bug#36941: Please include option to link to maildir files

[Jean Louis]

* Robert Weiner <address@hidden> [2019-08-18 21:31]:
> I looked at some doc for maildir, so I understand the format though your
> examples are very helpful.  The question is how a user would link to a
> message

If I am in the message, it has its filename, right? So I can just get
its file path. That is my idea on how to link to the message. It is
also very simple idea.

If I would change flag on the message to become new again, it would be
renamed by Maildir standard and be placed in Maildir/new directory,
and I would not mind loosing such link in that case.

> and how you normally read such a message (what mode do you invoke).

Right now within Emacs I am reading emails with `maildir` package.

It is invoking from message-mode derived mode maildir-message-mode.

I would suggest that it should be option which mode to invoke open
reading such message, with default to be message-mode, as such is
standard in Emacs.

Or you could make derived mode in Hyperbole for that, you could look
into maildir package and maybe make it nicer, as for example if I
invoke just message-mode on the message, I cannot reply, and there are
too many headers, some of them shall be hidden, as linking to message
is usually not for purpose of replying to the message, but to present
the message as a note to the salesman who must understand the
background of person and conversation in question.

> I would suspect you would want to link to the message when
> displaying it in some window, when on the file name in a dired
> buffer and potentially something like link to most recent message
> from <user>.  All of these require different bits of code.

No, not from dired. As from dired I can read it anyway.

My suggestion is related to function link-to-mail which shall be
expanded to link to certain message within maildir directory.

I would provide the path to the message, and link would appear as I
wish, for example <(Message from 10/10/2019)> could be link to the
message that points to ~/Maildir/address@hidden/cur/message and is
invoking the mode by my choice, maybe maildir-message-mode or
message-mode 

> Have you tried using Hyperbole's drag actions to create an explicit link to
> a file?

That is about the same workflow.

I could use link-to-file and then I could make some tweaks in Emacs to
invoke certain maildir message reading mode when such message is
located in certain directory, right? Sure it would work this way.

My proposal is related to your function link-to-mail as if you have
never used Maildirs you may not be aware that it is widely used. So
when user finds link-to-mail, that is first to think how to link to
message but Maildir is not support. It is your decision on that. At
least it gives enough substantial reasons based on reality of
Maildirs, but not that it gives real demand.

There are not so many users of Maildirs that may require such
function, that may be so.

> Just type the label for the new button you want, select that label,
> depress the Action Mouse Key somewhere in the label, drag to the
> dired entry of the email message you want a link to and voila, you
> have an explicit button linked to that file.  But to make it use
> some mode, you would need a custom action type that invoked the
> mode.

Alright

Jean