diff --git a/src/mu-cmd.c b/src/mu-cmd.c
index 242be652..76782721 100644
--- a/src/mu-cmd.c
+++ b/src/mu-cmd.c
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+/* -*-mode: c; tab-width: 8; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 8 -*-*/
+
 /*
 ** Copyright (C) 2010-2011 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ each_part (MuMsg *msg, MuMsgPart *part, gchar **attach)
 }
 
 /* return comma-sep'd list of attachments */
-gchar *
+static gchar *
 get_attach_str (MuMsg *msg)
 {
 	gchar *attach;
diff --git a/src/mu-log.c b/src/mu-log.c
index 8854a0fc..03f43398 100644
--- a/src/mu-log.c
+++ b/src/mu-log.c
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+/* -*-mode: c; tab-width: 8; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 8 -*-*/
+
 /* 
 ** Copyright (C) 2008-2011 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
diff --git a/src/mu-log.h b/src/mu-log.h
index 5a90c499..dbe7b787 100644
--- a/src/mu-log.h
+++ b/src/mu-log.h
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
+/* -*-mode: c; tab-width: 8; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 8 -*-*/
+
 /* 
-** Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2008-2011 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 ** it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -56,8 +58,8 @@ gboolean mu_log_init_with_fd    (int fd, gboolean doclose, gboolean quiet,
 				 gboolean debug) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 /**
- * be absolutely silent, except for runtime errors, which will be
- * written to stderr.
+ * be silent except for runtime errors, which will be written to
+ * stderr.
  *  
  * @return TRUE if initialization succeeds, FALSE otherwise
  */
diff --git a/src/mu-util-db.cc b/src/mu-util-db.cc
index 4220e4ba..eea2fc82 100644
--- a/src/mu-util-db.cc
+++ b/src/mu-util-db.cc
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+/* -*-mode: c++; tab-width: 8; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 8-*- */
+
 /*
 ** Copyright (C) 2008-2011 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
@@ -28,8 +30,8 @@
 #include "mu-util.h"
 
 
-char*
-mu_util_xapian_get_metadata (const gchar *xpath, const gchar *key)
+static char*
+xapian_get_metadata (const gchar *xpath, const gchar *key)
 {
 	g_return_val_if_fail (xpath, NULL);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (key, NULL);
@@ -49,37 +51,12 @@ mu_util_xapian_get_metadata (const gchar *xpath, const gchar *key)
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-
-gboolean
-mu_util_xapian_set_metadata (const gchar *xpath,
-			     const gchar *key, const gchar *val)
-{
-	g_return_val_if_fail (xpath, FALSE);
-	g_return_val_if_fail (key, FALSE);
-	g_return_val_if_fail (val, FALSE);
-	
-	if (!access(xpath, F_OK) == 0) {
-		g_warning ("cannot access %s: %s", xpath, strerror(errno));
-		return FALSE;
-	}
-	
-	try {			
-		Xapian::WritableDatabase db (xpath, Xapian::DB_OPEN);
-		db.set_metadata (key, val);
-		return TRUE;
-		
-	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK;
-	
-	return FALSE;
-}
-
-
 char*
 mu_util_xapian_dbversion (const gchar *xpath)
 {
 	g_return_val_if_fail (xpath, NULL);
 
-	return mu_util_xapian_get_metadata (xpath, MU_STORE_VERSION_KEY);
+	return xapian_get_metadata (xpath, MU_STORE_VERSION_KEY);
 }
 
 gboolean
@@ -151,7 +128,8 @@ mu_util_xapian_is_locked (const gchar *xpath)
 	} catch (const Xapian::DatabaseLockError& xer) {
 		return TRUE;
 	} catch (const Xapian::Error &xer) {
-		g_warning ("%s: error: %s", __FUNCTION__, xer.get_msg().c_str());
+		g_warning ("%s: error: %s", __FUNCTION__,
+			   xer.get_msg().c_str());
 	}
 	
 	return FALSE;
diff --git a/src/mu-util.h b/src/mu-util.h
index 503b73e1..b3ee9f94 100644
--- a/src/mu-util.h
+++ b/src/mu-util.h
@@ -159,7 +159,14 @@ gboolean mu_util_play (const char *path,
 gchar* mu_util_xapian_dbversion (const gchar *xpath) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 
-
+/**
+ * check whether the database needs to be upgraded, e.g., when it was
+ * created with a different version of mu
+ * 
+ * @param xpath path to the database dir
+ * 
+ * @return TRUE if the database needs upgrading, FALSE otherwise
+ */
 gboolean mu_util_xapian_needs_upgrade (const gchar *xpath);
 
 
@@ -322,7 +329,7 @@ typedef gpointer XapianEnquire;
 /* name of the bookmark file */
 #define MU_BOOKMARK_FILENAME "bookmarks"
 
-/* metdata key for the xapian 'schema' version */
+/* metadata key for the xapian 'schema' version */
 #define MU_STORE_VERSION_KEY "db_version"