Title:  Can I search all my folders for a particular message using Pine?

Question:
I have several email folders and often I need to find a particular message,
but I don't always know which folder to look in. I know that I can use
Pine's Select command to search all messages in a folder, but what about
searching when I don't know which folder to look in?

Answer:
Pine has the capability to search all the folders in a folder
collection.  Note that the search may take a long time if you have a large
volume of saved email. 

You search folders by opening the folder collection you want to search. 
At the FOLDER LIST screen, you have access to the ";" Select command. 
(Note that the ";" Select command does not appear on your screen unless
you use the "O" Other Cmds command.  It is not necessary, however, to
press "O" prior to using the ";" Select command.)
  Use the ";" command and you'll be prompted like this:

	SELECT criteria :               
	            A select All   P Properties  
	^C Cancel   C [select Cur] T Text        

The "P"roperties and "T"ext options will help you find messages. 
Properties will let you direct Pine to mark folders containing unseen
messages, new messages or folders based on a message count. 

The Text option is probably most useful in searching for a message.  Using
that, you can direct Pine to find folders based on a search of contents
for text you provide.  You'll be prompted like this: 

   String in folder CONTENTS to match :

You enter a search "string," ie, the text you want to search for.  Note
that Pine will ignore case.  So a search for "smith" is the same as for
"Smith."  You may enter a phrase, like "joe smith". 

If the search is successful, Pine will mark the folders containing the
search string with an "X."  At this point you have the "Z"oom command
available so you can zoom in to view only the selected folder names. 

If your search is successful, you can open the folder, then use the Select
command again within the folder to find the right message(s). 

You can also repeat folder select operations and have access to the
options to narrow or broaden your search.  This gives the capability for
more complex searches.  For example, you could find folders containing the
string "smith" and "salary" using the Narrow selection option. 

Good luck finding your needle in the haystack!