X-Git-Url: https://git.notmuchmail.org/git?p=notmuch;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fman7%2Fnotmuch-search-terms.rst;h=8a5eeb189179a41220139f634b6499172285d379;hp=1acdaa0b38de0eeef0a3013ff38ac395c3606505;hb=f2e6f76a046492650713c1c3f1f1a19f49de59ea;hpb=0969c8be09deb9b7d880d573c7410b2b5e5420e0 diff --git a/doc/man7/notmuch-search-terms.rst b/doc/man7/notmuch-search-terms.rst index 1acdaa0b..8a5eeb18 100644 --- a/doc/man7/notmuch-search-terms.rst +++ b/doc/man7/notmuch-search-terms.rst @@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ SYNOPSIS **notmuch** **dump** [--format=(batch-tag|sup)] [--] [--output=<*file*>] [--] [<*search-term*> ...] +**notmuch** **reindex** [option ...] <*search-term*> ... + **notmuch** **search** [option ...] <*search-term*> ... **notmuch** **show** [option ...] <*search-term*> ... @@ -28,106 +30,291 @@ recipient headers. As a special case, a search string consisting of exactly a single asterisk ("\*") will match all messages. +Search prefixes +--------------- + In addition to free text, the following prefixes can be used to force terms to match against specific portions of an email, (where -indicate user-supplied values): +indicate user-supplied values). + +If notmuch is built with **Xapian Field Processors** (see below) some +of the prefixes with forms can be also used to restrict the +results to those whose value matches a regular expression (see +**regex(7)**) delimited with //, for example:: + + notmuch search 'from:"/bob@.*[.]example[.]com/"' + +from: or from:// + The **from:** prefix is used to match the name or address of + the sender of an email message. + +to: + The **to:** prefix is used to match the names or addresses of any + recipient of an email message, (whether To, Cc, or Bcc). + +subject: or subject:// + Any term prefixed with **subject:** will match only text from the + subject of an email. Searching for a phrase in the subject is + supported by including quotation marks around the phrase, + immediately following **subject:**. + +attachment: + The **attachment:** prefix can be used to search for specific + filenames (or extensions) of attachments to email messages. + +mimetype: + The **mimetype:** prefix will be used to match text from the + content-types of MIME parts within email messages (as specified by + the sender). + +tag: or tag:// or is: or is:// + For **tag:** and **is:** valid tag values include **inbox** and + **unread** by default for new messages added by **notmuch new** as + well as any other tag values added manually with **notmuch tag**. + +id: or mid: or mid:// + For **id:** and **mid:**, message ID values are the literal + contents of the Message-ID: header of email messages, but without + the '<', '>' delimiters. + +thread: + The **thread:** prefix can be used with the thread ID values that + are generated internally by notmuch (and do not appear in email + messages). These thread ID values can be seen in the first column + of output from **notmuch search** + +thread:{} + If notmuch is built with **Xapian Field Processors** (see below), + threads may be searched for indirectly by providing an arbitrary + notmuch query in **{}**. For example, the following returns + threads containing a message from mallory and one (not necessarily + the same message) with Subject containing the word "crypto". + + :: + + % notmuch search 'thread:"{from:mallory}" and thread:"{subject:crypto}"' + + The performance of such queries can vary wildly. To understand + this, the user should think of the query **thread:{}** + as expanding to all of the thread IDs which match ****; + notmuch then performs a second search using the expanded query. + +path: or path:/** or path:// + The **path:** prefix searches for email messages that are in + particular directories within the mail store. The directory must + be specified relative to the top-level maildir (and without the + leading slash). By default, **path:** matches messages in the + specified directory only. The "/\*\*" suffix can be used to match + messages in the specified directory and all its subdirectories + recursively. **path:""** matches messages in the root of the mail + store and, likewise, **path:\*\*** matches all messages. + + **path:** will find a message if *any* copy of that message is in + the specific directory. + +folder: or folder:// + The **folder:** prefix searches for email messages by maildir or + MH folder. For MH-style folders, this is equivalent to + **path:**. For maildir, this includes messages in the "new" and + "cur" subdirectories. The exact syntax for maildir folders depends + on your mail configuration. For maildir++, **folder:""** matches + the inbox folder (which is the root in maildir++), other folder + names always start with ".", and nested folders are separated by + "."s, such as **folder:.classes.topology**. For "file system" + maildir, the inbox is typically **folder:INBOX** and nested + folders are separated by slashes, such as + **folder:classes/topology**. + + **folder:** will find a message if *any* copy of that message is + in the specific folder. + +date:.. or date: + The **date:** prefix can be used to restrict the results to only + messages within a particular time range (based on the Date: + header). + + See **DATE AND TIME SEARCH** below for details on the range + expression, and supported syntax for and date and + time expressions. + + The time range can also be specified using timestamps without + including the date prefix using a syntax of: + + .. + + Each timestamp is a number representing the number of seconds + since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. Specifying a time range this way + is considered legacy and predates the date prefix. + +lastmod:.. + The **lastmod:** prefix can be used to restrict the result by the + database revision number of when messages were last modified (tags + were added/removed or filenames changed). This is usually used in + conjunction with the **--uuid** argument to **notmuch search** to + find messages that have changed since an earlier query. + +query: + The **query:** prefix allows queries to refer to previously saved + queries added with **notmuch-config(1)**. Named queries are only + available if notmuch is built with **Xapian Field Processors** + (see below). + +property:= + The **property:** prefix searches for messages with a particular + = property pair. Properties are used internally by + notmuch (and extensions) to add metadata to messages. A given key + can be present on a given message with several different values. + See **notmuch-properties(7)** for more details. + +Operators +--------- -- from: +In addition to individual terms, multiple terms can be combined with +Boolean operators (**and**, **or**, **not**, and **xor**). Each term +in the query will be implicitly connected by a logical AND if no +explicit operator is provided (except that terms with a common prefix +will be implicitly combined with OR). The shorthand '-' can be +used for 'not ' but unfortunately this does not work at the +start of an expression. Parentheses can also be used to control the +combination of the Boolean operators, but will have to be protected +from interpretation by the shell, (such as by putting quotation marks +around any parenthesized expression). -- to: +In addition to the standard boolean operators, Xapian provides several +operators specific to text searching. -- subject: +:: -- attachment: + notmuch search term1 NEAR term2 -- tag: (or is:) +will return results where term1 is within 10 words of term2. The +threshold can be set like this: -- id: +:: -- thread: + notmuch search term1 NEAR/2 term2 -- folder: +The search -- path: or path:/** +:: -- date:.. + notmuch search term1 ADJ term2 -The **from:** prefix is used to match the name or address of the sender -of an email message. +will return results where term1 is within 10 words of term2, but in the +same order as in the query. The threshold can be set the same as with +NEAR: -The **to:** prefix is used to match the names or addresses of any -recipient of an email message, (whether To, Cc, or Bcc). +:: -Any term prefixed with **subject:** will match only text from the -subject of an email. Searching for a phrase in the subject is supported -by including quotation marks around the phrase, immediately following -**subject:**. + notmuch search term1 ADJ/7 term2 -The **attachment:** prefix can be used to search for specific filenames -(or extensions) of attachments to email messages. -For **tag:** and **is:** valid tag values include **inbox** and -**unread** by default for new messages added by **notmuch new** as well -as any other tag values added manually with **notmuch tag**. +Stemming +-------- -For **id:**, message ID values are the literal contents of the -Message-ID: header of email messages, but without the '<', '>' -delimiters. +**Stemming** in notmuch means that these searches -The **thread:** prefix can be used with the thread ID values that are -generated internally by notmuch (and do not appear in email messages). -These thread ID values can be seen in the first column of output from -**notmuch search** +:: -The **path:** prefix searches for email messages that are in -particular directories within the mail store. The directory must be -specified relative to the top-level maildir (and without the leading -slash). By default, **path:** matches messages in the specified -directory only. The "/\*\*" suffix can be used to match messages in -the specified directory and all its subdirectories recursively. -**path:""** matches messages in the root of the mail store and, -likewise, **path:\*\*** matches all messages. + notmuch search detailed + notmuch search details + notmuch search detail -The **folder:** prefix searches for email messages by maildir or MH -folder. For MH-style folders, this is equivalent to **path:**. For -maildir, this includes messages in the "new" and "cur" -subdirectories. The exact syntax for maildir folders depends on your -mail configuration. For maildir++, **folder:""** matches the inbox -folder (which is the root in maildir++), other folder names always -start with ".", and nested folders are separated by "."s, such as -**folder:.classes.topology**. For "file system" maildir, the inbox is -typically **folder:INBOX** and nested folders are separated by -slashes, such as **folder:classes/topology**. +will all return identical results, because Xapian first "reduces" the +term to the common stem (here 'detail') and then performs the search. -Both **path:** and **folder:** will find a message if *any* copy of -that message is in the specific directory/folder. +There are two ways to turn this off: a search for a capitalized word +will be performed unstemmed, so that one can search for "John" and not +get results for "Johnson"; phrase searches are also unstemmed (see +below for details). Stemming is currently only supported for +English. Searches for words in other languages will be performed unstemmed. -The **date:** prefix can be used to restrict the results to only -messages within a particular time range (based on the Date: header) with -a range syntax of: +Wildcards +--------- -date:.. +It is possible to use a trailing '\*' as a wildcard. A search for +'wildc\*' will match 'wildcard', 'wildcat', etc. -See **DATE AND TIME SEARCH** below for details on the range expression, -and supported syntax for and date and time expressions. -The time range can also be specified using timestamps with a syntax of: +Boolean and Probabilistic Prefixes +---------------------------------- -.. +Xapian (and hence notmuch) prefixes are either **boolean**, supporting +exact matches like "tag:inbox" or **probabilistic**, supporting a more +flexible **term** based searching. Certain **special** prefixes are +processed by notmuch in a way not strictly fitting either of Xapian's +built in styles. The prefixes currently supported by notmuch are as +follows. -Each timestamp is a number representing the number of seconds since -1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. +Boolean + **tag:**, **id:**, **thread:**, **folder:**, **path:**, **property:** +Probabilistic + **to:**, **attachment:**, **mimetype:** +Special + **from:**, **query:**, **subject:** -In addition to individual terms, multiple terms can be combined with -Boolean operators ( **and**, **or**, **not** , etc.). Each term in the -query will be implicitly connected by a logical AND if no explicit -operator is provided, (except that terms with a common prefix will be -implicitly combined with OR until we get Xapian defect #402 fixed). +Terms and phrases +----------------- + +In general Xapian distinguishes between lists of terms and +**phrases**. Phrases are indicated by double quotes (but beware you +probably need to protect those from your shell) and insist that those +unstemmed words occur in that order. One useful, but initially +surprising feature is that the following are equivalent ways to write +the same phrase. + +- "a list of words" +- a-list-of-words +- a/list/of/words +- a.list.of.words + +Both parenthesised lists of terms and quoted phrases are ok with +probabilistic prefixes such as **to:**, **from:**, and **subject:**. In particular + +:: + + subject:(pizza free) + +is equivalent to + +:: + + subject:pizza and subject:free + +Both of these will match a subject "Free Delicious Pizza" while + +:: + + subject:"pizza free" + +will not. + +Quoting +------- + +Double quotes are also used by the notmuch query parser to protect +boolean terms, regular expressions, or subqueries containing spaces or +other special characters, e.g. -Parentheses can also be used to control the combination of the Boolean -operators, but will have to be protected from interpretation by the -shell, (such as by putting quotation marks around any parenthesized -expression). +:: + + tag:"a tag" + +:: + + folder:"/^.*/(Junk|Spam)$/" + +:: + + thread:"{from:mallory and date:2009}" + +As with phrases, you need to protect the double quotes from the shell +e.g. + +:: + + % notmuch search 'folder:"/^.*/(Junk|Spam)$/"' + % notmuch search 'thread:"{from:mallory and date:2009}" and thread:{to:mallory}' DATE AND TIME SEARCH ==================== @@ -153,6 +340,21 @@ In this case, is taken as the earliest time it could describe could describe (the end of yesterday). Similarly, date:january..february matches from the beginning of January to the end of February. +If specifying a time range using timestamps in conjunction with the +date prefix, each timestamp must be preceded by @ (ASCII hex 40). As +above, each timestamp is a number representing the number of seconds +since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. For example: + + date:@..@ + +date:..! can be used as a shorthand for date:... The +expansion takes place before interpretation, and thus, for example, +date:monday..! matches from the beginning of Monday until the end of +Monday. +With **Xapian Field Processor** support (see below), non-range +date queries such as date:yesterday will work, but otherwise +will give unexpected results; if in doubt use date:yesterday..! + Currently, we do not support spaces in range expressions. You can replace the spaces with '\_', or (in most cases) '-', or (in some cases) leave the spaces out altogether. Examples in this man page use spaces @@ -163,11 +365,6 @@ to specify date:.. or date:.. to not limit the start or end time, respectively. Pre-1.2.1 Xapian does not report an error on open ended ranges, but it does not work as expected either. -Entering date:expr without ".." (for example date:yesterday) won't work, -as it's not interpreted as a range expression at all. You can achieve -the expected result by duplicating the expr both sides of ".." (for -example date:yesterday..yesterday). - Relative date and time ---------------------- @@ -243,10 +440,38 @@ Time zones Some time zone codes, e.g. UTC, EET. +XAPIAN FIELD PROCESSORS +======================= + +Certain optional features of the notmuch query processor rely on the +presence of the Xapian field processor API. You can determine if your +notmuch was built against a sufficiently recent version of Xapian by running + +:: + + % notmuch config get built_with.field_processor + +Currently the following features require field processor support: + +- non-range date queries, e.g. "date:today" +- named queries e.g. "query:my_special_query" +- regular expression searches, e.g. "subject:/^\\[SPAM\\]/" +- thread subqueries, e.g. "thread:{from:bob}" + SEE ALSO ======== -**notmuch(1)**, **notmuch-config(1)**, **notmuch-count(1)**, -**notmuch-dump(1)**, **notmuch-hooks(5)**, **notmuch-insert(1)**, -**notmuch-new(1)**, **notmuch-reply(1)**, **notmuch-restore(1)**, -**notmuch-search(1)**, **notmuch-show(1)**, **notmuch-tag(1)** +**notmuch(1)**, +**notmuch-config(1)**, +**notmuch-count(1)**, +**notmuch-dump(1)**, +**notmuch-hooks(5)**, +**notmuch-insert(1)**, +**notmuch-new(1)**, +**notmuch-reindex(1)**, +**notmuch-properties(1)**, +***notmuch-reply(1)**, +**notmuch-restore(1)**, +**notmuch-search(1)**, +***notmuch-show(1)**, +**notmuch-tag(1)**