Buffy/Mozilla: Mail & News: Search	UI Specification
Mail Search	Last Modification:

Author: Jennifer Glick  Creation Date: 6 November  2000	Status: Implementable
Quicklinks: Design Details      Mail Specific Search      Find in Message      Context Menus      Customize Headers	Feature Team Engineering   Scott Putterman, David Bienvenu, Seth Spitzer  Marketing   QA  Laurel Carlson Docs  Robin Foster Mail UE  Jennifer Glick

 

Open

1. 44348 - "Clear" should clear the criteria AND the results (currently only the criteria are cleared). 
2. 59049 - Suggestions for the "Search subfolders" check box in search.
3. 66970 - Search messages: context menu for search results pane.
4. 82015 - Search/Filters UI: AND/OR text not always appearing until AND/OR toggled
5. Show busy icon when search in progress.
6. Criteria field.  Selecting "Enter" or "Tab" on the keyboard should add another criteria row and move the give focus to new row.
7. Drag n Drop messages from Results to 3 Pane Mail Folders.
8. Search on Server vs. Search Locally only.

Issues

• What will be the behavior when in offline state for IMAP or News searches, will we automatically default to search local or will we just not search/error because of no connection? 

Summary

The Search feature provides a method for users to find and act on mail and news messages that have already been received.

Goals

Searching mail messages, similar to creating filters, is aimed at more intermediate users.  

User Tasks

Fundamental Tasks
Intermediate Tasks	Search in a particular folder with one criteria Search an account with one criteria Open messages from a search result Delete messages from a search result Move/copy messages from a search result
Advanced Tasks	Complex searches with multiple criteria  Define and use custom headers

Search Access

Access to the Search Dialog from the Main Mail window or Standalone Message window:

Edit Menu	Tools Menu
Find in This Message...  Ctrl+F Find Again   Ctrl+G	Search Messages...   Ctrl+Shift+F

"Find in Message..." and "Find Again", are used to search a specific message that is currently open or has focus. "Search Messages" opens the "Search Messages" dialog used to search a specific Mail or News account or Mail folders for messages.

Design Details

1. Mail Specific Search

The Search window is resizable.

This dialog is context sensitive.  If a specific Mail folder or Mail/News account within Mail had focus when the user selected "Search Mail/News Messages", the dialog should open with the mail folder or account already selected.

A. Criteria

• Search for items in: - drop down menu of available accounts, folders and subfolders. When the "Search Messages" dialog is opened from the Mail application, this menu defaults to the account, folder or subfolder that was selected when the user selected "Search Mail/News Messages" from the "Search" menu.  If the user opens the "Search Messages" dialog from another application besides Mail, the drop down should default to the default mail account.
• Search subfolders - lets the user decide if they want only top level folders searched, or subfolders (folders within folders) to be searched as well.  Checked by default. Note: top level folders (Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash) are NOT considered subfolders of the account (the account is not a folder), so when an account is selected from the "Search for items in:" drop down, top level folders are always searched (even if "Search subfolders" is unchecked).  Based on the selection in the "Search for items in:" menu:
  • If the selection is mail (server or folder) use "Search subfolders".
  • If the selection is news (server or group) use "Search subgroups".
  • If the selection is an object with out children, disable the checkbox (make it grayed out.)
• Search - begins the search.  Only enabled when at least one row of criteria has been defined. Changes to "Stop" when a search is in progress so that a user can stop the current search if they want.
• Clear - clears any settings or text in all the criteria rows AND clears the Results pane.
• Status Bar - Empty when the search dialog is first opened. Once a search has been requested (Search button clicked) a busy indicator (barber pole graphic) should be displayed.  Once the search is complete, the number of results is displayed ("X matches found").

The search conditions widgets should work similar to the Mail Addressing widgets.

Light colored lines should appear between the rows and columns.  The text fields should outline themselves when they have focus.

There is always at least one available search criteria row. When creating a new search, only one search row with widgets is displayed.  When focus leaves the last criteria row (clicking Enter, clicking out of row, tabbing out, etc.) and the row is not empty, a new search criteria row with widgets is created.  This area will scroll when more than 5 criteria rows are needed.  The number of potential search criteria rows is unlimited. When the user clicks anywhere in a particular row, that row is highlighted.  Highlighting will be very light so that the text is still very readable.  Clicking the Delete button or Delete key will removed the row (and move the next row up, if there is one). 

B. Search in Progress

When a search is currently in progress, the progress icon in the statusbar should be animated and the cursor (when over the Search Dialog) should be an hourglass. The text in the status bar should indicate what action is currently occurring ("Opening Folder X", "Searching Folder X", etc.). As mentioned above, the "Search" button changes to "Stop" when a search is in progress so that a user can stop the current search if they want.

C. Results

Once the search has completed, the results of the search are displayed in the lower half of the dialog.  The Results Thread Pane works identical to the Mail Thread Pane. Header columns can be added/removed.  Results can be sorted by header columns. The default sort order is Subject (A's at the top), but the dialog should remember the user's last settings. Ctrl and Shift keyboard commands are available to select multiple messages.

Column Headers - The default columns (and order) in the Results area should be: Subject, Sender, Date, Location, Column Widget. The "Location" column header displays the parent folder (of the message) only, not the path. 

Note: the thread column, unread total in thread column, and total in thread column, are not available using the Column Widget.  They are thread specific and have no value outside of thread mode.  The unread and flag column are also not available (because any changes to their state would need to be tracked to the other mail windows as well).

• Open - opens the selected message(s) in the Standalone Message window. Only enabled when a message is selected. Note: selecting "Enter" on the keyboard when a message is selected will also open the message in the Standalone Message window. Double clicking on a message also opens it the Standalone Message Window.
• File --> - flyout menu of accounts and folders. If a folder within the same account as the message is currently located is selected, a Move is performed.  If a folder within a different account as the message is currently located is selected, a Copy is performed.   Only enabled when one or more messages are selected.
• Delete - deletes a selected message(s). "Delete" key on keyboard also works. Only enabled when one or more messages are selected.  Disabled for newsgroup messages.
• Open Message Folder - opens a 3 pane mail window with the folder for which the selected message belongs selected.  Only enabled when a message is selected.
• Status Bar - Empty when the search dialog is first opened. Once a search has been requested (Search button clicked) a busy indicator (animated progress meter graphic) should be displayed.  Once the search is complete, the number of results is displayed ("X matches found"). 

No Results Found -  If no matching search results are found:

1. The statusbar should display the text "No matches found".
2. The Results Thread Pane should display the text: "No results matching your criteria were found." 
   

2. Context Menus

3. Customize Headers

Users can create and use their own custom headers by selecting "Customize..." from the header drop down list.

The "Customize Headers" dialog opens.

There are no limits to what or how many headers the user can enter. 

Once a custom header has been added, it appears in the header drop down list.  Customized headers are also available anywhere else in the product were headers can be selected from, such as Filters.

4. Criteria

Conditions should be the same for Search and for Filters, with the following exceptions:

• "Body" applies to Search but not Filters.
  

The	Of the Message	3rd Field
Subject Sender To CC To or CC Customized Headers Body (Search only).  (Some servers will allow this, other won't)	Contains Doesn't Contain Is Isn't Begins With Ends With	Text Field
Age in Days	Is Is Greater Than Is Less Than	Text Field
Date	Is  Isn't Is Before Is After	Current date with Increase/Decrease controls
Priority	Is Isn't Is Higher Than Is Lower Than	Lowest Low Normal High Highest
Status	Is Isn't	Read Replied Forwarded

5. Find in Message

From the Main Mail window or Standalone Message window, "Search" menu, "Find in This Message" menu item opens the Find in This Message dialog.

Future Enhancements

Ideas that were brought up as potential enhancements to the Search feature for future releases. 

	Priority
Results Pane - Drag n Drop from results area.	P1
Search Local vs. Search Server	P3
Save a search ("Save as...")	P5
Global Search - across all accounts.	P5
A "re-filter" button that would apply to the search results. It would only operate on the messages matched by the search (the button would be disabled until the search is completed or stopped). Regardless of where the messages are currently filed, it would be run through the filter rules as if it were a new message. jharding@cig.mot.com (Josh Harding)

Issues