This is bbdb.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.8 from bbdb.texinfo. START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY * BBDB: (bbdb). The Insidious Big Brother Database. END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY This file documents the Insidious Big Brother Database This is edition $Revision: 1.45 $ of the BBDB User Manual for BBDB version 2.2. Copyright (c) 1991-1994 Jamie Zawinski Copyright (c) 1997-1999 Matt Simmons Copyright (c) 2000-2001 The BBDB Development Team  File: bbdb.info, Node: Top, Next: Installation, Up: _ 1 BBDB ****** BBDB is a rolodex-like database program for GNU Emacs. BBDB stands for Insidious Big Brother Database, and is not, repeat, _not_ an obscure reference to the Buck Rogers TV series. It provides the following features: * Integration with mail and news readers, with little or no interaction by the user: * easy (or automatic) display of the record corresponding to the sender of the current message; * automatic creation of records based on the contents of the current message; * automatic addition of data to arbitrary fields of the record corresponding to the sender of the current message. * Listing all records which match a regular expression; * Listing all records which match a regular expression in a particular field (`company' or `notes,' for example); * Menu: * Installation:: Installation * The BBDB:: Overview * BBDB Mode:: BBDB Mode * Interfaces:: Interfaces to various readers * Reader-specific Features:: Features only available to specific readers * Other Packages:: Using the BBDB with other packages * Options:: Options * Utilities:: Utilities * Internals:: BBDB Internals * Mailing Lists:: The BBDB mailing lists * Changes:: New in this version * The Latest Version:: Where to Get It * The Future:: Known Bugs, the TODO list and EOL statements * Thanks:: to the Ministry of Bugs * Concept Index:: Concept Index * Variable Index:: Variable Index --- The Detailed Node Listing --- Installation * General Prerequisites:: General BBDB requirements File Installation * Normal User:: "Normal" Installations * XEmacs Package:: Installing as an XEmacs package Initial Configuration * Initial Configuration:: How to initially set up the BBDB Manual initialization * Gnus Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Gnus * MH-E Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for MH-E * RMAIL Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for RMAIL * Sendmail Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Sendmail * VM Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for VM Other packages: * Message Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Message mode * Reportmail Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Reportmail * Supercite Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Supercite * Web Browser Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Web Browsers The BBDB * Database Fields:: Description of database fields * Basic Searching:: Basic database searching commands * Advanced Searching:: Advanced database searching commands * Manual Record Addition:: Adding records by hand Interfaces * Mail Reading Interfaces:: Mail Reading Interfaces * News Reading Interfaces:: News Reading Interfaces * Mail Sending Interfaces:: Mail Sending Interfaces Reader-specific Features * Gnus Features:: Gnus-specific Features * VM Features:: VM-specific Features Gnus-specific Features * Gnus Scoring:: Store score adjustments in the BBDB * Gnus Summary Buffer:: BBDB information in the Summary buffer * GNUS Subject List:: BBDB information in the Subject List VM-specific features * VM Message Summary:: BBDB information in message summary Using the BBDB with other packages * Using Message Mode:: Using the BBDB with Message Mode * Using Reportmail:: Using the BBDB with Reportmail * Using Supercite:: Using the BBDB with Supercite * Using Web Browsers:: Using the BBDB with Web Browsers Options * Customization Parameters:: Customization Parameters * Customization Hooks:: Customization Hooks * Predefined Hooks:: Predefined Hooks Utilities * bbdb-ftp:: Storing FTP sites in the BBDB * bbdb-print:: Print the BBDB * bbdb-snarf:: Record generation from raw text * bbdb-srv:: External control of the BBDB Changes in this Version * Major Changes:: Major changes in this version * Other Changes:: Not-so-major changes The Future * Known Bugs:: Known Bugs, and how to submit new ones * TODO List:: The TODO List * EOL Statements:: EOL (End Of Life) Statements _ * Top::  File: bbdb.info, Node: Installation, Next: The BBDB, Prev: Top, Up: Top 1.1 Installation ================ This program consists of several groups of files, organized by directory: lisp - the main program code for the BBDB tex - TeX support files for *Note bbdb-print::, the BBDB printing utility texinfo - the documentation files for the BBDB utils - miscellaneous external utility programs misc - things that don't fall into the above categories * Menu: * General Prerequisites:: General BBDB requirements File Installation * Normal User:: "Normal" Installations * XEmacs Package:: Installing as an XEmacs package Initial Configuration * Initial Configuration:: How to initially set up the BBDB  File: bbdb.info, Node: General Prerequisites, Next: Normal User, Prev: Installation, Up: Installation 1.1.1 General Prerequisites --------------------------- Various parts of the BBDB require extra packages to be available that are not part of the BBDB distribution. Please note that with one exception no extra packages (beyond those which ship with both GNU Emacs and XEmacs) are required for the use of BBDB core functionality.(1) This one exception applies to XEmacs 20.5 users - the `xemacs-base' package must be installed for the correct operation of the core BBDB functionality. The table below lists the requirements of the various portions of the BBDB. Please note that the absence of any of the below optional packages will not affect core BBDB functionality. BBDB file Package needed GNU 19.34 GNU 20.2 XEmacs XEmacs >=20.4 20.5 `bbdb-ftp' EFS or B B B P Ange-FTP `bbdb-gnus' Gnus[1] B B B P `bbdb-mhe' MH-E B B B P `bbdb-reportmail' Reportmail B P[2] `bbdb-sc' Supercite B B P `bbdb-srv' `gnuserv' and B B `itimer' `bbdb-vm' VM B P `bbdb-w3' `browse-url' B B B P[3] NOTES: 1. The three year old GNUS mail/newsreader should still work. Please keep in mind that you have a relatively recent Emacs (GNU 19.34 or later, XEmacs 19.15 or later), you are probably using Gnus. 2. As of this writing, Reportmail is available as part of the `edit-utils' package. 3. As of this writing, `browse-url' is available as part of the `mail-lib' package. Please also note that the XEmacs package locations are as of this writing. As the XEmacs 20.5 package system is still in development, the locations may change without warning. ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) "Core Functionality" is defined as the parts of the BBDB used to implement basic record creation (`M-x bbdb-create') and searching (`M-x bbdb').  File: bbdb.info, Node: Normal User, Next: XEmacs Package, Prev: General Prerequisites, Up: Installation 1.1.2 Normal User Installation ------------------------------ Configuring the compilation process ----------------------------------- First of all, you should run the `configure' script at the toplevel of the distribution. This script will perform a number of checks on your system and generate the `Makefile''s accordingly. The `configure' script also comes with a number of options that lets you customize the compilation process. These options are described below where appropriate. Byte Compiling the Lisp files ----------------------------- First, you need to byte-compile the appropriate BBDB Lisp files. While this is in theory an optional step, it is virtually required in practice due to speed reasons. In order to byte-compile the lisp files, an Emacs of some sort must be used. By default (at `configure' time), `emacs' and `xemacs' will be tried in that order. If you want to use a special Emacs flavor (or if you want to use `xemacs' at the first place), you should pass the `--with-emacs=PROG' option to `configure'. In order to successfully compile the BBDB, the build process also needs to know the location of the various optional packages. If the directories containing these optional packages are in the default Emacs search path (the `load-path' variable), no other changes need be made for the build process to complete successfully. If the optional packages are not in the default search path, the build process will not find them unless explicitly told of their location(s). To tell the build process where to find Gnus, MH-E, and/or VM, use the `configure' options `--with-gnus-dir=DIR', `--with-mhe-dir=DIR', and/or `--with-vm-dir=DIR' variables respectively. To tell the build process where to find any other package(s), pass the directories containing the lisp files for the package(s) to the `configure' option `--with-other-dirs=DIRS'. If multiple directories are to be added, they should be separated by spaces or colons, and should not be quoted. For example, to add the `/p/local/elisp/footnote' and `/p/local/elisp/sc' directories, call the `configure' script as follows: `configure --with-other-dirs=/p/local/elisp/footnote:/p/local/elisp/sc' After configuring, run one of the following commands: `make bbdb' - Build the core, mailer independent, components `make gnus' - Core components plus `Gnus' support `make mhe' - Core components plus `MH-E' support `make rmail' - Core components plus `RMAIL' support `make vm' - Build the core components with `VM' support `make all' - Core components plus support for all mailers listed above You can also combine the above `make' commands. For example, to build the BBDB with support for `Gnus' and `VM', you can do so by typing: make gnus vm Moving the files to their final destination ------------------------------------------- Lisp files .......... As stated above, the `lisp' subdirectory contains the Emacs Lisp source files for the BBDB. Therefore, these files must be in the Emacs `load-path'. There are several ways of doing this, three of which are described below: * Add the `lisp' directory from the source distribution to the `load-path'. This will allow you to run the BBDB in-place. This method is recommended for normal users or BBDB developers, especially if disk usage is an issue. It is not recommended for site-wide installations. * Link the `lisp' directory into your `site-lisp' directory. This is for a site-wide installation, but it is subject to the following caveat. If you link the `lisp' directory into `site-lisp', you will make life more difficult for yourself down the road, as you will not be able to make changes to the source directory (new versions, patches, etc) without having an effect on other users who now depend on it. This directory will automatically be added to the `load-path' when Emacs starts. * Make a directory whose sole purpose in life is containing the production copies of the BBDB source and byte-compiled source files. Either put this directory under `site-lisp' (or put it somewhere else and link it into `site-lisp'). This directory will automatically be added to the `load-path' when Emacs starts. This is the best of the three listed here, as it allows for a degree of separation between the (possibly changing) source tree and the production code. TeX files ......... The `tex' subdirectory contains the TeX support files for bbdb-print, the BBDB printing utility (*Note bbdb-print::.). The three support files, `bbdb-cols.tex', `bbdb-print.tex', and `bbdb-print-brief.tex', must be placed in a directory that is either on the default TeX search path or is listed in the `TEXINPUTS' environment variable. If neither of these two options is taken, TeX will not be able to process the file output by `bbdb-print'. texinfo files ............. The `bbdb.info' file in this directory contains the documentation for the BBDB. This file should either be linked or copied to a directory on the default path for the `info' program or listed in the `INFOPATH' environment variable.  File: bbdb.info, Node: XEmacs Package, Next: Initial Configuration, Prev: Normal User, Up: Installation 1.1.3 XEmacs Package Installation --------------------------------- NOTE: XEmacs packages are currently supported only under XEmacs versions after and including 20.5. If you are not running such a version of XEmacs, you should install the BBDB according to the instructions in *Note Normal User::. Configuring / Byte Compiling ---------------------------- The configuration and byte-compilation procedures are the same as in the Normal User installation. See *Note Normal User::. Moving the files to their final destination ------------------------------------------- Support is provided for the automatic installation of the BBDB in an XEmacs package directory. The following `configure' options are available for you: `--with-package-dir=DIR' This option sets the root of the XEmacs package directory. By default, `/usr/local/lib/xemacs/site-packages' is used. `--with-symlinks' If this option is used, the installation will be done by making symbolic links to the sources instead of copying the files. `--with-linkpath=PATH' Without this option, the installation process uses the output of `pwd' to determine the current directory. If something else should be used, you should provide an alternate name for the BBDB toplevel directory by using `--with-linkpath'. If, for example, `pwd' returns `/p/local/elisp/bbdb', but you prefer to use `/usr/local/elisp/bbdb/...' for the links, usr this: `configure --with-linkpath=/usr/local/elisp/bbdb'. This option is ignored if `--with-symlinks' is not used. To perform the (un)installation, use the command `make (un)install-pkg'. This will compile the `lisp/auto-autoloads.el' file and will install the appropriate files to the appropriate places. The final installation tree will take the following form: `$(PACKAGEDIR)/' `lisp/' `bbdb/' BBDB lisp source files. This directory contains a copy of all `.el' and `.elc' files from the `lisp' source directory, or is a symbolic link to it. `info/' `bbdb.info*' BBDB documentation files. These are either copies of the info files from the `texinfo' source directory, or are symbolic links to them. `etc/' `bbdb/' `tex/' BBDB support files for bbdb-print. This directory contains a copy of the appropriate files from the `tex' source directory, or is a symbolic link to it. `utils/' BBDB miscellaneous utilities. This directory contains a copy of the appropriate files from the `utils' source directory, or is a symbolic link to it.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Initial Configuration, Prev: XEmacs Package, Up: Installation 1.1.4 Initial Configuration --------------------------- The simplest way to configure the BBDB is to include the following forms in your Emacs configuration file: `(require 'bbdb)' `(bbdb-initialize)' Note: The forms above replace the autoloads needed for previous versions of the BBDB. This will set up the BBDB for basic querying and record manipulation (the Core Functionality referred to in the Prerequisites section). It will not enable any of the mailreader-, newsreader- or other package-specific BBDB features. To enable some or all of these features, the `(bbdb-initialize)' form can be enable as shown below. Alternatively, the features can be enabled manually as described in the following sections. Modifying `(bbdb-initialize)' ----------------------------- The `bbdb-initialize' function can be used to enable the various package-specific BBDB functions. This feature activation is accomplished through the passing of symbols which tell the function which features to activate. These symbols are outlined below and in the Emacs documentation for the `bbdb-initialize'(1) Initialization symbols for mail and news readers ................................................ `gnus' Initialize support for Gnus(2). If you pass the `gnus' symbol, you should probably also pass the `message' symbol. `mh-e' Initialize support for the MH-E mail reader. `rmail' Initialize support for the RMAIL mail reader. `sendmail' Initialize support for sendmail (`M-x mail') `vm' Initialize support for the VM mail reader.(3) Initialization symbols for other packages ......................................... `message' Initialize support for Message mode (the mail composition program included with Gnus). `reportmail' Initialize support for the Reportmail mail notification package. `sc' Initialize support for the Supercite message citation package. Additional initialization is required for Supercite to work with the BBDB. *Note Supercite Prep::. `w3' Initialize support for Web browsers. Initialization example ...................... To initialize support for Gnus 5.5, Message mode, Supercite, and Web browsers, the following forms would be used: (require 'bbdb) (bbdb-initialize 'gnus 'message 'sc 'w3) Manual initialization ..................... If your initialization needs exceed those provided by `bbdb-initialize', refer to the following sections for a description of the procedures necessary for enabling BBDB support for the packages listed above. The procedures described are the same as those carried out by the `bbdb-initialize' function when passed the appropriate symbols. That is, the procedure listed in the RMAIL Prep section below is the same as than executed by `bbdb-initialize' when the `rmail' symbol is passed. * Menu: Mail and News readers: * Gnus Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Gnus * MH-E Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for MH-E * RMAIL Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for RMAIL * Sendmail Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Sendmail * VM Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for VM Other packages: * Message Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Message mode * Reportmail Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Reportmail * Supercite Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Supercite * Web Browser Prep:: Initializing BBDB support for Web Browsers ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) This documentation can be accessed by typing `C-h f bbdb-initialize RET'. (2) If you are using GNUS (not Gnus), and if your GNUS version is 3.14 or older, use the `Gnus' (note the capitalization) symbol. (3) For the VM initialization to work properly, you must either call `bbdb-initialize' with the `vm' symbol from within your VM initialization file (`~/.vm'), or you must call `bbdb-insinuate-vm' manually from within your VM initialization file.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Gnus Prep, Next: MH-E Prep, Prev: Initial Configuration, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.1 Initializing BBDB support for Gnus .......................................... To take advantage of the Gnus features of the BBDB, add one of the following forms to your Emacs configuration file: For Gnus 3.14 or older: `(add-hook 'gnus-Startup-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-gnus)' For Gnus 3.15 or newer: `(add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-gnus)' `bbdb-insinuate-gnus' adds bindings for the default keys to Gnus and configures Gnus to notify the BBDB when new messages are loaded. This notification is required if the BBDB is to be able to display BBDB entries for messages displayed in Gnus.  File: bbdb.info, Node: MH-E Prep, Next: RMAIL Prep, Prev: Gnus Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.2 Initializing BBDB support for MH-E .......................................... To take advantage of the MH-E features of the BBDB, add the following form to your Emacs configuration file: (add-hook 'mh-folder-mode-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-mh) `bbdb-insinuate-mh' adds bindings for the default keys to MH-E and configures MH-E to notify the BBDB when new messages are loaded. This notification is required if the BBDB is to be able to display BBDB entries for messages displayed in MH-E.  File: bbdb.info, Node: RMAIL Prep, Next: Sendmail Prep, Prev: MH-E Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.3 Initializing BBDB support for RMAIL ........................................... To take advantage of the RMAIL features of the BBDB, add the following form to your Emacs configuration file: (add-hook 'rmail-mode-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-rmail) `bbdb-insinuate-rmail' adds bindings for the default keys to RMAIL and configures RMAIL to notify the BBDB when new messages are loaded. This notification is required if the BBDB is to be able to display BBDB entries for messages displayed in RMAIL.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Sendmail Prep, Next: VM Prep, Prev: RMAIL Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.4 Initializing BBDB support for Sendmail .............................................. To take advantage of send-mail-mode (the one invoked with `M-x mail') features of the BBDB, add the following form to your Emacs configuration file: (add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-sendmail) `bbdb-insinuate-sendmail' enables auto-completion in send-mail-mode.  File: bbdb.info, Node: VM Prep, Next: Message Prep, Prev: Sendmail Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.5 Initializing BBDB support for VM ........................................ To take advantage of the VM features of the BBDB, add the following form to your `~/.vm' file: `(bbdb-insinuate-vm)' `bbdb-insinuate-vm' adds bindings for the default keys to VM and configures VM to notify the BBDB when new messages are loaded. This notification is required if the BBDB is to be able to display BBDB entries for messages displayed in VM.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Message Prep, Next: Reportmail Prep, Prev: VM Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.6 Initializing BBDB support for Message mode .................................................. To allow the BBDB to be used in Message mode, add the following form to your Emacs initialization file: `(bbdb-insinuate-message)' `bbdb-insinuate-message' adds a binding for `M-TAB' to Message mode. This will enable completion of addressees based on BBDB records. See *Note Using Message Mode:: for more details on the operation of Message mode BBDB record completion.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Reportmail Prep, Next: Supercite Prep, Prev: Message Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.7 Initializing BBDB support for Reportmail ................................................ To allow the Reportmail package to report information from BBDB records for new mail, add the following form to your Emacs initialization file: `(bbdb-insinuate-reportmail)' `bbdb-insinuate-reportmail' adds to the `display-time-get-field' function to allow access to BBDB records during new mail information display. See *Note Using Reportmail:: for more details on the operation of Reportmail with the BBDB.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Supercite Prep, Next: Web Browser Prep, Prev: Reportmail Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.8 Initializing BBDB support for Supercite ............................................... To allow the BBDB to assist in the storage of Supercite citations, add the following form to your Emacs initialization file: `(bbdb-insinuate-sc)' `bbdb-insinuate-sc' adds BBDB functions to two Supercite hooks - `sc-post-hook' and `sc-attribs-postselect-hook'. See *Note Using Supercite:: for more details on the operation of Supercite citation management using the BBDB. Three other Supercite variables must be set/modified to allow the BBDB to work with it. These variables are not automatically set as it would be impossible to reliably set them without interfering with other user customizations. The modifications are: `sc-preferred-attribution-list' `"sc-consult"' should be added to the list. An example configuration is: (setq sc-preferred-attribution-list '("sc-lastchoice" "x-attribution" "sc-consult" "initials" "firstname" "lastname")) `sc-attrib-selection-list' The following form should be added to `sc-attrib-selection-list': '(("sc-from-address" ((".*" . (bbdb/sc-consult-attr (sc-mail-field "sc-from-address")))))) `sc-mail-glom-frame' The following form should be added to `sc-mail-glom-frame', to allow the retrieval of the name of a person who is a) in the BBDB and b) has only included their net address in the message in question. ("^$" (progn (bbdb/sc-default) (list 'abort '(step . 0)))) An example configuration is as follows: `(setq sc-mail-glom-frame' ` '((begin (setq sc-mail-headers-start (point)))' ` ("^x-attribution:[ \t]+.*$" (sc-mail-fetch-field t) nil t)' ` ("^\\S +:.*$" (sc-mail-fetch-field) nil t)' ` ("^$" (progn (bbdb/sc-default)' ` (list 'abort '(step . 0))))' ` ("^[ \t]+" (sc-mail-append-field))' ` (sc-mail-warn-if-non-rfc822-p (sc-mail-error-in-mail-field))' ` (end (setq sc-mail-headers-end (point)))))' The above is also documented in `bbdb-sc.el'. The `bbdb/sc-setup-variables' function has been provided as an example for Supercite variable initialization. Please note that while `bbdb/sc-setup-variables' makes every attempt to safely configure the Supercite variables, it will not always work. Specifically, the variables `sc-attrib-selection-list' and `sc-mail-glom-frame' will not be overridden if they have already been defined.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Web Browser Prep, Prev: Supercite Prep, Up: Initial Configuration 1.1.4.9 Initializing BBDB support for Web Browsers .................................................. To allow URLs to be added to BBDB records, add the following form to your Emacs initialization file: `(bbdb-insinuate-w3)' `bbdb-insinuate-w3' adds the definition of `:' to the W3 keymap. The other `bbdb-w3' functions, specifically the passing of URLs from BBDB records to Web browsers, do not require initialization within the BBDB. They do, however, require the configuration of the `browse-url' package so it knows to which Web browser URLs are to be passed. For more details on the operation of `bbdb-w3', see *Note Using Web Browsers::.  File: bbdb.info, Node: The BBDB, Next: BBDB Mode, Prev: Installation, Up: Top 1.2 The BBDB ============ This section discusses the basics of the BBDB - an overview of the database's layout, and a discussion of the basic BBDB manipulation commands. The database itself lives in a file which is named by the variable `bbdb-file'. If this variable is not set, the database is assumed to be in `~/.bbdb'. * Menu: * Database Fields:: Description of database fields * Basic Searching:: Basic database searching commands * Advanced Searching:: Advanced database searching commands * Manual Record Addition:: Adding records by hand  File: bbdb.info, Node: Database Fields, Next: Basic Searching, Prev: The BBDB, Up: The BBDB 1.2.1 Database Fields --------------------- The database is organized as a set of records, where each record corresponds to one person or organization. Each record has several fields, and each field is of one of several types. Below, the built-in types are listed, followed by a description of how and why some types can be used more than once in a single record: Type Description Notes `name' The name of this person, or none if Single value, single the record corresponds to an instance. organization. `company'The name of this person's Single value, single organization, or none. instance. `AKA' A list of other names for this Multiple values through person. commas. `net' A list of this person's network Multiple values through addresses. commas. `address'A list of postal (physical) Multiple values through addresses for this person. multiple occurences. `phone' A list of telephone numbers for Multiple values through this person. multiple occurences. `notes' Random commentary. Multiple values through multiple occurences. The field types listed above can be classified into four categories, as indicated by the comments in the `Notes' column. Field types marked as "Single value, single occurrence" may only occur once per record. Each occurrence can only have a single value. For example, there will be only one field of type `name' in a record. It will be named `name', and will contain a single value (the person's name). The types marked as "Multiple values through commas" are essentially the same as the single value, single occurrence field types, but with one crucial difference: they can contain multiple values in the form of a comma-separated list. So, for example, while a `name' field with a value of "foo, bar" would be treated as if it contained the single value "foo, bar", a `net' field with the same data would be thought of as having two separate values - "foo" and "bar". As in the single occurrence, single value field types, there will be only one occurrence of each "Multiple values through commas" field type, and the occurrence will have the same name as the type. The "Multiple values through multiple occurrences" field type is the most flexible of the four listed here. There can be multiple occurrences of each type. This type necessarily does not have the name restriction imposed by the previous two types. For example, there can be multiple fields of the `address' type, none of which have to be named `address'. One could be named `home', and the other could be named `work'. Special properties of the `notes' field type: All user-defined fields that don't fit into the other predefined field types (`name', `company', `AKA', `net', `address', and `phone') will be created as a `notes'-type field. In addition, several of the user-defined field names are "special". That is, the BBDB treats the values of these "special" fields differently than it does other user-defined fields. The "special" fields are: `attribution' (Available only when the Supercite-specific BBDB functions have been enabled) Used for the storage of Supercite attributions. For initialization details, see *Note Supercite Prep::. For usage details, see *Note Using Supercite::. The field used can be changed by changing the value of `bbdb/sc-attribution-field'. `aka' Used to store non-primary names associated with a given record. `face' (XEmacs only) Used for the storage of image data. This data is to be in the format output by `compface', and commonly found in `X-Face:' headers in messages. If face support has been compiled into XEmacs, the image contained in the `face' header will be displayed when the record is viewed. `finger-host' Address used in place of the listed net address for fingering the entity indicated by the record. *Note BBDB Mode::. The field used can be changed by changing the value of `bbdb-finger-host-field'. `gnus-score' Gnus scoring adjustment for this person. For initialization details, see *Note Gnus Prep::. For usage details, see *Note Gnus Features::. The field used can be changed by changing the value of `bbdb/gnus-score-field'. `mail-alias' Value used instead of `name' for completion. *Note Mail Sending Interfaces::. `mail-name' (Available only when the Reportmail-specific BBDB functions have been enabled) Used for the storage of non-default names to be used in the reporting of new mail by Reportmail. For initialization details, see *Note Reportmail Prep::. For usage details, see *Note Using Reportmail::. `mark-char' The field containing the character to be used for marking a given poster in the Gnus Summary Buffer. For usage details, see *Note Gnus Summary Buffer::. `tex-name' The value of this field is used in place of the `name' field when printing the database using `bbdb-print'. *Note bbdb-print::. `www' This field contains the URL associated with the BBDB record. Common uses are with `bbdb-snarf' (*note bbdb-snarf::) and the BBDB/Web Browser functionality (for initialization details, see *Note Web Browser Prep::. For usage details, see *Note Using Web Browsers::).  File: bbdb.info, Node: Basic Searching, Next: Advanced Searching, Prev: Database Fields, Up: The BBDB 1.2.2 Basic searching commands ------------------------------ You can list the contents of the database with the command `M-x bbdb'. You will be prompted for a regular expression, and all records which match that regexp in the name, company, network address, or any notes fields will be displayed. A narrower search may be made by using the commands `bbdb-name', `bbdb-company,' `bbdb-net,' or `bbdb-notes'. These commands limit their searches to the name, company, email address, and notes fields, respectively. If these commands are given a prefix argument, the listing displayed will be one line per entry; otherwise, the full database entry will be shown on multiple lines. The functions described above are predefined to certain keys in the `*BBDB*' buffer. *Note BBDB Mode::. for more details. The `bbdb-notes' command will prompt for the notes field to search (`RET' for all). In this way you can limit your searches to the contents of one particular user-defined notes field. (You can add user-defined fields with the `bbdb-insert-new-field' command; *Note BBDB Mode::.)  File: bbdb.info, Node: Advanced Searching, Next: Manual Record Addition, Prev: Basic Searching, Up: The BBDB 1.2.3 Advanced searching commands --------------------------------- The following functions can be used to search for records based on creation and/or modification dates. These functions will match records that have `timestamp' and/or `creation-date' fields (as appropriate. *Note Predefined Hooks::. for more information on these fields, which are created by default. `bbdb-timestamp-older' Display all records modified before a given date. If this function is called interactively, it will prompt for a date. If it is being called non-interactively, the date should be provided as a string in `yyyy-mm-dd' format. `bbdb-timestamp-newer' Display all records modified after a given date. If this function is called interactively, it will prompt for a date. If it is being called non-interactively, the date should be provided as a string in `yyyy-mm-dd' format. `bbdb-creation-older' Display all records created before a given date. If this function is called interactively, it will prompt for a date. If it is being called non-interactively, the date should be provided as a string in `yyyy-mm-dd' format. `bbdb-creation-newer' Display all records created after a given date. If this function is called interactively, it will prompt for a date. If it is being called non-interactively, the date should be provided as a string in `yyyy-mm-dd' format. `bbdb-creation-no-change' Display all records that have not been changed since creation.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Manual Record Addition, Prev: Advanced Searching, Up: The BBDB 1.2.4 Manual record addition ---------------------------- There are several ways to add new entries to the Insidious Big Brother Database; the most straightforward is to use `M-x bbdb-create', which will prompt you for all relevant information. However, the easiest way is to allow them to be added automatically by one of the mail or news-reading interfaces (*Note Interfaces::.).  File: bbdb.info, Node: BBDB Mode, Next: Interfaces, Prev: The BBDB, Up: Top 1.3 BBDB Mode ============= 1.3.1 Functions bound to keys in BBDB Mode ------------------------------------------ When the `*BBDB*' buffer is active (either summoned by one of the commands in the previous section [*Note The BBDB::.] or by your mail or news program), a variety of commands become available for database manipulation. Some of the commands listed below take numeric arguments. These arguments can be generated by entering the number before pressing the key(s) corresponding to the desired command. The output (if any) of the listed commands will be displayed in the `*BBDB*' buffer, and can be navigated through using the usual cursor motion commands. `e' (`bbdb-edit-current-field') Edit the field on the current line. If the cursor is in the middle of a multi-line field, such as an address or comments section, then the entire field is edited, not just the current line. `;' (`bbdb-edit-notes') A shortcut for editing the NOTES field. `d, C-k' (`bbdb-delete-current-field-or-record') Delete the field on the current line. If the current line is the first line of a record, the BBDB will, after prompting the user, delete the entire record from the database. This may also be applied to multiple records at once by `*'. `C-o' (`bbdb-insert-new-field') Inserts a new field into the current record. You are prompted (with completion) for the type of field to insert (phone, address, notes, etc); if the string you type is not a known field type, you will be asked whether to add a new field with the entered name of type `notes'. If you are inserting a new phone-number field, you can control whether it is a North American or European phone number by providing a prefix argument. A prefix arg of `^U' means it's to be a euronumber, and any other prefix arg means it's to be a a structured North American number. If no prefix argument is supplied, the style used is controlled by the variable `bbdb-north-american-phone-numbers-p'. `C-x C-t' (`bbdb-transpose-fields') This is like the `transpose-lines' command, but it is for BBDB fields. If the cursor is on a field of a BBDB record, that field and the previous field will be transposed. With non-zero numeric argument ARG, the previous field is moved past ARG fields. With argument 0, the field indicated by point is interchanged with the one indicated by mark. Both fields must be in the same record, and must be of the same basic type (that is, you can use this command to change the order in which phone-number fields are listed, but you can't use it to make an address appear before a phone number; the order of field types is fixed.) `n, p' (`bbdb-next-record', `bbdb-prev-record') Move to the next and previous displayed record, respectively. `t' (`bbdb-elide-record') Toggles whether the current record is displayed in a one-line listing, or a full multi-line listing. With a numeric argument of 0, the current record will unconditionally be made elided; with any other argument, the current record will unconditionally be shown expanded. If `*t' is used instead of simply `t', then the state of all records will be changed instead of just the one at point. In this case, a numeric argument of 0 means that all records will unconditionally be made elided; any other numeric argument means that all of the records will unconditionally be shown expanded; and no numeric argument means that the records are made to be in the opposite state of the record under point. `o' (`bbdb-omit-record') Removes the current record from the display, but does not delete it from the database; it merely makes it seem as if the most recent search had not matched this record. With a numeric argument, omit the next N records. With a negative argument, go backwards. `m' (`bbdb-send-mail') Begin composing mail to the person represented by the current record. The first email address is used. Normally, the mail-sending package which is used is determined by which mail-reading package is loaded; that is, if MH-E is loaded, then `mh-send' will be used; if VM is loaded, then `vm-mail' is used; if message is loaded, then it is used; otherwise, `mail' is used. You can override this by setting the variable `bbdb-send-mail-style' to one of the symbols `vm', `mh', `message', or `mail'. If `*m' is used instead of simply `m', then mail will be sent to all of the folks listed in the `*BBDB*' buffer instead of just the person under point. This function does not at present use the facility provided by `compose-mail' and `mail-user-agent'. In a future version of the BBDB, it will. `s, C-x C-s' (`bbdb-save-db') Saves the BBDB file to disk. `r' (`bbdb-refile-record') Merge the current record into some other record; that is, delete the record under point after copying all of the data within it into some other record. this is useful if you realize that somehow a redundant record has gotten into the database, and you want to merge it with another. If both records have names and/or companies, you are asked which to use. Phone numbers, addresses, and network addresses are simply concatenated. The first record is the record under the point; the second is prompted for. Completion behavior is as dictated by the variable `bbdb-completion-type'. `M-d' (`bbdb-dial') If you are on a machine with the ability to play sounds, this command will play the appropriate tones on the builtin speaker to dial the phone number corresponding to the current line. If the point is at the beginning of a record, dial the first phone number. This does not dial the extension. This also does not dial the area code if it is the same as `bbdb-default-area-code', unless a prefix argument is given. The BBDB comes configured to play sounds on machines running Solaris. If you are on another type of machine, you must set `bbdb-sound-player' to a string containing the name of the audio file player on your machine. You must also set `bbdb-sound-files' to a vector of arguments to be passed to the program indicated by `bbdb-sound-player'. `bbdb-sound-player' will be called with the first element of `bbdb-sound-files' for the digit `0', the second for `1', the third for `2', and so on. `bbdb-dial-local-prefix' Set this to a string of digits if your phone system requires you to dial some code to access an outside line. `bbdb-dial-long-distance-prefix' Set this to a string of digits if your phone system requires you to dial some code before dialing a long-distance number (one not in your local area code.) `f' (`bbdb-finger') This command fingers the network address of a BBDB record. If this command is executed from the `*BBDB*' buffer, it fingers the network address of the record which is at point; otherwise, it prompts in the minibuffer (with completion) for a user to finger. With a numeric prefix argument, it fingers the Nth network address of the current record; with a prefix argument of `^U', it fingers all of them. The `*finger*' buffer is filled asynchronously, meaning that you don't have to wait around for it to finish; but fingering another user before the first finger has finished could have unpredictable results. If this command is executed from the `*BBDB*' buffer, it may be prefixed with `*' (as in `*f' instead of simply `f'), meaning to finger all of the users currently listed instead of just the one under point. The numeric prefix argument has the same interpretation. You can define a special network address to "finger" by defining a field `finger-host'. The name of the field to be fingered can be changed by setting `bbdb-finger-host-field'. `q' (`bbdb-bury-buffer') Hides the `*BBDB*' buffer. Note: This command does not kill the `*BBDB*' buffer. `?' (`bbdb-help') This displays a one-line help message in the minibuffer, showing some of the most common bbdb-mode commands. `i' (`bbdb-info') This documentation is displayed. Please note that either `bbdb' or `bbdb.info' must be installed in one of the info directories known to Emacs for this command to work. `bbdb-info-file' If this documentation is not installed in the standard Info directory, then you should set this variable to the name of the texinfo-formatted version of this file; the `bbdb-info' command will use this file instead. `W' (`bbdb-www') Displays the Web page listed in the `www' field of the current record. *Note Using Web Browsers::. `P' (`bbdb-print') Creates a TeX file that contains a pretty-printed version of BBDB records. If prefixed by `*', only the records currently displayed will print. *Note bbdb-print::. `h' Moves point to another window via the `other-window' function. `c' (`bbdb-create') Create a new database record from information supplied by the user. `C' (`bbdb-changed') Display all records that have been changed since the last time the database was saved. `b' (`bbdb') Begin a new database search. The results of the new search will be displayed in place of the results of the old search. `S a, S c, S o, S n' (`bbdb-net', `bbdb-company', `bbdb-notes', `bbdb-name') Begin a new database search. This search will be limited to the net address, company, notes, or name fields, respectively, of database records. *Note Basic Searching::. for more details. 1.3.2 Other database manipulation functions ------------------------------------------- `bbdb-kill-older' If called interactively (or with a single argument - a date in `yyyy-mm-dd' format), it will kill all records that were last modified before the given date as determined by the `timestamp' field. *Note Predefined Hooks::. If called non-interactively with a date (in `yyyy-mm-dd' format), a comparison function and an action function, the comparison function is applied to the `timestamp' field of all records, and the action function applied to those for whom the comparison function returns true. If `nil' is supplied as the comparison function, `string-lessp' is used.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Interfaces, Next: Reader-specific Features, Prev: BBDB Mode, Up: Top 1.4 Interfaces ============== The BBDB interfaces itself with several message-handling packages, but certain parameters control its behavior depending on whether it is being used from within a mail reader or a news reader. In all of these packages, two new keybindings will be added: `:' (`bbdb/package-show-sender') Displays the BBDB entry corresponding to the author of the current message. If there is none, you will be asked whether to create one. The function called is `bbdb/package-show-sender', where `package' is either `gnus', `mh', `rmail', or `vm', depending on the mail or news program being used when the command is invoked. `;' (`bbdb/package-annotate-sender') Lets you edit the `notes' field of the BBDB record corresponding to the sender of the current message. If there is no record for the current author, you will be asked whether to create one. The function called is `bbdb/package-annotate-sender', where `package' is either `gnus', `mh', `rmail', or `vm', depending on the mail or news program being used when the command is invoked. These keybindings (and several other features) will not be available unless you call the appropriate "insinuation" function; *Note Installation::. It is possible to configure BBDB so that it automatically creates a record when it sees a message from a person who is not in the database. It is also possible to have text automatically added to the notes field of the corresponding record depending on the contents of the message headers. *Note Customization Hooks::. * Menu: * Mail Reading Interfaces:: Mail Reading Interfaces * News Reading Interfaces:: News Reading Interfaces * Mail Sending Interfaces:: Mail Sending Interfaces  File: bbdb.info, Node: Mail Reading Interfaces, Next: News Reading Interfaces, Prev: Interfaces, Up: Interfaces 1.4.1 Mail Reading Interfaces ----------------------------- There are BBDB interfaces for the following mail readers: * Gnus, a news- and email- reader written by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen (based on GNUS by Mansanobu Umeda). * MH-E, the Emacs interface to Mail Handler (MH), from the standard emacs library, but packaged separately from XEmacs since version 20.4. * RMAIL, from the standard emacs library (packaged separately for XEmacs users as of 20.4); * View Mail, by Kyle Jones, version 5.31 or newer;  File: bbdb.info, Node: News Reading Interfaces, Next: Mail Sending Interfaces, Prev: Mail Reading Interfaces, Up: Interfaces 1.4.2 News Reading Interfaces ----------------------------- There are BBDB interfaces for the following news readers: * GNUS, a newsreader written by Masanobu Umeda. * Gnus, the modern news- and email-reading incarnation of GNUS. Gnus is written by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Mail Sending Interfaces, Prev: News Reading Interfaces, Up: Interfaces 1.4.3 Mail Sending Interfaces ----------------------------- When sending mail, the keystroke `M-TAB' is bound to the function `bbdb-complete-name'. This will take the string that you have typed (from point back to the preceding colon, comma, or the beginning of the line) and will complete that against the contents of the database. What you have typed may be an initial subsequence of a person's full name or network address; if it completes ambiguously, then what you have typed will be replaced with the common portion of the matches. Typing `M-TAB' again will show a list of possible completions. If it completes unambiguously, then an address will be inserted. The variable `bbdb-completion-type' controls whether completion is done on real names, or network addresses, or both. The address inserted is normally of the form `User Name '; however, if `User Name' has an address of the form `', only the `' portion is inserted. This can be overridden by setting `bbdb-dwim-net-address-allow-redundancy' to `t'. This binding is automatically set by the various insinuation functions documented earlier in this manual. (*Note Initial Configuration::.) Briefly, the forms for these functions are: Gnus `(add-hook 'gnus-Startup-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-gnus)' for Gnus 3.14 or older `(add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-gnus)' for Gnus 3.15 or newer MH-E `(add-hook 'mh-folder-mode-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-mh)' RMAIL `(add-hook 'rmail-mode-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-rmail)' sendmail `(add-hook 'mail-setup-hook 'bbdb-insinuate-sendmail)' VM `(bbdb-insinuate-vm)' Add to `~/.vm' file The above forms should be added to your Emacs initialization file, except where otherwise noted. You can control what "real name" is inserted with the `mail-alias' field: if a record has a `mail-alias' field, then that is used instead of their `name' field. If the variable `bbdb-completion-display-record' is true (the default) then when you successfully complete an address with `M-TAB', the corresponding record will be appended to the `*BBDB*' buffer. The buffer will not be displayed if it is not already visible, but the record will be displayed there. When sending mail, you can use the command `bbdb-yank-addresses' to CC the current message to the people currently displayed in the `*BBDB*' buffer. This is useful if you are in the midst of sending or replying to a message, and you decide to add some recipients. You can use one of the `M-x bbdb' commands to display the set of people that you want to CC the message to, and then execute this command to add them to the list. If you are using Jamie Zawinski's `mail-abbrevs.el' package, which uses the word-abbrev mechanism for mail aliases, then you can store your mail aliases in the BBDB instead of duplicating the information elsewhere. If you want a mail alias to be defined for a person, simply add a `mail-alias' field to their record. You may have multiple aliases for the same person; simply separate them with commas. For convenience there is the function `bbdb-add-or-remove-mail-alias' bound to `a' which adds an alias to one or multiple records when prefixed by a `*'. Called with a prefix argument `C-u' it will remove the given alias. If more than one person has the same mail-alias, then that alias expands to the addresses of all of those people; in this way you can maintain mailing lists within the BBDB. When you want to group aliases as in `.mailrc' you may just retained the group aliases in your `.mailrc'. To actually define the aliases which are stored in the BBDB, call the function `bbdb-define-all-aliases' from your `mail-setup-hook' (or `message-setup-hook' if you use Message mode coming with Gnus). This will search the database, and call `define-mail-alias' to define each of the resulting aliases.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Reader-specific Features, Next: Other Packages, Prev: Interfaces, Up: Top 1.5 Reader-specific Features ============================ There are features of the BBDB that are available only for specific mail- and news-readers. These features are described below. The headers which are parsed for email addresses and what records are displayed can be controlled by the following variables: `bbdb-get-addresses-from-headers' controls which headers are parsed for sender addresses when calling the show-sender function of your MUA. `bbdb-get-addresses-to-headers' controls which headers are parsed for recipients addresses when calling the show-all-recipients function of your MUA. When using the pop up feature it will search for the addresses in `bbdb-get-addresses-headers' and display them. By default it will list only the first address, but by setting `bbdb-get-only-first-address-p' to `nil' one will will get records for all addresses. If there is no MUA specific variable for ignoring certain addresses then those addresses matching `bbdb-user-mail-names' will be ignored. BBDB adds the bindings `:' for showing all senders and `;' for editing the notes of the sender. * Menu: * Gnus Features:: Gnus-specific Features * VM Features:: VM-specific Features  File: bbdb.info, Node: Gnus Features, Next: VM Features, Prev: Reader-specific Features, Up: Reader-specific Features 1.5.1 Gnus-specific Features ---------------------------- The BBDB can be used to provide score information, or to integrate database information into the Gnus Summary buffer or the GNUS Subject List. * Menu: * Gnus Scoring:: Store score adjustments in the BBDB * Gnus Summary Buffer:: BBDB information in the Summary buffer * GNUS Subject List:: BBDB information in the Subject List  File: bbdb.info, Node: Gnus Scoring, Next: Gnus Summary Buffer, Prev: Gnus Features, Up: Gnus Features 1.5.1.1 Scoring ............... The BBDB can provide scoring information to Gnus in one of two ways. 1. Articles whose authors appear in the BBDB and who have `gnus-score' fields will have their scores adjusted by the value contained in that field. 2. Articles whose authors appear in the BBDB but who do not have `gnus-score' fields will have their scores adjusted by `bbdb/gnus-score-default'. If `bbdb/gnus-score-default' is `nil', no score adjustment will be made. The BBDB by default searches the field contained in `bbdb/gnus-score-field' for score values. To have the BBDB use a different field, change the value of this variable. To enable BBDB-assisted scoring, add the `bbdb/gnus-score' function to `gnus-score-find-score-files-function'. Assuming that you want to preserve the default value of this variable, use a form similar to the following: (setq gnus-score-find-score-files-function '(gnus-score-find-bnews bbdb/gnus-score)) Note: The default value in Gnus 5.5 is `gnus-score-find-bnews'. Check your configuration before using the above code, as your values may be different.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Gnus Summary Buffer, Next: GNUS Subject List, Prev: Gnus Scoring, Up: Gnus Features 1.5.1.2 Gnus Summary Buffer Enhancements ........................................ Gnus can use the BBDB to do one of two things: * Mark authors in the Summary Buffer who have records in the BBDB with a user-defined mark character. See Marking Posters, below. * For authors in the Summary Buffer who also have records in the BBDB, replace their name as listed in the Summary Buffer with their name as stored in the BBDB. See Using Names from the BBDB, below. Marking Posters ............... Authors with records in the BBDB can be marked either with a user-defined mark character, or with a default one. The marking is enabled by the use of a Gnus user format code, as determined by `bbdb/gnus-summary-in-bbdb-format-letter'. This variable, which defaults to `b', is used to create a format code which is intended for use in `gnus-summary-line-format'. The format code is created by concatenating `%u' with the value of `bbdb/gnus-summary-in-bbdb-format-letter'. In the default case this results in the creation of the format code `%ub'. Posts are marked as follows: If the record for the poster has the field indicated in `bbdb-message-marker-field' (the default is `mark-char'), the value of that field is used as the mark character.(1) If no such field is present, the value of `bbdb/gnus-summary-known-poster-mark' will be used instead. If the author is not in the BBDB, a space will be used as the mark character. Using Names from the BBDB ......................... The names reported for authors of posts in the Summary buffer can be altered to conform to the values present in their respective BBDB records (if any). This rewriting is enabled by the use of a Gnus user format code, as determined by `bbdb/gnus-summary-user-format-letter'. This variable, which defaults to `B', is used to create a format code which is intended for use in `gnus-summary-line-format'. The format code is created by concatenating `%u' with the value of `bbdb/gnus-summary-user-format-letter'. In the default case this results in the creation of the format code `%uB'. This format code is intended to replace the format code previously used in the Summary buffer format line to indicate the author and/or net address (usually `%a', `%n', and/or `$N'). The effects of this format code are in two independent parts - the marking of known posters, and the rewriting of posters names. The first, the marking of posters, occurs only when `bbdb/gnus-summary-mark-known-posters' is `t' (the default) and the posters have entries in the BBDB. When this variable is true, the marking occurs as described in the previous section, Marking Posters, above. The poster name rewriting is done for all posters - not just for those with records in the BBDB. That said, rewriting rules for posters in the BBDB are more flexible than for those not listed. The rewriting is governed by two variables, as described below. `bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-real-names' can have one of three values - `t', `bbdb', or `nil'. In general, this variable governs the preference between net addresses and names. If it is `t', the name (if any) will be used. If `nil', the net address will be used. The third value, `bbdb', can be used as a method for distinguishing between authors with records in the BBDB and those without. If the variable is set to `bbdb', the name from the BBDB record will be used if the author has a record in the BBDB. If the author is not in the BBDB, the net address from the message will be printed. This variable makes little sense if `bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-bbdb-data' is `nil', as no names will be printed in the Summary buffer in this case - only net addresses. `bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-bbdb-data' is used to (dis)allow use of the BBDB for author data retrieval. If it is `t', data from the BBDB will be used if available. If it is `nil', data from the BBDB will not be used. In the following examples, assume the following: 1. Message: `From: Jamie ' BBDB: No record 2. Message: `From: Matt ' BBDB: Name: `Matthew', Net: `simmonmt@purdue.edu' `bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-bbdb-data' `t' `t' `nil' `bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-real-names' `t' `bbdb' `t' Printed in Summary buffer for Case 1 Jamie jwz@netscape.com Jamie Case 2 Matthew Matthew Matt ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) While it is possible to put a multi-character mark in `bbdb-message-marker-field' and/or in `bbdb/gnus-summary-known-poster-mark', the resulting summary buffer will be misaligned as a result. This misalignment will result from fact that at this time the character used to indicate posts whose authors are not in the BBDB is always a single character, and cannot be changed.  File: bbdb.info, Node: GNUS Subject List, Prev: Gnus Summary Buffer, Up: Gnus Features 1.5.1.3 GNUS Summary Buffer Enhancements ........................................ This section is remarkably terse, as I don't have a copy of GNUS. If anybody can provide more descriptive information, please let me know. (autoload 'bbdb/gnus-lines-and-from "bbdb-gnus") (setq gnus-optional-headers 'bbdb/gnus-lines-and-from) `bbdb/gnus-mark-known-posters' If `t' (the default), then the GNUS subject list will contain an indication of those messages posted by people who have entries in the Insidious Big Brother Database (they will be marked with an asterisk.) You can change the character used to mark records on a record-by-record basis by adding a `mark-char' property to the record, whose value is be the string to display (preferably one character.) `bbdb/gnus-header-prefer-real-names' Default: `nil'. if `t', then the GNUS subject list will display real names instead of network addresses. `bbdb/gnus-header-show-bbdb-names' Default: `t'. If both this variable and the `bbdb/gnus-header-prefer-real-names' variable are true, then for news messages from people who are in your database, the name displayed will be the primary name from the database, rather than the one from the `From:' line of the message. This doesn't affect the names of people who aren't in the database, of course. `bbdb/gnus-lines-and-from-length' Default: 18. The number of characters used to display `From:' info in GNUS, if you have set `gnus-optional-headers' to `bbdb/gnus-lines-and-from'.  File: bbdb.info, Node: VM Features, Prev: Gnus Features, Up: Reader-specific Features 1.5.2 VM-specific features -------------------------- The BBDB can be used to integrate database information into the message summary. * Menu: * VM Message Summary:: BBDB information in message summary * VM what records are displayed:: * VM automatic setup of vm-set-auto-folder-alist:: * VM automatic adding of labels::  File: bbdb.info, Node: VM Message Summary, Next: VM what records are displayed, Prev: VM Features, Up: VM Features 1.5.2.1 VM Message Summary Enhancements ....................................... VM users can cause their summary buffer to display the name of the message sender according to BBDB data, instead of according to the contents of the current message's headers. In VM 5.40 or later, use the summary format control `%UB"' instead of `"%F"', and the current record name will be shown there if available. If no entry is found it behaves like `"%F"'. See the documentation for `vm-summary-format' for more details. Warning, this may significantly slow down summary generation for large folders.  File: bbdb.info, Node: VM what records are displayed, Next: VM automatic setup of vm-set-auto-folder-alist, Prev: VM Message Summary, Up: VM Features 1.5.2.2 VM configuration of what records the BBDB buffer shows .............................................................. Email addresses which match `vm-summary-uninteresting-senders' are ignored. The records in the BBDB buffer are listed in the same order as found.  File: bbdb.info, Node: VM automatic setup of vm-set-auto-folder-alist, Next: VM automatic adding of labels, Prev: VM what records are displayed, Up: VM Features 1.5.2.3 VM automatic setup of `vm-set-auto-folder-alist' ........................................................ VM users can setup the `vm-set-auto-folder-alist' automatically by calling `bbdb/vm-set-auto-folder-alist'. This adds for each BBDB record containing a `bbdb/vm-set-auto-folder-alist-field' an entry to `vm-set-auto-folder-alist'. The record field can contain a string which is used as folder name or if it starts with a `'' it is treated as lisp expression returning a folder name.  File: bbdb.info, Node: VM automatic adding of labels, Prev: VM automatic setup of vm-set-auto-folder-alist, Up: VM Features 1.5.2.4 VM automatic adding of labels ..................................... `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label-list' is a List used by `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label' to automatically label messages. Each element in the list is either a string or a list of two strings. If a single string then it is used as both the field value to check for and the label to apply to the message. If a list of two strings, the first is the field value to search for and the second is the label to apply. `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label-field bbdb-define-all-aliases-field' is the field used by `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label' to automatically label messages. Value is either a single symbol or a list of symbols of bbdb fields that `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label' uses to check for labels to apply to messages. Defaults to `bbdb-define-all-aliases-field' which is typically `mail-alias'. `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label' automatically adds labels to messages based on the `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label-field bbdb-define-all-aliases-field' field. Add this to `bbdb-notice-hook' and if using VM each message that bbdb notices will be checked. If the sender has a value in the `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label-field' in their BBDB record that matches a value in `bbdb/vm-auto-add-label-list' then a VM label will be added to the message. This works great when `bbdb-user-mail-names' is set. As a result mail that you send to people (and copy yourself on) is labeled as well.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Other Packages, Next: Options, Prev: Reader-specific Features, Up: Top 1.6 Using the BBDB with other packages ====================================== The BBDB adds functionality to several packages. The following sections detail these augmentations. * Menu: * Using Message Mode:: Using the BBDB with Message Mode * Using Reportmail:: Using the BBDB with Reportmail * Using Supercite:: Using the BBDB with Supercite * Using Web Browsers:: Using the BBDB with Web Browsers  File: bbdb.info, Node: Using Message Mode, Next: Using Reportmail, Prev: Other Packages, Up: Other Packages 1.6.1 Using the BBDB with Message Mode -------------------------------------- At this time, the only feature the BBDB adds to Message mode is the binding to `M-TAB' which allows for BBDB record completion.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Using Reportmail, Next: Using Supercite, Prev: Using Message Mode, Up: Other Packages 1.6.2 Using the BBDB with Reportmail ------------------------------------ The BBDB can modify the `reportmail.el' package to use information from BBDB records when identifying the senders or recipients of e-mail messages. In normal operation, Reportmail displays the name and net address sender and recipient of incoming messages. The BBDB can be configured to intercept and rewrite this information before it appears in the Emacs mode-line. It first attempts to rewrite the sender and/or recipient information by substituting those addresses with information from the BBDB. Replacement information is first sought from the `mail-name' field in the respective BBDB records. If no such field is found, the `name' field is returned. If no BBDB record is found, no rewriting is performed. The BBDB-Reportmail augmentation is accomplished through the advising of the Reportmail `display-time-get-field' function in order to do a-posteriori modification of the returned value. The augmentation uses the `bbdb/reportmail-alternate-full-name' function to retrieve data from the BBDB for use in rewriting.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Using Supercite, Next: Using Web Browsers, Prev: Using Reportmail, Up: Other Packages 1.6.3 Using the BBDB with Supercite ----------------------------------- The BBDB can be used with Supercite to store attributions with BBDB records. Normally, when a non-default attribution is entered for a given message, the entered attribution is used for that message, and is then discarded. When the BBDB-Supercite augmentation is enabled, the non-default attribution will be added to the record (if any) for the entity being cited. This poor explanation sounds complicated, but it's not. If a message from `Jamie Zawinski ' is being replied to, Supercite will, by default, suggest the citation `Jamie'. If the non-default citation `jwz' is entered, Supercite can save it with the BBDB record for `Jamie Zawinski' in the `attribution' field. The field used can be changed by changing the value of `bbdb/sc-attribution-field'.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Using Web Browsers, Prev: Using Supercite, Up: Other Packages 1.6.4 Using the BBDB with Web Browsers -------------------------------------- The BBDB/Web Browser integration is in two parts, one which is automatically enabled, and one which must be manually enabled (*note Web Browser Prep::). The first feature added is the ability to display the URL associated with a given record in a Web Browser. The second is the ability to add URLs to BBDB records from within W3, the Emacs Web Browser. Pressing `W' in the `*BBDB*' buffer while the cursor is positioned over a record with a `www' field will cause the first URL in the field to be loaded in a Web Browser. This functionality uses `browse-url' to display URLs - see the documentation for `browse-url' for information on selecting the browser to be used. If W3 is used, and if the BBDB/W3 functionality has been enabled as described in *Note Web Browser Prep::, pressing the `:' key will add the URL currently being displayed in W3 to a user-specified BBDB record.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Options, Next: Utilities, Prev: Other Packages, Up: Top 1.7 Options =========== There are many variables which control the behavior of the Insidious Big Brother Database, and there are many hook-variables which can be used to modify its behavior in more complex ways. Several pieces of functionality are included which use the hooks in this way. * Menu: * Customization Parameters:: Customization Parameters * Customization Hooks:: Customization Hooks * Predefined Hooks:: Predefined Hooks  File: bbdb.info, Node: Customization Parameters, Next: Customization Hooks, Prev: Options, Up: Options 1.7.1 Customization Parameters ------------------------------ `bbdb-file' The name of the file which contains your personal database. Default: `~/.bbdb'. `bbdb-default-area-code' The default area code to use when prompting for a new phone number. Default: 415. This must be a number, not a string. `bbdb-north-american-phone-numbers-p' Whether syntax-checking of phone numbers should be enforced. Default: `t'. This only works for Bell-system phone numbers. If this is true, then you can't enter invalid phone numbers, and all phone numbers are pretty-printed in the same way. European phone numbers don't have as strict a syntax, however, so this is a harder problem for them (on which I am punting). You can have both styles of phone number in your database by providing a prefix argument to the `bbdb-insert-new-field' command. `bbdb-check-zip-codes-p' Whether syntax-checking of zip codes should be enforced. Default: `t'. If this is true, you can't enter invalid zip codes. A zip code is valid if it matches one of the regular expressions in the variable `bbdb-legal-zip-codes'. `bbdb-address-formatting-alist' Controls the display of addresses in the buffer. Each entry in this list consists of an identifying function and a formatting function. The identifying function must accept an address and return `t' if the associated formatting function is to be used. The formatting function must insert the formatted address in the current buffer. Identifying functions usually base their decision on the zip code format or on the country name. The default entries will format an address using continental style if the zip code matches `bbdb-continental-zip-regexp'. If the zip code does not match, addresses are formatted in US style. `bbdb-continental-zip-regexp' Decides whether an address should be formatted using US or European style. If the zip code of an address matches the regular expression, the European style is used. This works only if the expression `(bbdb-address-is-continental . bbdb-format-address-continental)' is part of `bbdb-address-formatting-alist'. `bbdb-electric-p' Whether bbdb mode should be "electric" like `electric-buffer-list'. Default: `t'. Basically this means that when you type space after `M-x bbdb', your window configuration will be restored to what it was before you invoked the db list. (The `bbdb-mode' commands still work as well.) There are some problems with electric modes; for example, keyboard macros and incremental search don't work. (This is not a bug in BBDB, but in `electric.el'.) `bbdb-case-fold-search' Default: the same as `case-fold-search'. `case-fold-search' is bound to this by `M-x bbdb' and related commands. This variable lets the case-sensitivity of `^S' and of the bbdb searching commands be different. `bbdb/mail-auto-create-p' If this is `t' (the default), then VM, MH, and RMAIL will automatically create new bbdb records for people you receive mail from. If this variable is a function name or lambda expression, then it is called with no arguments to decide whether an entry should be automatically created. You can use this to, for example, not create records for messages which have reached you through a particular mailing list, or to only create records automatically if the mail has a particular subject. See the variables `bbdb-ignore-most-messages-alist' and `bbdb-ignore-some-messages-alist' (*Note Predefined Hooks::.) `bbdb/news-auto-create-p' If this is `t' (default: `nil'), then GNUS will automatically create new BBDB records for people you read messages by. If this is a function name or lambda expression, then it is called with no arguments to decide whether an entry should be automatically created. You can use this to, for example, create or not create messages which have a particular subject. See the variable `bbdb-auto-notes-alist' (*Note Predefined Hooks::.). If you want to autocreate messages based on the current newsgroup, it's probably a better idea to set this variable to `t' or `nil' from your `gnus-select-group-hook' instead. To automatically remember users in certain groups, you can do something like (setq gnus-select-group-hook '(lambda () (setq bbdb/news-auto-create-p (or (string= "some.news.group" gnus-newsgroup-name) (string= "other.news.group" gnus-newsgroup-name))))) `bbdb-quiet-about-name-mismatches' If this is false (the default), then BBDB will prompt you when it notices a name change, that is, when the "real name" in a message doesn't correspond to a record already in the database with the same network address. As in, "John Smith " versus "John Q. Smith ". If this is true, then you will not be asked if you want to change it (and it will not be changed.) If a number then it is the number of seconds to sit-for while displaying the name mismatch. `bbdb-use-alternate-names' If this is false, then the BBDB will not use the AKA field. Otherwise (the default) then the mail and news interfaces will ask you if you want to add an alternate name when a name-change is noticed, and will ask you whether the new name should be made the primary one. Note that if `bbdb-quiet-about-name-mismatches' is true, you will not be asked any questions about alternate names. `bbdb-readonly-p' If this is true (default: `nil'), then nothing will attempt to change the database implicitly, and you will be prevented from doing it explicitly. If you have more than one emacs running at the same time, you might want to arrange for this to be set to `t' in all but one of them. `bbdb-auto-revert-p' If this variable is true (default: `nil') and the BBDB file is noticed to have changed on disk, it will be automatically reverted without prompting you first. Otherwise you will be asked. (But if the file has changed and you have made changes in memory as well, you will always be asked.) `bbdb-notice-auto-save-file' If this is true (default: `nil'), then the BBDB will notice when its auto-save file is newer than the file is was read from, and will offer to revert. `bbdb-use-pop-up' If true (the default), display a continuously-updating BBDB window while in VM, MH, RMAIL, or GNUS. Each time a new message is selected, the record corresponding to that message's sender will be displayed in another window. The buffer in this other window will be in bbdb-mode, and all corresponding commands will be available. This buffer will be positioned on the screen by finding the tallest of the windows present, and splitting it such that the bottom `bbdb-pop-up-target-lines' lines of the window display the `*BBDB*' buffer. With the default configurations of VM, MH, RMAIL, and GNUS, this means that the bbdb-list buffer will be just below the message-body buffer. If this is the symbol `horiz', then the BBDB window will be stacked horizontally instead of vertically, if there is room to do that tastefully. `bbdb-pop-up-target-lines' Desired number of lines in a VM/MH/RMAIL/GNUS pop-up BBDB window, default 5. `bbdb-elided-display-fields' A the list of fields which should be displayed in elided display. E.g. set this to `'(phones net addresses)' in order to get the list of phone numbers, net addresses and addresses listed. You may use any valid BBDB field and write your own functions for formating them. The formating functions should be named according to the following pattern `bbdb-format-popup-'. They should take one argument which is the raw field content and return a string. `bbdb-elided-display-name-end' Set this to the column where name and company should end in elided display. `bbdb-completion-type' Controls the behavior of the `bbdb-complete-name' command. If `nil' (the default), completion is done across the set of all full-names and user-ids in the database; if the symbol `name', completion is done on real-names only; if the symbol `net', completion is done on network addresses only; if it is `primary', then completion is done only across the set of primary network addresses (the first address in the list of addresses for a given user). If it is `primary-or-name', completion is done across primaries and real names. `bbdb-expand-mail-aliases' If non-nil, expand mail aliases in `bbdb-complete-name'. `bbdb-complete-name-allow-cycling' Wheater to allow cycling of email addresses when calling `bbdb-complete-name' on a completed address in a composition buffer." THIS CURRENTLY DOES NOT WORK FOR GNU EMACS! `bbdb-complete-name-full-completion' Show full expanded completion rather than partial matches. If t then do it always, if a number then just is the number of completions for a specific match is below that number. `bbdb-user-mail-names' A regular expression identifying the addresses that belong to you. If a message from an address matching this is seen, the BBDB record for the `To:' line will be shown instead of the one for the `From:' line. If this is `nil', it will default to the value of `(user-login-name)'. `bbdb-always-add-addresses' If this is `t', then whenever the Insidious Big Brother Database notices a new email address corresponding to a person who is in the database, it will add it to the database. If this is `nil' (the default), then whenever a new network address is noticed for a person in the database, you will be asked whether to add the address. If this is the symbol `never' (really if it is not `t' and not `nil') then new network addresses will never be automatically added. `bbdb-new-nets-always-primary' If this is `t', then when the Insidious Big Brother Database adds a new address to a record, it will always add it to the front of the list of addresses, making it the primary address. If this is `nil' (the default), then you will be asked. If this is the symbol `never' (really if it is not `t' and not `nil') then new network addresses will always be added to the end of the list. `bbdb-canonicalize-redundant-nets-p' If this is non-`nil', redundant network addresses will be ignored. If a record has an address of the form `foo@baz.com', setting this to `t' will cause subsequently-noticed addresses like `foo@bar.baz.com' to be ignored (since we already have a more general form of that address.) This is similar in function to one of the possible uses of the variable `bbdb-canonicalize-net-hook' but is somewhat more automatic. (This can't quite be implemented in terms of the canonicalize-net-hook because it needs access to the database to determine whether an address is redundant, and the canonicalize-net-hook is purely a textual manipulation which is performed before any database access.) `bbdb-message-caching-enabled' Whether caching of the message->bbdb-record association should be used for the interfaces which support it (VM, MH, and RMAIL). This can speed things up a lot. One implication of this variable being true (the default) is that the `bbdb-notice-hook' will not be called each time a message is selected, but only the first time. Likewise, if selecting a message would generate a question (whether to add an address, change the name, etc) you will only be asked that question the very first time the message is selected. `bbdb-elided-display' Default: `nil'. Set this to `t' to make the bbdb-display commands default to displaying one line per record instead of a full listing. Set this to a list of some of the symbols `'(address phone net notes)' to select those fields to be left out of the listing (you can't leave out the name field). This is the default state for `M-x bbdb' and friends. You can have a different default for when the BBDB buffer is automatically updated by the mail and news interfaces by setting the variable `bbdb-pop-up-elided-display'. If that variable is unbound, this variable will be consulted instead. `bbdb-pop-up-elided-display' Default: unbound. Set this to `t' if to make the pop-up BBDB buffer default to displaying one line per record instead of a full listing. Set this to a list of some of the symbols `'(address phone net notes)' to select those fields to be left out of the listing (you can't leave out the name field). The default state for `M-x bbdb' and friends is controlled by the variable `bbdb-elided-display'; this variable is the default for when the BBDB buffer is automatically updated by the mail and news interfaces. If bbdb-pop-up-elided-display is unbound, then bbdb-elided-display the former will be consulted instead by mail and news. `bbdb-offer-save' If `t' (the default), then certain actions will cause the BBDB to ask you whether you wish to save the database. If `nil', then the offer to save will never be made. If not `t' and not `nil', then any time it would ask you, it will just save it without asking.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Customization Hooks, Next: Predefined Hooks, Prev: Customization Parameters, Up: Options 1.7.2 Customization Hooks ------------------------- All of the hooks variables described below may be set to a symbol or lambda expression, which will be funcalled; or may be set to a list of symbols or lambda expressions, each of which will be funcalled in turn. Almost all hooks in Emacs work this way. But notice that some of the hooks described below are called with arguments. `bbdb-list-hook' Hook or hooks invoked after the bbdb-list-buffer is filled in. Invoked with no arguments. `bbdb-create-hook' Hook or hooks invoked each time a new bbdb-record is created. Invoked with one argument, the new record. This is called _before_ the record is added to the database. Note that `bbdb-change-hook' will be called as well. `bbdb-change-hook' Hook or hooks invoked each time a bbdb-record is altered. Invoked with one argument, the record. This is called _before_ the database buffer is modified. Note that if a new bbdb record is created, both this hook and `bbdb-create-hook' will be called. `bbdb-mode-hook' Hook or hooks invoked when the `*BBDB*' buffer is created. `bbdb-notice-hook' Hook or hooks invoked each time a bbdb-record is "noticed," that is, each time it is displayed by the news or mail interfaces. Invoked with one argument, the new record. The record need not have been modified for this to be called - use `bbdb-change-hook' for that. You can use this to, for example, add something to the notes field based on the subject of the current message. It is up to your hook to determine whether it is running in GNUS, VM, MH, or RMAIL, and to act appropriately. Also note that `bbdb-change-hook' will _not_ be called as a result of any modifications you may make to the record inside this hook. Beware that if the variable `bbdb-message-caching-enabled' is true (a good idea) then when you are using VM, MH, or RMAIL, this hook will be called only the first time that message is selected. (The GNUS interface does not use caching.) When debugging the value of this hook, it is a good idea to set caching-enabled to `nil'. `bbdb-after-read-db-hook' Hook or hooks invoked (with no arguments) just after the Insidious Big Brother Database is read in. Note that this can be called more than once if the BBDB is reverted. One possible use for this is to rename the `.bbdb' buffer; for example `(setq bbdb-after-read-db-hook '(lambda () (rename-buffer " bbdb")))' will cause the buffer visiting the `bbdb-file' to be called `" bbdb"'. The leading space in its name will prevent it from showing up in the buffer list. `bbdb-load-hook' Hook or hooks invoked (with no arguments) when the Insidious Big Brother Database code is first loaded. WARNING: Slow functions should not be put on this hook, as the BBDB code will, if not loaded before, be loaded during the first use of BBDB-related Customization functions. Slow functions should be put on `bbdb-initialize-hook'. `bbdb-initialize-hook' Hook or hooks invoked (with no arguments) when the `bbdb-initialize' function is called. `bbdb-canonicalize-net-hook' If this is non-`nil', it should be a function of one argument: a network address string. (Note that, unlike the other hook-variables described above, this may not be a list of functions.) Whenever the Insidious Big Brother Database "notices" a message, the corresponding network address will be passed to this function first, as a kind of "filter" to do whatever transformations upon it you like before it is compared against or added to the database. For example: it is the case that `CS.CMU.EDU' is a valid return address for all mail originating at a machine in the `.CS.CMU.EDU' domain. So, if you wanted all such addresses to be canonically hashed as `user@CS.CMU.EDU', instead of as `user@somehost.CS.CMU.EDU', you might set this variable to a function like this: (setq bbdb-canonicalize-net-hook '(lambda (addr) (cond ((string-match "\\`\\([^@]+@\\).*\\.\\(CS\\.CMU\\.EDU\\)\\'" addr) (concat (substring addr (match-beginning 1) (match-end 1)) (substring addr (match-beginning 2) (match-end 2)))) (t addr)))) You could also use this function to rewrite UUCP-style addresses into domain-style addresses, or any number of other things. This function will be called repeatedly until it returns a value EQ to the value passed in. So multiple rewrite rules might apply to a single address. There is an example of the use of this variable in the file `bbdb-hooks.el': the function `sample-bbdb-canonicalize-net-hook'. The `bbdb-canonicalize-net-hook' is powerful in that it allows arbitrary rewriting of addresses, however, in many cases that is overkill. The function `bbdb-delete-redundant-nets' can be used as a value of `bbdb-change-hook' to cause network addresses which appear to be "redundant" to be deleted each time a modification is made to a record. This works as follows: suppose one gets mail from `user@foo.bar.com', and then later gets mail from `user@bar.com'. At this point, one can generally delete the `user@foo.bar.com' address, since the `user@bar.com' address is more general. (See also the variable `bbdb-canonicalize-redundant-nets-p', which has the effect of ignoring subsequent addresses from `user@quux.bar.com' if the address `user@bar.com' is already known.)  File: bbdb.info, Node: Predefined Hooks, Prev: Customization Hooks, Up: Options 1.7.3 Predefined Hooks ---------------------- If the variable `bbdb-change-hook' is set to the symbol `bbdb-timestamp-hook' (the default), then every record in the database will have a field named `timestamp', which will always contain the date and time at which this record was created or last modified. If the variable `bbdb-create-hook' is set to the symbol `bbdb-creation-date-hook' (the default), then every record in the database will have a field named `creation-date', which will contain the date and time at which this record was added to the database. If the variable `bbdb/mail-auto-create-p' is set to the symbol `bbdb-ignore-most-messages-hook', then the variable `bbdb-ignore-most-messages-alist' will determine which messages should have records automatically created for them. The format of this alist is (( HEADER-NAME . REGEXP ) ... ) for example, (("From" . "@.*\\.maximegalon\\.edu") ("Subject" . "time travel")) will cause BBDB entries to be made only for messages sent by people at Maximegalon U., or (that's _or_) people posting about time travel. There may be only one entry per header in this alist: that is, (("From" . "addr1\\|addr2") ... ) is legal, but (("From" . "addr1") ("From" . "addr2") ... ) is not. If the variable `bbdb/mail-auto-create-p' is set to the symbol `bbdb-ignore-some-messages-hook', then the variable `bbdb-ignore-some-messages-alist' will determine which messages should have records automatically created for them. This is the exact inverse of the semantics of the `bbdb-ignore-most-messages-alist': the alist specifies which messages should _not_ have records automatically created for them, instead of which should. For example, (("From" . "mailer.daemon") ("To" . "mailing-list-1\\|mailing-list-2") ("CC" . "mailing-list-1\\|mailing-list-2")) will cause BBDB entries to not be made for messages from any mailer daemon, or messages sent to or CCed to either of two mailing lists. The variable `bbdb/news-auto-create-p' may be set to either of the above-mentioned functions as well, to get this behavior for netnews messages instead of mail messages. If the variable `bbdb-notice-hook' is set to the symbol `bbdb-auto-notes-hook', then the variable `bbdb-auto-notes-alist' may be used to automatically add text to the notes fields of the records corresponding to certain messages. The format of this alist is (( HEADER-NAME (REGEXP . STRING) ... ) ... ) for example, (("To" ("-vm@" . "VM mailing list")) ("Subject" ("sprocket" . "mail about sprockets") ("you bonehead" . "called me a bonehead"))) will cause the text `"VM mailing list"' to be added to the notes field of the record corresponding to anyone you get mail from via one of the VM mailing lists. If, that is, `bbdb/mail-auto-create-p' is set such that the record would have been created, or if the record already existed. The format of elements of this list may also be (REGEXP FIELD-NAME STRING) or (REGEXP FIELD-NAME STRING REPLACE-P) meaning add the given string to the named field. The field-name may not be `name', `aka', `address', `phone', or `net' (builtin fields) but must be either `notes', `company', or the name of a user-defined note-field. ("pattern" . "string to add") is equivalent to ("pattern" notes "string to add") STRING can contain `\&' or `\N' escapes like in the function `replace-match'. For example, to automatically add the contents of the organization field of a message to the `company' field of a BBDB record, you can use this: ("Organization" (".*" company "\\&")) (Note you need two \ to get a single \ into a lisp string literal.) If STRING is an integer N, the Nth matching subexpression is used, so the above example could be written more efficiently as ("Organization" (".*" company 0)) If STRING is neither a string or an integer, it should be a function which is called with the contents of the field, and the result of the function call is used. If the REPLACE-P flag is true, then the string replaces the old contents instead of being appended to it. If multiple clauses match the message, all of the corresponding strings will be added. If the string is being appended (REPLACE-P is false or not provided) then the new string is appended to the end of the existing field value, with an intervening newline. So each piece of text automatically added to this field will go on its own line. You can control what the separator is by putting a `field-separator' property on the symbol naming the field. For example, to make text automatically added to a field named `newsgroups' be separated by commas, you could do (put 'newsgroups 'field-separator "; ") This variable works for news as well. You might want to arrange for this to have a different value when in mail as when in news. There may be only one entry per header in this alist: that is, (("Subject" ("\\bfoo\\b" . "Foo!!") ("bar" . "Bar!"))) will work, but (("Subject" ("\\bfoo\\b" . "Foo!!")) ("Subject" ("bar" . "Bar!"))) will not. Here's a more complicated example: some people include bitmaps of themselves in their mail messages in an X-Face: header field. You can capture this field into the `*BBDB*' with the following: (setq bbdb-auto-notes-alist (append bbdb-auto-notes-alist (list "x-face" (list (concat "[ \t\n]*\\([^ \t\n]*\\)" "\\([ \t\n]+\\([^ \t\n]+\\)\\)?" "\\([ \t\n]+\\([^ \t\n]+\\)\\)?" "\\([ \t\n]+\\([^ \t\n]+\\)\\)?" ) 'face "\\1\\3\\5\\7")))) (The calls to `list' and `concat' are just for readability, it could easily be a constant.) The tricky bit here is that it strips out the newlines and whitespace used for header continuation, which are not actually a part of the face data. So though the mail message may have the face data on multiple lines, the entry in the `*BBDB*' will be just one line. `bbdb-auto-notes-ignore' is an alist of headers and regexps to ignore in `bbdb-auto-notes-hook'. Each element looks like (HEADER . REGEXP) for example, ("Organization" . "^Gatewayed from\\|^Source only") would exclude the phony `Organization:' headers in GNU mailing-lists gatewayed to the `gnu.*' newsgroups. Note that this exclusion applies only to a single field, not to the entire message. For that, use the variable `bbdb-auto-notes-ignore-all'. `bbdb-auto-notes-ignore-all' is an alist of headers and regexps which cause the entire message to be ignored in `bbdb-auto-notes-hook'. Each element looks like (HEADER . REGEXP) for example, ("From" . "BLAT\\.COM") would exclude any notes recording for message coming from `BLAT.COM'. Note that this is different from `bbdb-auto-notes-ignore', which applies only to a particular header field, rather than the entire message.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Utilities, Next: Internals, Prev: Options, Up: Top 1.8 Utilities ============= This section describes BBDB functionality that does not fit neatly into other sections. * Menu: * bbdb-ftp:: Storing FTP sites in the BBDB * bbdb-print:: Print the BBDB * bbdb-snarf:: Record generation from raw text * bbdb-srv:: External control of the BBDB  File: bbdb.info, Node: bbdb-ftp, Next: bbdb-print, Up: Utilities 1.8.1 `bbdb-ftp' ---------------- The `bbdb-ftp' utility enables the storage of FTP sites as BBDB records. The `bbdb-create-ftp-site' function is used to create a BBDB record for an FTP site. The command will prompt for information needed to create the record. The FTP site for a given record can be accessed with the `bbdb-ftp' command.  File: bbdb.info, Node: bbdb-print, Next: bbdb-snarf, Prev: bbdb-ftp, Up: Utilities 1.8.2 `bbdb-print' ------------------ `bbdb-print' is a utility for pretty-printing entries from the BBDB using TeX. It is invoked by pressing `P' in the `*BBDB*' buffer - this will cause all records in the BBDB to be printed as governed by the variables described below. If `P' is prefixed by a `*', only the currently-displayed records will be printed. Once invoked, `bbdb-print' will generate the TeX output in a buffer named `~/bbdb.tex' (controlled by `bbdb-print-file-name'). The generated output will be shown, and must be manually saved. For each record printed, `bbdb-print' will look for the presence of the `tex-name' field. If this field is found, its value will be printed instead of the `name' field for the record in question. This field is intended to allow the storage of names with accents or other characters that would be illegal in the address portion of a message. While other fields have special characters quoted by `bbdb-print' as described below, the contents of the `tex-name' field (if present) are used verbatim. The following variables govern the printing of records (and of the printing of the fields therein): `bbdb-print-elide' This variable should be set to a list of the fields that are not to be printed by `bbdb-print'. It defaults to: `(tex-name aka mail-alias)' `bbdb-print-file-name' The name of the file where generated TeX output is to be stored. The default is `~/bbdb.tex'. `bbdb-print-require' The fields required for printing a record. This allows, for example, only records with phone numbers to be printed. The value of the value of the variable will be evaluated once for each record, and the record will be printed only if the evaluation returns a non-nil value. The symbols `name', `company', `net', `phone', `address', and `notes' will be set to the appropriate values during evaluation; they will be nil if the field does not exist or is elided. The value of this variable can be any lisp expression, but typically it will be used for a boolean combination of the field variables, as in the following simple examples: * Print only people whose phone numbers are known: `(setq bbdb-print-require 'phone)' * Print people whose names AND companies are known: `(setq bbdb-print-require '(and name company))' * Print people whose names, and either addresses OR phone numbers are known: `(setq bbdb-print-require '(and name (or address phone))).' The default value is: `(or address phone)' `bbdb-print-alist' Formatting options for all formats of `bbdb-print'. The value is an alist of the form `((OPTION . VALUE) (OPTION . VALUE) ...)' Separate settings can be configured using `bbdb-print-brief-alist' and `bbdb-print-full-alist'. Settings in these variables will override the ones in `bbdb-print-alist'. The possible options and legal settings are: `columns' `1', `2', `3', `4', `quad' (4 little 2-column pages per sheet) or `grid' (12 credit-card-sized pages per sheet). `separator' `0'-`7', the style of heading for each letter. `0'=none, `1'=line, `2'=boxed letters, `3'=large boxed letters, `4'=large letters, `5'=letters with lines, `6'=letters with suits, `7'=boxed letters with suits. `omit-area-code' A regular expression matching area codes to omit. `phone-on-first-line' If `t', the first phone number will be put on the same line as the name. If `nil', the name will be the only text on the line. If set to a string, the field of type `phone' whose name matches the string will be used. The string should be a valid regular expression. `n-phones' Maximum number of phone numbers to include. `n-addresses' Maximum number of addresses to include. `include-files' List of TeX files to `\input'. If the filenames are not absolute, the files must be located somewhere in the TeX input path. `ps-fonts' Postscript fonts (TimesNewRoman and Courier) will be used if the value is non-`nil'. Standard TeX fonts (ec-fonts) will be used otherwise. `font-size' The integer point size of the font to be used. `hsize' The horizontal dimension of the pages. The value must be a string, and must be a valid TeX dimension. Alternatively, the TeX default will be used if the value is `nil'. `vsize' The vertical dimension of the pages. The value must be a string, and must be a valid TeX dimension. Alternatively, the TeX default will be used if the value is `nil'. `hoffset' The TeX output will be offset to the right by the value of this option. The value must be either a string containing a valid TeX dimension or `nil' or `0' to use the default TeX horizontal offset. `voffset' The TeX output will be offset downward by the value of this option. The value must be either a string containing a valid TeX dimension or `nil' or `0' to use the default TeX vertical offset. `quad-hsize' Horizontal size to be used for the individual pages in the quad format. The value must be a string containing a valid TeX dimension. `quad-vsize' Vertical size to be used for the individual pages in the quad format. The value must be a string containing a valid TeX dimension. The default value is ((omit-area-code . "(AREA-CODE)") (phone-on-first-line . "^[ \t]*$") (ps-fonts . nil) (font-size . 6) (quad-hsize . "3.15in") (quad-vsize . "4.5in")) Where AREA-CODE is the value of `bbdb-default-area-code' or `000' if there is no default area code. `bbdb-print-brief-alist' Extra options for the `bbdb-print' brief format. The value(s) of this variable can either supplement or override the values in `bbdb-print-alist'. The format and possible values of this variable are as in `bbdb-print-alist', described above. The default value is ((columns . 1) (separator . 1) (n-phones . 2) (n-addresses . 1) (include-files "bbdb-print-brief" "bbdb-cols")) `bbdb-print-full-alist' Extra options for the `bbdb-print' non-brief format. The value(s) of this variable can either supplement or override the values in `bbdb-print-alist'. The format and possible values of this variable are as in `bbdb-print-alist', described above. The default value is ((columns . 3) (separator . 2) (include-files "bbdb-print" "bbdb-cols")) `bbdb-print-prolog' TeX statements to include at the beginning of the `bbdb-print' output file. `bbdb-print-epilog' TeX statements to include at the end of the `bbdb-print' output file.  File: bbdb.info, Node: bbdb-snarf, Next: bbdb-srv, Prev: bbdb-print, Up: Utilities 1.8.3 `bbdb-snarf' ------------------ `bbdb-snarf' provides the ability to generate BBDB records from raw text. If invoked as `bbdb-snarf', it attempts to generate the record from the information around point (the cursor). If invoked as `bbdb-snarf-region'(1), the active region is used to generate the record. Restrictions: 1. `bbdb-snarf' currently recognizes only US-style phone numbers. 2. `bbdb-snarf' works best with things that look like mailing addresses. Example of an address that `bbdb-snarf' will recognize: another test person 1234 Gridley St. Los Angeles, CA 91342 555-1212 test@person.net http://www.foo.bar/ other stuff about this person ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) `bbdb-snarf' is actually a wrapper for `bbdb-snarf-region' that determines the relevant region and passes it on.  File: bbdb.info, Node: bbdb-srv, Prev: bbdb-snarf, Up: Utilities 1.8.4 `bbdb-srv' ---------------- `bbdb-srv' provides the ability to initiate the display of BBDB records from outside of Emacs. This allows external programs to cause the BBDB record for a given person to appear in the running Emacs when, for example, mail is recieved from that person. One specific application, described below, is the integration of Netscape and the BBDB, allowing the display of BBDB records corresponding to Mail and/or News messages displayed in Netscape. `bbdb-srv' is composed of two parts - an external Perl script (`utils/bbdb-srv.pl'), and an Emacs Lisp file (`lisp/bbdb-srv.el'). The external portion is used to send commands to the internal portion. NOTE: `bbdb-srv' requires `gnuserv' and `itimer', both included with XEmacs. `gnuserv' must be started with the `gnuserv-start' command before `bbdb-srv' can be used. In it's most basic form, mail or news headers are passed to the Perl script. The Perl script then causes the BBDB record (if any) corresponding to the passed headers to be displayed in the running Emacs. While `bbdb-srv' will operate with just a `From:' field, it works better when passed both `From:' and `To:' headers. When `bbdb-srv' notices that the logged-in user is named in the `From:' header, it will attempt to display the record (if any) for the person named in the `To:' header. If no `To:' header is passed, it falls back on the record (if any) for the logged-in user (the person named in the `From:' header). An example manual invocation of `bbdb-srv' is as follows: % cat |bbdb-srv.pl From: Jamie Zawinski To: Matt Simmons If the invoking user is Jamie Zawinski, the record for Matt Simmons (if any) will be displayed. If the invoking user is not Jamie Zawinski, the record for Jamie Zawinski (if any) will be displayed. As mentioned above `bbdb-srv' can be used with Netscape Mail and Netscape News. Please note that it can only be used with the UNIX versions 3.0b2 and greater of these applications. To allow Netscape to use `bbdb-srv', set the `NS_MSG_DISPLAY_HOOK' variable to `bbdb-srv.pl'(1) as follows: Bourne Shell (`/bin/sh') and variants: # NS_MSG_DISPLAY_HOOK bbdb-srv.pl # export NS_MSG_DISPLAY_HOOK C-Shell (`/bin/csh') and variants: % setenv NS_MSG_DISPLAY_HOOK bbdb-srv.pl The following variables can be used to customize the behavior of `bbdb-srv': `bbdb/srv-auto-create-p' This variable is similar to `bbdb/news-auto-create-p' and `bbdb/mail-auto-create-p'. That is, when headers are passed in to `bbdb-srv', a new BBDB record can be created if none exists, depending on the value of this variable. Possible values are: `t' Automatically create new BBDB records if the headers passed in do not correspond to an already-existing record. `nil' Do not automatically create new BBDB records. FUNCTION FUNCTION is called. If it returns `t', a record will be created for the person named in the `From:' header. If it returns `nil', no record will be created. A suggested function for use is `bbdb/srv-auto-create-mail-news-dispatcher'. This function will attempt to determine the source of the passed headers - whether they were part of a mail message or of a news article. The action (if any) dictated by the value of either `bbdb/mail-auto-create-p' or `bbdb/news-auto-create-p', based on the determined source of the passed headers. `bbdb/srv/display-delay' `bbdb-srv' pauses between displaying the records corresponding to each passed set of headers. This variable controls the length of time (in seconds) of the delay between the display of different records. Note when setting this variable that only one set of headers can be queued at a time. If three sets of headers are passed to `bbdb-srv' in less than the delay time, only the first and last will be displayed. ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Use the full path to `bbdb-srv.pl' if it is not in the default path.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Internals, Next: Mailing Lists, Prev: Utilities, Up: Top 1.9 Internals ============= This section is currently a dumping ground for things that should eventually go here, but were found elsewhere in the file. INFORMATION IN THIS SECTION IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. IT SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS DOCUMENTATION OF AN EXTERNAL API. EVERYTHING LISTED BELOW IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE The first time you use one of the BBDB commands, this file is read into an emacs buffer, and remains there. As you make changes to the database, this buffer is changed as well, ensuring that if it is auto-saved, it will be saved in its most current state. 1.9.1 BBDB data file format --------------------------- The data file is arranged in a hierarchical fashion. At the top level are vectors, with one vector per database record. It is very important that each vector be on its own line, as the BBDB builds and stores markers based on this layout. The markers are then used to increase the speed of database modifications (more on this later). The record vectors contain the individual fields of the record. These fields can be of any type, but are currently integers, strings, lists of strings, alists, vectors, or lists of vectors. In the case of fields that contain one or more vectors, they can be further broken down in terms of the fields of their component vectors. In an effort to provide a more concrete example to illustrate the above, and to provide a reference for database accessor and modifier functions, we describe the database format below. This description starts with the fields of the individual record vectors, and drills down through the vectors used by some of the fields. 1.9.1.1 Record Vectors ...................... Name Type Accessor and Modifier Description First String `bbdb-record-firstname' Entity's first name name `bbdb-record-set-firstname' Last name String `bbdb-record-lastname' Entity's last name `bbdb-record-set-lastname' AKAs List of `bbdb-record-aka' Alternate names for Strings `bbdb-record-set-aka' entity Company String `bbdb-record-company' Company with which `bbdb-record-set-company' entity is associated Phones List of `bbdb-record-phones' List of phone number Vectors `bbdb-record-set-phones' vectors Addresses List of `bbdb-record-addresses' List of address vectors Vectors `bbdb-record-set-addresses' Net List of `bbdb-record-net' List of network address Strings `bbdb-record-set-net' addresses Notes String or `bbdb-record-raw-notes' String or Association Alist `bbdb-record-set-raw-notes'list of note fields (strings) Cache Vector `bbdb-record-cache' Record cache. `bbdb-record-set-cache' Internal version only. The phone, address and cache vector fields are described below. Please note that, as indicated in the table above, the cache is present only in the internal version of the database - it is not written out as part of the `.bbdb' file. In addition, the accessor and modifier functions for the notes alist are described. 1.9.1.2 Phone Vectors ..................... To access the fields in the below table, you must first get the list of phone vectors using the `bbdb-record-phones' function. Note that if you alter the phones field with the `bbdb-record-set-phones' function, you are altering the entire phones list for the given record. Use the modifier functions below for modifications to individual phone vectors. Name Type Accessor and Modifier Description Location String `bbdb-phone-location' Phone number identifier `bbdb-phone-set-location' Area Integer `bbdb-phone-area' Area code for phone `bbdb-phone-set-area' number Exchange Integer `bbdb-phone-exchange' Exchange (aka prefix) `bbdb-phone-set-exchange' for phone number Suffix Integer `bbdb-phone-suffix' Suffix for phone number `bbdb-phone-set-suffix' Extension Integer `bbdb-phone-extension' Phone number extension `bbdb-phone-set-extension' (`0' if none) 1.9.1.3 Address Vectors ....................... To access the fields in the below table, you must first get the list of address vectors using the `bbdb-record-addresses' function. Note that if you alter the addresses field with the `bbdb-record-set-addresses' function, you are altering the entire addresses list for the given record. Use the modifier functions below for modifications to individual address vectors. Name Type Accessor and Modifier Description Location String `bbdb-address-location' Address identifier `bbdb-address-set-location' Streets List `bbdb-address-streets' List of street address `bbdb-address-set-streets' lines. `nil' if none. Street3 String `bbdb-address-street3' Third line of street `bbdb-address-set-street3' address. "" if none. City String `bbdb-address-city' City name `bbdb-address-set-city' State String `bbdb-address-state' State abbreviation `bbdb-address-set-state' Zip Integer `bbdb-address-zip' Zip code (american) `bbdb-address-set-zip' List (non-american) Country String `bbdb-address-country' Country `bbdb-address-set-country' 1.9.1.4 Cache Vector .................... This vector is present only in the internal database representation. It is not written out to the database file because it contains information aggregated from the rest of the record that is reconstructed when the database is read. To write the cache information to the database file would increase the risk of database inconsistency, and would violate the principles of normalization. To access the cache fields using the functions listed below that begin with `bbdb-cache-', you must first get the cache vector using the `bbdb-record-cache' function. The functions that begin with `bbdb-record-' get the cache vector internally. Note that if you alter the cache field in the high-level record with the `bbdb-record-set-cache' function, you are altering the entire cache vector for the given record. Use the modifier functions below for modifications to individual cache fields. Name Type Accessor and Modifier Description Name Cache String `bbdb-cache-namecache' Preconcatenated name `bbdb-cache-set-namecache' of entity Sort Key String `bbdb-cache-sortkey' Preconcatenated sort `bbdb-cache-set-sortkey' key for record Marker Marker `bbdb-cache-marker' Marker in `.bbdb' for `bbdb-record-marker' start of record `bbdb-cache-set-marker' `bbdb-record-set-marker' Deleted Boolean `bbdb-cache-deleted-p' Set to `t' if record `bbdb-record-deleted-p' has been deleted, `bbdb-cache-set-deleted-p' `nil' if not `bbdb-record-set-deleted-p' The functions listed above will return `nil' if their respective cache fields are not set. The functions listed below will return the value of their cache fields if set, but will also build (and set) the correct field values if the fields are unset: `bbdb-record-name' Return the name in the Name Cache field of the cache (if set). If the name has not been built yet (if the field is `nil'), the name is built, stored in the Name Cache field, and returned. `bbdb-record-sortkey' Return the name it the Sort Key field of the cache (if set). If the Sort Key field has not yet been set (if the field is `nil'), the Sort Key is built, stored in the Sort Key field, and returned. 1.9.1.5 Notes String or Alist ............................. If there is only a single note for a given record, the notes field for that record will be a string. If there is more than one note, the notes field will be an association list (alist) with elements of the form ( NAME . VALUE ) where NAME is the symbol for the name of the note, and VALUE is the value of the note. 1.9.1.6 Example BBDB record ...........................  File: bbdb.info, Node: Mailing Lists, Next: Changes, Prev: Internals, Up: Top 1.10 Mailing Lists ================== (If you are looking for a way to create mailing lists with BBDB, you should be looking at the section on *Note Mail Sending Interfaces::.) There are three mailing lists for the BBDB. `bbdb-info@lists.sourceforge.net' gets moderate traffic, and is intended for the discussion and distribution of development versions of the BBDB. Users of development versions of the BBDB should be subscribed to this list. It is also to this list that bugs should be reported. *Note Known Bugs::. for instructions on submitting bug reports. The second mailing list `bbdb-announce@lists.sourceforge.net' has very low volume. Any user of the BBDB should consider subscribing to this list, as new releases and security issues will be posted here. A third mailing list, `bbdb-cvs@lists.sourceforge.net', is intended for developers to follow the changes made to the BBDB development version. Developers of the BBDB should consider to subscribe to this list.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Changes, Next: The Latest Version, Prev: Mailing Lists, Up: Top 1.11 Changes in this Version ============================ * Menu: * Major Changes:: Major changes in this version * Other Changes:: Not-so-major changes  File: bbdb.info, Node: Major Changes, Next: Other Changes, Prev: Changes, Up: Changes 1.11.1 Major Changes -------------------- Database File Version Change ............................ (the following version-migration text will move in a future version. It is in this section currently because new users will likely not experience it) There has been a version change in the BBDB database file. The new version supports non-US zip codes, and an additional "Country" field in addresses. An automatic version-migration mechanism has been implemented that allows older version `.bbdb' files to either be migrated to the new version, or used as-is without migrating. When the BBDB detects a database file with an old version, it will display the features that have been introduced in the database file from the time of the older version's implementation. It will offer the choice of migration or use of the BBDB with the older-version file. If migration is chosen, the database file will be automatically changed to the new format. If migration is declined, the file will kept in the older format in the `.bbdb' buffer, but will be stored internally in the new format. When changes need to be made to the `.bbdb' buffer, changed records will be reverse-migrated from their internal version to that of the disk file.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Other Changes, Prev: Major Changes, Up: Changes 1.11.2 Other Changes -------------------- TeX Output .......... By default, ec fonts are used for TeX output instead of cm fonts. With the `ps-fonts' option set in `bbdb-print-alist', TimesNewRoman and Courier fonts are used.  File: bbdb.info, Node: The Latest Version, Next: The Future, Prev: Changes, Up: Top 1.12 The Latest Version ======================= Released versions of the BBDB can be found at the following site: * WWW: `http://bbdb.sourceforge.net' * FTP: `ftp://ftp.sourceforge.net/pub/bbdb' Development versions of the BBDB can be obtained in the following ways: * WWW: `http://bbdb.sourceforge.net' * Anonymous CVS: See `http://bbdb.sourceforge.net' for instructions. Users of development versions of the BBDB should subscribe to the `bbdb-info' mailing list. *Note Mailing Lists::.  File: bbdb.info, Node: The Future, Prev: The Latest Version, Up: Top 1.13 The Future =============== The future consists of Bugs and Features. * Menu: * Known Bugs:: Known Bugs, and how to submit new ones * TODO List:: The TODO List * EOL Statements:: EOL (End Of Life) Statements  File: bbdb.info, Node: Known Bugs, Next: TODO List, Prev: The Future, Up: The Future 1.13.1 Known Bugs ----------------- 1. `M-TAB' conflicts with ispell. Workaround: The binding installed by the BBDB for address completion/expansion conflicts with that used by ispell. The suggested workarounds are to rebind the ispell key (the BBDB binding is not configurable at this time), to manually invoke ispell via `M-x', or to not use ispell completion functionality in BBDB-enabled message composition buffers. The following is an example of such a rebinding, supplied by Kai Großjohan: (defun my-message-mode-keys () (define-key message-mode-map (kbd "M-TAB") 'bbdb-complete-name)) (add-hook 'message-mode-hook 'my-message-mode-keys) 2. BBDB and abbrev expansion is inconsistent. Workaround: Currently, `M-TAB' must be used to expand/complete against BBDB names and net addresses, and `TAB' must be used to expand abbrevs (the values in the `mail-alias' field). Unification is planned for a future version. 3. The `*BBDB*' buffer does not always come up when the first article in a Gnus Summary Buffer is selected. Workaround: Pressing `g' to reload the article. This will cause the `*BBDB*' buffer to be displayed. 4. Expansion will fail when the name to be expanded is a subset of the name for another record. For example, if you have entries for `John' and `Johnathan', you will not be able to expand the name for `John'. Workaround: Use the net address for the subset name (`John' in this example). It is commonly known that there are no bugs in the BBDB. Bugs found in defiance of this rule should be submitted to the `bbdb-info' mailing list (*note Mailing Lists::). To assist the developers, please include the version numbers of the various programs used when the bug occurred. An example report follows. BBDB Version: Emacs/XEmacs Version: Mail/News reader (Gnus, VM, etc) used: Bug Description:  File: bbdb.info, Node: TODO List, Next: EOL Statements, Prev: Known Bugs, Up: The Future 1.13.2 TODO List ---------------- The Near Future ............... * Add bbdb/MUA-delete-sender-record * Configurable completion. Should allow user to specify "complete on names first, then nets", etc. * More variables for upgrading. Specifically a variable that lets users specify extra fields for upgrading (an alist `(a . b)' that says field `a' should be upgraded the same way as field `b'. * Change all functions that switch on MUAs to use compose-mail (ex: `bbdb-send-mail-internal'). * Soren Dayton's method for generically extending the BBDB with special-purpose fields * Sorting records on alternate keys. `bbdb-sort-by' from Boris Goldowsky. * Sorting individual types of fields - Sam Steingold's method. * Button 3 menus (Mark Moll and Soren Dayton) * Conditionalized erasure of properties when text is pasted into the BBDB. * Should notice when there are `Reply-To:' addresses. * Should have a command for merging together two divergent copies of a `.bbdb' file (in case you read mail on one machine and news on another, for instance.) * The `*BBDB*' buffer should be resized to exactly fit what it's displaying, even when not in "electric" mode. * It should be possible to do completion on last names as well as first names. * The BBDB buffer is left at the top of the stack when GNUS is exited because GNUS runs its exit-hooks too early. This should be fixed. * String area codes (German area codes can begin with zeroes) patch from `Michael Sperber ' * Default country variable, similar to `bbdb-default-area-code'. * Make format self-describing in comment * ISO-8859-x characters in records for printing. * Prefix for `W' (`bbdb-www') command to allow selection of different addresses. * Generalized buttons (via extents) for fields. Example: `(a . b)' means create button that calls `b' for each entry in the `a' field. * Remove support for GNUS. Start with lisp Makefile (remove nntp and gnus loads). * More flexible auto-addition. Conditionalizing of addition (conditions or supplied function). Prompt if multiple records that meet criteria exist. * Different output formats. See Toby Speight's `' and Bin Mu's `<199801221605.KAA23663@DerivaTech.Com>'. * Generalized area-code-split program that could split, for example, based on input copied (or straight fetch of page) from the Bellcore NANP page. * Print multivalue (comma-separated) fields with one value per line * Easier BBDB extension. See `' from Soren Dayton. * Take birthdays from the BBDB, add them to calendar. From Boris Goldowsky. * Make mail aliases file for other mailers. From Boris Goldowsky. * Various patches from Boris Goldowsky in `bbdb-ext'. * Various other patches: - `bbdb-filters-0.2' - `bbdb-frame.el' - `bbdb-letter-1.0' - `bbdb-plz' - `bbdb-query' - `country' - `country-info' Note that these files have not been investigated. They may or may not be incorporated. * Ability to remove all properties from copied strings. Not-So-Near Future .................. * Fix Gnus scoring so it rebuilds when gnus-score disappears * Multiline note fields * Change key to be some kind of unique number * There should be better support for non-American addresses and phone numbers. This might be Near Future if somebody volunteers to send me patches. * Should reimplement "electric" mode to not be so broken. * The `*C-o' keystroke should add a field to all displayed records. Perhaps `*;' should append some text to an arbitrary field of all displayed records. * Multiple `.bbdb' files with precedence relationships. See Wes Hardaker's `' * Automatically grab information about a person from their sig. See Graham Clark's `info-bbdb' post `<6282.199706161624@havra.dcs.ed.ac.uk>' and Adrian Aichner's `info-bbdb' post `'. Would like to have `bbdb-snarf' attack the sig then compare the snarfed data with the header data. Thoughts ........ * Are there enough hooks? * The interfaces should share more code. * The `bbdb-create-internal' function should be more forgiving. * More `*' commands in general, including `*d'.  File: bbdb.info, Node: EOL Statements, Prev: TODO List, Up: The Future 1.13.3 End of Life (EOL) Statements ----------------------------------- The items in the following list describe items for which support will be removed in coming versions of the BBDB. The items listed are guaranteed to be supported and present only until the EOL date. They may be removed without warning at any time thereafter. 1. `advertized-bbdb-delete-current-field-or-record' Support for this function will be removed for version 2.2. It is recommended that all code depending on this variable be switched to use `bbdb-delete-current-field-or-record'. The two functions have the same calling conventions and effects. This EOL statement was added for version 2.1. 2. Support for the GNUS (not Gnus) newsreader The GNUS-specific parts of the BBDB will be actively removed for the 2.2 release. No further maintenance and/or bugfixes are planned for GNUS code at this time. This EOL statement was added for version 2.1.  File: bbdb.info, Node: Thanks, Up: Top 1.14 Thanks =========== Thanks to everyone on the info-bbdb mailing list for many useful suggestions. This hack would be far less insidious without their input! Thanks list for versions after 2.00.06. --------------------------------------- Thanks to Alex Schroeder, Ronan Waide, Thomas DeWeese, Robert Fenk, Didier Verna, Bill Carpenter. Thanks list for versions after 1.51 prior to and including 2.00.06. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Adrian Aichner, Kees de Bruin, David Carlton, Soren Dayton, Brian Edmonds, Boris Goldowsky, Seth Golub, John Heidemann, Christopher Kline, Carsten Leonhardt, Hrvoje Niksic, Jens-Ulrik Hoger Petersen, Colin Rafferty, Matt Simmons, Sam Steingold, Marco Walther, Christoph Wedler. Thanks list for versions prior to and including 1.51. ----------------------------------------------------- And special thanks to Sebastian Kremer, Joe Wells, Todd Kaufmann, Andy Norman, Ivan Vazquez, Stewart Clamen, Roland McGrath, Dave Brennan, Kimball Collins, Dirk Grunwald, Philippe Queinnec, Boris Putanec, Dave Disser, Francois Felix Ingrand, Sean Owens, Guido Bosch, Lance Brown, Tom Emerson, George Hartzell, Luis Miguel Silveira, Kimmo Suominen, Derek Upham, David Zuhn, Rod Whitby, Richard Mlynarik. Last, but not least, thanks to Jamie Zawinski for writing BBDB in the first place.  File: bbdb.info, Node: _, Up: (dir) _ * in.sid.i.ous aj \in-'sid-e-*s\ [L insidiosus, fr. insidiae ambush, fr. insidere to sit in, sit on, fr. in- + sedere to sit -- more at SIT] 1 a : awaiting a chance to entrap TREACHEROUS b : harmful but enticing SEDUCTIVE 2 a : having a gradual and cumulative effect SUBTLE b of a disease : developing so gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent in.sid.i.ous.ly av in.sid.i.ous.ness n * Menu: * Top::  File: bbdb.info, Node: Concept Index, Next: Variable Index, Up: Top Concept Index ************* [index] * Menu: * %F: VM Message Summary. (line 6) * %UB: VM Message Summary. (line 6) * *BBDB* buffer: BBDB Mode. (line 16) * Adding new fields: BBDB Mode. (line 35) * Adding new records: Manual Record Addition. (line 12) * Address completion <1>: Customization Parameters. (line 193) * Address completion: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 6) * Address display: Customization Parameters. (line 33) * AKA: Customization Parameters. (line 114) * Alternate names: Customization Parameters. (line 114) * Annotating the sender of the current message: Interfaces. (line 21) * Auto-save files: Customization Parameters. (line 136) * Automatic display of the corresponding record: Customization Parameters. (line 141) * Automatically adding text to records: Predefined Hooks. (line 58) * Automatically creating records <1>: Customization Parameters. (line 82) * Automatically creating records: Predefined Hooks. (line 16) * BBDB Mode: BBDB Mode. (line 16) * Browsing the Web page for the current record: BBDB Mode. (line 195) * Builtin field types: Database Fields. (line 10) * Changing fields: BBDB Mode. (line 19) * Changing windows: BBDB Mode. (line 204) * Checking zip codes: Customization Parameters. (line 27) * Completion: Customization Parameters. (line 179) * Continental addresses: Customization Parameters. (line 45) * Creating new records <1>: Manual Record Addition. (line 12) * Creating new records: BBDB Mode. (line 207) * Deleting fields: BBDB Mode. (line 28) * Dialing phone numbers: BBDB Mode. (line 127) * Display of addresses: Customization Parameters. (line 33) * Displaying changed records: BBDB Mode. (line 211) * Editing fields: BBDB Mode. (line 19) * Electric display: Customization Parameters. (line 53) * Elided display: Basic Searching. (line 27) * European addresses: Customization Parameters. (line 45) * European phone numbers <1>: BBDB Mode. (line 41) * European phone numbers: Customization Parameters. (line 15) * Finger interface: BBDB Mode. (line 154) * Fixing mistakes: BBDB Mode. (line 114) * Format of completed address: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 6) * Formatting addresses: Customization Parameters. (line 33) * GNUS Subject-buffer: GNUS Subject List. (line 13) * Initial Configuration: Initial Configuration. (line 6) * Inserting new fields: BBDB Mode. (line 35) * Installation: Installation. (line 6) * Invalid zip codes: Customization Parameters. (line 27) * List of valid zip codes: Customization Parameters. (line 27) * Mail address completion <1>: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 6) * Mail address completion: Customization Parameters. (line 198) * Mail Aliases: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 65) * Mailing lists: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 65) * Makefile: Installation. (line 6) * mark-char: GNUS Subject List. (line 18) * Merging records: BBDB Mode. (line 114) * Name completion <1>: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 6) * Name completion: Customization Parameters. (line 190) * Normal User Installation: Normal User. (line 6) * North American phone numbers <1>: Customization Parameters. (line 15) * North American phone numbers: BBDB Mode. (line 41) * Not a valid zip code: Customization Parameters. (line 27) * One-line display: Basic Searching. (line 27) * Phone numbers <1>: Customization Parameters. (line 11) * Phone numbers: BBDB Mode. (line 41) * Printing records in the database <1>: bbdb-print. (line 6) * Printing records in the database <2>: BBDB Mode. (line 199) * Printing records in the database: Database Fields. (line 110) * Removing fields: BBDB Mode. (line 28) * Reordering fields: BBDB Mode. (line 50) * Saving your changes: BBDB Mode. (line 111) * Searching the database <1>: Basic Searching. (line 9) * Searching the database: BBDB Mode. (line 219) * Sending mail <1>: BBDB Mode. (line 92) * Sending mail: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 57) * Showing the sender of the current message: Interfaces. (line 13) * Sound support: BBDB Mode. (line 127) * Special Field Names: Database Fields. (line 65) * Storing FTP sites in the BBDB: bbdb-ftp. (line 6) * Timestamping records: Predefined Hooks. (line 6) * Transposing fields: BBDB Mode. (line 50) * User-defined fields <1>: Basic Searching. (line 21) * User-defined fields: BBDB Mode. (line 35) * Valid zip codes: Customization Parameters. (line 27) * XEmacs Package Installation: XEmacs Package. (line 6) * Zip code checking: Customization Parameters. (line 27)  File: bbdb.info, Node: Variable Index, Prev: Concept Index, Up: Top Variable Index ************** [index] * Menu: * bbdb-address-formatting-alist: Customization Parameters. (line 33) * bbdb-after-read-db-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 51) * bbdb-always-add-addresses: Customization Parameters. (line 210) * bbdb-auto-notes-alist: Predefined Hooks. (line 58) * bbdb-auto-notes-ignore: Predefined Hooks. (line 169) * bbdb-auto-notes-ignore-all: Predefined Hooks. (line 183) * bbdb-auto-revert-p: Customization Parameters. (line 129) * bbdb-canonicalize-net-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 76) * bbdb-canonicalize-redundant-nets-p: Customization Parameters. (line 228) * bbdb-case-fold-search: Customization Parameters. (line 64) * bbdb-change-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 111) * bbdb-check-zip-codes-p: Customization Parameters. (line 27) * bbdb-complete-name-allow-cycling: Customization Parameters. (line 193) * bbdb-complete-name-full-completion: Customization Parameters. (line 198) * bbdb-completion-display-record: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 51) * bbdb-completion-type: Customization Parameters. (line 179) * bbdb-continental-zip-regexp: Customization Parameters. (line 45) * bbdb-create-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 17) * bbdb-default-area-code: Customization Parameters. (line 11) * bbdb-dial-local-prefix: BBDB Mode. (line 145) * bbdb-dial-long-distance-prefix: BBDB Mode. (line 149) * bbdb-dwim-net-address-allow-redundancy: Mail Sending Interfaces. (line 6) * bbdb-electric-p: Customization Parameters. (line 53) * bbdb-elided-display: Customization Parameters. (line 251) * bbdb-elided-display-fields: Customization Parameters. (line 164) * bbdb-elided-display-name-end: Customization Parameters. (line 175) * bbdb-expand-mail-aliases: Customization Parameters. (line 190) * bbdb-file: Customization Parameters. (line 7) * bbdb-finger-host-field <1>: Database Fields. (line 83) * bbdb-finger-host-field: BBDB Mode. (line 171) * bbdb-get-addresses-from-headers: Reader-specific Features. (line 10) * bbdb-get-addresses-headers: Reader-specific Features. (line 10) * bbdb-get-addresses-to-headers: Reader-specific Features. (line 10) * bbdb-get-only-first-address-p: Reader-specific Features. (line 10) * bbdb-ignore-most-messages-alist: Predefined Hooks. (line 16) * bbdb-ignore-some-messages-alist: Predefined Hooks. (line 39) * bbdb-info-file: BBDB Mode. (line 189) * bbdb-initialize-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 72) * bbdb-legal-zip-codes: Customization Parameters. (line 27) * bbdb-list-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 13) * bbdb-load-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 64) * bbdb-message-caching-enabled: Customization Parameters. (line 241) * bbdb-mode-hook: Customization Hooks. (line 29) * bbdb-new-nets-always-primary: Customization Parameters. (line 220) * bbdb-north-american-phone-numbers-p: Customization Parameters. (line 15) * bbdb-notice-auto-save-file: Customization Parameters. (line 136) * bbdb-notice-hook <1>: Customization Hooks. (line 32) * bbdb-notice-hook: Predefined Hooks. (line 58) * bbdb-offer-save: Customization Parameters. (line 278) * bbdb-pop-up-elided-display: Customization Parameters. (line 264) * bbdb-pop-up-target-lines: Customization Parameters. (line 160) * bbdb-print-alist: bbdb-print. (line 62) * bbdb-print-brief-alist: bbdb-print. (line 154) * bbdb-print-elide: bbdb-print. (line 28) * bbdb-print-epilog: bbdb-print. (line 182) * bbdb-print-file-name: bbdb-print. (line 33) * bbdb-print-full-alist: bbdb-print. (line 167) * bbdb-print-prolog: bbdb-print. (line 178) * bbdb-print-require: bbdb-print. (line 37) * bbdb-quiet-about-name-mismatches: Customization Parameters. (line 104) * bbdb-readonly-p: Customization Parameters. (line 122) * bbdb-send-mail-style: BBDB Mode. (line 92) * bbdb-use-alternate-names: Customization Parameters. (line 114) * bbdb-use-pop-up: Customization Parameters. (line 141) * bbdb-user-mail-names: Customization Parameters. (line 203) * bbdb/gnus-header-prefer-real-names: GNUS Subject List. (line 24) * bbdb/gnus-header-show-bbdb-names: GNUS Subject List. (line 28) * bbdb/gnus-lines-and-from-length: GNUS Subject List. (line 36) * bbdb/gnus-mark-known-posters: GNUS Subject List. (line 13) * bbdb/gnus-score-default: Gnus Scoring. (line 6) * bbdb/gnus-score-field <1>: Gnus Scoring. (line 6) * bbdb/gnus-score-field: Database Fields. (line 88) * bbdb/mail-auto-create-p <1>: Predefined Hooks. (line 39) * bbdb/mail-auto-create-p: Customization Parameters. (line 70) * bbdb/news-auto-create-p <1>: Predefined Hooks. (line 39) * bbdb/news-auto-create-p: Customization Parameters. (line 82) * bbdb/sc-attribution-field: Database Fields. (line 66) * bbdb/srv-auto-create-p: bbdb-srv. (line 60) * bbdb/srv-display-delay: bbdb-srv. (line 86) * bbdb/vm-auto-add-label-field: VM automatic adding of labels. (line 6) * bbdb/vm-auto-add-label-list: VM automatic adding of labels. (line 6) * bbdb/vm-set-auto-folder-alist-field: VM automatic setup of vm-set-auto-folder-alist. (line 6) * gnus-score-find-score-files-function: Gnus Scoring. (line 6) * vm-summary-format: VM Message Summary. (line 6) * vm-summary-uninteresting-senders: VM what records are displayed. (line 6)  Tag Table: Node: Top496 Node: Installation5021 Node: General Prerequisites5860 Ref: General Prerequisites-Footnote-18135 Node: Normal User8288 Node: XEmacs Package13683 Node: Initial Configuration16609 Ref: Initial Configuration-Footnote-120206 Ref: Initial Configuration-Footnote-220288 Ref: Initial Configuration-Footnote-320424 Node: Gnus Prep20677 Node: MH-E Prep21410 Node: RMAIL Prep22015 Node: Sendmail Prep22631 Node: VM Prep23112 Node: Message Prep23668 Node: Reportmail Prep24260 Node: Supercite Prep24895 Node: Web Browser Prep27697 Node: The BBDB28454 Node: Database Fields29132 Node: Basic Searching34838 Node: Advanced Searching36047 Node: Manual Record Addition37704 Node: BBDB Mode38181 Node: Interfaces48994 Node: Mail Reading Interfaces50871 Node: News Reading Interfaces51533 Node: Mail Sending Interfaces51954 Node: Reader-specific Features55976 Node: Gnus Features57330 Node: Gnus Scoring57900 Node: Gnus Summary Buffer59168 Ref: Gnus Summary Buffer-Footnote-163827 Node: GNUS Subject List64210 Node: VM Features65896 Node: VM Message Summary66330 Node: VM what records are displayed67044 Node: VM automatic setup of vm-set-auto-folder-alist67479 Node: VM automatic adding of labels68150 Node: Other Packages69693 Node: Using Message Mode70240 Node: Using Reportmail70563 Node: Using Supercite71792 Node: Using Web Browsers72766 Node: Options73827 Node: Customization Parameters74354 Node: Customization Hooks88210 Node: Predefined Hooks94154 Node: Utilities101444 Node: bbdb-ftp101887 Node: bbdb-print102301 Node: bbdb-snarf109668 Ref: bbdb-snarf-Footnote-1110501 Node: bbdb-srv110622 Ref: bbdb-srv-Footnote-1114810 Node: Internals114887 Node: Mailing Lists123916 Node: Changes124989 Node: Major Changes125269 Node: Other Changes126608 Node: The Latest Version126915 Node: The Future127518 Node: Known Bugs127833 Node: TODO List129916 Node: EOL Statements134641 Node: Thanks135700 Node: _137113 Node: Concept Index137704 Node: Variable Index146160  End Tag Table