* nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
@end menu
-@c FIXME: The markup in this section needs improvement. E.g. add
-@c @sample{...}, maybe remove some @strong{...}, convert ` - ' to `---`,
-@c ...
+@c FIXME: The markup in this section needs improvement, add @sample{...}
@node About mairix
@subsubsection About mairix
@node nnmairix requirements
@subsubsection nnmairix requirements
-Mairix searches local mail - that means, mairix absolutely must have
+Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
-ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You
-@strong{must} use one of these back ends for using
-@code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or
-@code{nnmh}, won't work.
+ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
+one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
+@code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
-does not - at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
+does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
-@code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end - it's actually more like a
+@code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like a
wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores the
searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three different
mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir} or
alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
@code{nnmaildir} server exclusively for mairix. However, a special case
exists if you want to use mairix remotely on an IMAP server with
-@code{nnimap} - here the mairix folders and your other mail must be on
+@code{nnimap}---here the mairix folders and your other mail must be on
the same @code{nnimap} back end.
@node Setting up mairix
@code{nnimap}, this base path has to point to the mail path where the
@acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
-@c FIXME: Add typical examples?
@example
maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
-@c FIXME: Add typical examples?
@example
mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
database= ... location of database file ...
search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
-See the man pages for mairix and mairixrc for further options. Now
-simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
+To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
+
+@example
+base=~/Maildir
+maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
+mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
+mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
+mformat=maildir
+omit=zz_mairix-*
+database=~/.mairixdatabase
+@end example
+
+In this case, the base path is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
+folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
+colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
+because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
+@code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
+@code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
+to be specified relative to the @code{base} path, the @code{../Mail}
+notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
+to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
+dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
+old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
+The other lines should be obvious.
+
+See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
+especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
+than you are used to.
+
+Now simply call @code{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.
@node Configuring nnmairix
@subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
@itemize @bullet
@item
-The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server - choose whatever you
+The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
want.
@item
groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
-@samp{david@@foobar.com} - it will now show up in two groups, the
+@samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
-marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group - in the ``real''
+marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
mail group it will be still shown as unread.
You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix search
for determining the file path of the article. This, of course, is way
-slower than the registry - if you set hundreds or even thousands of
+slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation
by setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
-So far so good - but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
+So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
group? There are two options: You may simply use
@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
-usually get @strong{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
+usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
@code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
@samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
@item
If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
@code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
-@code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @strong{extra careful} if
-you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} - mails which are
+@code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @emph{extra careful} if
+you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
@item
-Therefore: @strong{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
+Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
@item
@item
@code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
-called - it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
+called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
@code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
@item
-The following only applies if you @strong{don't} use the mentioned patch
+The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
projects / gnus / commitdiff