Typing h (vm-summarize) causes VM to display a summary of
contents of the current folder. The information in the summary is
automatically updated as changes are made to the current folder. An
arrow `->' appears to the left of the line summarizing the current
message. The variable vm-auto-center-summary controls whether VM
will keep the summary arrow vertically centered within the summary
window. A value of t causes VM to always keep arrow cenered. A
value of nil means VM will never bother centering the arrow. A
value that is not nil and not t causes VM to center the
arrow only if the summary window is not the only existing window.
The variable vm-summary-format controls the format of each
message's summary. Its value should be a string. This string should
contain printf-like "%" conversion specifiers which substitute
information about the message into the final summary.
Recognized specifiers are:
a - attribute indicators (always four characters wide)
The first char is `D', `N', `U' or ` ' for deleted, new, unread
and read messages respectively.
The second char is `F', `W' or ` ' for filed (saved) or written
messages.
The third char is `R', `Z' or ` ' for messages replied to,
and forwarded messages.
The fourth char is `E' if the message has been edited, ` ' otherwise.
A - longer version of attributes indicators (six characters wide)
The first char is `D', `N', `U' or ` ' for deleted, new, unread
and read messages respectively.
The second is `r' or ` ', for message replied to.
The third is `z' or ` ', for messages forwarded.
The fourth is `f' or ` ', for messages filed.
The fifth is `w' or ` ', for messages written.
The sixth is `e' or ` ', for messages that have been edited.
c - number of characters in message (ignoring headers)
d - numeric day of month message sent
f - author's address
F - author's full name (same as f if full name not found)
h - hour message sent
i - message ID
l - number of lines in message (ignoring headers)
m - month message sent
M - numeric month message sent (January = 1)
n - message number
s - message subject
t - addresses of the recipients of the message, in a comma-separated list
T - full names of the recipients of the message, in a comma-separated list
If a full name cannot be found, the corresponding address is used
instead.
w - day of the week message sent
y - year message sent
z - timezone of date when the message was sent
* - `*' if the current message is marked, ` ' otherwise
Use "%%" to get a single "%".
A numeric field width may be specified between the "%" and the specifier; this causes right justification of the substituted string. A negative field width causes left justification. The field width may be followed by a "." and a number specifying the maximum allowed length of the substituted string. If the string is longer than this value, it is truncated.
The summary format need not be one line per message but it must end with a newline, otherwise the message pointer will not be displayed correctly in the summary window.
You can have a summary generated automatically at startup, see section Starting Up.
All VM commands are available in the summary buffer just as they are in
the folder buffer itself. If you set vm-follow-summary-cursor
non-nil, VM will select the message under the cursor in the
summary window before executing commands that operate on the current
message. Note that this occurs only when executing a command
from the summary buffer window.