Mail::Box::Dbx(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Mail::Box::Dbx(3)NAMEMail::Box::Dbx - read Outlook Express folders
INHERITANCEMail::Box::Dbx
is a Mail::Box::File
is a Mail::Box
is a Mail::Reporter
SYNOPSIS
use Mail::Box::Dbx;
my $folder = Mail::Box::Dbx->new(...);
DESCRIPTION
This documentation describes how to read from Outlook Express (dbx)
folders. Even on Unix/Linux, you can access these folders to read the
data, or copy it to a different format. Modifying of xbd files is not
supported.
These dbx folders are accessed using Mail::Transport::Dbx which is
distributed via CPAN as separate package. This "MAil::Transport::Dbx"
module is based on the open source library named "libpst", which can be
found at <http://alioth.debian.org/projects/libpst/>. The library does
not support writing of dbx files, and therefore limits the
possibilities of this package.
OVERLOADED
overload: ""
See "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box
overload: @{}
See "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box
overload: cmp
See "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box
METHODS
Constructors
Mail::Box::Dbx->new(OPTIONS)-Option--Defined in --Default
access Mail::Box always 'r'
body_delayed_type Mail::Box Mail::Message::Body::Delayed
body_type Mail::Box::File <see description>
coerce_options Mail::Box []
create Mail::Box not implemented
extract Mail::Box 10240
field_type Mail::Box undef
fix_headers Mail::Box <false>
folder Mail::Box =Folders.dbx
folderdir Mail::Box .
head_delayed_type Mail::Box Mail::Message::Head::Delayed
head_type Mail::Box Mail::Message::Head::Complete
keep_dups Mail::Box <false>
lock_extension Mail::Box::File '.lock'
lock_file Mail::Box <foldername><lock-extension>
lock_timeout Mail::Box 1 hour
lock_type Mail::Box 'NONE'
lock_wait Mail::Box 10 seconds
locker Mail::Box undef
log Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS'
manager Mail::Box undef
message_type Mail::Box Mail::Box::Dbx::Message
multipart_type Mail::Box Mail::Message::Body::Multipart
remove_when_empty Mail::Box not implemented
save_on_exit Mail::Box not implemented
trace Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS'
trusted Mail::Box <depends on folder location>
write_policy Mail::Box::File not implemented
access => MODE
body_delayed_type => CLASS
body_type => CLASS|CODE
coerce_options => ARRAY
create => BOOLEAN
extract => INTEGER | CODE | METHOD | 'LAZY'|'ALWAYS'
field_type => CLASS
fix_headers => BOOLEAN
folder => FOLDERNAME
folderdir => DIRECTORY
head_delayed_type => CLASS
head_type => CLASS
keep_dups => BOOLEAN
lock_extension => FILENAME|STRING
lock_file => FILENAME
lock_timeout => SECONDS
lock_type => CLASS|STRING|ARRAY
lock_wait => SECONDS
locker => OBJECT
log => LEVEL
manager => MANAGER
message_type => CLASS
multipart_type => CLASS
remove_when_empty => BOOLEAN
save_on_exit => BOOLEAN
trace => LEVEL
trusted => BOOLEAN
write_policy => 'REPLACE'|'INPLACE'|undef
The folder
$obj->addMessage(MESSAGE, OPTIONS)
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->addMessages(MESSAGE [, MESSAGE, ...])
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
Mail::Box::Dbx->appendMessages(OPTIONS)
See "METHODS" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->close(OPTIONS)
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->copyTo(FOLDER, OPTIONS)
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->delete(OPTIONS)
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->filename
See "The folder" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->folderdir([DIRECTORY])
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->name
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->organization
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->size
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->type
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->update(OPTIONS)
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->url
See "The folder" in Mail::Box
Folder flags
$obj->access
See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box
$obj->isModified
See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box
$obj->modified([BOOLEAN])
See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box
$obj->writable
See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box
The messages
$obj->current([NUMBER|MESSAGE|MESSAGE-ID])
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->find(MESSAGE-ID)
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->findFirstLabeled(LABEL, [BOOLEAN, [ARRAY-OF-MSGS]])
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->message(INDEX [,MESSAGE])
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->messageId(MESSAGE-ID [,MESSAGE])
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->messageIds
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->messages(['ALL',RANGE,'ACTIVE','DELETED',LABEL,!LABEL,FILTER])
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->nrMessages(OPTIONS)
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->scanForMessages(MESSAGE, MESSAGE-IDS, TIMESPAN, WINDOW)
See "The messages" in Mail::Box
Sub-folders
$obj->listSubFolders(OPTIONS)
Mail::Box::Dbx->listSubFolders(OPTIONS)
It is advised to set the "check" flag, because dbx folder often
list large amounts of folder names which do not really exist.
However, checking does consume some time.
-Option--Defined in --Default
check Mail::Box <false>
folder Mail::Box <from calling object>
folderdir Mail::Box <from folder>
skip_empty Mail::Box <false>
check => BOOLEAN
folder => FOLDERNAME
folderdir => DIRECTORY
skip_empty => BOOL
$obj->nameOfSubFolder(SUBNAME, [PARENTNAME])
Mail::Box::Dbx->nameOfSubFolder(SUBNAME, [PARENTNAME])
See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box
$obj->openRelatedFolder(OPTIONS)
See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box
$obj->openSubFolder(SUBNAME, OPTIONS)
See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box
$obj->topFolderWithMessages
Mail::Box::Dbx->topFolderWithMessages
See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box
Internals
$obj->coerce(MESSAGE, OPTIONS)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->create(FOLDERNAME, OPTIONS)
Mail::Box::Dbx->create(FOLDERNAME, OPTIONS)
Creation is not supported for dbx folders.
-Option--Defined in--Default
folderdir Mail::Box undef
folderdir => DIRECTORY
$obj->determineBodyType(MESSAGE, HEAD)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->folderToFilename(FOLDERNAME, FOLDERDIR)
Mail::Box::Dbx->folderToFilename(FOLDERNAME, FOLDERDIR)
Translate a folder name into a filename, using the FOLDERDIR value
to replace a leading "=".
Mail::Box::Dbx->foundIn([FOLDERNAME], [OPTIONS])
If no FOLDERNAME is specified, then the value of the "folder"
option is taken. A dbx folder is a file which name ends on ".dbx"
(case insensitive).
-Option--Defined in --Default
folder undef
folderdir Mail::Box undef
folder => FOLDERNAME
folderdir => DIRECTORY
$obj->lineSeparator([STRING|'CR'|'LF'|'CRLF'])
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->locker
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->messageCreateOptions([TYPE, CONFIG])
See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->moveAwaySubFolder(DIRECTORY, EXTENSION)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->parser
The parsing of messages is a combined job for the
Mail::Transport::Dbx module (to get the right data) and read().
Asking for the parser will provide the transporter object. If
asked more than once, each time the same object will be returned.
$obj->read(OPTIONS)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->readMessages(OPTIONS)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->storeMessage(MESSAGE)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->toBeThreaded(MESSAGES)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->toBeUnthreaded(MESSAGES)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->updateMessages(OPTIONS)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->write(OPTIONS)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->writeMessages(OPTIONS)
See "Internals" in Mail::Box
Other methods
$obj->timespan2seconds(TIME)
Mail::Box::Dbx->timespan2seconds(TIME)
See "Other methods" in Mail::Box
Error handling
$obj->AUTOLOAD
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->addReport(OBJECT)
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->defaultTrace([LEVEL]|[LOGLEVEL, TRACELEVEL]|[LEVEL, CALLBACK])
Mail::Box::Dbx->defaultTrace([LEVEL]|[LOGLEVEL, TRACELEVEL]|[LEVEL,
CALLBACK])
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->errors
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->log([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])
Mail::Box::Dbx->log([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->logPriority(LEVEL)
Mail::Box::Dbx->logPriority(LEVEL)
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->logSettings
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->notImplemented
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->report([LEVEL])
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->reportAll([LEVEL])
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->trace([LEVEL])
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->warnings
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
Cleanup
$obj->DESTROY
See "Cleanup" in Mail::Box
$obj->inGlobalDestruction
See "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter
DETAILS
File based folders
DETAILS
Different kinds of folders
Available folder types
Folder class implementation
How DBX folders work
DBX files are create by Outlook Express. I can not tell you too much
about it, because me (as author) never use Windows or MicroSoft tools.
Still, it is possible to access some Outlook created folders from Unix.
The folder structure for dbx starts with a single "Folders.dbx" file.
This folder contains names of sub-folders. Each folder can either
contain messages, or contains sub-folders. Combinations are not
possible.
This implementation
The ol2mbox project (see <http://sourceforge.net/project/ol2mbox/>) has
created a "libdbx" which can read dbx files using nearly any operating
system. You can simply transport a dbx file from Windows to Unix/Linux
and the read all the messages from it.
Tassilo von Parseval wrote a Perl wrapper around this C-library, and
distributes it as Mail::Transport::Dbx. Although it named in one the
MailBox namespaces, it is a separate product, because it requires a C
compiler. Besides, the module will have its own life.
Converting DBX folders to MBOX
The title of this section is to attract your attension, but is does not
describe anything special related to DBX or MBOX: you can convert any
kind of mail folder into another with the following code.
DIAGNOSTICS
Error: Cannot append messages to folder file $filename: $!
Appending messages to a not-opened file-organized folder may fail
when the operating system does not allow write access to the file
at hand.
Error: Cannot move away sub-folder $dir
Error: Cannot read dbx folder file $filename.
Warning: Cannot remove folder $name file $filename: $!
Writing an empty folder will usually cause that folder to be
removed, which fails for the indicated reason.
new(remove_when_empty)
Warning: Cannot remove folder $name file $filename: $!
Writing an empty folder will usually cause that folder to be
removed, which fails for the indicated reason.
new(remove_when_empty) controls whether the empty folder will
removed; setting it to false (0) may be needed to avoid this
message.
Error: Cannot replace $filename by $tempname, to update folder $name:
$!
The replace policy wrote a new folder file to update the existing,
but was unable to give the final touch: replacing the old version
of the folder file for the indicated reason.
Warning: Changes not written to read-only folder $self.
You have opened the folder read-only --which is the default set by
new(access)--, made modifications, and now want to close it. Set
close(force) if you want to overrule the access mode, or close the
folder with close(write) set to "NEVER".
Error: Copying failed for one message.
For some reason, for instance disc full, removed by external
process, or read-protection, it is impossible to copy one of the
messages. Copying will proceed for the other messages.
Warning: Dbx folders are read-only.
Error: Destination folder $name is not writable.
The folder where the messages are copied to is not opened with
write access (see new(access)). This has no relation with write
permission to the folder which is controled by your operating
system.
Warning: Different messages with id $msgid
The message id is discovered more than once within the same folder,
but the content of the message seems to be different. This should
not be possible: each message must be unique.
Error: File too short to get write message $nr ($size, $need)
Mail::Box is lazy: it tries to leave messages in the folders until
they are used, which saves time and memory usage. When this
message appears, something is terribly wrong: some lazy message are
needed for updating the folder, but they cannot be retreived from
the original file anymore. In this case, messages can be lost.
This message does appear regularly on Windows systems when using
the 'replace' write policy. Please help to find the cause,
probably something to do with Windows incorrectly handling multiple
filehandles open in the same file.
Error: Folder $name not deleted: not writable.
The folder must be opened with write access via new(access),
otherwise removing it will be refused. So, you may have write-
access according to the operating system, but that will not
automatically mean that this "delete" method permits you to. The
reverse remark is valid as well.
Error: Invalid timespan '$timespan' specified.
The string does not follow the strict rules of the time span syntax
which is permitted as parameter.
Warning: Message-id '$msgid' does not contain a domain.
According to the RFCs, message-ids need to contain a unique random
part, then an "@", and then a domain name. This is made to avoid
the creation of two messages with the same id. The warning emerges
when the "@" is missing from the string.
Error: Package $package does not implement $method.
Fatal error: the specific package (or one of its superclasses) does
not implement this method where it should. This message means that
some other related classes do implement this method however the
class at hand does not. Probably you should investigate this and
probably inform the author of the package.
Error: Unable to create subfolder $name of $folder.
The copy includes the subfolders, but for some reason it was not
possible to copy one of these. Copying will proceed for all other
sub-folders.
Error: Unable to update folder $self.
When a folder is to be written, both replace and inplace write
policies are tried, If both fail, the whole update fails. You may
see other, related, error messages to indicate the real problem.
SEE ALSO
This module is part of Mail-Box distribution version 2.097, built on
January 26, 2011. Website: http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/
LICENSE
Copyrights 2001-2011 by Mark Overmeer. For other contributors see
ChangeLog.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself. See
http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html
perl v5.14.1 2011-01-26 Mail::Box::Dbx(3)
