Daniel Spiljar
c732d4f949
Clarify that the parameter to the "-o" switch is a MAILBOX instead of a FOLDER (which could be confused with an ordinary filesystem folder). Added per Roman Nezval's comment.
281 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
281 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
\input texinfo
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@setfilename mboxgrep.info
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@settitle Grep through mailboxes
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@finalout
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@setchapternewpage odd
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@set EDITION 0.7
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@set VERSION 0.7.12a
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@set UPDATED 21 May 2023
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@dircategory Mail
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@direntry
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* mboxgrep: (mboxgrep). A mail folder scanning utility.
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@end direntry
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@node Top, , , (dir)
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@ifinfo
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This file documents @code{mboxgrep} (version @value{VERSION}), a
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mailbox scanning utility.
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Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Daniel Spiljar
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@end ifinfo
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@menu
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* Introduction:: A short preface.
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* Invoking:: Command-line arguments.
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* Examples:: A few examples of usage.
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* Bugs:: What to do with bugs and similar vermin.
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* To Vicky:: Author's dedication.
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@end menu
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@node Introduction, Invoking, , Top
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@chapter Introduction
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@cindex introduction
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@cindex preface
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@code{mboxgrep} is a small, non-interactive utility that scans mail folders
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for messages matching regular expressions.
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It supports basic and extended POSIX regular expressions. @code{Perl}-style
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regular expressions are supported as well, if @code{mboxgrep} is linked with
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PCRE library.
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Found messages can be either displayed on standard output, counted, deleted,
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piped to a specified command, or copied to another mailbox.
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It can read and write a variety of folder formats:
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@itemize @bullet
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@item
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mbox folders, either plain or compressed
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@item
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MH folders
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@item nnml and nnmh folders used by Gnus
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@item @code{qmail}-style maildirs
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@end itemize
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Additionally, it can read mbox folders or output from another @code{mboxgrep}
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process from standard input. It does so if a single dash (-) is given
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as a file name.
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@node Invoking, Examples, Introduction, Top
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@chapter Command-Line Arguments
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@cindex arguments
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The syntax of @code{mboxgrep} invocation is:
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@example
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mboxgrep [OPTIONS] PATTERN [MAILBOX]
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@end example
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@menu
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* Miscellaneous::
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* File locking::
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* Regexp selection::
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* Output control::
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* Search scope selection::
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* Mailbox type selection::
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@end menu
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@node Miscellaneous, File locking, , Invoking
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@table @samp
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@item --help
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@itemx -h
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Display a brief help screen and exit.
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@item --version
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@itemx -V
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Display program version and copyright information and exit.
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@item --recursive
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@itemx -r
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Descend into directories recursively.
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@end table
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@node File locking, Regexp selection, Miscellaneous, Invoking
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When accessing mbox folders, @code{mboxgrep} puts a shared lock on
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files by default. Note that mbox folders normally should not be accessed
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without locking.
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@table @samp
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@item --file-lock=METHOD
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@itemx -l METHOD
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Specify file locking METHOD. @code{mboxgrep} supports @code{flock} and
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@code{fcntl} file locking. However, one of these methods may be
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unimplemented on your operating system and thus not available in
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@code{mboxgrep} at run time. To disable file locking, specify @code{none}.
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@item --no-file-lock
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@itemx -nl
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Do not attempt to lock mbox folder files.
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@end table
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@node Regexp selection, Output control, File locking, Invoking
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@table @samp
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@item --extended-regexp
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@itemx -E
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PATTERN is an extended regular expression.
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@item --basic-regexp
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@itemx -G
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PATTERN is a basic regular expression.
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@item --perl-regexp
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@itemx -P
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PATTERN is a Perl regular expression.
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@item --regexp=PATTERN
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@itemx -e PATTERN
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Use PATTERN as a regular expression.
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@item --ignore-case
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@itemx -i
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Perform case-insensitive search.
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@item --invert-match
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@itemx -v
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Invert the sense of matching, i.e. select only non-matching messages.
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@end table
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@node Output control, Search scope selection, Regexp selection, Invoking
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By default, @code{mboxgrep} writes found messages to standard output.
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The options below change such behavior.
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@table @samp
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@item --count
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@itemx -c
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Suppress normal output and print the count of matching (or non-matching,
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if used with the @code{-v} option) messages.
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@item --delete
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@itemx -d
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Suppress normal output and delete selected messages.
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Use with extreme caution.
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@item --no-duplicates
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@itemx -nd
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Ignore duplicate messages.
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@item --output=MAILBOX
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@itemx -o MAILBOX
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Suppress normal output and write messages to destination MAILBOX instead.
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Note that @code{mboxgrep} assumes the output folder is of the same format
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as the input folder. Currently there is no possibility to convert folders.
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@item --pipe=COMMAND
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@itemx -p COMMAND
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Suppress normal output and pipe each selected message to a separate
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instance of COMMAND.
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@item --no-messages
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@itemx -s
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Suppress error messages.
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@item --debug
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Print messages useful for debugging.
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@end table
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@node Search scope selection, Mailbox type selection, Output control, Invoking
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@table @samp
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@item --headers
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@itemx -H
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Match PATTERN against message headers.
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@item --body
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@itemx -B
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Match PATTERN against message body.
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@end table
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@node Mailbox type selection, , Search scope selection, Invoking
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@table @samp
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@item --mailbox-format=FORMAT
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@itemx -m FORMAT
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Specify mailbox FORMAT. Supported formats are @code{mbox} (default),
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@code{zmbox} (gzip compressed mbox), @code{bz2mbox} (bzip2 compressed
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mbox) @code{mh}, @code{nnml}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{maildir}.
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@end table
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@node Examples, Bugs, Invoking, Top
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@chapter Examples
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@cindex example
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Scan @env{$MAIL} for messages from Dirty Harry:
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@example
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mboxgrep -H '^From:.*callahan@@sanfranciscopolice\.org' $MAIL
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@end example
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Re-mail to George messages that mention his name:
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@example
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mboxgrep --pipe="/usr/lib/sendmail george" --ignore-case george ~/Mail/*
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@end example
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Display all messages in folder @file{~/Mail/incoming}, except those that
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appear to originate from AOL:
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@example
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mboxgrep -v -H '^Received:.*aol\.com' ~/Mail/incoming
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@end example
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Do a case-insensitive scan of @file{~/Mail/incoming} for messages with subject
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``Weekly News'' and write them to folder @file{~/Mail/archive}:
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@example
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mboxgrep -o ~/Mail/archive -H -i '^Subject: Weekly News' ~/Mail/incoming
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@end example
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Count @emph{all} messages stored in folder @file{spam}, ignoring duplicates:
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@example
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mboxgrep -nd -c . spam
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@end example
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@node Bugs, To Vicky, Examples, Top
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@chapter Detecting Vermin
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@cindex bug, insect, vermin, bugreport
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Shortly, if @code{mboxgrep} crashes and/or works differently than described
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in this manual, you have found a bug.
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Please report bugs to @email{dspiljar@@datatipp.se}.
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Instructions how to reproduce the bug or output from a debugger would be
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highly appreciated. Please do not, however, send any core dumps.
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@node To Vicky, , Bugs, Top
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@chapter Author's Dedication
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@cindex vicky, cat, memory, love
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@code{Mboxgrep} is dedicated in loving memory of Vicky, my cat who died
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of tumor on Sep 12, 2002.
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You haven't been long with us, but you gave us a lot of joy and all
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your big heart that stopped ticking too early. I will never forget
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you. Sleep well, little friend.
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@bye @c cruel world
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