Table of Contents
+
Table of Contents
All string patterns in Mutt including those in more complex -patterns must be specified -using regular expressions (regexp) in the ``POSIX extended'' syntax (which +patterns must be specified +using regular expressions (regexp) in the âPOSIX extendedâ syntax (which is more or less the syntax used by egrep and GNU awk). For your convenience, we have included below a brief description of this syntax.
The search is case sensitive if the pattern contains at least one upper -case letter, and case insensitive otherwise. Note that ``\'' +case letter, and case insensitive otherwise. +
+â\â must be quoted if used for a regular expression in an initialization -command: ``\\''. -
+command: â\\â. +
A regular expression is a pattern that describes a set of strings. Regular expressions are constructed analogously to arithmetic expressions, by using various operators to combine smaller expressions. -
-Note that the regular expression can be enclosed/delimited by either " +
+The regular expression can be enclosed/delimited by either " or ' which is useful if the regular expression includes a white-space -character. See Syntax of Initialization Files +character. See Syntax of Initialization Files for more information on " and ' delimiter processing. To match a literal " or ' you must preface it with \ (backslash). -
+
The fundamental building blocks are the regular expressions that match a single character. Most characters, including all letters and digits, are regular expressions that match themselves. Any metacharacter with special meaning may be quoted by preceding it with a backslash.
-The period ``.'' matches any single character. The caret ``^'' and -the dollar sign ``$'' are metacharacters that respectively match +The period â.â matches any single character. The caret â^â and +the dollar sign â$â are metacharacters that respectively match the empty string at the beginning and end of a line.
-A list of characters enclosed by ``['' and ``]'' matches any +A list of characters enclosed by â[â and â]â matches any single character in that list; if the first character of the list -is a caret ``^'' then it matches any character not in the -list. For example, the regular expression [0123456789] +is a caret â^â then it matches any character not in the +list. For example, the regular expression [0123456789] matches any single digit. A range of ASCII characters may be specified by giving the first and last characters, separated by a hyphen -``-''. Most metacharacters lose their special meaning inside -lists. To include a literal ``]'' place it first in the list. -Similarly, to include a literal ``^'' place it anywhere but first. -Finally, to include a literal hyphen ``-'' place it last. +â-â. Most metacharacters lose their special meaning inside +lists. To include a literal â]â place it first in the list. +Similarly, to include a literal â^â place it anywhere but first. +Finally, to include a literal hyphen â-â place it last.
Certain named classes of characters are predefined. Character classes -consist of ``[:'', a keyword denoting the class, and ``:]''. -The following classes are defined by the POSIX standard: -
-
-Alphanumeric characters. -
-Alphabetic characters. -
-Space or tab characters. -
-Control characters. -
-Numeric characters. -
-Characters that are both printable and visible. (A space is printable, -but not visible, while an ``a'' is both.) -
-Lower-case alphabetic characters. -
-Printable characters (characters that are not control characters.) -
-Punctuation characters (characters that are not letter, digits, control -characters, or space characters). -
-Space characters (such as space, tab and formfeed, to name a few). -
-Upper-case alphabetic characters. -
-Characters that are hexadecimal digits. -
-
+consist of â[:â, a keyword denoting the class, and â:]â. +The following classes are defined by the POSIX standard in +Table 4.1, âPOSIX regular expression character classesâ +
Table 4.1. POSIX regular expression character classes
| Character class | Description |
|---|---|
| [:alnum:] | Alphanumeric characters |
| [:alpha:] | Alphabetic characters |
| [:blank:] | Space or tab characters |
| [:cntrl:] | Control characters |
| [:digit:] | Numeric characters |
| [:graph:] | Characters that are both printable and visible. (A space is printable, but not visible, while an âaâ is both) |
| [:lower:] | Lower-case alphabetic characters |
| [:print:] | Printable characters (characters that are not control characters) |
| [:punct:] | Punctuation characters (characters that are not letter, digits, control characters, or space characters) |
| [:space:] | Space characters (such as space, tab and formfeed, to name a few) |
| [:upper:] | Upper-case alphabetic characters |
| [:xdigit:] | Characters that are hexadecimal digits |
A character class is only valid in a regular expression inside the -brackets of a character list. Note that the brackets in these +brackets of a character list. +
+Note that the brackets in these class names are part of the symbolic names, and must be included -in addition to the brackets delimiting the bracket list. For -example, [[:digit:]] is equivalent to -[0-9]. -
+in addition to the brackets delimiting the bracket list. For +example, [[:digit:]] is equivalent to +[0-9]. +
Two additional special sequences can appear in character lists. These apply to non-ASCII character sets, which can have single symbols (called collating elements) that are represented with more than one character, as well as several characters that are equivalent for collating or sorting purposes: -
A collating symbol is a multi-character collating element enclosed in -``[.'' and ``.]''. For example, if ``ch'' is a collating -element, then [[.ch.]] is a regexp that matches -this collating element, while [ch] is a regexp that -matches either ``c'' or ``h''. +â[.â and â.]â. For example, if âchâ is a collating +element, then [[.ch.]] is a regexp that matches +this collating element, while [ch] is a regexp that +matches either âcâ or âhâ.
An equivalence class is a locale-specific name for a list of -characters that are equivalent. The name is enclosed in ``[='' -and ``=]''. For example, the name ``e'' might be used to -represent all of ``è'' ``é'' and ``e''. In this case, -[[=e=]] is a regexp that matches any of -``è'', ``é'' and ``e''. +characters that are equivalent. The name is enclosed in â[=â +and â=]â. For example, the name âeâ might be used to +represent all of âèâ âéâ and âeâ. In this case, +[[=e=]] is a regexp that matches any of +âèâ, âéâ and âeâ.
-
A regular expression matching a single character may be followed by one -of several repetition operators: -
-
-The preceding item is optional and matched at most once. -
-The preceding item will be matched zero or more times. -
-The preceding item will be matched one or more times. -
-The preceding item is matched exactly n times. -
-The preceding item is matched n or more times. -
-The preceding item is matched at most m times. -
-The preceding item is matched at least n times, but no more than -m times. -
-
+of several repetition operators described in Table 4.2, âRegular expression repetition operatorsâ. +
Table 4.2. Regular expression repetition operators
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| ? | The preceding item is optional and matched at most once |
| * | The preceding item will be matched zero or more times |
| + | The preceding item will be matched one or more times |
| {n} | The preceding item is matched exactly n times |
| {n,} | The preceding item is matched n or more times |
| {,m} | The preceding item is matched at most m times |
| {n,m} | The preceding item is matched at least n times, but no more than m times |
Two regular expressions may be concatenated; the resulting regular expression matches any string formed by concatenating two substrings that respectively match the concatenated subexpressions.
-Two regular expressions may be joined by the infix operator ``|''; +Two regular expressions may be joined by the infix operator â|â; the resulting regular expression matches any string matching either subexpression.
Repetition takes precedence over concatenation, which in turn takes precedence over alternation. A whole subexpression may be enclosed in parentheses to override these precedence rules. -
-Note: If you compile Mutt with the GNU rx package, the -following operators may also be used in regular expressions: -
-
-Matches the empty string at either the beginning or the end of a word. -
-Matches the empty string within a word. -
-Matches the empty string at the beginning of a word. -
-Matches the empty string at the end of a word. -
-Matches any word-constituent character (letter, digit, or underscore). -
-Matches any character that is not word-constituent. -
-Matches the empty string at the beginning of a buffer (string). -
-Matches the empty string at the end of a buffer. -
-
+
+If you compile Mutt with the included regular expression engine, the +following operators may also be used in regular expressions as described in Table 4.3, âGNU regular expression extensionsâ. +
Table 4.3. GNU regular expression extensions
| Expression | Description |
|---|---|
| \\y | Matches the empty string at either the beginning or the end of a word |
| \\B | Matches the empty string within a word |
| \\< | Matches the empty string at the beginning of a word |
| \\> | Matches the empty string at the end of a word |
| \\w | Matches any word-constituent character (letter, digit, or underscore) |
| \\W | Matches any character that is not word-constituent |
| \\` | Matches the empty string at the beginning of a buffer (string) |
| \\' | Matches the empty string at the end of a buffer |
Please note however that these operators are not defined by POSIX, so they may or may not be available in stock libraries on various systems. -
Many of Mutt's commands allow you to specify a pattern to match
-(limit, tag-pattern, delete-pattern, etc.). Table 4.1, âPattern modifiersâ
+(limit, tag-pattern,
+delete-pattern, etc.). Table 4.4, âPattern modifiersâ
shows several ways to select messages.
+
Table 4.4. Pattern modifiers
| Pattern modifier | Description |
|---|---|
| ~A | all messages |
| ~b EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the message body |
| =b STRING | messages which contain STRING in the message body. If IMAP is enabled, searches for STRING on the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally. |
| ~B EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the whole message |
| ~c EXPR | messages carbon-copied to EXPR |
| %c GROUP | messages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP |
| ~C EXPR | messages either to: or cc: EXPR |
| %C GROUP | messages either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP |
| ~d [MIN]-[MAX] | messages with âdate-sentâ in a Date range |
| ~D | deleted messages |
| ~e EXPR | messages which contains EXPR in the âSenderâ field |
| %e GROUP | messages which contain a member of GROUP in the âSenderâ field |
| ~E | expired messages |
| ~F | flagged messages |
| ~f EXPR | messages originating from EXPR |
| %f GROUP | messages originating from any member of GROUP |
| ~g | cryptographically signed messages |
| ~G | cryptographically encrypted messages |
| ~h EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the message header |
| ~H EXPR | messages with a spam attribute matching EXPR |
| ~i EXPR | messages which match EXPR in the âMessage-IDâ field |
| ~k | messages which contain PGP key material |
| ~L EXPR | messages either originated or received by EXPR |
| %L GROUP | message either originated or received by any member of GROUP |
| ~l | messages addressed to a known mailing list |
| ~m [MIN]-[MAX] | messages 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 | messages addressed to you (consults alternates) |
| ~P | messages from you (consults alternates) |
| ~Q | messages which have been replied to |
| ~r [MIN]-[MAX] | messages with âdate-receivedâ in a Date range |
| ~R | read messages |
| ~s EXPR | messages having EXPR in the âSubjectâ field. |
| ~S | superseded messages |
| ~t EXPR | messages addressed to EXPR |
| ~T | tagged messages |
| ~u | messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list |
| ~U | unread messages |
| ~v | messages part of a collapsed thread. |
| ~V | cryptographically verified messages |
| ~x EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the âReferencesâ or âIn-Reply-Toâ field |
| ~X [MIN]-[MAX] | messages with MIN to MAX attachments *) |
| ~y EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the âX-Labelâ field |
| ~z [MIN]-[MAX] | messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX *) **) |
| ~= | duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads) |
| ~$ | unreferenced messages (requires threaded view) |
| ~(PATTERN) | messages in threads +containing messages matching PATTERN, e.g. all +threads containing messages from you: ~(~P) |
+Where EXPR is a +regular expression. +
+*) The forms â<[MAX]â, â>[MIN]â, +â[MIN]-â and â-[MAX]â +are allowed, too.
- -
Table 4.1. Pattern modifiers
| Pattern modifier | Description |
|---|---|
| ~A | all messages |
| ~b EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the message body |
| =b STRING | messages which contain STRING in the message body. If IMAP is enabled, searches for STRING on the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally. |
| ~B EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the whole message |
| ~c EXPR | messages carbon-copied to EXPR |
| %c GROUP | messages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP |
| ~C EXPR | message is either to: or cc: EXPR |
| %C GROUP | message is either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP |
| ~d [MIN]-[MAX] | messages with ``date-sent'' in a Date range |
| ~D | deleted messages |
| ~e EXPR | message which contains EXPR in the ``Sender'' field |
| %e GROUP | message which contain a member of GROUP in the ``Sender'' field |
| ~E | expired messages |
| ~F | flagged messages |
| ~f EXPR | messages originating from EXPR |
| %f GROUP | messages originating from any member of GROUP |
| ~g | cryptographically signed messages |
| ~G | cryptographically encrypted messages |
| ~h EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the message header |
| ~H EXPR | messages with a spam attribute matching EXPR |
| ~i EXPR | message which match EXPR in the ``Message-ID'' field |
| ~k | message contains PGP key material |
| ~L EXPR | message is either originated or received by EXPR |
| %L GROUP | message is either originated or received by any member of GROUP |
| ~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 [MIN]-[MAX] | messages with ``date-received'' in a Date range |
| ~R | read messages |
| ~s EXPR | messages having EXPR in the ``Subject'' field. |
| ~S | superseded messages |
| ~t EXPR | messages addressed to EXPR |
| ~T | tagged messages |
| ~u | message is addressed to a subscribed mailing list |
| ~U | unread messages |
| ~v | message is part of a collapsed thread. |
| ~V | cryptographically verified messages |
| ~x EXPR | messages which contain EXPR in the `References' field |
| ~X [MIN]-[MAX] | messages with MIN to MAX attachments *) |
| ~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) |
| ~(PATTERN) | messages in threads -containing messages matching a certain pattern, e.g. all -threads containing messages from you: ~(~P) |
-
+**) The suffixes âKâ and âMâ are allowed to specify kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
-Where EXPR is a
-regular expression. Special attention has to be
-made when using regular expressions inside of patterns. Specifically,
-Mutt's parser for these patterns will strip one level of backslash (\),
+Special attention has to be
+payed when using regular expressions inside of patterns. Specifically,
+Mutt's parser for these patterns will strip one level of backslash (â\â),
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 (\\). You can force mutt to treat EXPR as a simple string
+instead (â\\â). You can force Mutt to treat EXPR as a simple string
instead of a regular expression by using = instead of Ë in the
-pattern name. For example, =b *.* will find all messages that contain
-the literal string '*.*'. Simple string matches are less powerful than
+pattern name. For example, =b *.* will find all messages that contain
+the literal string â*.*â. Simple string matches are less powerful than
regular expressions but can be considerably faster. This is especially
true for IMAP folders, because string matches can be performed on the
-server instead of by fetching every message. IMAP treats =h specially:
-it must be of the form "header: substring" and will not partially
+server instead of by fetching every message. IMAP treats =h specially:
+it must be of the form âheader: substringâ and will not partially
match header names. The substring part may be omitted if you simply
wish to find messages containing a particular header without regard to
its value.
-*) The forms <[MAX], >[MIN],
-[MIN]- and -[MAX]
-are allowed, too.
-
-Note that patterns matching 'lists' of addresses (notably c,C,p,P and t) +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 ^. +pattern with â^â. This example matches all mails which only has recipients from Germany. -
- -
+
+Mutt supports two versions of so called âsimple searchesâ. These are issued if the query entered for searching, limiting and similar -operations does not seem to be a valid pattern (i.e. it does not contain -one of these characters: ``~'', ``='' or ``%''). If the query is +operations does not seem to contain a valid pattern modifier (i.e. it does not contain +one of these characters: âËâ, â=â or â%â). If the query is supposed to contain one of these special characters, they must be escaped -by prepending a backslash (``\''). +by prepending a backslash (â\â).
The first type is by checking whether the query string equals
-a keyword case-insensitively from Table 4.2, âSimple search keywordsâ:
+a keyword case-insensitively from Table 4.5, âSimple search keywordsâ:
If that is the case, Mutt will use the shown pattern modifier instead.
If a keyword would conflict with your search keyword, you need to turn
it into a regular expression to avoid matching the keyword table. For
-example, if you want to find all messages matching ``flag''
-(using $simple_search,
-see below but not meaning flagged messages) simply search for
-``[f]lag''.
-
Table 4.2. Simple search keywords
| Keyword | Pattern modifier |
|---|---|
| all | ~A |
| . | ~A |
| ^ | ~A |
| del | ~D |
| flag | ~F |
| new | ~N |
| old | ~O |
| repl | ~Q |
| read | ~R |
| tag | ~T |
| unread | ~U |
+example, if you want to find all messages matching âflagâ
+(using $simple_search)
+but don't want to match flagged messages, simply search for
+â[f]lagâ.
+
Table 4.5. Simple search keywords
| Keyword | Pattern modifier |
|---|---|
| all | ~A |
| . | ~A |
| ^ | ~A |
| del | ~D |
| flag | ~F |
| new | ~N |
| old | ~O |
| repl | ~Q |
| read | ~R |
| tag | ~T |
| unread | ~U |
The second type of simple search is to build a complex search -pattern using $simple_search +pattern using $simple_search as a template. Mutt will insert your query properly quoted and search for the composed complex query. -
Logical AND is performed by specifying more than one criterion. For example: -
-
~t mutt ~f elkins
- -
-would select messages which contain the word ``mutt'' in the list of -recipients and that have the word ``elkins'' in the ``From'' header +would select messages which contain the word âmuttâ in the list of +recipients and that have the word âelkinsâ in the âFromâ header field.
Mutt also recognizes the following operators to create more complex search patterns: -
-
-! -- logical NOT operator +! â logical NOT operator
-| -- logical OR operator +| â logical OR operator
-() -- logical grouping operator +() â logical grouping operator
- -
Here is an example illustrating a complex search pattern. This pattern will -select all messages which do not contain ``mutt'' in the ``To'' or ``Cc'' -field and which are from ``elkins''. -
- -
+select all messages which do not contain âmuttâ in the âToâ or âCcâ +field and which are from âelkinsâ. +Here is an example using white space in the regular expression (note the ' and " delimiters). For this to match, the mail's subject must -match the ``^Junk +From +Me$'' and it must be from either ``Jim +Somebody'' -or ``Ed +SomeoneElse'': -
- +match the â^Junk +From +Me$â and it must be from either âJim +Somebodyâ +or âEd +SomeoneElseâ:
'~s "^Junk +From +Me$" ~f ("Jim +Somebody"|"Ed +SomeoneElse")' -- -
-Note that if a regular expression contains parenthesis, or a vertical bar -("|"), you must enclose the expression in double or single quotes since +
+If a regular expression contains parenthesis, or a vertical bar +("|"), you must enclose the expression in double or single quotes since those characters are also used to separate different parts of Mutt's -pattern language. For example, -
- -
-~f "me@(mutt\.org|cs\.hmc\.edu)" -
- -
+pattern language. For example: ~f "me@(mutt\.org|cs\.hmc\.edu)"
Without the quotes, the parenthesis wouldn't end.
-This would be seperated to two OR'd patterns: Ëf me@(mutt\.org
+This would be separated to two OR'd patterns: Ëf me@(mutt\.org
and cs\.hmc\.edu). They are never what you want.
-
Mutt supports two types of dates, absolute and relative. -
-Absolute. Dates must be in DD/MM/YY format (month and year are +
+Dates 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: -
-
Limit to messages matching: ~d 20/1/95-31/10
- -
-If you omit the minimum (first) date, and just specify ``-DD/MM/YY'', all +If you omit the minimum (first) date, and just specify â-DD/MM/YYâ, all messages before the given date will be selected. If you omit the maximum -(second) date, and specify ``DD/MM/YY-'', all messages 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. +(second) date, and specify âDD/MM/YY-â, all messages after the given +date will be selected. If you specify a single date with no dash (â-â), +only messages sent on the given date will be selected.
-Error Margins. You can add error margins to absolute dates. +You can add error margins to absolute dates. An error margin is a sign (+ or -), followed by a digit, followed by -one of the units in Table 4.3, âDate unitsâ. As a special case, you can replace the -sign by a ``*'' character, which is equivalent to giving identical plus and minus error margins. -
+one of the units in Table 4.6, âDate unitsâ. As a special case, you can replace the +sign by a â*â character, which is equivalent to giving identical plus and minus error margins. +
Example: To select any messages two weeks around January 15, 2001, -you'd use the following pattern: - +you'd use the following pattern:
- Limit to messages matching: ~d 15/1/2001*2w -
- -
-Relative. This type of date is relative to the current date, and may +
+This type of date is relative to the current date, and may be specified as: -
->offset (messages older than offset units) +>offset for messages older than offset units
-<offset (messages newer than offset units) +<offset for messages newer than offset units
-=offset (messages exactly offset units old) +=offset for messages exactly offset units old
- -
-offset is specified as a positive number with one of the units from Table 4.3, âDate unitsâ. +offset is specified as a positive number with one of the units from Table 4.6, âDate unitsâ.
Example: to select messages less than 1 month old, you would use -
Limit to messages matching: ~d <1m -
- -
-Note: all dates used when searching are relative to the
-local time zone, so unless you change the setting of your $index_format to include a
-%[...] format, these are not the dates shown
+
+All dates used when searching are relative to the
+local time zone, so unless you change the setting of your $index_format to include a
+%[...] format, these are not the dates shown
in the main index.
-
Sometimes it is desirable to perform an operation on a group of
messages all at once rather than one at a time. An example might be
to save messages to a mailing list to a separate folder, or to
delete all messages with a given subject. To tag all messages
-matching a pattern, use the tag-pattern function, which is bound to
-``shift-T'' by default. Or you can select individual messages by
-hand using the ``tag-message'' function, which is bound to ``t'' by
-default. See patterns for Mutt's pattern
+matching a pattern, use the <tag-pattern> function, which is bound to
+âshift-Tâ by default. Or you can select individual messages by
+hand using the <tag-message> function, which is bound to âtâ by
+default. See patterns for Mutt's pattern
matching syntax.
Once you have tagged the desired messages, you can use the -``tag-prefix'' operator, which is the ``;'' (semicolon) key by default. -When the ``tag-prefix'' operator is used, the next operation will +âtag-prefixâ operator, which is the â;â (semicolon) key by default. +When the âtag-prefixâ operator is used, the next operation will be applied to all tagged messages if that operation can be used in that -manner. If the $auto_tag +manner. If the $auto_tag variable is set, the next operation applies to the tagged messages -automatically, without requiring the ``tag-prefix''. +automatically, without requiring the âtag-prefixâ.
-In macros or push commands,
-you can use the ``tag-prefix-cond'' operator. If there are no tagged
-messages, mutt will "eat" the rest of the macro to abort it's execution.
-Mutt will stop "eating" the macro when it encounters the ``end-cond''
-operator; after this operator the rest of the macro will be executed as
+In macros or push commands,
+you can use the <tag-prefix-cond> operator. If there are no tagged
+messages, Mutt will âeatâ the rest of the macro to abort it's execution.
+Mutt will stop âeatingâ the macro when it encounters the <end-cond>
+operator; after this operator the rest of the macro will be executed as
normal.
-A hook is a concept borrowed from the EMACS editor which allows you to +A hook is a concept found in many other programs 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 world, a hook -consists of a regular expression or -pattern along with a -configuration option/command. See +consists of a regular expression or +pattern along with a +configuration option/command. See:
for specific details on each type of hook available. -
-Note: if a hook changes configuration settings, these changes remain -effective until the end of the current mutt session. As this is generally -not desired, a default hook needs to be added before all other hooks to -restore configuration defaults. Here is an example with send-hook and the -my_hdr directive: -
- -
+Note
+If a hook changes configuration settings, these changes remain +effective until the end of the current Mutt session. As this is generally +not desired, a âdefaultâ hook needs to be added before all +other hooks of that type to restore configuration defaults. +
Example 4.3. Specifying a âdefaultâ hook
send-hook . 'unmy_hdr From:' send-hook ~C'^b@b\.b$' my_hdr from: c@c.c -- +
+In Example 4.3, âSpecifying a default hookâ, by default the value of +$from +and $realname +is not overridden. When sending messages either To: or Cc: +to
<b@b.b>, the From: header is changed to +<c@c.c>.-Hooks that act upon messages (
message-hook, reply-hook, -send-hook, send2-hook, save-hook, fcc-hook) are evaluated in a +Hooks that act upon messages (message-hook, reply-hook, +send-hook, send2-hook, save-hook, fcc-hook) are evaluated in a slightly different manner. For the other -types of hooks, a regular expression is +types of hooks, a regular expression is sufficient. But in dealing with messages a finer grain of control is needed for matching since for different purposes you want to match different criteria.-Mutt allows the use of the search pattern +Mutt allows the use of the search pattern language for matching messages in hook commands. This works in exactly the same way as it would when limiting or searching the mailbox, except that you are restricted to those -operators which match information mutt extracts from the header of +operators which match information Mutt extracts from the header of the message (i.e., from, to, cc, date, subject, etc.).
For example, if you wanted to set your return address based upon sending mail to a specific address, you could do something like: -
send-hook '~t ^me@cs\.hmc\.edu$' 'my_hdr From: Mutt User <user@host>'- which would execute the given command when sending mail to me@cs.hmc.edu.
However, it is not required that you write the pattern to match using the full searching language. You can still specify a simple regular expression like the other hooks, in which case Mutt will translate your -pattern into the full language, using the translation specified by the -$default_hook variable. The -pattern is translated at the time the hook is declared, so the value of -$default_hook that is in effect +pattern into the full language, using the translation specified by the +$default_hook variable. The +pattern is translated at the time the hook is declared, so the value of +$default_hook that is in effect at that time will be used.
Mutt supports connecting to external directory databases such as LDAP, -ph/qi, bbdb, or NIS through a wrapper script which connects to mutt -using a simple interface. Using the $query_command variable, you specify the wrapper +ph/qi, bbdb, or NIS through a wrapper script which connects to Mutt +using a simple interface. Using the $query_command variable, you specify the wrapper command to use. For example: -
-
set query_command = "mutt_ldap_query.pl '%s'"
- -
The wrapper script should accept the query on the command-line. It should return a one line message, then each matching response on a single line, each line containing a tab separated address then name then @@ -460,17 +393,14 @@ some other optional information. On error, or if there are no matching addresses, return a non-zero exit code and a one line error message.
An example multiple response output: -
Searching database ... 20 entries ... 3 matching: me@cs.hmc.edu Michael Elkins mutt dude blong@fiction.net Brandon Long mutt and more roessler@does-not-exist.org Thomas Roessler mutt pgp
- -
-There are two mechanisms for accessing the query function of mutt. One
-is to do a query from the index menu using the query function (default: Q).
+There are two mechanisms for accessing the query function of Mutt. One
+is to do a query from the index menu using the <query> function (default: Q).
This will prompt for a query, then bring up the query menu which will
list the matching responses. From the query menu, you can select
addresses to create aliases, or to mail. You can tag multiple addresses
@@ -479,203 +409,277 @@ responses.
The other mechanism for accessing the query function is for address
completion, similar to the alias completion. In any prompt for address
-entry, you can use the complete-query function (default: ^T) to run a
-query based on the current address you have typed. Like aliases, mutt
+entry, you can use the <complete-query> function (default: ^T) to run a
+query based on the current address you have typed. Like aliases, Mutt
will look for what you have typed back to the last space or comma. If
-there is a single response for that query, mutt will expand the address
-in place. If there are multiple responses, mutt will activate the query
+there is a single response for that query, Mutt will expand the address
+in place. If there are multiple responses, Mutt will activate the query
menu. At the query menu, you can select one or more addresses to be
added to the prompt.
-Mutt supports reading and writing of four different mailbox formats: +Mutt supports reading and writing of four different local 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 uses the default specified with the $mbox_type variable. +mailboxes, Mutt uses the default specified with the +$mbox_type variable. A +short description of the formats follows.
-mbox. This is the most widely used mailbox format for UNIX. All +mbox. This is a widely used mailbox format for UNIX. All messages are stored in a single file. Each message has a line of the form: -
-
From me@cs.hmc.edu Fri, 11 Apr 1997 11:44:56 PST
- -
to denote the start of a new message (this is often referred to as the -``From_'' line). -
-MMDF. This is a variant of the mbox format. Each message is -surrounded by lines containing ``^A^A^A^A'' (four control-A's). -
-MH. A radical departure from mbox and MMDF, a mailbox +âFrom_â line). The mbox format requires mailbox +locking, is prone to mailbox corruption with concurrently writing +clients or misinterpreted From_ lines. Depending on the +environment, new mail detection can be unreliable. Mbox folders are fast +to open and easy to archive. +
+MMDF. This is a variant of +the mbox format. Each message is surrounded by +lines containing â^A^A^A^Aâ (four +control-A's). The same problems as for mbox apply (also with finding the +right message separator as four control-A's may appear in message +bodies). +
+MH. A radical departure from mbox and MMDF, a mailbox
consists of a directory and each message is stored in a separate file.
The filename indicates the message number (however, this is may not
correspond to the message number Mutt displays). Deleted messages are
-renamed with a comma (,) prepended to the filename. Note: Mutt
+renamed with a comma (â,â) prepended to the filename. Mutt
detects this type of mailbox by looking for either .mh_sequences
-or .xmhcache (needed to distinguish normal directories from MH
-mailboxes).
-
-Maildir. The newest of the mailbox formats, used by the Qmail MTA (a
+or .xmhcache files (needed to distinguish normal directories from MH
+mailboxes). MH is more robust with concurrent clients writing the mailbox,
+but still may suffer from lost flags; message corruption is less likely
+to occur than with mbox/mmdf. It's usually slower to open compared to
+mbox/mmdf since many small files have to be read (Mutt provides
+Section 7.1, âHeader Cachingâ to greatly speed this process up).
+Depending on the environment, MH is not very disk-space efficient.
+
+Maildir. The newest of the mailbox formats, used by the Qmail MTA (a replacement for sendmail). Similar to MH, except that it adds three subdirectories of the mailbox: tmp, new and cur. Filenames for the messages are chosen in such a way they are unique, even when two programs are writing the mailbox over NFS, which means that no file locking -is needed. +is needed and corruption is very unlikely. Maildir maybe +slower to open without caching in Mutt, it too is not very +disk-space efficient depending on the environment. Since no additional +files are used for metadata (which is embedded in the message filenames) +and Maildir is locking-free, it's easy to sync across different machines +using file-level synchronization tools.
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. -
- +path or in path-related configuration variables. Note that these only +work at the beginning of a string.
-! -- refers to your $spoolfile (incoming) mailbox +! â refers to your $spoolfile (incoming) mailbox
-> -- refers to your $mbox file +> â refers to your $mbox file
-< -- refers to your $record file +< â refers to your $record file
-^ -- refers to the current mailbox +^ â refers to the current mailbox
-- or !! -- refers to the file you've last visited +- or !! â refers to the file you've last visited
-Ë -- refers to your home directory +Ë â refers to your home directory
-= or + -- refers to your $folder directory += or + â refers to your $folder directory
-@alias -- refers to the default save folder as determined by the address of the alias +@alias â refers to the default save folder as determined by the address of the alias
- -
+For example, to store a copy of outgoing messages in the folder they +were composed in, +a folder-hook can +be used to set $record: +
+folder-hook . 'set record=^'
Mutt has a few configuration options that make dealing with large
amounts of mail easier. The first thing you must do is to let Mutt
know what addresses you consider to be mailing lists (technically
this does not have to be a mailing list, but that is what it is most
often used for), and what lists you are subscribed to. This is
-accomplished through the use of the lists and subscribe commands in your muttrc.
+accomplished through the use of the lists and subscribe commands in your .muttrc.
Now that Mutt knows what your mailing lists are, it can do several things, the first of which is the ability to show the name of a list through which you received a message (i.e., of a subscribed list) in the index menu display. This is useful to distinguish between -personal and list mail in the same mailbox. In the $index_format variable, the escape ``%L'' -will return the string ``To <list>'' when ``list'' appears in the -``To'' field, and ``Cc <list>'' when it appears in the ``Cc'' -field (otherwise it returns the name of the author). +personal and list mail in the same mailbox. In the $index_format variable, the expando â%Lâ +will print the string âTo <list>â when âlistâ appears in the +âToâ field, and âCc <list>â when it appears in the âCcâ +field (otherwise it prints the name of the author).
-Often times the ``To'' and ``Cc'' fields in mailing list messages
+Often times the âToâ and âCcâ fields in mailing list messages
tend to get quite large. Most people do not bother to remove the
-author of the message they are reply to from the list, resulting in
-two or more copies being sent to that person. The ``list-reply''
-function, which by default is bound to ``L'' in the index menu
+author of the message they reply to from the list, resulting in
+two or more copies being sent to that person. The <list-reply>
+function, which by default is bound to âLâ in the index menu
and pager, helps reduce the clutter by only replying to the
known mailing list addresses instead of all recipients (except as
specified by Mail-Followup-To, see below).
Mutt also supports the Mail-Followup-To header. When you send
a message to a list of recipients which includes one or several
-subscribed mailing lists, and if the $followup_to option is set, mutt will generate
+subscribed mailing lists, and if the $followup_to option is set, Mutt will generate
a Mail-Followup-To header which contains all the recipients to whom
you send this message, but not your address. This indicates that
-group-replies or list-replies (also known as ``followups'') to this
+group-replies or list-replies (also known as âfollowupsâ) to this
message should only be sent to the original recipients of the
message, and not separately to you - you'll receive your copy through
one of the mailing lists you are subscribed to.
Conversely, when group-replying or list-replying to a message which
-has a Mail-Followup-To header, mutt will respect this header if
-the $honor_followup_to configuration
-variable is set. Using list-reply will in this case also make sure
+has a Mail-Followup-To header, Mutt will respect this header if
+the $honor_followup_to configuration
+variable is set. Using list-reply will in this case also make sure
that the reply goes to the mailing list, even if it's not specified
in the list of recipients in the Mail-Followup-To.
-
-Note that, when header editing is enabled, you can create a +
+When header editing is enabled, you can create a
Mail-Followup-To header manually. Mutt will only auto-generate
this header if it doesn't exist when you send the message.
-
+
The other method some mailing list admins use is to generate a -``Reply-To'' field which points back to the mailing list address rather +âReply-Toâ field which points back to the mailing list address rather than the author of the message. This can create problems when trying to reply directly to the author in private, since most mail clients -will automatically reply to the address given in the ``Reply-To'' -field. Mutt uses the $reply_to +will automatically reply to the address given in the âReply-Toâ +field. Mutt uses the $reply_to variable to help decide which address to use. If set to ask-yes or ask-no, you will be prompted as to whether or not you would like to use the address given in -the ``Reply-To'' field, or reply directly to the address given in the -``From'' field. When set to yes, the ``Reply-To'' field will be used when +the âReply-Toâ field, or reply directly to the address given in the +âFromâ field. When set to yes, the âReply-Toâ field will be used when present.
-The ``X-Label:'' header field can be used to further identify mailing +The âX-Label:â header field can be used to further identify mailing lists or list subject matter (or just to annotate messages -individually). The $index_format variable's ``%y'' and -``%Y'' escapes can be used to expand ``X-Label:'' fields in the +individually). The $index_format variable's â%yâ and +â%Yâ expandos can be used to expand âX-Label:â fields in the index, and Mutt's pattern-matcher can match regular expressions to -``X-Label:'' fields with the ``Ëy'' selector. ``X-Label:'' is not a +âX-Label:â fields with the âËyâ selector. âX-Label:â is not a standard message header field, but it can easily be inserted by procmail and other mail filtering agents.
-Lastly, Mutt has the ability to sort the mailbox into -threads. A thread is a group of messages which all relate to the same +Lastly, Mutt has the ability to sort the mailbox into +threads. A thread is a group of messages which all relate to the same subject. This is usually organized into a tree-like structure where a message and all of its replies are represented graphically. If you've ever used a threaded news client, this is the same concept. It makes dealing with large volume mailing lists easier because you can easily delete uninteresting threads and quickly find topics of value. -
+Mutt supports setups with multiple folders, allowing all of them to +be monitored for new mail (see Section 14, âMonitoring Incoming Mailâ for details). +
+When in the index menu and being idle (also see +$timeout), Mutt periodically checks +for new mail in all folders which have been configured via the +mailboxes command. The interval depends on the folder +type: for local/IMAP folders it consults +$mail_check and +$pop_checkinterval +for POP folders. +
+Outside the index menu the directory browser supports checking
+for new mail using the <check-new> function which is
+unbound by default. Pressing TAB will bring up a
+menu showing the files specified by the mailboxes command,
+and indicate which contain new messages. Mutt will automatically enter this
+mode when invoked from the command line with the -y option.
+
+For the pager, index and directory browser menus, Mutt contains the
+<buffy-list> function (bound to â.â by default)
+which will print a list of folders with new mail in the command line at
+the bottom of the screen.
+
+For the index, by default Mutt displays the number of mailboxes with new +mail in the status bar, please refer to the +$status_format +variable for details. +
+When changing folders, Mutt fills the prompt with the first folder from +the mailboxes list containing new mail (if any), pressing +space will cycle through folders with new mail. +
Mutt 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 +correspondents. This allows to clean your mailboxes from these annoyances which make it hard to follow a discussion. -
-Some mailers tend to "forget" to correctly set the "In-Reply-To:" and -"References:" headers when replying to a message. This results in broken +
+Some mailers tend to âforgetâ to correctly set the âIn-Reply-To:â and
+âReferences:â headers when replying to a message. This results in broken
discussions because Mutt has not enough information to guess the correct
threading.
You can fix this by tagging the reply, then moving to the parent message
-and using the ``link-threads'' function (bound to & by default). The
-reply will then be connected to this "parent" message.
+and using the <link-threads> function (bound to & by default). The
+reply will then be connected to this parent message.
You can also connect multiple children at once, tagging them and using the -tag-prefix command (';') or the auto_tag option. -
+<tag-prefix> command (';') or the $auto_tag option.
+
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
+discussion by hitting âreplyâ to any message from the list and changing
the subject to a totally unrelated one.
-You can fix such threads by using the ``break-thread'' function (bound
+You can fix such threads by using the <break-thread> function (bound
by default to #), which will turn the subthread starting from the
current message into a whole different thread.
-
RFC1894 defines a set of MIME content types for relaying information about the status of electronic mail messages. These can be thought of as -``return receipts.'' +âreturn receipts.â
-To support DSN, there are two variables. $dsn_notify is used to request receipts for +To support DSN, there are two variables. $dsn_notify is used to request receipts for different results (such as failed message, message delivered, etc.). -$dsn_return requests how much +$dsn_return requests how much of your message should be returned with the receipt (headers or full message).
-When using $sendmail for mail +When using $sendmail for mail delivery, you need to use either Berkeley sendmail 8.8.x (or greater) a MTA supporting DSN command line options compatible to Sendmail: The -N and -R options can be used by the mail client to make requests as to what type of status messages should be returned. Please consider your MTA documentation whether DSN is supported.
-For SMTP delivery using $smtp_url, it depends on the -capabilities announced by the server whether mutt will attempt to +For SMTP delivery using $smtp_url, it depends on the +capabilities announced by the server whether Mutt will attempt to request DSN or not. -
-If a message contains URLs (unified resource locator = address in the -WWW space like http://www.mutt.org/), it is efficient to get +
+If a message contains URLs, it is efficient to get a menu with all the URLs and start a WWW browser on one of them. This functionality is provided by the external urlview program which can be -retrieved at ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/contrib/ and the configuration commands: - +retrieved at +ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/contrib/ +and the configuration commands:
macro index \cb |urlview\n macro pager \cb |urlview\n -
- -
+This section documents various features that fit nowhere else. +
+Mutt normalizes all e-mail addresses to the simplest form possible. If +an address contains a realname, the form +Joe User <joe@example.com> is used and the +pure e-mail address without angle brackets otherwise, i.e. just +joe@example.com. +
+This normalization affects all headers Mutt generates including aliases. +
+The folder Mutt opens at startup is determined as follows: the folder
+specified in the $MAIL environment variable if
+present. Otherwise, the value of $MAILDIR is taken
+into account. If that isn't present either, Mutt takes the user's
+mailbox in the mailspool as determined at compile-time (which may also
+reside in the home directory). The
+$spoolfile setting overrides
+this selection. Highest priority has the mailbox given with the
+-f command line option.
+