[notmuch] [PATCH 2/2] notmuch list: A new command to produce various lists.

[Carl Worth]

On Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:21:19 +0100, Jed Brown <jed at 59A2.org> wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:07:57 +0100, Carl Worth <cworth at cworth.org> wrote:
> > One thing we'll still have to think about is how to remove the "virtual
> > tags" from the completion list, (once we have virtual tags in the
> > configuration file---that is, tags applied automatically based on search
> > specifications).
> 
> Do these need to be real tags?  Would it be sufficient for them to just
> be aliases for search patterns?  I think I would prefer the latter
> because I could modify the pattern and not have to rewrite tags to the
> whole database.  Maybe real tags are needed to optimize expensive
> patterns, but I wouldn't think the user needs to know about that.

They are conceptually just aliases for search patterns, yes.

But when I'm working with my mail I think I want them be accessible in
an identical way to tags I apply manually. That is I want to be able to
search for "tag:foo" and filter the current search view on the "bar" tag
without having to remember to distinguish as a users whether "foo" or
"bar" is a tag or an "aliased search term".

As for your concerns, tag updates are going to be made really fast, (we
just *have* to fix that bug, and soon), so I don't think there's going
to be any problem with updating these rules and having to update the
state in the database.

-Carl