b1 _\bC_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bn_\be_\bw _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be_\bs
+
+ 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 Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 15
+
+ 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
+ <esc>f, but this shall only be used with caution.
+
+ Alternatively, you can configure mutt-ng in a way that most of the above set-
+ tings can be edited using the editor. Therefore, you only need to add the fol-
+ lowing to your configuration:
+
+ set edit_headers
Once you have finished editing the body of your mail message, you are returned
to the _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\be menu. The following options are available:
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 11
-
a attach-file attach a file
A attach-message attach message(s) to the message
ESC k attach-key attach a PGP public key
sages 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 _\b$_\bs_\bt_\ba_\bt_\bu_\bs_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.305 , page 138) will change to a
+ folder. The %r in _\b$_\bs_\bt_\ba_\bt_\bu_\bs_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.305 , page 153) will change to a
'A' to indicate that you are in attach-message mode.
- _\b2_\b._\b4_\b._\b1 _\bE_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 16
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b2 _\bR_\be_\bp_\bl_\by_\bi_\bn_\bg
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b2_\b._\b1 _\bS_\bi_\bm_\bp_\bl_\be _\bR_\be_\bp_\bl_\bi_\be_\bs
+
+ 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 _\bb_\be_\bl_\bo_\bw 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 <svensson@foobar.com> [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 _\bn_\bo_\bt
+ 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
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 17
+
+ before.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b2_\b._\b2 _\bG_\br_\bo_\bu_\bp _\bR_\be_\bp_\bl_\bi_\be_\bs
+
+ 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:" recipi-
+ ents. 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 mes-
+ sage will receive a copy of the message, either as normal recipient or as "Cc:"
+ recipient.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b2_\b._\b3 _\bL_\bi_\bs_\bt _\bR_\be_\bp_\bl_\bi_\be_\bs
+
+ When you use mailing lists, it's generally better to send your reply to a mes-
+ sage 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.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b3 _\bE_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br
When editing the header of your outgoing message, there are a couple of special
features available.
You can also attach files to your message by specifying
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 18
+
Attach: _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be [ _\bd_\be_\bs_\bc_\br_\bi_\bp_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn ]
where _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be is the file to attach and _\bd_\be_\bs_\bc_\br_\bi_\bp_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn is an optional string to
field, Mutt-ng will not generate a _\bR_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be_\bs_\b: field, which allows you to cre-
ate a new message thread.
- Also see _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b__\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs (section 6.3.54 , page 77).
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 12
+ Also see _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b__\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs (section 6.4.54 , page 92).
- _\b2_\b._\b4_\b._\b2 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\bu_\bt_\bt_\b-_\bn_\bg _\bw_\bi_\bt_\bh _\bP_\bG_\bP
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b4 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\bu_\bt_\bt_\b-_\bn_\bg _\bw_\bi_\bt_\bh _\bP_\bG_\bP
If you want to use PGP, you can specify
Pgp: [ E | S | S_\b<_\bi_\bd_\b> ]
``E'' encrypts, ``S'' signs and ``S<id>'' signs with the given key, setting
- _\b$_\bp_\bg_\bp_\b__\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\b__\ba_\bs (section 6.3.192 , page 112) permanently.
+ _\b$_\bp_\bg_\bp_\b__\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\b__\ba_\bs (section 6.4.192 , page 127) permanently.
If you have told mutt to PGP encrypt a message, it will guide you through a key
selection process when you try to send the message. Mutt-ng will not ask you
encrypted using the selected public keys, and sent out.
Most fields of the entries in the key selection menu (see also _\b$_\bp_\bg_\bp_\b__\be_\bn_\bt_\br_\by_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\b-
- _\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.179 , page 109)) have obvious meanings. But some explana-
+ _\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.179 , page 124)) have obvious meanings. But some explana-
tions on the capabilities, flags, and validity fields are in order.
The flags sequence (%f) will expand to one of the following flags:
key's capabilities. The first character gives the key's encryption capabili-
ties: A minus sign (-\b-) means that the key cannot be used for encryption. A dot
(.\b.) means that it's marked as a signature key in one of the user IDs, but may
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 19
+
also be used for encryption. The letter e\be indicates that this key can be used
for encryption.
untrusted association, a space character means a partially trusted association,
and a plus character (+\b+) indicates complete validity.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 13
-
- _\b2_\b._\b4_\b._\b3 _\bS_\be_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bn_\bo_\bn_\by_\bm_\bo_\bu_\bs _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be_\bs _\bv_\bi_\ba _\bm_\bi_\bx_\bm_\ba_\bs_\bt_\be_\br_\b.
+ _\b2_\b._\b6_\b._\b5 _\bS_\be_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bn_\bo_\bn_\by_\bm_\bo_\bu_\bs _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be_\bs _\bv_\bi_\ba _\bm_\bi_\bx_\bm_\ba_\bs_\bt_\be_\br
You may also have configured mutt to co-operate with Mixmaster, an anonymous
remailer. Mixmaster permits you to send your messages anonymously using a
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 _\b$_\bm_\bi_\bx_\b__\be_\bn_\bt_\br_\by_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.139 ,
- page 98)). Most important is the ``middleman'' capability, indicated by a cap-
- ital ``M'': This means that the remailer in question cannot be used as the
+ %c entry of the remailer menu lines (see _\b$_\bm_\bi_\bx_\b__\be_\bn_\bt_\br_\by_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.139 ,
+ page 113)). 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.
- _\b2_\b._\b5 _\bF_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bB_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl
+ _\b2_\b._\b7 _\bF_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bB_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl
- Bouncing and forwarding let you send an existing message to recipients that you
- specify. Bouncing a message uses the _\bs_\be_\bn_\bd_\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl (section 6.3.247 , page 124)
- command to send a copy to alternative addresses as if they were the message's
- original recipients. Forwarding a message, on the other hand, allows you to
- modify the message before it is resent (for example, by adding your own com-
- ments).
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 20
- The following keys are bound by default:
+ Often, it is necessary to forward mails to other people. Therefore, mutt-ng
+ supports forwarding messages in two different ways.
- f forward forward message
- b bounce bounce (remail) message
+ 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 <luser@example.com> -----
- Forwarding can be done by including the original message in the new message's
- body (surrounded by indicating lines) or including it as a MIME attachment,
- depending on the value of the _\b$_\bm_\bi_\bm_\be_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd (section 6.3.136 , page 97) vari-
- able. Decoding of attachments, like in the pager, can be controlled by the
- _\b$_\bf_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd_\b__\bd_\be_\bc_\bo_\bd_\be (section 6.3.69 , page 81) and _\b$_\bm_\bi_\bm_\be_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd_\b__\bd_\be_\bc_\bo_\bd_\be (section
+ From: Lucas User <luser@example.com>
+ Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 03:08:34 +0100
+ To: Michael Random <mrandom@example.com>
+ Subject: Re: blackmail
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 14
+ Pay me EUR 50,000.- cash or your favorite stuffed animal will die
+ a horrible death.
- 6.3.137 , page 98) variables, respectively. The desired forwarding format may
- depend on the content, therefore _\b$_\bm_\bi_\bm_\be_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd is a quadoption which, for exam-
- ple, can be set to ``ask-no''.
+ ----- End forwarded message -----
- The inclusion of headers is controlled by the current setting of the _\b$_\bw_\be_\be_\bd
- (section 6.3.333 , page 146) variable, unless _\bm_\bi_\bm_\be_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bw_\ba_\br_\bd (section 6.3.136 ,
- page 97) is set.
+ When you're done with editing the mail, save and quit the editor, and you will
+ return to the compose menu, the same menu you also encounter when composing or
+ replying to mails.
- Editing the message to forward follows the same procedure as sending or reply-
- ing to a message does.
+ The second mode of forwarding emails with mutt-ng is the so-called _\bb_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bi_\bn_\bg:
+ when you bounce an email to another address, it will be sent in practically the
+ same format you send it (except for headers that are created during transport-
+ ing the message). To bounce a message, press b and enter the recipient email
+ address. By default, you are then asked whether you really want to bounce the
+ message to the specified recipient. If you answer with yes, the message will
+ then be bounced.
- _\b2_\b._\b6 _\bP_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl
+ To the recipient, the bounced email will look as if he got it like a regular
+ email where he was Bcc: recipient. The only possibility to find out whether it
+ was a bounced email is to carefully study the email headers and to find out
+ which host really sent the email.
+
+ _\b2_\b._\b8 _\bP_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl
At times it is desirable to delay sending a message that you have already begun
to compose. When the _\bp_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\be_\b-_\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be function is used in the _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\be menu,
the body of your message and attachments are stored in the mailbox specified by
- the _\b$_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\be_\bd (section 6.3.214 , page 117) variable. This means that you can
+ the _\b$_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\be_\bd (section 6.4.214 , page 132) variable. This means that you can
recall the message even if you exit Mutt-ng and then restart it at a later
time.
Once a message is postponed, there are several ways to resume it. From the
command line you can use the ``-p'' option, or if you _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\be a new message
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 21
+
from the _\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx or _\bp_\ba_\bg_\be_\br you will be prompted if postponed messages exist. If
multiple messages are currently postponed, the _\bp_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\be_\bd menu will pop up and
you can select which message you would like to resume.
be in the same folder with the message you replied to for the status of the
message to be updated.
- See also the _\b$_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\be (section 6.3.213 , page 116) quad-option.
-
- _\b2_\b._\b7 _\bR_\be_\ba_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bn_\be_\bw_\bs _\bv_\bi_\ba _\bN_\bN_\bT_\bP
-
- If compiled with ``--enable-nntp'' option, Mutt-ng can read news from
- newsserver via NNTP. You can open a newsgroup with function ``change-news-
- group'' (default: i). Default newsserver can be obtained from _\bN_\bN_\bT_\bP_\bS_\bE_\bR_\bV_\bE_\bR envi-
- ronment variable. Like other news readers, info about subscribed newsgroups is
- saved in file by _\b$_\bn_\bn_\bt_\bp_\b__\bn_\be_\bw_\bs_\br_\bc (section 6.3.156 , page 103) variable. Article
- headers are cached and can be loaded from file when newsgroup entered instead
- loading from newsserver.
+ See also the _\b$_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bt_\bp_\bo_\bn_\be (section 6.4.213 , page 132) quad-option.
_\b3_\b. _\bC_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
+ _\b3_\b._\b1 _\bL_\bo_\bc_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs _\bo_\bf _\bC_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bF_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs
+
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'' _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd _\bl_\bi_\bn_\be (section 6.1 , page 62) option is specified. This
+ the ``-n'' _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd _\bl_\bi_\bn_\be (section 6.1 , page 76) 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
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 15
-
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 _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bs (section 6.2 , page 62) to configure Mutt-ng.
-
- In addition, mutt supports version specific configuration files that are parsed
- instead of the default files as explained above. For instance, if your system
- has a Muttrc-0.88 file in the system configuration directory, and you are run-
- ning version 0.88 of mutt, this file will be sourced instead of the Muttngrc
- file. The same is true of the user configuration file, if you have a file
- .muttrc-0.88.6 in your home directory, when you run mutt version 0.88.6, it
- will source this file instead of the default .muttrc file. The version number
- is the same which is visible using the ``-v'' _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd _\bl_\bi_\bn_\be (section 6.1 , page
- 62) switch or using the show-version key (default: V) from the index menu.
-
- _\b3_\b._\b1 _\bS_\by_\bn_\bt_\ba_\bx _\bo_\bf _\bI_\bn_\bi_\bt_\bi_\ba_\bl_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bF_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs
-
- An initialization file consists of a series of _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bs (section 6.2 , page
- 62). Each line of the file may contain one or more commands. When multiple
+ your _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bs (section 6.3 , page 78) to configure Mutt-ng.
+
+ _\b3_\b._\b2 _\bS_\by_\bn_\bt_\ba_\bx _\bo_\bf _\bI_\bn_\bi_\bt_\bi_\ba_\bl_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bF_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs
+
+ An initialization file consists of a series of _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bs (section 6.3 , page
+ 78). 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-
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 con-
- tain 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 sin-
- gle 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 n\bno\bot\bt for single quotes.
+ Single quotes (') and double quotes (') can be used to quote strings which
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 22
+
+ 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 n\bno\bot\bt for single quotes.
\ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh. For exam-
ple, if want to put quotes ``''' inside of a string, you can use ``\'' to force
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.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 16
-
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 ``#''.
ization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in backquotes
(``). For example,
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 23
+
my_hdr X-Operating-System: `uname -a`
The output of the Unix command ``uname -a'' will be substituted before the line
set record=+sent_on_$HOSTNAME
The commands understood by mutt are explained in the next paragraphs. For a
- complete list, see the _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section 6.2 , page 62).
+ complete list, see the _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section 6.3 , page 78).
- _\b3_\b._\b2 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg_\b/_\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\be_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b3 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg_\b/_\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\be_\bs
Usage: alias _\bk_\be_\by _\ba_\bd_\bd_\br_\be_\bs_\bs [ , _\ba_\bd_\bd_\br_\be_\bs_\bs, ... ]
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 17
-
It's usually very cumbersome to remember or type out the address of someone you
are communicating with. Mutt-ng allows you to create ``aliases'' which map a
short string to a full address.
Unlike other mailers, Mutt-ng doesn't require aliases to be defined in a spe-
cial file. The alias command can appear anywhere in a configuration file, as
- long as this file is _\bs_\bo_\bu_\br_\bc_\be_\bd (section 3.26 , page 32). Consequently, you can
+ long as this file is _\bs_\bo_\bu_\br_\bc_\be_\bd (section 3.28 , page 42). Consequently, you can
have multiple alias files, or you can have all aliases defined in your muttrc.
- On the other hand, the _\bc_\br_\be_\ba_\bt_\be_\b-_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs (section 2.3.4 , page 7) function can use
- only one file, the one pointed to by the _\b$_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\b__\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.3.3 , page 65)
+ On the other hand, the _\bc_\br_\be_\ba_\bt_\be_\b-_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs (section 2.5.4 , page 11) function can use
+ only one file, the one pointed to by the _\b$_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\b__\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.4.3 , page 80)
variable (which is ~/.muttrc by default). This file is not special either, in
the sense that Mutt-ng will happily append aliases to any file, but in order
for the new aliases to take effect you need to explicitly _\bs_\bo_\bu_\br_\bc_\be (section
- 3.26 , page 32) this file too.
+ 3.28 , page 42) this file too.
For example:
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 24
+
source /usr/local/share/Mutt-ng.aliases
source ~/.mail_aliases
set alias_file=~/.mail_aliases
To use aliases, you merely use the alias at any place in mutt where mutt
prompts for addresses, such as the _\bT_\bo_\b: or _\bC_\bc_\b: prompt. You can also enter
aliases in your editor at the appropriate headers if you have the _\b$_\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b__\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs
- (section 6.3.54 , page 77) variable set.
+ (section 6.4.54 , page 92) 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
_\be_\bn_\bt_\br_\by key (default: RET), and use the _\be_\bx_\bi_\bt key (default: q) to return to the
address prompt.
- _\b3_\b._\b3 _\bC_\bh_\ba_\bn_\bg_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bk_\be_\by _\bb_\bi_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b4 _\bC_\bh_\ba_\bn_\bg_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bk_\be_\by _\bb_\bi_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs
Usage: bind _\bm_\ba_\bp _\bk_\be_\by _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 18
-
This command allows you to change the default key bindings (operation invoked
when pressing a key).
messages.
browser
- The browser is used for both browsing the local directory struc-
- ture, and for listing all of your incoming mailboxes.
+ The browser is used for both browsing the local directory
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 25
+
+ structure, and for listing all of your incoming mailboxes.
editor
The editor is the line-based editor the user enters text data.
_\bk_\be_\by is the key (or key sequence) you wish to bind. To specify a control char-
acter, use the sequence _\b\_\bC_\bx, where _\bx is the letter of the control character
(for example, to specify control-A use ``\Ca''). Note that the case of _\bx as
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 19
-
well as _\b\_\bC is ignored, so that _\b\_\bC_\bA, _\b\_\bC_\ba, _\b\_\bc_\bA and _\b\_\bc_\ba are all equivalent. An
alternative form is to specify the key as a three digit octal number prefixed
with a ``\'' (for example _\b\_\b1_\b7_\b7 is equivalent to _\b\_\bc_\b?).
In addition, _\bk_\be_\by may consist of:
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 26
+
\t tab
<tab> tab
<backtab> backtab / shift-tab
_\bk_\be_\by does not need to be enclosed in quotes unless it contains a space (`` '').
_\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn specifies which action to take when _\bk_\be_\by is pressed. For a complete
- list of functions, see the _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section 6.4 , page 147). The special
+ list of functions, see the _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section 6.5 , page 163). The special
function noop unbinds the specified key sequence.
- _\b3_\b._\b4 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\be_\bs _\bf_\bo_\br _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br_\ba_\bc_\bt_\be_\br _\bs_\be_\bt_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b5 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs_\be_\bs _\bf_\bo_\br _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br_\ba_\bc_\bt_\be_\br _\bs_\be_\bt_\bs
Usage: charset-hook _\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br_\bs_\be_\bt
This is helpful when your systems character conversion library insists on using
strange, system-specific names for character sets.
- _\b3_\b._\b5 _\bS_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\bs _\bb_\ba_\bs_\be_\bd _\bu_\bp_\bo_\bn _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 20
+ _\b3_\b._\b6 _\bS_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\bs _\bb_\ba_\bs_\be_\bd _\bu_\bp_\bo_\bn _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx
Usage: folder-hook [!]_\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd
- It is often desirable to change settings based on which mailbox you are read-
- ing. The folder-hook command provides a method by which you can execute any
- configuration command. _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp is a regular expression specifying in which
+ It is often desirable to change settings based on which mailbox you are
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 27
+
+ reading. The folder-hook command provides a method by which you can execute
+ any configuration command. _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp is a regular expression specifying in which
mailboxes to execute _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd before loading. If a mailbox matches multiple
folder-hook's, they are executed in the order given in the muttrc.
- N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: if you use the ``!'' shortcut for _\b$_\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.3.295 , page
- 136) at the beginning of the pattern, you must place it inside of double or
+ N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: if you use the ``!'' shortcut for _\b$_\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.4.295 , page
+ 151) at the beginning of the pattern, you must place it inside of double or
single quotes in order to distinguish it from the logical _\bn_\bo_\bt operator for the
expression.
folder-hook . set sort=date-sent
- _\b3_\b._\b6 _\bK_\be_\by_\bb_\bo_\ba_\br_\bd _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b7 _\bK_\be_\by_\bb_\bo_\ba_\br_\bd _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo_\bs
Usage: macro _\bm_\be_\bn_\bu _\bk_\be_\by _\bs_\be_\bq_\bu_\be_\bn_\bc_\be [ _\bd_\be_\bs_\bc_\br_\bi_\bp_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn ]
typed _\bs_\be_\bq_\bu_\be_\bn_\bc_\be. So if you have a common sequence of commands you type, you can
create a macro to execute those commands with a single key.
- _\bm_\be_\bn_\bu is the _\bm_\ba_\bp (section 3.3 , page 17) which the macro will be bound. Multi-
+ _\bm_\be_\bn_\bu is the _\bm_\ba_\bp (section 3.4 , page 24) which the macro will be bound. Multi-
ple maps may be specified by separating multiple menu arguments by commas.
Whitespace may not be used in between the menu arguments and the commas sepa-
rating them.
_\bk_\be_\by and _\bs_\be_\bq_\bu_\be_\bn_\bc_\be are expanded by the same rules as the _\bk_\be_\by _\bb_\bi_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs (section
- 3.3 , page 17). There are some additions however. The first is that control
+ 3.4 , page 24). There are some additions however. The first is that control
characters in _\bs_\be_\bq_\bu_\be_\bn_\bc_\be can also be specified as _\b^_\bx. In order to get a caret
(`^'') you need to use _\b^_\b^. Secondly, to specify a certain key such as _\bu_\bp or to
invoke a function directly, you can use the format _\b<_\bk_\be_\by _\bn_\ba_\bm_\be_\b> and _\b<_\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be_\b>. For a listing of key names see the section on _\bk_\be_\by _\bb_\bi_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs (section
- 3.3 , page 17). Functions are listed in the _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section
- 6.4 , page 147).
+ 3.4 , page 24). Functions are listed in the _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section
+ 6.5 , page 163).
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
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 21
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 28
- 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 _\bs_\be_\bq_\bu_\be_\bn_\bc_\be, which is shown in
N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: Macro definitions (if any) listed in the help screen(s), are silently
truncated at the screen width, and are not wrapped.
- _\b3_\b._\b7 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bc_\bo_\bl_\bo_\br _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bm_\bo_\bn_\bo _\bv_\bi_\bd_\be_\bo _\ba_\bt_\bt_\br_\bi_\bb_\bu_\bt_\be_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b8 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bc_\bo_\bl_\bo_\br _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bm_\bo_\bn_\bo _\bv_\bi_\bd_\be_\bo _\ba_\bt_\bt_\br_\bi_\bb_\bu_\bt_\be_\bs
Usage: color _\bo_\bb_\bj_\be_\bc_\bt _\bf_\bo_\br_\be_\bg_\br_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bd _\bb_\ba_\bc_\bk_\bg_\br_\bo_\bu_\bn_\bd [ _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp ]
+\bo normal
- +\bo quoted (text matching _\b$_\bq_\bu_\bo_\bt_\be_\b__\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp (section 6.3.225 , page 119) in the
+ +\bo quoted (text matching _\b$_\bq_\bu_\bo_\bt_\be_\b__\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp (section 6.4.225 , page 134) in the
body of a message)
+\bo quoted1, quoted2, ..., quotedN\bN (higher levels of quoting)
+\bo search (highlighting of words in the pager)
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 22
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 29
+\bo signature
command for it to be removed. The pattern ``*'' is a special token which means
to clear the color index list of all entries.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 23
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 30
Mutt-ng also recognizes the keywords _\bc_\bo_\bl_\bo_\br_\b0, _\bc_\bo_\bl_\bo_\br_\b1, ..., _\bc_\bo_\bl_\bo_\brN\bN-\b-1\b1 (N\bN being the
number of colors supported by your terminal). This is useful when you remap
+\bo standout
- _\b3_\b._\b8 _\bI_\bg_\bn_\bo_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg _\b(_\bw_\be_\be_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg_\b) _\bu_\bn_\bw_\ba_\bn_\bt_\be_\bd _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b9 _\bI_\bg_\bn_\bo_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg _\b(_\bw_\be_\be_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg_\b) _\bu_\bn_\bw_\ba_\bn_\bt_\be_\bd _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs
Usage: [un]ignore _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn [ _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn ... ]
unignore organization organisation x-mailer: x-newsreader: x-mailing-list:
unignore posted-to:
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 24
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 31
- _\b3_\b._\b9 _\bA_\bl_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bv_\be _\ba_\bd_\bd_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\be_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b0 _\bA_\bl_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bv_\be _\ba_\bd_\bd_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\be_\bs
Usage: [un]alternates _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp [ _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp ... ]
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
- _\b$_\br_\be_\bp_\bl_\by_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.3.233 , page 121).)
+ _\b$_\br_\be_\bp_\bl_\by_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.4.233 , page 136).)
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
be removed. If the _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp for unalternates is ``*'', _\ba_\bl_\bl _\be_\bn_\bt_\br_\bi_\be_\bs on alternates
will be removed.
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b0 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b1 _\bF_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt _\b= _\bF_\bl_\bo_\bw_\be_\bd
+
+ Mutt-ng contains support for so-called format=flowed messages. In the begin-
+ ning of email, each message had a fixed line width, and it was enough for dis-
+ playing 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 cre-
+ ating an incompatible email format that can also be displayed nicely on old
+ fixed-size terminals.
+
+ For introductory information on format=flowed messages, see
+ <http://www.joeclark.org/ffaq.html>.
+
+ When you receive emails that are marked as format=flowed messages, and is for-
+ matted 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 Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 32
+
+ 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 hierar-
+ chy 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 differenti-
+ ate 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.
+
+ If you want mutt-ng to send emails with format=flowed set, you need to explic-
+ itly 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.
+
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b2 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 33
Usage: [un]lists _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp [ _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp ... ]
Usage: [un]subscribe _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp [ _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp ... ]
- Mutt-ng has a few nice features for _\bh_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs (section 4.9 , page
- 44). In order to take advantage of them, you must specify which addresses
+ Mutt-ng has a few nice features for _\bh_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs (section 4.10 ,
+ page 57). 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 _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\b-_\br_\be_\bp_\bl_\by (section 2.3.4 , page 8) 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 _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bl_\bo_\bw_\bu_\bp_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.3.66 , page 80) configura-
- tion variable.
+ you have done this, the _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\b-_\br_\be_\bp_\bl_\by (section 2.5.4 , page 12) function will
+ work for all known lists. Additionally, when you send a message to a sub-
+ scribed list, mutt will add a Mail-Followup-To header to tell other users' mail
+ user agents not to send copies of replies to your personal address. Note that
+ the Mail-Followup-To header is a non-standard extension which is not supported
+ by all mail user agents. Adding it is not bullet-proof against receiving per-
+ sonal CCs of list messages. Also note that the generation of the Mail-Fol-
+ lowup-To header is controlled by the _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bl_\bo_\bw_\bu_\bp_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.4.66 , page 95)
+ 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
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,
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 25
-
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.
To remove a mailing list from the list of subscribed mailing lists, but keep it
on the list of known mailing lists, use ``unsubscribe''.
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b1 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\bu_\bl_\bt_\bi_\bp_\bl_\be _\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx_\be_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b3 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\bu_\bl_\bt_\bi_\bp_\bl_\be _\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx_\be_\bs
Usage: mbox-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx
regular expression specifying the mailbox to treat as a ``spool'' mailbox and
_\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx specifies where mail should be saved when read.
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 34
+
Unlike some of the other _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk commands, only the _\bf_\bi_\br_\bs_\bt matching pattern is used
(it is not possible to save read mail in more than a single mailbox).
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b2 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx_\be_\bs _\bw_\bh_\bi_\bc_\bh _\br_\be_\bc_\be_\bi_\bv_\be _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b4 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx_\be_\bs _\bw_\bh_\bi_\bc_\bh _\br_\be_\bc_\be_\bi_\bv_\be _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl
Usage: [un]mailboxes [!]_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be [ _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be ... ]
they do not properly reset the access time. Backup tools are another common
reason for updated access times.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 26
-
N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: the filenames in the mailboxes command are resolved when the command is
- executed, so if these names contain _\bs_\bh_\bo_\br_\bt_\bc_\bu_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br_\ba_\bc_\bt_\be_\br_\bs (section 4.8 , page
- 44) (such as ``='' and ``!''), any variable definition that affect these char-
- acters (like _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br (section 6.3.64 , page 79) and _\b$_\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section
- 6.3.295 , page 136)) should be executed before the mailboxes command.
+ executed, so if these names contain _\bs_\bh_\bo_\br_\bt_\bc_\bu_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br_\ba_\bc_\bt_\be_\br_\bs (section 4.9 , page
+ 56) (such as ``='' and ``!''), any variable definition that affect these char-
+ acters (like _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br (section 6.4.64 , page 94) and _\b$_\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section
+ 6.4.295 , page 151)) should be executed before the mailboxes command.
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b3 _\bU_\bs_\be_\br _\bd_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\be_\bd _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b5 _\bU_\bs_\be_\br _\bd_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\be_\bd _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs
Usage:
my_hdr Organization: A Really Big Company, Anytown, USA
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 35
+
in your .muttrc.
N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: space characters are _\bn_\bo_\bt allowed between the keyword and the colon
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 _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b__\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs (section 6.3.54 , page 77) variable, or use the _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b-
+ set the _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b__\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs (section 6.4.54 , page 92) variable, or use the _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\b-
_\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs function (default: ``E'') in the send-menu so that you can edit the
header of your message along with the body.
unmy_hdr to cc
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b4 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bo_\br_\bd_\be_\br _\bo_\bf _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs _\bw_\bh_\be_\bn _\bv_\bi_\be_\bw_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b6 _\bD_\be_\bf_\bi_\bn_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bo_\br_\bd_\be_\br _\bo_\bf _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\bs _\bw_\bh_\be_\bn _\bv_\bi_\be_\bw_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be_\bs
Usage: hdr_order _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\b1 _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\b2 _\bh_\be_\ba_\bd_\be_\br_\b3
``unhdr_order *'' will clear all previous headers from the order list, thus
removing the header order effects set by the system-wide startup file.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 27
-
hdr_order From Date: From: To: Cc: Subject:
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b5 _\bS_\bp_\be_\bc_\bi_\bf_\by _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b7 _\bS_\bp_\be_\bc_\bi_\bf_\by _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
Usage: save-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
an address matching _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp or if you are the author and the message is
addressed _\bt_\bo_\b: something matching _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp.
- See _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.4.1 , page 41) for information on the
+ See _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.5.1 , page 53) for information on the
exact format of _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn.
Examples:
save-hook me@(turing\\.)?cs\\.hmc\\.edu$ +elkins
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 36
+
save-hook aol\\.com$ +spam
- Also see the _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.17 , page 27) command.
+ Also see the _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.19 , page 36) command.
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b6 _\bS_\bp_\be_\bc_\bi_\bf_\by _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bF_\bc_\bc_\b: _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\bw_\bh_\be_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b8 _\bS_\bp_\be_\bc_\bi_\bf_\by _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bF_\bc_\bc_\b: _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\bw_\bh_\be_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bo_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg
Usage: fcc-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx
This command is used to save outgoing mail in a mailbox other than _\b$_\br_\be_\bc_\bo_\br_\bd
- (section 6.3.230 , page 120). Mutt-ng searches the initial list of message
+ (section 6.4.230 , page 136). Mutt-ng searches the initial list of message
recipients for the first matching _\br_\be_\bg_\be_\bx_\bp and uses _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx as the default Fcc:
mailbox. If no match is found the message will be saved to _\b$_\br_\be_\bc_\bo_\br_\bd (section
- 6.3.230 , page 120) mailbox.
+ 6.4.230 , page 136) mailbox.
- See _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.4.1 , page 41) for information on the
+ See _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.5.1 , page 53) for information on the
exact format of _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn.
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 _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.17 ,
- page 27) command.
+ `+spammers' mailbox by default. Also see the _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.19 ,
+ page 36) command.
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b7 _\bS_\bp_\be_\bc_\bi_\bf_\by _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bF_\bc_\bc_\b: _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\ba_\bt _\bo_\bn_\bc_\be
+ _\b3_\b._\b1_\b9 _\bS_\bp_\be_\bc_\bi_\bf_\by _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bF_\bc_\bc_\b: _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\ba_\bt _\bo_\bn_\bc_\be
Usage: fcc-save-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx
This command is a shortcut, equivalent to doing both a _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section
- 3.16 , page 27) and a _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.15 , page 26) with its arguments.
+ 3.18 , page 35) and a _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.17 , page 35) with its arguments.
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b8 _\bC_\bh_\ba_\bn_\bg_\be _\bs_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs _\bb_\ba_\bs_\be_\bd _\bu_\bp_\bo_\bn _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\br_\be_\bc_\bi_\bp_\bi_\be_\bn_\bt_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b0 _\bC_\bh_\ba_\bn_\bg_\be _\bs_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs _\bb_\ba_\bs_\be_\bd _\bu_\bp_\bo_\bn _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\br_\be_\bc_\bi_\bp_\bi_\be_\bn_\bt_\bs
Usage: reply-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 28
-
Usage: send-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd
Usage: send2-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd
and _\br_\be_\bp_\bl_\bi_\be_\bs. N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: reply-hooks are matched b\bbe\bef\bfo\bor\bre\be the send-hook, r\bre\beg\bga\bar\brd\bdl\ble\bes\bss\bs of
the order specified in the users's configuration file.
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 37
+
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
- _\b$_\bs_\be_\bn_\bd_\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl (section 6.3.247 , page 124) variable depending on the message's
+ _\b$_\bs_\be_\bn_\bd_\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl (section 6.4.247 , page 140) 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 _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.4.1 , page 41) for information on the
+ See _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.5.1 , page 53) for information on the
exact format of _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn.
Example: send-hook mutt 'set mime_forward signature='''
Another typical use for this command is to change the values of the _\b$_\ba_\bt_\bt_\br_\bi_\bb_\bu_\b-
- _\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn (section 6.3.15 , page 68), _\b$_\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\ba_\bt_\bu_\br_\be (section 6.3.259 , page 127) and
- _\b$_\bl_\bo_\bc_\ba_\bl_\be (section 6.3.114 , page 93) variables in order to change the language
+ _\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn (section 6.4.15 , page 84), _\b$_\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\ba_\bt_\bu_\br_\be (section 6.4.259 , page 142) and
+ _\b$_\bl_\bo_\bc_\ba_\bl_\be (section 6.4.114 , page 108) variables in order to change the language
of the attributions and signatures based upon the recipients.
N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: the send-hook's are only executed ONCE after getting the initial list of
ify recipient headers, or the message's subject, don't have any effect on the
current message when executed from a send-hook.
- _\b3_\b._\b1_\b9 _\bC_\bh_\ba_\bn_\bg_\be _\bs_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs _\bb_\be_\bf_\bo_\br_\be _\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b1 _\bC_\bh_\ba_\bn_\bg_\be _\bs_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs _\bb_\be_\bf_\bo_\br_\be _\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\ba _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be
Usage: message-hook [!]_\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd
tiple matches occur, commands are executed in the order they are specified in
the muttrc.
- See _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.4.1 , page 41) for information on the
+ See _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs (section 4.5.1 , page 53) for information on the
exact format of _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn.
Example:
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 29
-
message-hook ~A 'set pager=builtin'
message-hook '~f freshmeat-news' 'set pager="less \"+/^ subject: .*\""'
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b0 _\bC_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bc_\br_\by_\bp_\bt_\bo_\bg_\br_\ba_\bp_\bh_\bi_\bc _\bk_\be_\by _\bo_\bf _\bt_\bh_\be _\br_\be_\bc_\bi_\bp_\bi_\be_\bn_\bt
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b2 _\bC_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bc_\br_\by_\bp_\bt_\bo_\bg_\br_\ba_\bp_\bh_\bi_\bc _\bk_\be_\by _\bo_\bf _\bt_\bh_\be _\br_\be_\bc_\bi_\bp_\bi_\be_\bn_\bt
Usage: crypt-hook _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bk_\be_\by_\bi_\bd
- When encrypting messages with PGP or OpenSSL, you may want to associate a cer-
- tain key with a given e-mail address automatically, either because the recipi-
- ent'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.
+ When encrypting messages with PGP or OpenSSL, you may want to associate a
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 38
+
+ 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.
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b1 _\bA_\bd_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bk_\be_\by _\bs_\be_\bq_\bu_\be_\bn_\bc_\be_\bs _\bt_\bo _\bt_\bh_\be _\bk_\be_\by_\bb_\bo_\ba_\br_\bd _\bb_\bu_\bf_\bf_\be_\br
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b3 _\bA_\bd_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bk_\be_\by _\bs_\be_\bq_\bu_\be_\bn_\bc_\be_\bs _\bt_\bo _\bt_\bh_\be _\bk_\be_\by_\bb_\bo_\ba_\br_\bd _\bb_\bu_\bf_\bf_\be_\br
Usage: push _\bs_\bt_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg
This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer. The string may con-
tain control characters, key names and function names like the sequence string
- in the _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo (section 3.6 , page 20) command. You may use it to automatically
+ in the _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo (section 3.7 , page 27) command. You may use it to automatically
run a sequence of commands at startup, or when entering certain folders.
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b2 _\bE_\bx_\be_\bc_\bu_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b4 _\bE_\bx_\be_\bc_\bu_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs
Usage: exec _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn [ _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn ... ]
This command can be used to execute any function. Functions are listed in the
- _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section 6.4 , page 147). ``exec function'' is equivalent
+ _\bf_\bu_\bn_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\br_\be_\bf_\be_\br_\be_\bn_\bc_\be (section 6.5 , page 163). ``exec function'' is equivalent
to ``push <function>''.
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b3 _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bS_\bc_\bo_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b5 _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bS_\bc_\bo_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg
Usage: score _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bv_\ba_\bl_\bu_\be
Usage: unscore _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn [ _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn ... ]
- The score commands adds _\bv_\ba_\bl_\bu_\be to a message's score if _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn matches it. _\bp_\ba_\bt_\b-
- _\bt_\be_\br_\bn is a string in the format described in the _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs (section 4.2 , page
- 36) section (note: For efficiency reasons, patterns which scan information not
- available in the index, such as ~b, ~B or ~h, may not be used). _\bv_\ba_\bl_\bu_\be is a
- positive or negative integer. A message's final score is the sum total of all
- matching score entries. However, you may optionally prefix _\bv_\ba_\bl_\bu_\be with an equal
- sign (=) to cause evaluation to stop at a particular entry if there is a match.
- Negative final scores are rounded up to 0.
+ 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
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 39
+
+ If the pattern matches, it is also possible to set the score value of the cur-
+ rent 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 _\bs_\bc_\bo_\br_\be _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\bs_\bh_\bo_\bl_\bd_\bs are for. Currently, there are three score thresholds:
+
+ +\bo flag threshold: when a message has a score value equal or higher than the
+ flag threshold, it will be flagged.
- The unscore command removes score entries from the list. You m\bmu\bus\bst\bt specify the
- same pattern specified in the score command for it to be removed. The pattern
- ``*'' is a special token which means to clear the list of all score entries.
+ +\bo read threshold: when a message has a score value equal or lower than the
+ read threshold, it will be marked as read.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 30
+ +\bo delete threshold: when a message has a score value equal or lower than the
+ delete threshold, it will be marked as deleted.
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b4 _\bS_\bp_\ba_\bm _\bd_\be_\bt_\be_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
+ These three thresholds can be set via the variables _\b$_\bs_\bc_\bo_\br_\be_\b__\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\bs_\bh_\bo_\bl_\bd_\b__\bf_\bl_\ba_\bg (sec-
+ tion 6.4.244 , page 139), _\b$_\bs_\bc_\bo_\br_\be_\b__\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\bs_\bh_\bo_\bl_\bd_\b__\br_\be_\ba_\bd (section 6.4.245 , page 139),
+ _\b$_\bs_\bc_\bo_\br_\be_\b__\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\bs_\bh_\bo_\bl_\bd_\b__\bd_\be_\bl_\be_\bt_\be (section 6.4.243 , page 139) and. By default,
+ _\b$_\bs_\bc_\bo_\br_\be_\b__\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\bs_\bh_\bo_\bl_\bd_\b__\br_\be_\ba_\bd (section 6.4.245 , page 139) and _\b$_\bs_\bc_\bo_\br_\be_\b__\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\bs_\bh_\bo_\bl_\bd_\b__\bd_\be_\bl_\be_\bt_\be
+ (section 6.4.243 , page 139) 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 black yellow "~n 10-"
+ color 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.
+
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b6 _\bS_\bp_\ba_\bm _\bd_\be_\bt_\be_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
Usage: spam _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt
your spam patterns with the spam and nospam commands, you can _\bl_\bi_\bm_\bi_\bt, _\bs_\be_\ba_\br_\bc_\bh,
and _\bs_\bo_\br_\bt 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 _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.110 , page 90) variable.
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 40
+
+ the %H selector in the _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.110 , page 105) variable.
(Tip: try %?H?[%H] ? to display spam tags only when they are defined for a
given message.)
expression matches against for _\bs_\be_\ba_\br_\bc_\bh and _\bl_\bi_\bm_\bi_\bt functions. And it's what sort-
ing by spam attribute will use as a sort key.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 31
-
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.
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 _\ba_\bn_\by of your spam patterns -- is sorted at
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 41
+
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
spam "^From: .*MAILER-DAEMON" "999"
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b5 _\bS_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\bs
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b7 _\bS_\be_\bt_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\bs
Usage: set [no|inv]_\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be[=_\bv_\ba_\bl_\bu_\be] [ _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be ... ]
Usage: reset _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be [_\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be ... ]
- This command is used to set (and unset) _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\bs (section 6.3 ,
- page 65). There are four basic types of variables: boolean, number, string and
+ This command is used to set (and unset) _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bv_\ba_\br_\bi_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\bs (section 6.4 ,
+ page 80). There are four basic types of variables: boolean, number, string and
quadoption. _\bb_\bo_\bo_\bl_\be_\ba_\bn variables can be _\bs_\be_\bt (true) or _\bu_\bn_\bs_\be_\bt (false). _\bn_\bu_\bm_\bb_\be_\br
variables can be assigned a positive integer value.
be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or tabs. You may also use the
``C'' escape sequences \\b\n\bn and \\b\t\bt for newline and tab, respectively.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 32
-
_\bq_\bu_\ba_\bd_\bo_\bp_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn variables are used to control whether or not to be prompted for cer-
tain actions, or to specify a default action. A value of _\by_\be_\bs will cause the
action to be carried out automatically as if you had answered yes to the ques-
if you had answered ``no.'' A value of _\ba_\bs_\bk_\b-_\by_\be_\bs will cause a prompt with a
default answer of ``yes'' and _\ba_\bs_\bk_\b-_\bn_\bo will provide a default answer of ``no.''
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 42
+
Prefixing a variable with ``no'' will unset it. Example: set noaskbcc.
For _\bb_\bo_\bo_\bl_\be_\ba_\bn variables, you may optionally prefix the variable name with inv to
With the reset command there exists the special variable ``all'', which allows
you to reset all variables to their system defaults.
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b6 _\bR_\be_\ba_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn_\bi_\bt_\bi_\ba_\bl_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bs _\bf_\br_\bo_\bm _\ba_\bn_\bo_\bt_\bh_\be_\br _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b8 _\bR_\be_\ba_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn_\bi_\bt_\bi_\ba_\bl_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bs _\bf_\br_\bo_\bm _\ba_\bn_\bo_\bt_\bh_\be_\br _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be
Usage: source _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be [ _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be ... ]
If the filename ends with a vertical bar (|), then _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be is considered to be
an executable program from which to read input (eg. source ~/bin/myscript|).
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b7 _\bC_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bf_\be_\ba_\bt_\bu_\br_\be_\bs _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\ba_\bl_\bl_\by
+ _\b3_\b._\b2_\b9 _\bR_\be_\bm_\bo_\bv_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs
+
+ Usage: unhook [ * | _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk_\b-_\bt_\by_\bp_\be ]
- Usage: ifdef _\bi_\bt_\be_\bm _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd
+ 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-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 33
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 43
- Usage: ifndef _\bi_\bt_\be_\bm _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd
+ hook.
- These commands allow testing for a variable, function or certain feature being
- available or not respectively, before actually executing the command given.
+ _\b3_\b._\b3_\b0 _\bS_\bh_\ba_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bS_\be_\bt_\bu_\bp_\bs
- ifdef (short for ``if defined'') only executes the command upon availability
- while ifndef (short for ``if not defined'') does if not. The _\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd may be any
- valid fraction of a configuration file.
+ _\b3_\b._\b3_\b0_\b._\b1 _\bC_\bh_\ba_\br_\ba_\bc_\bt_\be_\br _\bS_\be_\bt_\bs
- All names of variables, functions and menus may be tested. Additionally, the
- following compile-features may be tested when prefixed 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, gdbm, qdbm and db4.
+ As users may run mutt-ng on different systems, the configuration must be main-
+ tained 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.
- Examples follow.
+ 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:
- To only source a file with IMAP related settings if IMAP support is compiled
- in, use:
+ set config_charset = "..."
- ifdef feature_imap 'source ~/.mutt-ng/imap_setup'
- # or
- # ifdef imap_user 'source ~/.mutt-ng/imap_setup'
- # or
- # ...
+ 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:
- To exit mutt-ng directly if no NNTP support is compiled in:
+ # vim:fileencoding=...:
- ifndef feature_nntp 'push q'
- # or
- # ifndef newsrc 'push q'
- # or
- # ...
+ while, again, replacing the dots with the appropriate name. This tells vim as
+ which character set to read and save the file.
- To only set the _\b$_\bi_\bm_\ba_\bp_\b__\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\b__\bc_\bh_\be_\bc_\bk (section 6.3.99 , page 88) variable if the
- system's mutt-ng is aware of it, use:
+ _\b3_\b._\b3_\b0_\b._\b2 _\bM_\bo_\bd_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
- ifdef imap_mail_check 'set imap_mail_check=500'
+ ``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.
- _\b3_\b._\b2_\b8 _\bR_\be_\bm_\bo_\bv_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs
+ When using separation, setups may be, as a whole or in fractions, shared over
+ different systems.
- Usage: unhook [ * | _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk_\b-_\bt_\by_\bp_\be ]
+ _\b3_\b._\b3_\b0_\b._\b3 _\bC_\bo_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\ba_\bl _\bp_\ba_\br_\bt_\bs
- 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.
+ 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.
- _\b4_\b. _\bA_\bd_\bv_\ba_\bn_\bc_\be_\bd _\bU_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be
+ To solve this, mutt-ng contain a feature based on the ``ifdef'' patch written
+ for mutt. Its basic syntax is:
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 44
+
+ ifdef <item> <command>
+ ifndef <item> <command>
+
+ ...whereby <item> can be one of:
+
+ +\bo a function name
+
+ +\bo a variable name
+
+ +\bo a menu name
+
+ +\bo 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 _\b$_\bi_\bm_\ba_\bp_\b__\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\b__\bc_\bh_\be_\bc_\bk (section 6.4.99 , page 103),
+ use:
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 34
+ ifdef imap_mail_check 'set imap_mail_check = 300'
+
+ Provided for completeness is the test for menu names. To set _\b$_\bp_\ba_\bg_\be_\br_\b__\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bl_\bi_\bn_\be_\bs
+ (section 6.4.169 , page 122) only if the pager menu is available, use:
+
+ ifdef pager 'set pager_index_lines = 10'
+
+ For completeness, too, the opposite of ifdef is provided: ifndef which only
+ executes the command if the test fails. For example, the following two examples
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 45
+
+ are equivalent:
+
+ ifdef feature_ncurses 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-ncurses'
+ ifndef feature_ncurses 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-slang'
+
+ ...and...
+
+ ifdef feature_slang 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-slang'
+ ifndef feature_slang 'source ~/.mutt-ng/setup-ncurses'
+
+ _\b4_\b. _\bA_\bd_\bv_\ba_\bn_\bc_\be_\bd _\bU_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be
_\b4_\b._\b1 _\bR_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\bE_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs
All string patterns in Mutt-ng including those in more complex _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs (sec-
- tion 4.2 , page 36) must be specified using regular expressions (regexp) in
+ tion 6.2 , page 77) must be specified using regular expressions (regexp) in
the ``POSIX extended'' syntax (which is more or less the syntax used by egrep
and GNU awk). For your convenience, we have included below a brief description
of this syntax.
Note that the regular expression can be enclosed/delimited by either ' or '
which is useful if the regular expression includes a white-space character.
- See _\bS_\by_\bn_\bt_\ba_\bx _\bo_\bf _\bI_\bn_\bi_\bt_\bi_\ba_\bl_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bF_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs (section 3.1 , page 14) for more informa-
+ See _\bS_\by_\bn_\bt_\ba_\bx _\bo_\bf _\bI_\bn_\bi_\bt_\bi_\ba_\bl_\bi_\bz_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bF_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs (section 3.2 , page 21) for more informa-
tion on ' and ' delimiter processing. To match a literal ' or ' you must pref-
ace it with \ (backslash).
sign ``$'' are metacharacters that respectively match the empty string at the
beginning and end of a line.
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 46
+
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 n\bno\bot\bt in the list. For example, the regular expression
[:blank:]
Space or tab characters.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 35
-
[:cntrl:]
Control characters.
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
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 47
+
symbolic names, and must be included in addition to the brackets delimiting the
bracket list. For example, [\b[[\b[:\b:d\bdi\big\bgi\bit\bt:\b:]\b]]\b] is equivalent to [\b[0\b0-\b-9\b9]\b].
A regular expression matching a single character may be followed by one of sev-
eral repetition operators:
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 36
-
?
The preceding item is optional and matched at most once.
ing regular expression matches any string matching either subexpression.
Repetition takes precedence over concatenation, which in turn takes precedence
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 48
+
over alternation. A whole subexpression may be enclosed in parentheses to
override these precedence rules.
Matches any word-constituent character (letter, digit, or under-
score).
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 37
-
\\W
Matches any character that is not word-constituent.
_\b4_\b._\b2 _\bP_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs
- Many of Mutt-ng's commands allow you to specify a pattern to match (limit, tag-
- pattern, delete-pattern, etc.). There are several ways to select messages:
+ 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 con-
+ sists 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 _\bP_\ba_\bt_\b-
+ _\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs (section 6.2 , page 77) in the Reference chapter.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 38
+ 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.
- ~A all messages
- ~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body
- ~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message
- ~c USER messages carbon-copied to USER
- ~C EXPR message is either to: or cc: EXPR
- ~D deleted messages
- ~d [MIN]-[MAX] messages with ``date-sent'' in a Date range
- ~E expired messages
- ~e EXPR message which contains EXPR in the ``Sender'' field
- ~F flagged messages
- ~f USER messages originating from USER
- ~g cryptographically signed messages
- ~G cryptographically encrypted messages
- ~H EXPR messages with a spam attribute matching EXPR
- ~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
- ~k message contains PGP key material
- ~i ID message which match ID in the ``Message-ID'' field
- ~L EXPR message is either originated or received by EXPR
- ~l message is addressed to a known mailing list
- ~m [MIN]-[MAX] message in the range MIN to MAX *)
- ~n [MIN]-[MAX] messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX *)
- ~N new messages
- ~O old messages
- ~p message is addressed to you (consults alternates)
- ~P message is from you (consults alternates)
- ~Q messages which have been replied to
- ~R read messages
- ~r [MIN]-[MAX] messages with ``date-received'' in a Date range
- ~S superseded messages
- ~s SUBJECT messages having SUBJECT in the ``Subject'' field.
- ~T tagged messages
- ~t USER messages addressed to USER
- ~U unread messages
- ~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
- ~V cryptographically verified messages
- ~w EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `Newsgroups' field
- (if compiled with NNTP support)
- ~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `References' field
- ~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the `X-Label' field
- ~z [MIN]-[MAX] messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX *)
- ~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
- ~$ unreferenced messages (requires threaded view)
- ~* ``From'' contains realname and (syntactically) valid
- address (excluded are addresses matching against
- alternates or any alias)
+ _\b4_\b._\b2_\b._\b1 _\bC_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bl_\be_\bx _\bP_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs
- Where EXPR, USER, ID, and SUBJECT are _\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs (section 4.1 , page
- 33). Special attention has to be made when using regular expressions inside of
- patterns. Specifically, Mutt-ng's parser for these patterns will strip one
- level of backslash (\), which is normally used for quoting. If it is your
- intention to use a backslash in the regular expression, you will need to use
- two backslashes instead (\\).
+ 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:
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 39
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 49
- *) The forms <[MAX], >[MIN], [MIN]- and -[MAX] are allowed, too.
+ ~s 'SPAM' ~U
- _\b4_\b._\b2_\b._\b1 _\bP_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn _\bM_\bo_\bd_\bi_\bf_\bi_\be_\br
+ The pattern above matches all messages that contain ``SPAM'' in the subject and
+ are unread.
- Note that patterns matching 'lists' of addresses (notably c,C,p,P and t) match
- if there is at least one match in the whole list. If you want to make sure that
- all elements of that list match, you need to prefix your pattern with ^. This
- example matches all mails which only has recipients from Germany.
+ To logical OR patterns, simply use the | operator. This one especially useful
+ when using local groups:
- ^~C \.de$
+ ~f ("nion@muttng\.org"|"ak@muttng\.org"|"pdmef@muttng\.org")
+ (~b mutt-ng|~s Mutt-ng)
+ !~x '@synflood\.at'
- _\b4_\b._\b2_\b._\b2 _\bC_\bo_\bm_\bp_\bl_\be_\bx _\bP_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs
+ 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 pat-
+ tern matches all messages that do not contain ``@synflood\.at'' in the Refer-
+ ences: header, i.e. messages that are not an (indirect) reply to one of my
+ messages. A pattern can be logicall negated using the ! operator.
- Logical AND is performed by specifying more than one criterion. For example:
+ _\b4_\b._\b2_\b._\b2 _\bP_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bD_\ba_\bt_\be_\bs
- ~t mutt ~f elkins
+ 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 cur-
+ rent 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 _\ba_\bf_\bt_\be_\br Juni 1st, 2005.
- would select messages which contain the word ``mutt'' in the list of recipients
- a\ban\bnd\bd that have the word ``elkins'' in the ``From'' header field.
+ 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.
- Mutt-ng also recognizes the following operators to create more complex search
- patterns:
+ ~d 01/01/2005+1y
+ ~d 18/10/2004-2w
+ ~d 28/12/2004*1d
- +\bo ! -- logical NOT operator
+ 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).
- +\bo | -- logical OR operator
+ 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:
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 50
+
+ ~d >2w # messages older than two weeks
+ ~d <3d # messages newer than 3 days
+ ~d =1m # messages that are exactly one month old
+
+ _\b4_\b._\b3 _\bF_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt _\bS_\bt_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs
+
+ _\b4_\b._\b3_\b._\b1 _\bI_\bn_\bt_\br_\bo_\bd_\bu_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn
+
+ The so called _\bF_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt _\bS_\bt_\br_\bi_\bn_\bg_\bs offer great flexibility when configuring mutt-ng.
+ In short, they describe what items to print out how in menus and status mes-
+ sages.
- +\bo () -- logical grouping operator
+ 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 _\be_\bx_\bp_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bo.
- Here is an example illustrating a complex search pattern. This pattern will
- select all messages which do not contain ``mutt'' in the ``To'' or ``Cc'' field
- and which are from ``elkins''.
+ 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:
- !(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins
+ +\bo the current hostname
- Here is an example using white space in the regular expression (note the ' and
- ' delimiters). For this to match, the mail's subject must match the ``^Junk
- +From +Me$'' and it must be from either ``Jim +Somebody'' or ``Ed +Some-
- oneElse'':
+ +\bo the current mutt-ng version number
- '~s "^Junk +From +Me$" ~f ("Jim +Somebody"|"Ed +SomeoneElse")'
+ The setting for the status bar of the index is controlled via the _\b$_\bs_\bt_\ba_\bt_\bu_\bs_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\b-
+ _\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.305 , page 153) 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:
- Note that if a regular expression contains parenthesis, or a vertical bar
- ("|"), you m\bmu\bus\bst\bt enclose the expression in double or single quotes since those
- characters are also used to separate different parts of Mutt-ng's pattern lan-
- guage. For example,
+ set status_format = "%v on %h: ..."
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 40
+ 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:
- ~f "me@(mutt\.org|cs\.hmc\.edu)"
+ Mutt-ng 1.5.9i on mailhost: ...
- Without the quotes, the parenthesis wouldn't end. This would be separated to
- two OR'd patterns: _\b~_\bf _\bm_\be_\b@_\b(_\bm_\bu_\bt_\bt_\b\_\b._\bo_\br_\bg and _\bc_\bs_\b\_\b._\bh_\bm_\bc_\b\_\b._\be_\bd_\bu_\b). They are never what you
- want.
+ In the index, there're more useful information one could want to see:
- _\b4_\b._\b2_\b._\b3 _\bS_\be_\ba_\br_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bb_\by _\bD_\ba_\bt_\be
+ +\bo which mailbox is open
- Mutt-ng supports two types of dates, _\ba_\bb_\bs_\bo_\bl_\bu_\bt_\be and _\br_\be_\bl_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bv_\be.
+ +\bo how man new, flagged or postponed messages
- A\bAb\bbs\bso\bol\blu\but\bte\be. Dates m\bmu\bus\bst\bt be in DD/MM/YY format (month and year are optional,
- defaulting to the current month and year). An example of a valid range of
- dates is:
+ +\bo ...
- Limit to messages matching: ~d 20/1/95-31/10
+ To include the mailbox' name is as easy as:
- If you omit the minimum (first) date, and just specify ``-DD/MM/YY'', all mes-
- sages _\bb_\be_\bf_\bo_\br_\be the given date will be selected. If you omit the maximum (second)
- date, and specify ``DD/MM/YY-'', all messages _\ba_\bf_\bt_\be_\br the given date will be
- selected. If you specify a single date with no dash (``-''), only messages
- sent on the given date will be selected.
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 51
- E\bEr\brr\bro\bor\br M\bMa\bar\brg\bgi\bin\bns\bs. You can add error margins to absolute dates. An error margin
- is a sign (+ or -), followed by a digit, followed by one of the following
- units:
+ set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: ...
- y years
- m months
- w weeks
- d days
+ When the currently opened mailbox is Inbox, this will be expanded to:
- As a special case, you can replace the sign by a ``*'' character, which is
- equivalent to giving identical plus and minus error margins.
+ Mutt-ng 1.5.9i on mailhost: Inbox: ...
- Example: To select any messages two weeks around January 15, 2001, you'd use
- the following pattern:
+ 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 some-
+ thing if there are any.
- Limit to messages matching: ~d 15/1/2001*2w
+ _\b4_\b._\b3_\b._\b2 _\bC_\bo_\bn_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\ba_\bl _\bE_\bx_\bp_\ba_\bn_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn
- R\bRe\bel\bla\bat\bti\biv\bve\be. This type of date is relative to the current date, and may be speci-
- fied as:
+ To only print the number of messages if there are new messages in the current
+ mailbox, further extend $status_format to:
- +\bo >_\bo_\bf_\bf_\bs_\be_\bt (messages older than _\bo_\bf_\bf_\bs_\be_\bt units)
+ set status_format = "%v on %h: %B %?n?%n new? ...
- +\bo <_\bo_\bf_\bf_\bs_\be_\bt (messages newer than _\bo_\bf_\bf_\bs_\be_\bt units)
+ This feature is called _\bn_\bo_\bn_\bz_\be_\br_\bo_\b-_\bp_\br_\bi_\bn_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg and works as this: some expandos may be
+ optionally printed nonzero, i.e. a portion of the format string is only evalu-
+ ated if the value of the expando is different from zero. The basic syntax is:
- +\bo =_\bo_\bf_\bf_\bs_\be_\bt (messages exactly _\bo_\bf_\bf_\bs_\be_\bt units old)
+ %?<item>?<string if nonzero>?
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 41
+ which tells mutt-ng to only look at <string if nonzero> if the value of the
+ %<item%gt; expando is different from zero. In our example, we used n as the
+ expando to check for and %n new as the optional nonzero string.
- _\bo_\bf_\bf_\bs_\be_\bt is specified as a positive number with one of the following units:
+ But this is not all: this feature only offers one alternative: ``print some-
+ thing if not zero.'' Mutt-ng does, as you might guess, also provide a logically
+ complete version: ``if zero, print something and else print something else.''
+ This is achieved by the following syntax for those expandos which may be
+ printed nonzero:
- y years
- m months
- w weeks
- d days
+ %?<item>?<string if nonzero>&<string if zero>?
- Example: to select messages less than 1 month old, you would use
+ Using this we can make mutt-ng to do the following:
- Limit to messages matching: ~d <1m
+ +\bo make it print ``_\bn new messages'' whereby _\bn is the count but only if there
+ new ones
- N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: all dates used when searching are relative to the l\blo\boc\bca\bal\bl time zone, so
- unless you change the setting of your _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.110 , page
- 90) to include a %[...] format, these are n\bno\bot\bt the dates shown in the main
- index.
+ +\bo and make it print ``no new messages'' if there aren't any
- _\b4_\b._\b3 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bT_\ba_\bg_\bs
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 52
+
+ 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.
+
+ _\b4_\b._\b3_\b._\b3 _\bM_\bo_\bd_\bi_\bf_\bi_\bc_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn_\bs _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bP_\ba_\bd_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg
+
+ Besides the information given so far, there're even more features of format
+ strings:
+
+ +\bo When specifying %_<item> instead of just %<item>, mutt-ng will convert all
+ characters in the expansion of <item> to lowercase.
+
+ +\bo When specifying %:<item> instead of just %<item>, mutt-ng will convert all
+ dots in the expansion of <item> to underscores (_).
+
+ Also, there's a feature called _\bP_\ba_\bd_\bd_\bi_\bn_\bg 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 ver-
+ sion 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)"
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 53
+
+ _\b4_\b._\b4 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bT_\ba_\bg_\bs
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
ject. 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 mes-
sages by hand using the ``tag-message'' function, which is bound to ``t'' by
- default. See _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs (section 4.2 , page 36) for Mutt-ng's pattern matching
+ default. See _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\bs (section 6.2 , page 77) for Mutt-ng's pattern matching
syntax.
Once you have tagged the desired messages, you can use the ``tag-prefix'' oper-
ator, which is the ``;'' (semicolon) key by default. When the ``tag-prefix''
operator is used, the n\bne\bex\bxt\bt operation will be applied to all tagged messages if
- that operation can be used in that manner. If the _\b$_\ba_\bu_\bt_\bo_\b__\bt_\ba_\bg (section 6.3.16 ,
- page 69) variable is set, the next operation applies to the tagged messages
+ that operation can be used in that manner. If the _\b$_\ba_\bu_\bt_\bo_\b__\bt_\ba_\bg (section 6.4.16 ,
+ page 84) variable is set, the next operation applies to the tagged messages
automatically, without requiring the ``tag-prefix''.
- In _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo_\bs (section 3.6 , page 20) or _\bp_\bu_\bs_\bh (section 3.21 , page 29) commands,
+ In _\bm_\ba_\bc_\br_\bo_\bs (section 3.7 , page 27) or _\bp_\bu_\bs_\bh (section 3.23 , page 37) 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.
- _\b4_\b._\b4 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b5 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs
A _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk 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 _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk consists of a _\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br
- _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn (section 4.1 , page 33) or _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn (section 4.2 , page 36) along
+ _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn (section 4.1 , page 44) or _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn (section 6.2 , page 77) along
with a configuration option/command. See
- +\bo _\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.5 , page 19)
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 42
+ +\bo _\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.6 , page 26)
- +\bo _\bs_\be_\bn_\bd_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.18 , page 27)
+ +\bo _\bs_\be_\bn_\bd_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.20 , page 36)
- +\bo _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.19 , page 28)
+ +\bo _\bm_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.21 , page 37)
- +\bo _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.15 , page 26)
+ +\bo _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.17 , page 35)
- +\bo _\bm_\bb_\bo_\bx_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.11 , page 25)
+ +\bo _\bm_\bb_\bo_\bx_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.13 , page 33)
- +\bo _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.16 , page 27)
+ +\bo _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.18 , page 35)
- +\bo _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.17 , page 27)
+ +\bo _\bf_\bc_\bc_\b-_\bs_\ba_\bv_\be_\b-_\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 3.19 , page 36)
for specific details on each type of _\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk available.
N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: 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
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 54
+
defaults. Here is an example with send-hook and the my_hdr directive:
send-hook . 'unmy_hdr From:'
send-hook ~C'^b@b\.b$' my_hdr from: c@c.c
- _\b4_\b._\b4_\b._\b1 _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b5_\b._\b1 _\bM_\be_\bs_\bs_\ba_\bg_\be _\bM_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn _\bH_\bo_\bo_\bk_\bs
Hooks that act upon messages (send-hook, save-hook, fcc-hook, message-hook) are
evaluated in a slightly different manner. For the other types of hooks, a _\br_\be_\bg_\b-
- _\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn (section 4.1 , page 33) is sufficient. But in dealing with
+ _\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn (section 4.1 , page 44) is sufficient. But in dealing with
messages a finer grain of control is needed for matching since for different
purposes you want to match different criteria.
- Mutt-ng allows the use of the _\bs_\be_\ba_\br_\bc_\bh _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn (section 4.2 , page 36) language
+ Mutt-ng allows the use of the _\bs_\be_\ba_\br_\bc_\bh _\bp_\ba_\bt_\bt_\be_\br_\bn (section 6.2 , page 77) language
for matching messages in hook commands. This works in exactly the same way as
it would when _\bl_\bi_\bm_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg or _\bs_\be_\ba_\br_\bc_\bh_\bi_\bn_\bg the mailbox, except that you are restricted
to those operators which match information mutt extracts from the header of the
searching language. You can still specify a simple _\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn like the
other hooks, in which case Mutt-ng will translate your pattern into the full
language, using the translation specified by the _\b$_\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt_\b__\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section
- 6.3.45 , page 75) variable. The pattern is translated at the time the hook is
- declared, so the value of _\b$_\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt_\b__\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 6.3.45 , page 75) that is in
+ 6.4.45 , page 90) variable. The pattern is translated at the time the hook is
+ declared, so the value of _\b$_\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt_\b__\bh_\bo_\bo_\bk (section 6.4.45 , page 90) that is in
effect at that time will be used.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 43
-
- _\b4_\b._\b5 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bs_\bi_\bd_\be_\bb_\ba_\br
+ _\b4_\b._\b6 _\bU_\bs_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\be _\bs_\bi_\bd_\be_\bb_\ba_\br
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.
If you want to specify the mailboxes you can do so with:
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 55
+
set mbox='=INBOX'
mailboxes INBOX \
MBOX1 \
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'.
- _\b4_\b._\b6 _\bE_\bx_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\ba_\bl _\bA_\bd_\bd_\br_\be_\bs_\bs _\bQ_\bu_\be_\br_\bi_\be_\bs
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 44
+ _\b4_\b._\b7 _\bE_\bx_\bt_\be_\br_\bn_\ba_\bl _\bA_\bd_\bd_\br_\be_\bs_\bs _\bQ_\bu_\be_\br_\bi_\be_\bs
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 _\b$_\bq_\bu_\be_\br_\by_\b__\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd (section 6.3.221 , page 118) vari-
+ simple interface. Using the _\b$_\bq_\bu_\be_\br_\by_\b__\bc_\bo_\bm_\bm_\ba_\bn_\bd (section 6.4.221 , page 134) vari-
able, 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
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 56
+
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.
will activate the query menu. At the query menu, you can select one or more
addresses to be added to the prompt.
- _\b4_\b._\b7 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\bF_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b8 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\bF_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt_\bs
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 _\b$_\bm_\bb_\bo_\bx_\b__\bt_\by_\bp_\be (section 6.3.125 , page 95)
+ uses the default specified with the _\b$_\bm_\bb_\bo_\bx_\b__\bt_\by_\bp_\be (section 6.4.125 , page 111)
variable.
m\bmb\bbo\box\bx. This is the most widely used mailbox format for UNIX. All messages are
From me@cs.hmc.edu Fri, 11 Apr 1997 11:44:56 PST
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 45
-
to denote the start of a new message (this is often referred to as the
``From_'' line).
M\bMH\bH. A radical departure from _\bm_\bb_\bo_\bx and _\bM_\bM_\bD_\bF, a mailbox consists of a directory
and each message is stored in a separate file. The filename indicates the mes-
sage number (however, this is may not correspond to the message number Mutt-ng
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 57
+
displays). Deleted messages are renamed with a comma (,) prepended to the file-
name. N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: Mutt detects this type of mailbox by looking for either
.mh_sequences or .xmhcache (needed to distinguish normal directories from MH
way they are unique, even when two programs are writing the mailbox over NFS,
which means that no file locking is needed.
- _\b4_\b._\b8 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\bS_\bh_\bo_\br_\bt_\bc_\bu_\bt_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b9 _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bb_\bo_\bx _\bS_\bh_\bo_\br_\bt_\bc_\bu_\bt_\bs
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.
- +\bo ! -- refers to your _\b$_\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.3.295 , page 136) (incoming)
+ +\bo ! -- refers to your _\b$_\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.4.295 , page 151) (incoming)
mailbox
- +\bo > -- refers to your _\b$_\bm_\bb_\bo_\bx (section 6.3.124 , page 95) file
+ +\bo > -- refers to your _\b$_\bm_\bb_\bo_\bx (section 6.4.124 , page 111) file
- +\bo < -- refers to your _\b$_\br_\be_\bc_\bo_\br_\bd (section 6.3.230 , page 120) file
+ +\bo < -- refers to your _\b$_\br_\be_\bc_\bo_\br_\bd (section 6.4.230 , page 136) file
+\bo ^ -- refers to the current mailbox
+\bo ~ -- refers to your home directory
- +\bo = or + -- refers to your _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br (section 6.3.64 , page 79) directory
+ +\bo = or + -- refers to your _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br (section 6.4.64 , page 94) directory
- +\bo @_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs -- refers to the _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be _\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br (section 3.15 , page 26) as
+ +\bo @_\ba_\bl_\bi_\ba_\bs -- refers to the _\bd_\be_\bf_\ba_\bu_\bl_\bt _\bs_\ba_\bv_\be _\bf_\bo_\bl_\bd_\be_\br (section 3.17 , page 35) as
determined by the address of the alias
- _\b4_\b._\b9 _\bH_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bL_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b1_\b0 _\bH_\ba_\bn_\bd_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bM_\ba_\bi_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bL_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs
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 mail-
ing 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 _\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt_\bs _\ba_\bn_\bd _\bs_\bu_\bb_\bs_\bc_\br_\bi_\bb_\be
- (section 3.10 , page 24) commands in your muttrc.
+ (section 3.12 , page 32) commands in your muttrc.
Now that Mutt-ng knows what your mailing lists are, it can do several things,
-
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 46
-
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 _\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx menu display.
This is useful to distinguish between personal and list mail in the same mail-
- box. In the _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.110 , page 90) variable, the escape
+ box. In the _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.110 , page 105) variable, the escape
``%L'' will return the string ``To <list>'' when ``list'' appears in the ``To''
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 58
+
field, and ``Cc <list>'' when it appears in the ``Cc'' field (otherwise it
returns the name of the author).
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 _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bl_\bo_\bw_\bu_\bp_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.3.66 , page 80) option is set, mutt will
+ and if the _\b$_\bf_\bo_\bl_\bl_\bo_\bw_\bu_\bp_\b__\bt_\bo (section 6.4.66 , page 95) 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
Conversely, when group-replying or list-replying to a message which has a Mail-
Followup-To header, mutt will respect this header if the _\b$_\bh_\bo_\bn_\bo_\br_\b__\bf_\bo_\bl_\bl_\bo_\bw_\bu_\bp_\b__\bt_\bo
- (section 6.3.88 , page 85) configuration variable is set. Using list-reply
+ (section 6.4.88 , page 100) configuration variable is set. Using list-reply
will in this case also make sure that the reply goes to the mailing list, even
if it's not specified in the list of recipients in the Mail-Followup-To.
the message. This can create problems when trying to reply directly to the
author in private, since most mail clients will automatically reply to the
address given in the ``Reply-To'' field. Mutt-ng uses the _\b$_\br_\be_\bp_\bl_\by_\b__\bt_\bo (section
- 6.3.233 , page 121) variable to help decide which address to use. If set to
+ 6.4.233 , page 136) variable to help decide which address to use. If set to
_\ba_\bs_\bk_\b-_\by_\be_\bs or _\ba_\bs_\bk_\b-_\bn_\bo, 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 _\by_\be_\bs, the ``Reply-To'' field
The ``X-Label:'' header field can be used to further identify mailing lists or
list subject matter (or just to annotate messages individually). The
- _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.3.110 , page 90) variable's ``%y'' and ``%Y'' escapes
- can be used to expand ``X-Label:'' fields in the index, and Mutt-ng's pattern-
- matcher can match regular expressions to ``X-Label:'' fields with the `` y''
- selector. ``X-Label:'' is not a standard message header field, but it can eas-
- ily be inserted by procmail and other mail filtering agents.
+ _\b$_\bi_\bn_\bd_\be_\bx_\b__\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt (section 6.4.110 , page 105) 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 _\bs_\bo_\br_\bt (section 6.4.289 , page 149) the mail-
+ box into _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs (section 2.5.3 , page 11). 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
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 47
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 59
- Lastly, Mutt-ng has the ability to _\bs_\bo_\br_\bt (section 6.3.289 , page 134) the mail-
- box into _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs (section 2.3.3 , page 7). 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 graphi-
- cally. 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.
+ graphically. If you've ever used a threaded news client, this is the same con-
+ cept. It makes dealing with large volume mailing lists easier because you can
+ easily delete uninteresting threads and quickly find topics of value.
- _\b4_\b._\b1_\b0 _\bE_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b1_\b1 _\bE_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs
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.
- _\b4_\b._\b1_\b0_\b._\b1 _\bL_\bi_\bn_\bk_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b1_\b1_\b._\b1 _\bL_\bi_\bn_\bk_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs
Some mailers tend to "forget" to correctly set the "In-Reply-To:" and "Refer-
ences:" headers when replying to a message. This results in broken discussions
You can also connect multiple children at once, tagging them and using the tag-
prefix command (';') or the auto_tag option.
- _\b4_\b._\b1_\b0_\b._\b2 _\bB_\br_\be_\ba_\bk_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs
+ _\b4_\b._\b1_\b1_\b._\b2 _\bB_\br_\be_\ba_\bk_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bt_\bh_\br_\be_\ba_\bd_\bs
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
function (bound by default to #), which will turn the subthread starting from
the current message into a whole different thread.
- _\b4_\b._\b1_\b1 _\bD_\be_\bl_\bi_\bv_\be_\br_\by _\bS_\bt_\ba_\bt_\bu_\bs _\bN_\bo_\bt_\bi_\bf_\bi_\bc_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\b(_\bD_\bS_\bN_\b) _\bS_\bu_\bp_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt
+ _\b4_\b._\b1_\b2 _\bD_\be_\bl_\bi_\bv_\be_\br_\by _\bS_\bt_\ba_\bt_\bu_\bs _\bN_\bo_\bt_\bi_\bf_\bi_\bc_\ba_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\b(_\bD_\bS_\bN_\b) _\bS_\bu_\bp_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt
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
which the mail client can make requests as to what type of status messages
should be returned.
- To support this, there are two variables. _\b$_\bd_\bs_\bn_\b__\bn_\bo_\bt_\bi_\bf_\by (section 6.3.51 , page
- 76) is used to request receipts for different results (such as failed message,
- message delivered, etc.). _\b$_\bd_\bs_\bn_\b__\br_\be_\bt_\bu_\br_\bn (section 6.3.52 , page 76) requests how
+ To support this, there are two variables. _\b$_\bd_\bs_\bn_\b__\bn_\bo_\bt_\bi_\bf_\by (section 6.4.51 , page
+ 91) is used to request receipts for different results (such as failed message,
+ message delivered, etc.). _\b$_\bd_\bs_\bn_\b__\br_\be_\bt_\bu_\br_\bn (section 6.4.52 , page 92) requests how
much of your message should be returned with the receipt (headers or full mes-
sage). Refer to the man page on sendmail for more details on DSN.
- _\b4_\b._\b1_\b2 _\bP_\bO_\bP_\b3 _\bS_\bu_\bp_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt _\b(_\bO_\bP_\bT_\bI_\bO_\bN_\bA_\bL_\b)
+ _\b4_\b._\b1_\b3 _\bP_\bO_\bP_\b3 _\bS_\bu_\bp_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt _\b(_\bO_\bP_\bT_\bI_\bO_\bN_\bA_\bL_\b)
If Mutt-ng was compiled with POP3 support (by running the _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\be script with
+
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 60
+
the _\b-_\b-_\be_\bn_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\b-_\bp_\bo_\bp flag), it has the ability to work with mailboxes located on a
remote POP3 server and fetch mail for local browsing.
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 48
-
You can access the remote POP3 mailbox by selecting the folder
pop://popserver/.
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 _\b$_\bp_\bo_\bp_\b__\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\b__\bc_\bh_\be_\bc_\bk (section 6.3.208 , page 115) variable, which defaults
+ by the _\b$_\bp_\bo_\bp_\b__\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl_\b__\bc_\bh_\be_\bc_\bk (section 6.4.208 , page 131) variable, which defaults
to every 60 seconds.
If Mutt-ng was compiled with SSL support (by running the _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\be script with
name@]popserver[:port]/.
Another way to access your POP3 mail is the _\bf_\be_\bt_\bc_\bh_\b-_\bm_\ba_\bi_\bl function (default: G).
- It allows to connect to _\bp_\bo_\bp_\b__\bh_\bo_\bs_\bt (section 6.3.206 , page 115), fetch all your
- new mail and place it in the local _\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.3.295 , page 136).
+ It allows to connect to _\bp_\bo_\bp_\b__\bh_\bo_\bs_\bt (section 6.4.206 , page 130), fetch all your
+ new mail and place it in the local _\bs_\bp_\bo_\bo_\bl_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be (section 6.4.295 , page 151).
After this point, Mutt-ng runs exactly as if the mail had always been local.
N\bNo\bot\bte\be:\b: If you only need to fetch all messages to local mailbox you should con-
sider using a specialized program, such as fetchmail
- _\b4_\b._\b1_\b3 _\bI_\bM_\bA_\bP _\bS_\bu_\bp_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt _\b(_\bO_\bP_\bT_\bI_\bO_\bN_\bA_\bL_\b)
+ _\b4_\b._\b1_\b4 _\bI_\bM_\bA_\bP _\bS_\bu_\bp_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt _\b(_\bO_\bP_\bT_\bI_\bO_\bN_\bA_\bL_\b)
If Mutt-ng was compiled with IMAP support (by running the _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\be script with
the _\b-_\b-_\be_\bn_\ba_\bb_\bl_\be_\b-_\bi_\bm_\ba_\bp flag), it has the ability to work with folders located on a
name@imapserver[:port]/INBOX.
If Mutt-ng was compiled with SSL support (by running the _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bf_\bi_\bg_\bu_\br_\be script with
- the _\b-_\b-_\bw_\bi_\bt_\bh_\b-_\bs_\bs_\bl flag), connections to IMAP servers can be encrypted. This natu-
- rally requires that the server supports SSL encrypted connections. To access a
- folder with IMAP/SSL, you should use imaps://[user-
- name@]imapserver[:port]/path/to/folder as your folder path.
+ the _\b-_\b-_\bw_\bi_\bt_\bh_\b-_\bs_\bs_\bl flag), connections to IMAP servers can be encrypted. This
- Pine-compatible notation is also supported, i.e.
+ The Mutt Next Generation E-Mail Client 61
- The Mutt-ng E-Mail Client 49
+ naturally requires that the server supports SSL encrypted connections. To
+ access a folder with IMAP/SSL, you should use imaps://[user-
+ name@]imapserver[:port]/path/to/folder as your folder path.
- {[username@]imapserver[:port][/ssl]}path/to/folder
+ Pine-compatible notation is also supported, i.e. {[user-
+ name@]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
projects / apps / madmutt.git / commitdiff