### 4.1 Navigation

The most basic thing to do with a message is to read it. The way to do this in IMAIL is to select the message. The usual practice is to move sequentially through the folder, since this is the order of receipt of messages. When you enter IMAIL, you are positioned at the first message that you have not yet seen (that is, the first one that has the ‘`unseen`’ flag; see Flags). Move forward to see the other new messages; move backward to reexamine old messages.

`n`

  Move to the next nondeleted message, skipping any intervening deleted messages (`imail-next-undeleted-message`).

`p`

  Move to the previous nondeleted message (`imail-previous-undeleted-message`).

`M-n`

  Move to the next message, including deleted messages (`imail-next-message`).

`M-p`

  Move to the previous message, including deleted messages (`imail-previous-message`).

`j`

  Move to the first message. With argument n, move to message number n (`imail-select-message`).

`>`

  Move to the last message (`imail-last-message`).

`<`

  Move to the first message (`imail-first-message`).

`M-u`

  Move to the first unseen message (`imail-first-unseen-message`).

`M-s string RET`

  Move to the next message containing a match for string (`imail-search`).

`M-- M-s string RET`

  Move to the previous message containing a match for string.

`C-c C-n`

  Move to the next message with the same subject (`imail-next-same-subject`).

`C-c C-p`

  Move to the previous message with the same subject (`imail-previous-same-subject`).

`n` and `p` are the usual way of moving among messages in IMAIL. They move through the messages sequentially, but skip over deleted messages, which is usually what you want to do. Their command definitions are named `imail-next-undeleted-message` and `imail-previous-undeleted-message`. If you do not want to skip deleted messages—for example, if you want to move to a message to undelete it—use the variants `M-n` and `M-p` (`imail-next-message` and `imail-previous-message`). A numeric argument to any of these commands serves as a repeat count.

In IMAIL, you can specify a numeric argument by typing just the digits. You don’t need to type `C-u` first.

The `M-s` (`imail-search`) command is IMAIL’s version of search. The usual incremental search command `C-s` works in IMAIL, but it searches only within the current message. The purpose of `M-s` is to search for another message. It reads a string nonincrementally, then searches starting at the beginning of the following message for a match. It then selects that message. If string is empty, `M-s` reuses the string used the previous time.

To search backward in the folder for another message, give `M-s` a negative argument. In IMAIL you can do this with `- M-s`.

It is also possible to search for a message based on flags. See Flags.

To find the next message with the same subject as the current message, use `C-c C-n` (`imail-next-same-subject`). This is useful for following the thread of an email conversation. `C-c C-p` (`imail-previous-same-subject`) finds the previous message with the same subject.

To move to a message specified by absolute message number, use `j` (`imail-select-message`) with the message number as argument. With no argument, `j` selects the first message. `<` (`imail-first-message`) also selects the first message. `>` (`imail-last-message`) selects the last message. `M-u` selects the first unseen message (`imail-first-unseen-message`).