diff --git a/src/mu-maildir.c b/src/mu-maildir.c
index dedbd384..1b586946 100644
--- a/src/mu-maildir.c
+++ b/src/mu-maildir.c
@@ -337,8 +337,7 @@ ignore_dir_entry (struct dirent *entry, unsigned char d_type)
 		return TRUE;
 
 	/* ignore '.#evolution */
-	if ((name[1] == '#') &&
-	    (strcmp (name, ".#evolution")))
+	if ((name[1] == '#') && (strcmp (name, ".#evolution")))
 		return TRUE;
 	
 	return FALSE;
@@ -683,22 +682,12 @@ mu_maildir_get_flags_from_path (const char *path)
 	    !(info && info[0] == '2' && info[1] == ','))
 		goto leave;
 		
-	for (cursor = info + 2; *cursor; ++cursor) {
-		switch (*cursor) {
-		case 'P': flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_PASSED; break;
-		case 'T': flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_TRASHED; break;
-		case 'R': flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_REPLIED; break;
-		case 'S': flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_SEEN; break;
-		case 'D': flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_DRAFT; break;
-		case 'F': flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_FLAGGED; break;
-		default:  break; /* ignore */
-		}
-	}
+	for (cursor = info + 2; *cursor; ++cursor)
+		flags |= mu_msg_flag_from_file_char (*cursor);
 
 	/* the UNREAD pseudo flag => NEW OR NOT SEEN */
 	if (!(flags & MU_MSG_FLAG_SEEN))
-		flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_UNREAD;
-		
+		flags |= MU_MSG_FLAG_UNREAD;		
 leave:
 	g_free(info);
 	return flags;
diff --git a/src/mu-msg-file.c b/src/mu-msg-file.c
index 4bb9b7a5..0d9ed106 100644
--- a/src/mu-msg-file.c
+++ b/src/mu-msg-file.c
@@ -763,20 +763,16 @@ mu_msg_file_get_str_field (MuMsgFile *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid, gboolean *do_free
 	
 	switch (mfid) {
 
-	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_BCC:
-		*do_free = TRUE;
+	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_BCC: *do_free = TRUE;
 		return get_recipient (self, GMIME_RECIPIENT_TYPE_BCC);
 
-	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_BODY_TEXT:
-		*do_free = TRUE;
+	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_BODY_TEXT: *do_free = TRUE;
 		return get_body (self, FALSE);
 
-	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_BODY_HTML:
-		*do_free = TRUE;
+	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_BODY_HTML: *do_free = TRUE;
 		return get_body (self, TRUE);
 
-	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_CC:
-		*do_free = TRUE;
+	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_CC: *do_free = TRUE;
 		return get_recipient (self, GMIME_RECIPIENT_TYPE_CC);
 
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_FROM:
@@ -788,8 +784,7 @@ mu_msg_file_get_str_field (MuMsgFile *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid, gboolean *do_free
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_SUBJECT:
 		return (char*)g_mime_message_get_subject (self->_mime_msg);
 
-	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_TO:
-		*do_free = TRUE;
+	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_TO: *do_free = TRUE;
 		return get_recipient (self, GMIME_RECIPIENT_TYPE_TO);
 
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_MSGID:
@@ -798,8 +793,7 @@ mu_msg_file_get_str_field (MuMsgFile *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid, gboolean *do_free
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_MAILDIR:
 		return self->_maildir;
 		
-	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_REFS:
-		*do_free = TRUE;
+	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_REFS: *do_free = TRUE;
 		return get_references_str (self);
 	
 	default:
diff --git a/src/mu-msg-flags.c b/src/mu-msg-flags.c
index 8189aa4a..6d7e4848 100644
--- a/src/mu-msg-flags.c
+++ b/src/mu-msg-flags.c
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+/* -*-mode: c; tab-width: 8; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 8 -*-*/
+
 /* 
 ** Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
@@ -55,7 +57,7 @@ mu_msg_flag_from_char (char k)
 	case 'd': return MU_MSG_FLAG_DRAFT;
 	case 'f': return MU_MSG_FLAG_FLAGGED;
 		
-	/* NEW OR NOT SEEN */
+		/* NEW OR NOT SEEN */
 	case 'u': return MU_MSG_FLAG_UNREAD;
 		
 	case 'z': return MU_MSG_FLAG_SIGNED;
@@ -67,11 +69,28 @@ mu_msg_flag_from_char (char k)
 	}
 }
 
+MuMsgFlags
+mu_msg_flag_from_file_char (char k)
+{
+	switch (g_ascii_tolower(k)) {
+	case 'n': return MU_MSG_FLAG_NEW;		
+	case 'p': return MU_MSG_FLAG_PASSED;
+	case 'r': return MU_MSG_FLAG_REPLIED;
+	case 's': return MU_MSG_FLAG_SEEN;
+	case 't': return MU_MSG_FLAG_TRASHED;
+	case 'd': return MU_MSG_FLAG_DRAFT;
+	case 'f': return MU_MSG_FLAG_FLAGGED;
+	default: return 0;
+	}
+}
+
 
 const char*
 mu_msg_flag_name (MuMsgFlags flag)
-{	
+{
 	switch (flag) {
+		
+	/* real maildir flags */
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_NEW:		return "new";
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_PASSED:	return "passed";
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_REPLIED:	return "replied";
@@ -80,7 +99,7 @@ mu_msg_flag_name (MuMsgFlags flag)
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_DRAFT:		return "draft";
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_FLAGGED:	return "flagged";
 
-	/* ie., NEW or NOT SEEN */
+		/* ie., NEW or NOT SEEN */
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_UNREAD:	return "unread";
 		
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_SIGNED:	return "signed";
@@ -104,7 +123,7 @@ mu_msg_flag_char (MuMsgFlags flag)
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_DRAFT:		return 'd';
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_FLAGGED:	return 'f';
 
-	/* NEW OR NOT SEEN */
+		/* NEW OR NOT SEEN */
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_UNREAD:        return 'u';
 		
 	case MU_MSG_FLAG_SIGNED:	return 'z';
diff --git a/src/mu-msg-flags.h b/src/mu-msg-flags.h
index 0b500fda..cbe9614a 100644
--- a/src/mu-msg-flags.h
+++ b/src/mu-msg-flags.h
@@ -95,6 +95,23 @@ MuMsgFlags mu_msg_flags_from_str  (const char* str) G_GNUC_PURE;
  */
 MuMsgFlags  mu_msg_flags_from_char (char c) G_GNUC_CONST;
 
+
+/**
+ * convert the char-per-flag description into a MuMsgFlags value. The
+ * difference is that with 'mu_msg_flags_from_char' is that this
+ * function only cares about the chars that are part of the
+ * Maildir-standard (ie., in files), and that is ignores unknown chars
+ * (returns 0), rather than printing warnings
+ * 
+ * @param c a character
+ * 
+ * @return a MuMSgFlags value, or 0 if the char is not known as a
+ * maildir char
+ */
+MuMsgFlags mu_msg_flag_from_file_char (char k) G_GNUC_CONST;
+
+
+
 /**
  * get a string for a given set of flags, OR'ed in 
  * @param flags; one character per flag:
diff --git a/src/mu-output.c b/src/mu-output.c
index 9e07b4af..549b7ea6 100644
--- a/src/mu-output.c
+++ b/src/mu-output.c
@@ -325,28 +325,25 @@ mu_output_json (MuMsgIter *iter, size_t *count)
 	     mu_msg_iter_next (myiter), ++mycount) {
 
 		MuMsg *msg;
+
+		if (!(msg = mu_msg_iter_get_msg (iter, NULL)))
+			return FALSE;
 		
 		if (mycount != 0)
 			g_print (",\n");
-
-		msg = mu_msg_iter_get_msg (iter, NULL); /* don't unref */
-		if (!msg)
-			return FALSE;
-		
+				
 		g_print ("\t\t{\n");
 		print_attr_json ("from", mu_msg_get_from (msg), TRUE);
 		print_attr_json ("to", mu_msg_get_to (msg),TRUE);
 		print_attr_json ("cc", mu_msg_get_cc (msg),TRUE);
-		print_attr_json ("subject", mu_msg_get_subject (msg),
-				 TRUE);
+		print_attr_json ("subject", mu_msg_get_subject (msg), TRUE);
 		g_print ("\t\t\t\"date\":%u,\n",
 			 (unsigned) mu_msg_get_date (msg));
 		g_print ("\t\t\t\"size\":%u,\n",
 			 (unsigned) mu_msg_get_size (msg));
 		print_attr_json ("msgid", mu_msg_get_msgid (msg),TRUE);
 		print_attr_json ("path", mu_msg_get_path (msg),TRUE);
-		print_attr_json ("maildir", mu_msg_get_maildir (msg),
-				 FALSE);
+		print_attr_json ("maildir", mu_msg_get_maildir (msg), FALSE);
 		g_print ("\t\t}");
 	}
 	g_print ("\t]\n}\n");
@@ -387,23 +384,19 @@ mu_output_sexp (MuMsgIter *iter, size_t *count)
 	     mu_msg_iter_next (myiter), ++mycount) {
 
 		MuMsg *msg;
+		if (!(msg = mu_msg_iter_get_msg (iter, NULL))) /* don't unref */
+			return FALSE;
 		
 		if (mycount != 0)
 			g_print ("\n");
-
-		msg = mu_msg_iter_get_msg (iter, NULL); /* don't unref */
-		if (!msg)
-			return FALSE;
 		
 		g_print ("  (:message\n");
 		print_attr_sexp ("from", mu_msg_get_from (msg),TRUE);
 		print_attr_sexp ("to", mu_msg_get_to (msg),TRUE);
 		print_attr_sexp ("cc", mu_msg_get_cc (msg),TRUE);
 		print_attr_sexp ("subject", mu_msg_get_subject (msg),TRUE);
-		g_print ("    (:date %u)\n",
-			 (unsigned) mu_msg_get_date (msg));
-		g_print ("    (:size %u)\n",
-			 (unsigned) mu_msg_get_size (msg));
+		g_print ("    (:date %u)\n", (unsigned) mu_msg_get_date (msg));
+		g_print ("    (:size %u)\n", (unsigned) mu_msg_get_size (msg));
 		print_attr_sexp ("msgid", mu_msg_get_msgid (msg),TRUE);
 		print_attr_sexp ("path", mu_msg_get_path (msg),TRUE);
 		print_attr_sexp ("maildir", mu_msg_get_maildir (msg),FALSE);