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INFO-DIR-SECTION Emacs network features
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Mairix: (mairix-el).          Emacs interface to the Mairix mail indexer.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY


File: mairix-el,  Node: Top,  Next: About mairix and mairix.el,  Up: (dir)

mairix.el - Mairix interface for Emacs
**************************************

Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
mail.  It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the GPL.

   `mairix.el' is an interface to the mairix search engine.  It allows
you to call mairix with a search term, easily create searches based on
the currently displayed mail, save regularly used searches in your
`.emacs' for future use and lets you call mairix for updating the
database.

   Copyright (C) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation,
Inc.

     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
     document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
     Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software
     Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts
     being "A GNU Manual", and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a)
     below.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
     "GNU Free Documentation License".

     (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have the freedom to copy and
     modify this GNU manual.  Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
     developing GNU and promoting software freedom."

* Menu:

* About mairix and mairix.el::  About the mairix search engine and mairix.el
* Configuring mairix::          How to configure mairix
* Setting up mairix.el::        Set up mairix.el
* Using mairix.el::             List of interactive functions
* Extending mairix.el::         Support your favorite mail reader!


File: mairix-el,  Node: About mairix and mairix.el,  Next: Configuring mairix,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 About mairix and mairix.el
****************************

Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
mail.  It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the GPL.
Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris.  The homepage
can be found at `http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html'

   Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
swish++ or namazu, it has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast.
On current systems, it can easily search through headers and message
bodies of thousands and thousands of mails in well under a second.
Building the database necessary for searching might take a minute or
two, but only has to be done once fully.  Afterwards, the updates are
done incrementally and therefore are really fast, too.  Additionally,
mairix is very easy to set up.

   Mairix presents the search results by either populating a _virtual_
maildir/MH folder with symlinks which point to the "real" message
files, or if mbox is used, it creates a new mbox file which contains
copies of the found messages.

   `mairix.el' is an interface to the mairix search engine.  It allows
you to call mairix with a search term, easily create searches based on
the currently displayed mail, save regularly used searches in your
`.emacs' for future use and lets you call mairix for updating the
database.  It also lets you easily create search queries using graphical
widgets, similar to a customization buffer.

   Currently, `mairix.el' is only tested with mbox output together with
RMail, Gnus, or VM as the Emacs mail program.  However, it should also
work with Maildir or MH, and it should be very easy to integrate other
Emacs mail programs into `mairix.el' (*note Extending mairix.el::).

   If you use Gnus with maildir or MH, you should really use the native
Gnus back end `nnmairix' instead, since it is more tightly integrated
into Gnus and has more features.


File: mairix-el,  Node: Configuring mairix,  Next: Setting up mairix.el,  Prev: About mairix and mairix.el,  Up: Top

2 Configuring mairix
********************

Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a `.mairixrc' file with (at
least) the following entries:

     # Your mail base folder
     base=~/Mail

   This is the base folder for your mails.  All the following
directories, except the one for the database, are relative to this base
folder.

     mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
     maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
     mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...

   Specify all your maildir/nnml folders and mbox files (relative to the
base directory!) you want to index with mairix.  Use colons to separate
different files.  See the man-page for `mairixrc' for details.

     mformat = mbox
     database = ... location of database file ...

   This chooses `mbox' as the output format for the mairix search
results.  Currently, this is the supported format by mairix.el, but
technically it should be possible to also use maildir or mh; it's just
not tested (yet).

   You should make sure that you don't accidentally index the search
results produced by mairix.  This can be done by pointing
`mairix-file-path' to a directory which is surely not indexed by mairix.
Another possibility is to use something like

     omit = mairix*

   in the `.mairixrc' file, and prefix every search file you use with
"mairix".

     database = /home/user/.mairixdatabase

   This specifies the name of the database file.  Note that this is not
relative to the `base' folder.

   See the man page for `mairixrc' for details and further options,
especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
than you are used to.

   Now simply call `mairix' to create the index for the first time.
Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.


File: mairix-el,  Node: Setting up mairix.el,  Next: Using mairix.el,  Prev: Configuring mairix,  Up: Top

3 Setting up mairix.el
**********************

First, put `mairix.el' in your Emacs search path and put `(require
'mairix)' into your `.emacs' file.  Then, use `M-x customize-group
mairix RET' to set your preferences for mairix.el.  The most important
items are _Mairix File Path_, _Mairix Search File_ and _Mairix Mail
Program_.  The latter specifies which mail program should be used to
display the mairix search results.  Currently, RMail, Gnus with mbox
files, and VM are supported.  If you use Gnus with maildir or mh, use
the native Gnus back end nnmairix instead.

   If you use another Emacs mail program which is not yet supported by
mairix.el, it is pretty easy to integrate it.  *Note Extending
mairix.el::, on how to integrate it into mairix.el.

   Now you should be ready to go. *Note Using mairix.el::, for the
available commands.


File: mairix-el,  Node: Using mairix.el,  Next: Extending mairix.el,  Prev: Setting up mairix.el,  Up: Top

4 Using mairix.el
*****************

There are currently no default key bindings for mairix.el, since those
should depend on the used mail program and I personally do not use
RMail, so I wouldn't know which key bindings are reasonable.  I hope
some day this will change and `mairix.el' will come with some good key
bindings for the different mail programs.  Feel free to send me your
suggestions.  Until then, define some bindings yourself.  Here's a quick
and dirty solution with global key definitions I currently use, which
might or might not collide with some other modes.  Simply include them
in your `.emacs' and adapt to your needs:

     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o m") 'mairix-search)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o w") 'mairix-widget-search)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o u") 'mairix-update-database)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o f") 'mairix-search-from-this-article)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o t") 'mairix-search-thread-this-article)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o b") 'mairix-widget-search-based-on-article)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o s") 'mairix-save-search)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o i") 'mairix-use-saved-search)
     (global-set-key (kbd "C-c C-o e") 'mairix-edit-saved-searches)

   Here's a description of the available interactive functions:

`mairix-search'
     Call mairix with a search query.  You will also be asked if you
     want to include whole threads.  The results are saved by mairix in
     the default mail file, which is set through the variable
     `mairix-search-file', which again is prefixed by
     `mairix-file-path'.  The results will then be displayed with the
     chosen mail program.  The command used to call mairix is specified
     by the variable `mairix-command', together with the options
     `mairix-search-options'.  The latter has the default "-F" for
     making searching faster.

`mairix-widget-search'
     Creates a mairix query using graphical widgets.  Very handy if
     you're not (yet) familiar with the mairix search syntax.  Just
     call it to see how it works.  You can then directly call mairix
     with the search term or save it for future use.  Since mairix
     allows almost arbitrary combinations of search commands (like "tc"
     for "to or cc"), you might want to include some other fields.
     This can be easily done by modifying `mairix-widget-fields-list'.

`mairix-widget-search-based-on-article'
     Create a mairix query using graphical widgets, but based on the
     currently displayed article, i.e. the available fields will be
     filled with the current header values.

`mairix-search-from-this-article'
     Search messages from sender of the current article.  This is
     effectively a shortcut for calling `mairix-search' with
     `f:current_from'.  If used with a prefix, include whole threads of
     the found messages.

`mairix-search-thread-this-article'
     Search thread for the current article.  This is effectively a
     shortcut for calling `mairix-search' with `m:msgid' of the current
     article and enabled threads.

`mairix-save-search'
     Save the last search for future use.  You will have to specify a
     name for the search and will then be asked if you want to save
     your saved searches in your `.emacs'.  If you answer with yes, the
     variable `mairix-saved-searches' will be saved in the customize
     section of your `.emacs'.  You can also do this later by using
     `mairix-edit-saved-searches'.

`mairix-use-saved-search'
     Call mairix with a previously saved search.  You will be asked for
     the name of the saved search (use `TAB' for completion).

`mairix-edit-saved-searches'
     Edit your current mairix searches.  This is a simple major mode for
     editing the contents of the variable `mairix-saved-searches'.  You
     can edit and delete searches and save them in your `.emacs'.  You
     can also use this mode to call mairix with one of the saved
     searches.  Additionally, you can specify a file name for mairix to
     use for a certain search instead of the default one.  This is
     useful if you want to open different searches at the same time, or
     if you want to regularly access certain searches without the need
     to call mairix.

`mairix-edit-saved-searches-customize'
     Edit the variable `mairix-saved-searches' in a normal customization
     buffer.  This function exists more or less for historic reasons,
     but maybe you like it.

`mairix-update-database'
     Call mairix to update the database.  Mairix will be called with the
     options `mairix-update-options'; the default is "-F" and "-Q" to
     make updates as fast as possible.  Note that by using these
     options, absolutely no integrity checking is done.  If your
     database somehow gets corrupted, simply delete it and update.  If
     `mairix-synchronous-update' is nil (the default), mairix will be
     called in a subprocess so Emacs will still be usable while the
     update is done.



File: mairix-el,  Node: Extending mairix.el,  Prev: Using mairix.el,  Up: Top

5 Extending mairix.el
*********************

Your favorite Emacs mail program is not supported?  Shame on me.  But
it is really easy to integrate other mail programs into mairix.el.  Just
do the following:

*Write a display function*
     Write a function that displays the mairix search results.  This
     function will be called from `mairix.el' with the mail file/folder
     as the single argument.  For example, the function
     `mairix-rmail-display' is currently used for RMail and
     `mairix-gnus-ephemeral-nndoc' is used for Gnus.

*Write a get-header function*
     Write a function that retrieves a header from the currently active
     mail.  The single argument for this function is a string with the
     header name.  For examples, see `mairix-rmail-fetch-field' and
     `mairix-gnus-fetch-field' for RMail and Gnus, respectively.

*Integrate the functions into mairix.el*
     Add your mail program to the defcustom of `mairix-mail-program'.
     Then add the functions to `mairix-display-functions' and
     `mairix-get-mail-header-functions'.

*Let me know...*
     ...so that I can eventually integrate it into future versions of
     mairix.el.

   And that's it!



Tag Table:
Node: Top973
Node: About mairix and mairix.el2608
Node: Configuring mairix4724
Node: Setting up mairix.el6719
Node: Using mairix.el7675
Node: Extending mairix.el12788

End Tag Table
