Keyconfig extension: Thunderbird

This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey (though some menu sequences may differ).

This article lists code samples that you can use for shortcut keys and buttons in Thunderbird. The samples are categorized by the type of code, and by the Thunderbird window that the code works in. If you are looking for code for a particular purpose, use your browser's Find feature to search this page.

The code samples here are mostly case-sensitive. To avoid typing errors, copy code samples from this page and paste them.

You can use the code here in any extensions that provide shortcut keys, menu items or buttons. For example, see: Keyconfig extension and MenuManipulator

Simple built-in commands

Thunderbird has many built-in commands that you can use by name. If a built-in command exists for what you want to do, then it is usually the best way to set up a shortcut key.

If you press your shortcut key when the command is not enabled, nothing happens. This protects Thunderbird from error conditions. To override it, you can sometimes use functions instead of commands. For example, the applyFilters command is disabled in the message window, but the MsgApplyFilters function works there. Functions are described in the sections below.

To call a built-in command, use code like this, replacing command with the actual name of the command:

goDoCommand("cmd_command")

For example, to run the current folder's filters use this code:

goDoCommand("cmd_applyFilters")

Main window and message window

The main window and the message window share commands, but some of them are disabled in one window or the other.

applyFilters close collapseAllThreads compactFolder createFilterFromMenu delete deleteJunk downloadFlagged downloadSelected editAsNew emptyTrash expandAllThreads find findAgain findPrevious forward forwardAttachment forwardInline getMsgsForAuthAccounts getNewMessages

getNextNMessages goBack goForward goStartPage killThread markAllRead markAsFlagged markAsJunk markAsNotJunk markAsRead markReadByDate markThreadAsRead moveToFolderAgain nextFlaggedMsg nextMsg nextUnreadMsg nextUnreadThread openMessage previousFlaggedMsg previousMsg

previousUnreadMsg print printpreview printSetup properties recalculateJunkScore redo reload renameFolder reply replyall replyGroup replySender runJunkControls saveAsFile saveAsTemplate search selectAll selectThread sendUnsentMsgs

SetFocusFolderPane SetFocusMessagePane SetFocusThreadPane setFolderCharset settingsOffline shiftDelete stop synchronizeOffline undo viewAllMsgs viewIgnoredThreads viewPageSource viewThreadsWithUnread viewUnreadMsgs viewWatchedThreadsWithUnread watchThread

Compose window

HTML:

abbr acronym bold cite

code em form hline

image italic nobreak ol

samp strikethrough strong subscript

superscript tt ul underline

var

Miscellaneous:

account attachFile attachPage attachVCard close copy cut decreaseFont delete

increaseFont indent insert openAttachment outdent paste pasteNoFormatting pasteQuote print printSetup

quoteMessage redo rewrap saveAsDraft saveAsFile saveAsTemplate saveDefault selectAll sendButton

sendLater sendNow sendWithCheck showComposeToolbar showFormatToolbar spelling undo

Address book

copy cut

delete paste

printcard printcardpreview

properties redo

selectAll undo

Built-in commands with parameters

In a few cases, a built-in command requires a parameter to specify exactly what the command does. To call one of these commands, use code like this, replacing command with the actual name of the command, and replacing parameter with the actual parameter value:

doStatefulCommand("cmd_command", parameter)

For example, to center text in the Compose window use this code:

doStatefulCommand("cmd_align", "center")

For the default value, omit the parameter. For example, to remove any alignment use this code:

doStatefulCommand("cmd_align")

Compose window

Command	Parameter
align	text alignment: "left", "right", "center", "justify"
backgroundColor	color—for example: "yellow"
fontColor	color—for example: "red"
fontFace	font face—for example: "Verdana"
fontSize	font size (1 – 7)—for example: 5
paragraphState	paragraph format tag—for example: "h3"
smiley	smiley (for a list, see: here)—for example: ":)"

Simple built-in functions

Thunderbird also has many built-in functions, and some of them can be called by shortcut keys.

When your shortcut key calls a simple built-in function, there might be no check that the function is enabled. If you call a function that is not enabled, then it might have unexpected side-effects, and in some cases you might lose data or even crash Thunderbird. For example, if you run the MsgApplyFilters function when no folder is selected, it causes an error (but does no actual harm).

To call a built-in function, add empty parentheses after the function name. For example, to add a new tag use this code:

AddTag()

Main window and message window

AddTag checkForUpdates CopyFolderUrl CopyMessageUrl deleteJunkInFolder LoadMsgWithRemoteContent MsgAccountManager MsgApplyFilters MsgAccountWizard MsgBodyAllowHTML MsgBodyAsPlaintext MsgBodySanitized MsgCompactFolder MsgDeleteFolder MsgEditMessageAsNew MsgEmptyTrash

MsgFilters MsgFolderProperties MsgGroupBySort MsgIsNotAScam MsgMarkAllRead MsgNewFolder MsgNewMessage MsgOpenFromFile MsgOpenNewWindowForMessage MsgRenameFolder MsgSaveAsFile MsgSearchAddresses MsgSortAscending MsgSortByAttachments MsgSortByDate MsgSortByFlagged

MsgSortByJunkStatus MsgSortByOrderReceived MsgSortByPriority MsgSortByRecipient MsgSortBySender MsgSortBySize MsgSortByStatus MsgSortBySubject MsgSortByTags MsgSortByUnread MsgSortDescending MsgSortThreaded MsgSortUnthreaded MsgStop MsgSubscribe MsgToggleMessagePane

MsgUnsubscribe MsgViewAllHeaders MsgViewNormalHeaders openAboutDialog openNewCardDialog openOptionsDialog PrintEnginePrint PrintEnginePrintPreview QuickSearchFocus RemoveAllMessageTags saveViewAsVirtualFolder toAddressBook ToggleFavoriteFolderFlag toImport toJavaScriptConsole toMessengerWindow

Compose window

goOpenNewMessage openAboutDialog

toAddressBook toggleAddressPicker

toMessengerWindow

Address book

AbClose AbExport AbIMSelected AbNewAddressBook AbNewLDAPDirectory

AbNewMessage AbPrintAddressBook AbPrintPreviewAddressBook AbSortAscending AbSortDescending

AbSwapFirstNameLastName goQuitApplication NSPrintSetup onAdvancedAbSearch openAboutDialog

openOptionsDialog QuickSearchFocus toImport toMessengerWindow

Built-in functions with parameters

In some cases, a built-in function requires a parameter to specify the result. To call a built-in function that requires a parameter, use code like this, replacing function with the name of the function, and replacing parameter with the parameter value:

function(parameter)

For example, to view folders with unread messages:

loadFolderView(1)

Main window

Function	Parameter
ChangeMailLayout	0 Classic, 1 Wide, 2 Vertical
CustomizeMailToolbar	"mail-toolbox"
loadFolderView	0 All, 1 Unread, 2 Favorite, 3 Recent
ViewChangeByValue	9 for the first custom view, 10 for the next, and so on
MsgFolderProperties	"QuotaTab" (optional)
MsgMoveMessage	Folder URI in quotes—for example: "mailbox://someone@pop.example.com/Inbox"
MsgCopyMessage	Folder URI in quotes
toOpenWindowByType	Dialog type and URL (see below)
messenger.launchExternalURL	URL in quotes—for example: "http://www.mozilla.com/"

Dialog type and URL
A few dialog windows can be opened directly by the toOpenWindowByType function. For example, to open the config editor:

toOpenWindowByType("Preferences:ConfigManager", "chrome://global/content/config.xul")

The dialogs that can be opened like this are:

"mailnews:junklog","chrome://messenger/content/preferences/junkLog.xul"

"Toolkit:PasswordManager", "chrome://messenger/content/preferences/viewpasswords.xul"

"Preferences:DownloadActions", "chrome://messenger/content/preferences/downloadactions.xul"

"Preferences:ConfigManager", "chrome://global/content/config.xul"

"Update:History", "chrome://mozapps/content/update/history.xul"

"mozilla:certmanager", "chrome://pippki/content/certManager.xul"

"mozilla:devicemanager", "chrome://pippki/content/device_manager.xul"

"Download:Manager", "chrome://mozapps/content/downloads/downloads.xul"

Compose window

Function	Parameter
CustomizeMailToolbar	"compose-toolbox"
openOptionsDialog	"paneCompose" (optional)

Address book

Function	Parameter
AbNewCard	"dirTree"
AbNewList	"dirTree"
CustomizeMailToolbar	"ab-toolbox"
MapIt	"cvHomeMapIt" or "cvWorkMapIt"
openLink	"cvWorkWebPage"
SetNameColumn	"firstLastCmd", "lastFirstCmd" or "displayNameCmd"
SortResultPane	"GeneratedName", "PrimaryEmail", "_AimScreenName", "Company", "_PhoneticName", "NickName", "SecondEmail", "Department", "JobTitle", "CellularNumber", "PagerNumber", "FaxNumber", "HomePhone" or "WorkPhone"

Built-in functions with Shift-key parameters

In some cases, a built-in function is designed to detect whether the Shift key is pressed. To allow it to do this, include the parameter: event   To prevent it, making the function think the Shift key is pressed, include the parameter: {shiftKey: true}   To prevent it, making the function think the Shift key is not pressed, include the parameter: {shiftKey: false}

For example, to write a new message and switch the editor type (HTML or plain text) to the opposite of the default, regardless of whether your shortcut uses the Shift key:

MsgNewMessage({shiftKey: true})

Main window

MsgForwardAsAttachment MsgForwardMessage

MsgNewMessage MsgReplyGroup

MsgReplySender MsgReplyToAllMessage

Custom code

Shortcut keys can run custom code to perform actions that are not supported by any of the methods above.

Main window and message window

Display file path of current profile:

with (Components.classes["@mozilla.org/file/directory_service;1"]
  .getService(Components.interfaces.nsIProperties)
  .get("ProfD", Components.interfaces.nsIFile))
  prompt("Profile: " + path, path)

Display build identification string:

with (navigator) prompt("Build: " + userAgent, userAgent)

Display additional build information:

GetMessagePaneFrame().location.href = "about:buildconfig"
if (IsMessagePaneCollapsed()) MsgToggleMessagePane()
HideMessageHeaderPane()

Display current folder URI:

with (GetSelectedFolderResource()) prompt("URI: " + URI, URI)

Toggle inline display of attachments:

ToggleInlineAttachment(
 document.getElementById("viewAttachmentsInlineMenuitem"))

Toggle message body between plain text and HTML:

pref.getBoolPref("mailnews.display.prefer_plaintext")?
 MsgBodyAllowHTML():MsgBodyAsPlaintext()

Toggle plain text messages between fixed width and proportional font:

pref.setBoolPref("mail.fixed_width_messages",
 !pref.getBoolPref("mail.fixed_width_messages")),
MsgReload()

Toggle selected messages replied-to:

for each (var uri in GetSelectedMessages()) {
  var hdr = messenger.msgHdrFromURI(uri)
  GetDBView().db.MarkReplied(hdr.messageKey,
   (hdr.flags & 2) == 0, null)}

Toggle selected messages forwarded:

for each (var uri in GetSelectedMessages()) {
  var hdr = messenger.msgHdrFromURI(uri)
  GetDBView().db.MarkForwarded(hdr.messageKey,
   (hdr.flags & 0x1000) == 0, null)}

Go to a specific folder. Customize the first line to specify the folder URI.

const uri = "mailbox://someone@pop.example.com/Inbox"
with (document.getElementById("folderTree").view)
  for (var i = 0; i < rowCount; ++i) with (getResourceAtIndex(i))
    uri == Value? selection.select(i) :
    uri.indexOf(Value) == 0 && !isContainerOpen(i)? toggleOpenState(i) : null

Toggle the folder pane between All Folders and Favorite Folders:

loadFolderView(gCurrentFolderView == 0? 2:0)

Get messages for the currently-selected account:

GetMessagesForInboxOnServer(gMsgFolderSelected.server)

Get messages for a specific account (specifying the user name, server host name, and server type):

GetMessagesForInboxOnServer(accountManager.FindServer("someone", "pop.example.com", "pop3"))

Toggle between online and offline:

MailOfflineMgr.toggleOfflineStatus()

Compose window

Each of these samples is just one line:

InlineSpellCheckerUI.addToDictionary()

InlineSpellCheckerUI.mInlineSpellChecker.ignoreWord(InlineSpellCheckerUI.mMisspelling)

enableInlineSpellCheck(!InlineSpellCheckerUI.enabled)

GetCurrentEditor().insertText("Hello")

GetCurrentEditor().insertHTML("<b>Hello</b>")

MoreButtonsPlus extension

Each of these samples is just one line:

ToggleHeadersButton()

Mnenhy extension

Each of these samples is just one line:

goMnenhy.headers.ToggleHeaderViewBrief()

goMnenhy.headers.SetView(goMnenhy.headers.gkiViewNoHeaders)

goMnenhy.headers.SetView(goMnenhy.headers.gkiViewNormalHeaders)

goMnenhy.headers.SetView(goMnenhy.headers.gkiViewAllHeaders)

goMnenhy.headers.SetView(goMnenhy.headers.gkiViewCustomBase)

External links

• Map compact folder to a key
• KeyConfig thread in Extension/Theme releases forum
• Script to list all commands in Extension/Theme releases forum
• goDoCommand to Quit / Exit Thunderbird thread in Thunderbird Support forum