README.cond-date

Conditional Dates Patch
=======================

    Use rules to choose date format

Patch
-----

    To check if Mutt supports "Conditional Dates", look for "patch-cond-date"
    in the mutt version.

    Dependencies
    * mutt-1.5.24
    * nested-if patch

Introduction
------------

    The "cond-date" patch allows you to construct $index_format expressions
    based on the age of the email.

    Mutt's default '$index_format' displays email dates in the form:
    abbreviated-month day-of-month — "Jan 14".

    The format is configurable but only per-mailbox. This patch allows you to
    configure the display depending on the age of the email.

    Potential Formatting Scheme

    | Email Sent        | Format  | Example |
    |-------------------|---------|---------|
    | Today             | '%H:%M' | 13:23   |
    | This Month        | '%a %d' | Thu 17  |
    | This Year         | '%b %d' | Dec 10  |
    | Older than 1 Year | '%m/%y' | 06/14   |

    For an explanation of the date formatting strings, see 'strftime(3).'

    By carefully picking your formats, the dates can remain unambiguous and
    compact.

    Mutt's conditional format strings have the form: (whitespace introduced for
    clarity)

        %? TEST ? TRUE & FALSE ?

    The examples below use the test "%[" — the date of the message in the local
    timezone. They will also work with "%(" — the local time that the message
    arrived.

    The date tests are of the form:

        %[nX? TRUE & FALSE ?

    * "n" is an optional count (defaults to 1 if missing)
    * "X" is the time period

    Date Formatting Codes

    | Letter | Time Period |
    |--------|-------------|
    | y      | Years       |
    | m      | Months      |
    | w      | Weeks       |
    | d      | Days        |
    | H      | Hours       |
    | M      | Minutes     |

    Date Tests

    | Test   | Meaning              |
    |--------|----------------------|
    | '%[y'  | This year            |
    | '%[1y' | This year            |
    | '%[6m' | In the last 6 months |
    | '%[w'  | This week            |
    | '%[d'  | Today                |
    | '%[4H' | In the last 4 hours  |

### Example 1

    We start with a one-condition test.

    Example 1

    | Test   | Date Range | Format String | Example    |
    |--------|------------|---------------|------------|
    | '%[1m' | This month | '%[%b %d]'    | Dec 10     |
    |        | Older      | '%[%Y-%m-%d]' | 2015-04-23 |

    The $index_format string would contain:

        %?[1m?%[%b %d]&%[%Y-%m-%d]?

    Reparsed a little, for clarity, you can see the test condition and the two
    format strings.

        %?[1m?        &           ?
              %[%b %d] %[%Y-%m-%d]

### Example 2

    This example contains three test conditions and four date formats.

    Example 2

    | Test  | Date Range | Format String | Example |
    |-------|------------|---------------|---------|
    | '%[d' | Today      | '%[%H:%M ] '  | 12:34   |
    | '%[m' | This month | '%[%a %d]'    | Thu 12  |
    | '%[y' | This year  | '%[%b %d]'    | Dec 10  |
    |       | Older      | '%[%m/%y ]'   | 06/15   |

    The $index_format string would contain:

        %<[y?%<[m?%<[d?%[%H:%M ]&%[%a %d]>&%[%b %d]>&%[%m/%y ]>

    Reparsed a little, for clarity, you can see the test conditions and the
    four format strings.

        %<[y?                                       &%[%m/%y ]>  Older
             %<[m?                        &%[%b %d]>             This year
                  %<[d?         &%[%a %d]>                       This month
                       %[%H:%M ]                                 Today

    This a another view of the same example, with some whitespace for clarity.

        %<[y? %<[m? %<[d? AAA & BBB > & CCC > & DDD >

        AAA = %[%H:%M ]
        BBB = %[%a %d]
        CCC = %[%b %d]
        DDD = %[%m/%y ]


Variables
---------

    The "cond-date" patch doesn't have any config of its own. It modifies the
    behavior of the format strings.

See Also
--------

    * NeoMutt project
    * $index_format
    * nested-if patch
    * 'strftime(3)'

Known Bugs
----------

    Date parsing doesn't quite do what you expect. "1w" doesn't mean the "in
    the last 7 days", but "*this* week". This doesn't match the normal Mutt
    behaviour: for example '~d>1w' means emails dated in the last 7 days.

Credits
-------

    * Aaron Schrab <aaron@schrab.com>
    * Eric Davis <edavis@insanum.com>
    * Richard Russon <rich@flatcap.org>