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<H2><A NAME="s3">3.</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3">Configuration</A></H2>
<P>While the default configuration (or ``preferences'') make Mutt
usable right out of the box, it is often desirable to tailor Mutt to
suit your own tastes. When Mutt is first invoked, it will attempt to
read the ``system'' configuration file (defaults set by your local
system administrator), unless the ``-n''
<A HREF="manual-6.html#commandline">command line</A> option is specified. This file is typically
<CODE>/usr/local/share/mutt/Muttrc</CODE> or <CODE>/etc/Muttrc</CODE>. Mutt
will next look for a file named <CODE>.muttrc</CODE> in your home
directory. If this file does not exist and your home directory has
a subdirectory named <CODE>.mutt</CODE>, mutt try to load a file named
<CODE>.mutt/muttrc</CODE>. </P>
<P><CODE>.muttrc</CODE> is the file where you will usually place your
<A HREF="manual-6.html#commands">commands</A> to configure Mutt.</P>
<P>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 <CODE>Muttrc-0.88</CODE> file in the system configuration
directory, and you are running version 0.88 of mutt, this file will be
sourced instead of the <CODE>Muttrc</CODE> file. The same is true of the user
configuration file, if you have a file <CODE>.muttrc-0.88.6</CODE> in your home
directory, when you run mutt version 0.88.6, it will source this file
instead of the default <CODE>.muttrc</CODE> file. The version number is the
same which is visible using the ``-v''
<A HREF="manual-6.html#commandline">command line</A> switch or using the <CODE>show-version</CODE> key (default:
V) from the index menu.</P>
<H2><A NAME="muttrc-syntax"></A> <A NAME="ss3.1">3.1</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.1">Syntax of Initialization Files</A>
</H2>
<P>An initialization file consists of a series of
<A HREF="manual-6.html#commands">commands</A>. Each line of the file may contain one or more commands.
When multiple commands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (;).
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
set realname='Mutt user' ; ignore x-
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
The hash mark, or pound sign
(``#''), is used as a ``comment'' character. You can use it to
annotate your initialization file. All text after the comment character
to the end of the line is ignored. For example,</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
my_hdr X-Disclaimer: Why are you listening to me? # This is a comment
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>Single quotes (') and double quotes (") can be used to quote strings
which contain spaces or other special characters. The difference between
the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular shell programs,
namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal string (one that is
not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with a backslash [see
next paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a string for which
should be evaluated. For example, backtics are evaluated inside of double
quotes, but <B>not</B> for single quotes.</P>
<P>\ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh.
For example, if want to put quotes ``"'' inside of a string, you can use
``\'' to force the next character to be a literal instead of interpreted
character.
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
set realname="Michael \"MuttDude\" Elkins"
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>``\\'' means to insert a literal ``\'' into the line.
``\n'' and ``\r'' have their usual C meanings of linefeed and
carriage-return, respectively.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an
initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in
backquotes (``). For example,
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
my_hdr X-Operating-System: `uname -a`
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
The output of the Unix command ``uname -a'' will be substituted before the
line is parsed. Note that since initialization files are line oriented, only
the first line of output from the Unix command will be substituted.</P>
<P>UNIX environments can be accessed like the way it is done in shells like
sh and bash: Prepend the name of the environment by a ``$''. For
example,
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
set record=+sent_on_$HOSTNAME
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>The commands understood by mutt are explained in the next paragraphs.
For a complete list, see the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#commands">command reference</A>.</P>
<H2><A NAME="alias"></A> <A NAME="ss3.2">3.2</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.2">Defining/Using aliases</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>alias</CODE> <EM>key</EM> <EM>address</EM> [ , <EM>address</EM>, ... ]</P>
<P>It's usually very cumbersome to remember or type out the address of someone
you are communicating with. Mutt allows you to create ``aliases'' which map
a short string to a full address.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> if you want to create an alias for a group (by specifying more than
one address), you <B>must</B> separate the addresses with a comma (``,'').</P>
<P>To remove an alias or aliases (``*'' means all aliases):</P>
<P><CODE>unalias</CODE> [ * | <EM>key</EM> <EM>...</EM> ]</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
alias muttdude me@cs.hmc.edu (Michael Elkins)
alias theguys manny, moe, jack
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>Unlike other mailers, Mutt doesn't require aliases to be defined
in a special file. The <CODE>alias</CODE> command can appear anywhere in
a configuration file, as long as this file is
<A HREF="#source">sourced</A>. Consequently, you can have multiple alias files, or
you can have all aliases defined in your muttrc.</P>
<P>On the other hand, the
<A HREF="manual-2.html#create-alias">create-alias</A>
function can use only one file, the one pointed to by the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#alias_file">$alias_file</A> variable (which is
<CODE>~/.muttrc</CODE> by default). This file is not special either,
in the sense that Mutt will happily append aliases to any file, but in
order for the new aliases to take effect you need to explicitly
<A HREF="#source">source</A> this file too.</P>
<P>For example:</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
source /usr/local/share/Mutt.aliases
source ~/.mail_aliases
set alias_file=~/.mail_aliases
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>To use aliases, you merely use the alias at any place in mutt where mutt
prompts for addresses, such as the <EM>To:</EM> or <EM>Cc:</EM> prompt. You can
also enter aliases in your editor at the appropriate headers if you have the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#edit_headers">$edit_headers</A> variable set.</P>
<P>In addition, at the various address prompts, you can use the tab character
to expand a partial alias to the full alias. If there are multiple matches,
mutt will bring up a menu with the matching aliases. In order to be
presented with the full list of aliases, you must hit tab with out a partial
alias, such as at the beginning of the prompt or after a comma denoting
multiple addresses.</P>
<P>In the alias menu, you can select as many aliases as you want with the
<EM>select-entry</EM> key (default: RET), and use the <EM>exit</EM> key
(default: q) to return to the address prompt.</P>
<H2><A NAME="bind"></A> <A NAME="ss3.3">3.3</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.3">Changing the default key bindings</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>bind</CODE> <EM>map</EM> <EM>key</EM> <EM>function</EM></P>
<P>This command allows you to change the default key bindings (operation
invoked when pressing a key).</P>
<P><EM>map</EM> specifies in which menu the binding belongs. The currently
defined maps are:</P>
<P>
<UL>
<LI>generic</LI>
<LI>alias</LI>
<LI>attach</LI>
<LI>browser</LI>
<LI>editor</LI>
<LI>index</LI>
<LI>compose</LI>
<LI>pager</LI>
<LI>pgp</LI>
<LI>postpone</LI>
</UL>
</P>
<P><EM>key</EM> is the key (or key sequence) you wish to bind. To specify a
control character, use the sequence <EM>\Cx</EM>, where <EM>x</EM> is the
letter of the control character (for example, to specify control-A use
``\Ca''). Note that the case of <EM>x</EM> as well as <EM>\C</EM> is
ignored, so that <EM>\CA, \Ca, \cA</EM> and <EM>\ca</EM> are all
equivalent. An alternative form is to specify the key as a three digit
octal number prefixed with a ``\'' (for example <EM>\177</EM> is
equivalent to <EM>\c?</EM>).</P>
<P>In addition, <EM>key</EM> may consist of:</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
\t tab
<tab> tab
\r carriage return
\n newline
\e escape
<esc> escape
<up> up arrow
<down> down arrow
<left> left arrow
<right> right arrow
<pageup> Page Up
<pagedown> Page Down
<backspace> Backspace
<delete> Delete
<insert> Insert
<enter> Enter
<return> Return
<home> Home
<end> End
<space> Space bar
<f1> function key 1
<f10> function key 10
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P><EM>key</EM> does not need to be enclosed in quotes unless it contains a
space (`` '').</P>
<P><EM>function</EM> specifies which action to take when <EM>key</EM> is pressed.
For a complete list of functions, see the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#functions">reference</A>. The special function <CODE>noop</CODE> unbinds the specify key
sequence.</P>
<H2><A NAME="charset-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.4">3.4</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.4">Defining aliases for character sets </A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>charset-hook</CODE> <EM>alias</EM> <EM>charset</EM><BR>
Usage: <CODE>iconv-hook</CODE> <EM>charset</EM> <EM>local-charset</EM></P>
<P>The <CODE>charset-hook</CODE> command defines an alias for a character set.
This is useful to properly display messages which are tagged with a
character set name not known to mutt.</P>
<P>The <CODE>iconv-hook</CODE> command defines a system-specific name for a
character set. This is helpful when your systems character
conversion library insists on using strange, system-specific names
for character sets.</P>
<H2><A NAME="folder-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.5">3.5</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.5">Setting variables based upon mailbox</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>folder-hook</CODE> [!]<EM>regexp</EM> <EM>command</EM></P>
<P>It is often desirable to change settings based on which mailbox you are
reading. The folder-hook command provides a method by which you can execute
any configuration command. <EM>pattern</EM> is a regular expression specifying
in which mailboxes to execute <EM>command</EM> before loading. If a mailbox
matches multiple folder-hook's, they are executed in the order given in the
muttrc.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> if you use the ``!'' shortcut for
<A HREF="manual-6.html#spoolfile">$spoolfile</A> at the beginning of the pattern, you must place it
inside of double or single quotes in order to distinguish it from the
logical <EM>not</EM> operator for the expression.</P>
<P>Note that the settings are <EM>not</EM> restored when you leave the mailbox.
For example, a command action to perform is to change the sorting method
based upon the mailbox being read:</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
folder-hook mutt set sort=threads
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>However, the sorting method is not restored to its previous value when
reading a different mailbox. To specify a <EM>default</EM> command, use the
pattern ``.'':</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
folder-hook . set sort=date-sent
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<H2><A NAME="macro"></A> <A NAME="ss3.6">3.6</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.6">Keyboard macros</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>macro</CODE> <EM>menu</EM> <EM>key</EM> <EM>sequence</EM> [ <EM>description</EM> ]</P>
<P>Macros are useful when you would like a single key to perform a series of
actions. When you press <EM>key</EM> in menu <EM>menu</EM>, Mutt will behave as if
you had typed <EM>sequence</EM>. So if you have a common sequence of commands
you type, you can create a macro to execute those commands with a single
key.</P>
<P><EM>key</EM> and <EM>sequence</EM> are expanded by the same rules as the
<A HREF="#bind">key bindings</A>. There are some additions however. The
first is that control characters in <EM>sequence</EM> can also be specified
as <EM>^x</EM>. In order to get a caret (`^'') you need to use
<EM>^^</EM>. Secondly, to specify a certain key such as <EM>up</EM>
or to invoke a function directly, you can use the format
<EM><key name></EM> and <EM><function name></EM>. For a listing of key
names see the section on
<A HREF="#bind">key bindings</A>. Functions
are listed in the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#functions">function reference</A>.</P>
<P>The advantage with using function names directly is that the macros will
work regardless of the current key bindings, so they are not dependent on
the user having particular key definitions. This makes them more robust
and portable, and also facilitates defining of macros in files used by more
than one user (eg. the system Muttrc).</P>
<P>Optionally you can specify a descriptive text after <EM>sequence</EM>,
which is shown in the help screens.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> Macro definitions (if any) listed in the help screen(s), are
silently truncated at the screen width, and are not wrapped. </P>
<H2><A NAME="color"></A> <A NAME="ss3.7">3.7</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.7">Using color and mono video attributes</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>color</CODE> <EM>object</EM> <EM>foreground</EM> <EM>background</EM> [ <EM>regexp</EM> ]<BR>
Usage: <CODE>color</CODE> index <EM>foreground</EM> <EM>background</EM> <EM>pattern</EM><BR>
Usage: <CODE>uncolor</CODE> index <EM>pattern</EM> [ <EM>pattern</EM> ... ]<BR></P>
<P>If your terminal supports color, you can spice up Mutt by creating your own
color scheme. To define the color of an object (type of information), you
must specify both a foreground color <B>and</B> a background color (it is not
possible to only specify one or the other).</P>
<P><EM>object</EM> can be one of:</P>
<P>
<UL>
<LI>attachment</LI>
<LI>body (match <EM>regexp</EM> in the body of messages)</LI>
<LI>bold (hiliting bold patterns in the body of messages)</LI>
<LI>error (error messages printed by Mutt)</LI>
<LI>header (match <EM>regexp</EM> in the message header)</LI>
<LI>hdrdefault (default color of the message header in the pager)</LI>
<LI>index (match <EM>pattern</EM> in the message index)</LI>
<LI>indicator (arrow or bar used to indicate the current item in a menu)</LI>
<LI>markers (the ``+'' markers at the beginning of wrapped lines in the pager)</LI>
<LI>message (informational messages)</LI>
<LI>normal</LI>
<LI>quoted (text matching
<A HREF="manual-6.html#quote_regexp">$quote_regexp</A> in the body of a message)</LI>
<LI>quoted1, quoted2, ..., quoted<B>N</B> (higher levels of quoting)</LI>
<LI>search (hiliting of words in the pager)</LI>
<LI>signature</LI>
<LI>status (mode lines used to display info about the mailbox or message)</LI>
<LI>tilde (the ``~'' used to pad blank lines in the pager)</LI>
<LI>tree (thread tree drawn in the message index and attachment menu)</LI>
<LI>underline (hiliting underlined patterns in the body of messages)</LI>
</UL>
</P>
<P><EM>foreground</EM> and <EM>background</EM> can be one of the following:</P>
<P>
<UL>
<LI>white</LI>
<LI>black</LI>
<LI>green</LI>
<LI>magenta</LI>
<LI>blue</LI>
<LI>cyan</LI>
<LI>yellow</LI>
<LI>red</LI>
<LI>default</LI>
<LI>color<EM>x</EM></LI>
</UL>
</P>
<P><EM>foreground</EM> can optionally be prefixed with the keyword <CODE>bright</CODE> to make
the foreground color boldfaced (e.g., <CODE>brightred</CODE>).</P>
<P>If your terminal supports it, the special keyword <EM>default</EM> can be
used as a transparent color. The value <EM>brightdefault</EM> is also valid.
If Mutt is linked against the <EM>S-Lang</EM> library, you also need to set
the <EM>COLORFGBG</EM> environment variable to the default colors of your
terminal for this to work; for example (for Bourne-like shells):</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
set COLORFGBG="green;black"
export COLORFGBG
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> The <EM>S-Lang</EM> library requires you to use the <EM>lightgray</EM>
and <EM>brown</EM> keywords instead of <EM>white</EM> and <EM>yellow</EM> when
setting this variable.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> The uncolor command can be applied to the index object only. It
removes entries from the list. You <B>must</B> specify the same pattern
specified in the color command for it to be removed. The pattern ``*'' is
a special token which means to clear the color index list of all entries.</P>
<P>Mutt also recognizes the keywords <EM>color0</EM>, <EM>color1</EM>, ...,
<EM>color</EM><B>N-1</B> (<B>N</B> being the number of colors supported
by your terminal). This is useful when you remap the colors for your
display (for example by changing the color associated with <EM>color2</EM>
for your xterm), since color names may then lose their normal meaning.</P>
<P>If your terminal does not support color, it is still possible change the video
attributes through the use of the ``mono'' command:</P>
<P>Usage: <CODE>mono</CODE> <EM><object> <attribute></EM> [ <EM>regexp</EM> ]<BR>
Usage: <CODE>mono</CODE> index <EM>attribute</EM> <EM>pattern</EM><BR>
Usage: <CODE>unmono</CODE> index <EM>pattern</EM> [ <EM>pattern</EM> ... ]<BR></P>
<P>where <EM>attribute</EM> is one of the following:</P>
<P>
<UL>
<LI>none</LI>
<LI>bold</LI>
<LI>underline</LI>
<LI>reverse</LI>
<LI>standout</LI>
</UL>
</P>
<H2><A NAME="ignore"></A> <A NAME="ss3.8">3.8</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.8">Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>[un]ignore</CODE> <EM>pattern</EM> [ <EM>pattern</EM> ... ]</P>
<P>Messages often have many header fields added by automatic processing systems,
or which may not seem useful to display on the screen. This command allows
you to specify header fields which you don't normally want to see.</P>
<P>You do not need to specify the full header field name. For example,
``ignore content-'' will ignore all header fields that begin with the pattern
``content-''.</P>
<P>To remove a previously added token from the list, use the ``unignore'' command.
Note that if you do ``ignore x-'' it is not possible to ``unignore x-mailer,''
for example. The ``unignore'' command does <B>not</B> make Mutt display headers
with the given pattern.</P>
<P>``unignore *'' will remove all tokens from the ignore list.</P>
<P>For example:
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
# Sven's draconian header weeding
ignore *
unignore from date subject to cc
unignore organization organisation x-mailer: x-newsreader: x-mailing-list:
unignore posted-to:
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<H2><A NAME="lists"></A> <A NAME="ss3.9">3.9</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.9">Mailing lists</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>[un]lists</CODE> <EM>address</EM> [ <EM>address</EM> ... ]<BR>
Usage: <CODE>[un]subscribe</CODE> <EM>address</EM> [ <EM>address</EM> ... ]</P>
<P>Mutt has a few nice features for
<A HREF="manual-4.html#using_lists">handling mailing lists</A>. 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
<A HREF="manual-2.html#list-reply">list-reply</A> 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
<A HREF="manual-6.html#followup_to">followup_to</A> configuration variable.</P>
<P>More precisely, Mutt maintains lists of known and subscribed mailing
lists. Every subscribed mailing list is known. To mark
a mailing list as known, use the ``lists'' command. To mark it as
subscribed, use ``subscribe''.</P>
<P>Specify as much of the address as you need to to remove ambiguity. For
example, if you've subscribed to the Mutt mailing list, you will receive mail
addresssed to <EM>mutt-users@mutt.org</EM>. So, to tell Mutt that this is a
mailing list, you could add ``lists mutt-users'' to your
initialization file. To tell mutt that you are subscribed to it,
add ``subscribe mutt-users'' to your initialization file instead.
If you also happen to get mail from someone whose address is
<EM>mutt-users@example.com</EM>, you could use ``lists mutt-users@mutt.org''
or ``subscribe mutt-users@mutt.org'' to
match only mail from the actual list.</P>
<P>The ``unlists'' command is used to remove a token from the list of
known and subscribed mailing-lists. Use ``unlists *'' to remove all
tokens.</P>
<P>To remove a mailing list from the list of subscribed mailing lists,
but keep it on the list of known mailing lists, use ``unsubscribe''.</P>
<H2><A NAME="mbox-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.10">3.10</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.10">Using Multiple spool mailboxes</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>mbox-hook</CODE> [!]<EM>pattern</EM> <EM>mailbox</EM></P>
<P>This command is used to move read messages from a specified mailbox to a
different mailbox automatically when you quit or change folders.
<EM>pattern</EM> is a regular expression specifying the mailbox to treat as a
``spool'' mailbox and <EM>mailbox</EM> specifies where mail should be saved when
read.</P>
<P>Unlike some of the other <EM>hook</EM> commands, only the <EM>first</EM> matching
pattern is used (it is not possible to save read mail in more than a single
mailbox).</P>
<H2><A NAME="mailboxes"></A> <A NAME="ss3.11">3.11</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.11">Defining mailboxes which receive mail</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>mailboxes</CODE> [!]<EM>filename</EM> [ <EM>filename</EM> ... ]</P>
<P>This command specifies folders which can receive mail and
which will be checked for new messages. By default, the
main menu status bar displays how many of these folders have
new messages.</P>
<P>When changing folders, pressing <EM>space</EM> will cycle
through folders with new mail.</P>
<P>Pressing TAB in the directory browser will bring up a menu showing the files
specified by the <CODE>mailboxes</CODE> command, and indicate which contain new
messages. Mutt will automatically enter this mode when invoked from the
command line with the <CODE>-y</CODE> option.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> new mail is detected by comparing the last modification time to
the last access time. Utilities like <CODE>biff</CODE> or <CODE>frm</CODE> or any other
program which accesses the mailbox might cause Mutt to never detect new mail
for that mailbox if they do not properly reset the access time. Backup
tools are another common reason for updated access times.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> the filenames in the <CODE>mailboxes</CODE> command are resolved when
the command is executed, so if these names contain
<A HREF="manual-4.html#shortcuts">shortcut characters</A> (such as ``='' and ``!''), any variable
definition that affect these characters (like
<A HREF="manual-6.html#folder">$folder</A> and
<A HREF="manual-6.html#spoolfile">$spoolfile</A>)
should be executed before the <CODE>mailboxes</CODE> command.</P>
<H2><A NAME="my_hdr"></A> <A NAME="ss3.12">3.12</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.12">User defined headers</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage:<BR>
<CODE>my_hdr</CODE> <EM>string</EM><BR>
<CODE>unmy_hdr</CODE> <EM>field</EM> [ <EM>field</EM> ... ]</P>
<P>The ``my_hdr'' command allows you to create your own header
fields which will be added to every message you send.</P>
<P>For example, if you would like to add an ``Organization:'' header field to
all of your outgoing messages, you can put the command</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
my_hdr Organization: A Really Big Company, Anytown, USA
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>in your <CODE>.muttrc</CODE>.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> space characters are <EM>not</EM> allowed between the keyword and
the colon (``:''). The standard for electronic mail (RFC822) says that
space is illegal there, so Mutt enforces the rule.</P>
<P>If you would like to add a header field to a single message, you should
either set the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#edit_headers">edit_headers</A> variable,
or use the <EM>edit-headers</EM> function (default: ``E'') in the send-menu so
that you can edit the header of your message along with the body.</P>
<P>To remove user defined header fields, use the ``unmy_hdr''
command. You may specify an asterisk (``*'') to remove all header
fields, or the fields to remove. For example, to remove all ``To'' and
``Cc'' header fields, you could use:</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
unmy_hdr to cc
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<H2><A NAME="hdr_order"></A> <A NAME="ss3.13">3.13</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.13">Defining the order of headers when viewing messages</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>hdr_order</CODE> <EM>header1</EM> <EM>header2</EM> <EM>header3</EM></P>
<P>With this command, you can specify an order in which mutt will attempt
to present headers to you when viewing messages.</P>
<P>``unhdr_order *'' will clear all previous headers from the order list,
thus removing the header order effects set by the system-wide startup
file.</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
hdr_order From Date: From: To: Cc: Subject:
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<H2><A NAME="save-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.14">3.14</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.14">Specify default save filename</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>save-hook</CODE> [!]<EM>pattern</EM> <EM>filename</EM></P>
<P>This command is used to override the default filename used when saving
messages. <EM>filename</EM> will be used as the default filename if the message is
<EM>From:</EM> an address matching <EM>regexp</EM> or if you are the author and the
message is addressed <EM>to:</EM> something matching <EM>regexp</EM>.</P>
<P>See
<A HREF="manual-4.html#pattern_hook">Message Matching in Hooks</A> for information on the exact format of <EM>pattern</EM>.</P>
<P>Examples:</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
save-hook me@(turing\\.)?cs\\.hmc\\.edu$ +elkins
save-hook aol\\.com$ +spam
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>Also see the
<A HREF="#fcc-save-hook">fcc-save-hook</A> command.</P>
<H2><A NAME="fcc-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.15">3.15</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.15">Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>fcc-hook</CODE> [!]<EM>pattern</EM> <EM>mailbox</EM></P>
<P>This command is used to save outgoing mail in a mailbox other than
<A HREF="manual-6.html#record">$record</A>. Mutt searches the initial list of
message recipients for the first matching <EM>regexp</EM> and uses <EM>mailbox</EM>
as the default Fcc: mailbox. If no match is found the message will be saved
to
<A HREF="manual-6.html#record">$record</A> mailbox.</P>
<P>See
<A HREF="manual-4.html#pattern_hook">Message Matching in Hooks</A> for information on the exact format of <EM>pattern</EM>.</P>
<P>Example: <CODE>fcc-hook aol.com$ +spammers</CODE></P>
<P>The above will save a copy of all messages going to the aol.com domain to
the `+spammers' mailbox by default. Also see the
<A HREF="#fcc-save-hook">fcc-save-hook</A> command.</P>
<H2><A NAME="fcc-save-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.16">3.16</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.16">Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at once</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>fcc-save-hook</CODE> [!]<EM>pattern</EM> <EM>mailbox</EM></P>
<P>This command is a shortcut, equivalent to doing both a
<A HREF="#fcc-hook">fcc-hook</A>
and a
<A HREF="#save-hook">save-hook</A> with its arguments.</P>
<H2><A NAME="send-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.17">3.17</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.17">Change settings based upon message recipients</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>send-hook</CODE> [!]<EM>pattern</EM> <EM>command</EM></P>
<P>This command can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands based
upon recipients of the message. <EM>pattern</EM> is a regular expression
matching the desired address. <EM>command</EM> is executed when <EM>regexp</EM>
matches recipients of the message. When multiple matches occur, commands are
executed in the order they are specified in the muttrc.</P>
<P>See
<A HREF="manual-4.html#pattern_hook">Message Matching in Hooks</A> for information on the exact format of <EM>pattern</EM>.</P>
<P>Example: <CODE>send-hook mutt "set mime_forward signature=''"</CODE></P>
<P>Another typical use for this command is to change the values of the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#attribution">$attribution</A>,
<A HREF="manual-6.html#signature">$signature</A> and
<A HREF="manual-6.html#locale">$locale</A>
variables in order to change the language of the attributions and
signatures based upon the recipients.</P>
<P><B>Note:</B> the send-hook's are only executed ONCE after getting the initial
list of recipients. Adding a recipient after replying or editing the
message will NOT cause any send-hook to be executed. Also note that
my_hdr commands which modify recipient headers, or the message's
subject, don't have any effect on the current message when executed
from a send-hook.</P>
<H2><A NAME="message-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.18">3.18</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.18">Change settings before formatting a message</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>message-hook</CODE> [!]<EM>pattern</EM> <EM>command</EM></P>
<P>This command can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands
before viewing or formatting a message based upon information about the message.
<EM>command</EM> is executed if the <EM>pattern</EM> matches the message to be
displayed. When multiple matches occur, commands are executed in the order
they are specified in the muttrc.</P>
<P>See
<A HREF="manual-4.html#pattern_hook">Message Matching in Hooks</A> for
information on the exact format of <EM>pattern</EM>.</P>
<P>Example:
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
message-hook ~A 'set pager=builtin'
message-hook '~f freshmeat-news' 'set pager="less \"+/^ subject: .*\""'
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<H2><A NAME="pgp-hook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.19">3.19</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.19">Choosing the PGP key of the recipient</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>pgp-hook</CODE> <EM>pattern</EM> <EM>keyid</EM></P>
<P>When encrypting messages with PGP, you may want to associate a certain
PGP 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 would
normally use. The pgp-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.</P>
<H2><A NAME="push"></A> <A NAME="ss3.20">3.20</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.20">Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>push</CODE> <EM>string</EM></P>
<P>This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer. The string may
contain control characters, key names and function names like the sequence
string in the
<A HREF="#macro">macro</A> command. You may use it to
automatically run a sequence of commands at startup, or when entering
certain folders.</P>
<H2><A NAME="exec"></A> <A NAME="ss3.21">3.21</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.21">Executing functions</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>exec</CODE> <EM>function</EM> [ <EM>function</EM> ... ]</P>
<P>This command can be used to execute any function. Functions are
listed in the
<A HREF="manual-6.html#functions">function reference</A>.
``exec function'' is equivalent to ``push <function>''.</P>
<H2><A NAME="score-command"></A> <A NAME="ss3.22">3.22</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.22">Message Scoring</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>score</CODE> <EM>pattern</EM> <EM>value</EM><BR>
Usage: <CODE>unscore</CODE> <EM>pattern</EM> [ <EM>pattern</EM> ... ]</P>
<P>The <CODE>score</CODE> commands adds <EM>value</EM> to a message's score if <EM>pattern</EM>
matches it. <EM>pattern</EM> is a string in the format described in the
<A HREF="manual-4.html#patterns">patterns</A> section (note: For efficiency reasons, patterns
which scan information not available in the index, such as <CODE>~b</CODE>,
<CODE>~B</CODE> or <CODE>~h</CODE>, may not be used). <EM>value</EM> is a
positive or negative integer. A message's final score is the sum total of all
matching <CODE>score</CODE> entries. However, you may optionally prefix <EM>value</EM> 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>
<P>The <CODE>unscore</CODE> command removes score entries from the list. You <B>must</B>
specify the same pattern specified in the <CODE>score</CODE> command for it to be
removed. The pattern ``*'' is a special token which means to clear the list
of all score entries.</P>
<H2><A NAME="set"></A> <A NAME="ss3.23">3.23</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.23">Setting variables</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>set</CODE> [no|inv]<EM>variable</EM>[=<EM>value</EM>] [ <EM>variable</EM> ... ]<BR>
Usage: <CODE>toggle</CODE> <EM>variable</EM> [<EM>variable</EM> ... ]<BR>
Usage: <CODE>unset</CODE> <EM>variable</EM> [<EM>variable</EM> ... ]<BR>
Usage: <CODE>reset</CODE> <EM>variable</EM> [<EM>variable</EM> ... ]</P>
<P>This command is used to set (and unset)
<A HREF="manual-6.html#variables">configuration variables</A>. There are four basic types of variables:
boolean, number, string and quadoption. <EM>boolean</EM> variables can be
<EM>set</EM> (true) or <EM>unset</EM> (false). <EM>number</EM> variables can be
assigned a positive integer value.</P>
<P><EM>string</EM> variables consist of any number of printable characters.
<EM>strings</EM> must be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or tabs. You
may also use the ``C'' escape sequences <B>\n</B> and <B>\t</B> for
newline and tab, respectively.</P>
<P><EM>quadoption</EM> variables are used to control whether or not to be prompted
for certain actions, or to specify a default action. A value of <EM>yes</EM>
will cause the action to be carried out automatically as if you had answered
yes to the question. Similarly, a value of <EM>no</EM> will cause the the
action to be carried out as if you had answered ``no.'' A value of
<EM>ask-yes</EM> will cause a prompt with a default answer of ``yes'' and
<EM>ask-no</EM> will provide a default answer of ``no.''</P>
<P>Prefixing a variable with ``no'' will unset it. Example: <CODE>set noaskbcc</CODE>.</P>
<P>For <EM>boolean</EM> variables, you may optionally prefix the variable name with
<CODE>inv</CODE> to toggle the value (on or off). This is useful when writing
macros. Example: <CODE>set invsmart_wrap</CODE>.</P>
<P>The <CODE>toggle</CODE> command automatically prepends the <CODE>inv</CODE> prefix to all
specified variables.</P>
<P>The <CODE>unset</CODE> command automatically prepends the <CODE>no</CODE> prefix to all
specified variables.</P>
<P>Using the enter-command function in the <EM>index</EM> menu, you can query the
value of a variable by prefixing the name of the variable with a question
mark:</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
set ?allow_8bit
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</P>
<P>The question mark is actually only required for boolean and quadoption
variables.</P>
<P>The <CODE>reset</CODE> command resets all given variables to the compile time
defaults (hopefully mentioned in this manual). If you use the command
<CODE>set</CODE> and prefix the variable with ``&'' this has the same
behavior as the reset command.</P>
<P>With the <CODE>reset</CODE> command there exists the special variable ``all'',
which allows you to reset all variables to their system defaults.</P>
<H2><A NAME="source"></A> <A NAME="ss3.24">3.24</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.24">Reading initialization commands from another file</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>source</CODE> <EM>filename</EM></P>
<P>This command allows the inclusion of initialization commands
from other files. For example, I place all of my aliases in
<CODE>~/.mail_aliases</CODE> so that I can make my
<CODE>~/.muttrc</CODE> readable and keep my aliases private.</P>
<P>If the filename begins with a tilde (``~''), it will be expanded to the
path of your home directory.</P>
<P>If the filename ends with a vertical bar (|), then <EM>filename</EM> is
considered to be an executable program from which to read input (eg.
<CODE>source ~</CODE>bin/myscript|/).</P>
<H2><A NAME="unhook"></A> <A NAME="ss3.25">3.25</A> <A HREF="manual.html#toc3.25">Removing hooks</A>
</H2>
<P>Usage: <CODE>unhook</CODE> [ * | <EM>hook-type</EM> ]</P>
<P>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 <CODE>unhook send-hook</CODE>.</P>
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