4.2. Email Database¶

The python bindings to libnotmuch define notmuch.Thread and notmuch.Message, which unfortunately are very fragile. Alot defines the wrapper classes alot.db.Thread and alot.db.Message that use an manager.DBManager instance to transparently provide persistent objects.

alot.db.Message moreover contains convenience methods to extract information about the message like reformated header values, a summary, decoded and interpreted body text and a list of Attachments.

The central UI instance carries around a DBManager object that is used for any lookups or modifications of the email base. DBManager can directly look up Thread and Message objects and is able to postpone/cache/retry writing operations in case the Xapian index is locked by another process.

4.2.1. Database Manager¶

class alot.db.manager.DBManager(path=None, ro=False)¶

Keeps track of your index parameters, maintains a write-queue and lets you look up threads and messages directly to the persistent wrapper classes.

Parameters:	path (str) – absolute path to the notmuch index ro (bool) – open the index in read-only mode

add_message(path, tags=None, afterwards=None)¶

Adds a file to the notmuch index.

Parameters:	path (str) – path to the file tags (list of str) – tagstrings to add afterwards (callable or None) – callback to trigger after adding

count_messages(querystring)¶: returns number of messages that match querystring

count_threads(querystring)¶: returns number of threads that match querystring

flush()¶

write out all queued write-commands in order, each one in a separate atomic transaction.

If this fails the current action is rolled back, stays in the write queue and an exception is raised. You are responsible to retry flushing at a later time if you want to ensure that the cached changes are applied to the database.

Exception:	`DatabaseROError` if db is opened read-only
Exception:	`DatabaseLockedError` if db is locked

get_all_tags()¶: returns all tagsstrings used in the database :rtype: list of str

get_message(mid)¶: returns Message with given message id (str)

get_named_queries()¶: returns the named queries stored in the database. :rtype: dict (str -> str) mapping alias to full query string

get_thread(tid)¶: returns Thread with given thread id (str)

get_threads(querystring, sort='newest_first', exclude_tags=None)¶

asynchronously look up thread ids matching querystring.

Parameters:	querystring (str.) – The query string to use for the lookup sort – Sort order. one of [‘oldest_first’, ‘newest_first’, ‘message_id’, ‘unsorted’] exclude_tags (list of str) – Tags to exclude by default unless included in the search
Returns:	a pipe together with the process that asynchronously writes to it.
Return type:	(`multiprocessing.Pipe`, `multiprocessing.Process`)

query(querystring)¶

creates notmuch.Query objects on demand

Parameters:	querystring – The query string to use for the lookup
Returns:	`notmuch.Query` – the query object.

remove_message(message, afterwards=None)¶

Remove a message from the notmuch index

Parameters:	message (`Message`) – message to remove afterwards (callable or None) – callback to trigger after removing

remove_named_query(alias, afterwards=None)¶

remove a named query from the notmuch database.

Parameters:	alias (str) – name of shortcut afterwards (callable or None) – callback to trigger after adding the alias

save_named_query(alias, querystring, afterwards=None)¶

add an alias for a query string.

These are stored in the notmuch database and can be used as part of more complex queries using the syntax “query:alias”. See notmuch-search-terms(7) for more info.

Parameters:	alias (str) – name of shortcut querystring (str) – value, i.e., the full query string afterwards (callable or None) – callback to trigger after adding the alias

tag(querystring, tags, afterwards=None, remove_rest=False)¶

add tags to messages matching querystring. This appends a tag operation to the write queue and raises DatabaseROError if in read only mode.

Parameters:	querystring (str) – notmuch search string tags (list of str) – a list of tags to be added afterwards (callable) – callback that gets called after successful application of this tagging operation remove_rest (bool) – remove tags from matching messages before tagging
Exception:	`DatabaseROError`

Note

This only adds the requested operation to the write queue. You need to call DBManager.flush() to actually write out.

untag(querystring, tags, afterwards=None)¶

removes tags from messages that match querystring. This appends an untag operation to the write queue and raises DatabaseROError if in read only mode.

Parameters:	querystring (str) – notmuch search string tags (list of str) – a list of tags to be added afterwards (callable) – callback that gets called after successful application of this tagging operation
Exception:	`DatabaseROError`

Note

This only adds the requested operation to the write queue. You need to call DBManager.flush() to actually write out.

4.2.2. Errors¶

class alot.db.errors.DatabaseError¶

class alot.db.errors.DatabaseROError¶: cannot write to read-only database

class alot.db.errors.DatabaseLockedError¶: cannot write to locked index

class alot.db.errors.NonexistantObjectError¶: requested thread or message does not exist in the index

4.2.3. Wrapper¶

class alot.db.Thread(dbman, thread)¶

A wrapper around a notmuch mailthread (notmuch.database.Thread) that ensures persistence of the thread: It can be safely read multiple times, its manipulation is done via a alot.db.DBManager and it can directly provide contained messages as Message.

Parameters:	dbman (`DBManager`) – db manager that is used for further lookups thread (`notmuch.database.Thread`) – the wrapped thread

add_tags(tags, afterwards=None, remove_rest=False)¶

add tags to all messages in this thread

Note

This only adds the requested operation to this objects DBManager's write queue. You need to call DBManager.flush to actually write out.

Parameters:	tags (list of str) – a list of tags to be added afterwards (callable) – callback that gets called after successful application of this tagging operation remove_rest (bool) – remove all other tags

get_authors()¶

returns a list of authors (name, addr) of the messages. The authors are ordered by msg date and unique (by name/addr).

Return type:	list of (str, str)

get_authors_string(own_accts=None, replace_own=None)¶

returns a string of comma-separated authors Depending on settings, it will substitute “me” for author name if address is user’s own.

Parameters:	own_accts (list of `Account`) – list of own accounts to replace replace_own (bool) – whether or not to actually do replacement
Return type:	str

get_messages()¶

returns all messages in this thread as dict mapping all contained messages to their direct responses.

Return type:	dict mapping `Message` to a list of `Message`.

get_newest_date()¶: returns date header of newest message in this thread as datetime

get_oldest_date()¶: returns date header of oldest message in this thread as datetime

get_replies_to(msg)¶

returns all replies to the given message contained in this thread.

Parameters:	msg (`Message`) – parent message to look up
Returns:	list of `Message` or None

get_subject()¶: returns subject string

get_tags(intersection=False)¶

returns tagsstrings attached to this thread

Parameters:	intersection (bool) – return tags present in all contained messages instead of in at least one (union)
Return type:	set of str

get_thread_id()¶: returns id of this thread

get_toplevel_messages()¶

returns all toplevel messages contained in this thread. This are all the messages without a parent message (identified by ‘in-reply-to’ or ‘references’ header.

Return type:	list of `Message`

get_total_messages()¶: returns number of contained messages

matches(query)¶

Check if this thread matches the given notmuch query.

Parameters:	query (string) – The query to check against
Returns:	True if this thread matches the given query, False otherwise
Return type:	bool

refresh(thread=None)¶: refresh thread metadata from the index

remove_tags(tags, afterwards=None)¶

remove tags (list of str) from all messages in this thread

Note

This only adds the requested operation to this objects DBManager's write queue. You need to call DBManager.flush to actually write out.

Parameters:	tags (list of str) – a list of tags to be added afterwards (callable) – callback that gets called after successful application of this tagging operation

class alot.db.Message(dbman, msg, thread=None)¶

a persistent notmuch message object. It it uses a DBManager for cached manipulation and lazy lookups.

Parameters:	dbman (alot.db.DBManager) – db manager that is used for further lookups msg (notmuch.database.Message) – the wrapped message thread (`Thread` or None) – this messages thread (will be looked up later if None)

add_tags(tags, afterwards=None, remove_rest=False)¶

adds tags to message

Note

This only adds the requested operation to this objects DBManager's write queue. You need to call flush() to write out.

Parameters:	tags (list of str) – a list of tags to be added afterwards (callable) – callback that gets called after successful application of this tagging operation remove_rest (bool) – remove all other tags

get_attachments()¶

returns messages attachments

Derived from the leaves of the email mime tree that and are not part of RFC 2015 syntax for encrypted/signed mails and either have Content-Disposition attachment or have Content-Disposition inline but specify a filename (as parameter to Content-Disposition).

Return type:	list of `Attachment`

get_author()¶

returns realname and address of this messages author

Return type:	(str,str)

get_body_text()¶: returns bodystring extracted from this mail

get_date()¶: returns Date header value as datetime

get_datestring()¶

returns reformated datestring for this message.

It uses SettingsManager.represent_datetime() to represent this messages Date header

Return type:	str

get_email()¶: returns email.email.EmailMessage for this message

get_filename()¶: returns absolute path of message files location

get_message_id()¶: returns messages id (str)

get_message_parts()¶: yield all body parts of this message

get_replies()¶: returns replies to this message as list of Message

get_tags()¶: returns tags attached to this message as list of strings

get_thread()¶: returns the Thread this msg belongs to

get_thread_id()¶: returns id (str) of the thread this message belongs to

has_replies()¶: returns true if this message has at least one reply

matches(querystring)¶: tests if this messages is in the resultset for querystring

remove_tags(tags, afterwards=None)¶

remove tags from message

Note

This only adds the requested operation to this objects DBManager's write queue. You need to call flush() to actually out.

Parameters:	tags (list of str) – a list of tags to be added afterwards (callable) – callback that gets called after successful application of this tagging operation

4.2.4. Other Structures¶

class alot.db.attachment.Attachment(emailpart)¶

represents a mail attachment

Parameters:	emailpart (`email.message.Message`) – a non-multipart email that is the attachment

get_content_type()¶: mime type of the attachment part

get_data()¶: return data blob from wrapped file

get_filename()¶: return name of attached file. If the content-disposition header contains no file name, this returns None

get_mime_representation()¶: returns mime part that constitutes this attachment

get_size()¶: returns attachments size in bytes

save(path)¶: save the attachment to disk. Uses get_filename() in case path is a directory

write(fhandle)¶: writes content to a given filehandle

class alot.db.envelope.Envelope(template=None, bodytext=None, headers=None, attachments=None, sign=False, sign_key=None, encrypt=False, tags=None, replied=None, passed=None, account=None)¶

a message that is not yet sent and still editable.

It holds references to unencoded! body text and mail headers among other things. Envelope implements the python container API for easy access of header values. So e[‘To’], e[‘To’] = ‘foo@bar.baz’ and ‘e.get_all(‘To’)’ would work for an envelope e..

Parameters:

template (str) – if not None, the envelope will be initialised by parsing this string before setting any other values given to this constructor.
bodytext (str) – text used as body part
headers (dict (str -> [unicode])) – unencoded header values
attachments (list of Attachment) – file attachments to include
tags (list of str) – tags to add after successful sendout and saving this msg
replied (Message) – message being replied to
passed – message being passed on
account (Account) – account to send from

add(key, value)¶: add header value

attach(attachment, filename=None, ctype=None)¶

attach a file

Parameters:	attachment (`Attachment` or str) – File to attach, given as `Attachment` object or path to a file. filename – filename to use in content-disposition. Will be ignored if path matches multiple files ctype (str) – force content-type to be used for this attachment

construct_mail()¶: Compiles the information contained in this envelope into a email.Message.

get(key, fallback=None)¶: secure getter for header values that allows specifying a fallback return string (defaults to None). This returns the first matching value and doesn’t raise KeyErrors

get_all(key, fallback=None)¶: returns all header values for given key

parse_template(raw, reset=False, only_body=False, target_body='plaintext')¶

Parse a template or user edited string to fills this envelope.

Parameters:	raw (str) – the string to parse. reset (str) – remove previous envelope content only_body (bool) – do not parse headers target_body – body text alternative this should be stored in; can be ‘plaintext’ or ‘html’

account = None¶: account to send from

attachments = None¶: list of Attachments

body_html = None¶: mail body (html) as unicode string

body_txt = None¶: mail body (plaintext) as unicode string

headers = None¶: dict containing the mail headers (a list of strings for each header key)

tags = []¶: tags to add after successful sendout

tmpfile = None¶: template text for initial content

4.2.5. Utilities¶

alot.db.utils.add_signature_headers(mail, sigs, error_msg)¶

Add pseudo headers to the mail indicating whether the signature verification was successful.

Parameters:	mail – `email.message.Message` the message to entitle sigs – list of `gpg.results.Signature` error_msg (`str` or None) – An error message if there is one, or None

alot.db.utils.clear_my_address(my_account, value)¶

return recipient header without the addresses in my_account

Parameters:	my_account (`Account`) – my account value (list(str)) – a list of recipient or sender strings (with or without real names as taken from email headers)
Returns:	a new, potentially shortend list
Return type:	list(str)

alot.db.utils.decode_header(header, normalize=False)¶

decode a header value to a unicode string

values are usually a mixture of different substrings encoded in quoted printable using different encodings. This turns it into a single unicode string

Parameters:	header (str) – the header value normalize (bool) – replace trailing spaces after newlines
Return type:	str

alot.db.utils.decrypted_message_from_bytes(bytestring, session_keys=None)¶

Create a Message from bytes.

Parameters:	bytestring (bytes) – an email message as raw bytes session_keys – a list OpenPGP session keys

alot.db.utils.ensure_unique_address(recipients)¶: clean up a list of name,address pairs so that no address appears multiple times.

alot.db.utils.extract_body_part(body_part)¶: Returns a string view of a Message.

alot.db.utils.extract_headers(mail, headers=None)¶

returns subset of this messages headers as human-readable format: all header values are decoded, the resulting string has one line “KEY: VALUE” for each requested header present in the mail.

Parameters:	mail (`email.message.EmailMessage`) – the mail to use headers (list of str) – headers to extract

alot.db.utils.formataddr(pair)¶: this is the inverse of email.utils.parseaddr: other than email.utils.formataddr, this - will not re-encode unicode strings, and - will re-introduce quotes around real names containing commas

alot.db.utils.get_body_part(mail, mimetype=None)¶

Returns an EmailMessage.

This consults prefer_plaintext to determine if a “text/plain” alternative is preferred over a “text/html” part.

Parameters:	mail (`email.message.EmailMessage`) – the mail to use
Returns:	The combined text of any parts to be used
Return type:	str

alot.db.utils.get_params(mail, failobj=None, header='content-type', unquote=True)¶

Get Content-Type parameters as dict.

RFC 2045 specifies that parameter names are case-insensitive, so we normalize them here.

Parameters:	mail – `email.message.Message` failobj – object to return if no such header is found header – the header to search for parameters, default unquote – unquote the values
Returns:	a dict containing the parameters

alot.db.utils.remove_cte(part, as_string=False)¶

Interpret MIME-part according to it’s Content-Transfer-Encodings.

This returns the payload of part as string or bytestring for display, or to be passed to an external program. In the raw file the payload may be encoded, e.g. in base64, quoted-printable, 7bit, or 8bit. This method will look for one of the above Content-Transfer-Encoding header and interpret the payload accordingly.

Incorrect header values (common in spam messages) will be interpreted as lenient as possible and will result in INFO-level debug messages.

..Note:: All this may be depricated in favour of: email.contentmanager.raw_data_manager (v3.6+)

Parameters:	part (email.message.EmailMessage) – The part to decode as_string (bool) – If true return a str, otherwise return bytes
Returns:	The mail with any Content-Transfer-Encoding removed
Return type:	Union[str, bytes]

alot.db.utils.render_part(part, field_key='copiousoutput')¶: renders a non-multipart email part into displayable plaintext by piping its payload through an external script. The handler itself is determined by the mailcap entry for this part’s ctype.