HI Mary,
Yes, you can search for specific messages in your mailbox. The key to
your answer is that the fields for fine-tuning the results are not
displayed in the toolbar, so once you have typed in your search term,
and VoiceOver has told you the number of matching results, you need to
stop interacting with the toolbar and use VO-Right arrow. Tabbing
just cycles you between the Mailboxes table, the Messages table, and
the Preview pane area for individual messages (if you haven't hidden
this). I use Control-Option-F if I want to get back directly to the
search text field in the toolbar to refine my search by typing in
additional terms or deleting some search terms. Control-Option-F
works quite generally across applications such as Finder or in iTunes
and routes focus to the search text field in each case. (This is
especially useful now in iTunes with the various changes that have
been going on in the format since simpler versions in iTunes 8, where
I could simply tab between the Sources table, the Search Text Field,
and the Songs table -- or possibly to the File Browser (now known as
Column Browser) if that was toggled on.)
It's easiest to give an example. Let's say that I wanted to find an
email where you had discussed headphones among the messages in my Mail
application.
1. Command-Option-F to move focus to the Search Text Field (in the
Mail toolbar)
2. Type in "Mary Otten headphones" into the search field (without
quotation marks) and then VO-Right arrow
3. I might hear "0 found", but the results will depend on my last
search parameters (e.g., whether I was searching the entire message,
the subject, or the "From" field)
4. Stop interacting (VO-Shift Up Arrow) and VO-Right Arrow past the
"Mailboxes table" to the first of the adjustable parameters, which
will let you broaden the search from the currently selected mailbox to
"All Mailboxes".
5. The fields that will be announced are, in sequence:
a. "All Mailboxes"
b. "Inbox" (or your currently selected mailbox"
c. "Entire Message"
d. "From"
e. "To"
f. "Subject"
Each of these parameters will be announced as "checked" or "unchecked"
checkbox. Use VO-Space to change your selection between your current
mailbox and "All Mailboxes" (either a or b), and to select between
searches of "Entire Message", "From", "To", or "Subject" (entries, c,
d, e, or f). As you make these changes, the search result numbers
associated with the search text field in the toolbar will update and
change. You can check this by using Command-Option-F followed by VO-
Right Arrow. For example, if my last search checked the "From" field,
I'll get 0 matches if I include "headphones" along with your name.
However, if I VO-Space on "Entire message" so that this is my search
region, I'll get a number of matches that are now displayed in the
messages table. I can VO-Right arrow to the messages table and sort
on any of the fields with VO-Shift-Backslash, such as "Date Received",
"From", "Subject", or "Rank", if I want to reorder the results. If I
want to save the results of my search to a smart mailbox I can press
(VO-Space) the "Save" button that appears after my search parameters
and before the messages table. (I never use this.) If I decide to
modify my search terms, I'll press Command-Option-F and add or delete
terms in my search field, and then check the results.
The search procedure is very similar to the one for using Finder to
search for specific files. Here's a description from the Mail Archive
of how a Finder search might work (where you limit the search to a
specific folder, and search by file extension or type.):
http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/msg05636.html
(Re: searching)
Having said all this, I have to admit that searching in mail is
clunkier than searching in the Mail Archives, where I can just type in
my search terms like:
from:"Mary Otten" headphones
or even specify a date range. In fact, I can type in any part of your
name to run the search, and I can use wild cards and Boolean
arguments, if I want. I can search the Mail Archive faster than I can
search my own mail, which is why I really wish the mods would add
viphone list to be archived at the Mail Archive site. Then, anyone
could search the list.
HTH
Cheers,
Esther
Mary Otten wrote:
Hello all,
I know there is a text search field associated with the tool bar in
the mail viewer window, where you can type a word and get all
messages containing that word. My sighted friend who owns a Mac says
that right under that field, once the search has been entered, there
are choices which let you select various things to narrow the list
of hits, such as which mailbox, or whether the term occurs in the
subject, body of the message etc. I an not able to find that area
with the vo keys. Vo plus up down left or right arrow leaves me in
the search field and tabbing out takes me out of the search area
altogether. Is there a way to get to this line under the text search
field where you can narrow the selection of hits you've found with
your search using vo?
mary
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