Info Catalog gnus: nnmairix requirements gnus: nnmairix gnus: Setting up mairix

gnus: What nnmairix does

 
 8.2.3 What nnmairix does
 ------------------------
 
 The back end ‘nnmairix’ enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the database.
 While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use several
 pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g., to quickly search for
 all mails from the sender of the current message or to display the whole
 thread associated with the message, even if the mails are in different
 folders.
 
    Additionally, you can create permanent ‘nnmairix’ groups which are
 bound to certain mairix searches.  This way, you can easily create a
 group containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject
 line or even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID.  If you
 check for new mail in these folders (e.g., by pressing ‘g’ or ‘M-g’),
 they automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
 
    You might ask why you need ‘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 _might_ work, but often
 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
 its back.  Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g., if you
 use mairix with an IMAP server (I had Dovecot complaining about corrupt
 index files when mairix changed the contents of the search group).
 Using ‘nnmairix’ should circumvent these problems.
 
    ‘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: ‘nnml’, ‘nnmaildir’ or ‘nnimap’.
 ‘nnmairix’ will call the mairix binary so that the search results are
 stored in folders named ‘zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>’ on this mail back
 end, but it will present these folders in the Gnus front end only with
 ‘<NAME>’.  You can use an existing mail back end where you already store
 your mail, but if you’re uncomfortable with ‘nnmairix’ creating new mail
 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create, e.g., a new
 ‘nnmaildir’ or ‘nnml’ server exclusively for mairix, but then make sure
 those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail (nnmairix
 caveats).  A special case exists if you want to use mairix remotely on
 an IMAP server with ‘nnimap’—here the mairix folders and your other mail
 must be on the same ‘nnimap’ back end.
 

Info Catalog gnus: nnmairix requirements gnus: nnmairix gnus: Setting up mairix