Mail::Message(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Mail::Message(3)NAMEMail::Message - general message object
INHERITANCEMail::Message has extra code in
Mail::Message::Construct
Mail::Message::Construct::Bounce
Mail::Message::Construct::Build
Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
Mail::Message::Construct::Read
Mail::Message::Construct::Rebuild
Mail::Message::Construct::Reply
Mail::Message::Construct::Text
Mail::Message
is a Mail::Reporter
Mail::Message is extended by
Mail::Box::Message
Mail::Message::Dummy
Mail::Message::Part
Mail::Message::Replace::MailInternet
SYNOPSIS
use Mail::Box::Manager;
my $mgr = Mail::Box::Manager->new;
my $folder = $mgr->open(folder => 'InBox');
my $msg = $folder->message(2); # $msg is a Mail::Message now
my $subject = $msg->subject; # The message's subject
my @cc = $msg->cc; # List of Mail::Address'es
my $msg = Mail::Message->build(...);
my $reply_msg = Mail::Message->reply(...);
my $frwd_msg = Mail::Message->forward(...);
my Mail::Message::Head $head = $msg->head;
my Mail::Message::Body $body = $msg->decoded;
$msg->decoded->print($outfile);
DESCRIPTION
A "Mail::Message" object is a container for MIME-encoded message
information, as defined by RFC2822. Everything what is not specificly
related to storing the messages in mailboxes (folders) is implemented
in this class. Methods which are related to folders is implemented in
the Mail::Box::Message extension.
The main methods are get(), to get information from a message header
field, and decoded() to get the intended content of a message. But
there are many more which can assist your program.
Complex message handling, like construction of replies and forwards,
are implemented in separate packages which are autoloaded into this
class. This means you can simply use these methods as if they are part
of this class. Those package add functionality to all kinds of message
objects.
METHODS
Constructors
$obj->clone(OPTIONS)
Create a copy of this message. Returned is a "Mail::Message"
object. The head and body, the log and trace levels are taken.
Labels are copied with the message, but the delete and modified
flags are not.
BE WARNED: the clone of any kind of message (or a message part)
will always be a "Mail::Message" object. For example, a
Mail::Box::Message's clone is detached from the folder of its
original. When you use Mail::Box::addMessage() with the cloned
message at hand, then the clone will automatically be coerced into
the right message type to be added.
See also Mail::Box::Message::copyTo() and
Mail::Box::Message::moveTo().
-Option--Default
shallow <false>
shallow_body <false>
shallow_head <false>
shallow => BOOLEAN
When a shallow clone is made, the header and body of the message
will not be cloned, but shared. This is quite dangerous: for
instance in some folder types, the header fields are used to
store folder flags. When one of both shallow clones change the
flags, that will update the header and thereby be visible in
both.
There are situations where a shallow clone can be used safely.
For instance, when Mail::Box::Message::moveTo() is used and you
are sure that the original message cannot get undeleted after the
move.
shallow_body => BOOLEAN
A rather safe bet, because you are not allowed to modify the body
of a message: you may only set a new body with body().
shallow_head => BOOLEAN
Only the head uses is reused, not the body. This is probably a
bad choice, because the header fields can be updated, for
instance when labels change.
example:
$copy = $msg->clone;
Mail::Message->new(OPTIONS)-Option--Defined in --Default
body undef
body_type Mail::Message::Body::Lines
deleted <false>
field_type undef
head undef
head_type Mail::Message::Head::Complete
labels {}
log Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS'
messageId undef
modified <false>
trace Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS'
trusted <false>
body => OBJECT
Instantiate the message with a body which has been created
somewhere before the message is constructed. The OBJECT must be
a sub-class of Mail::Message::Body. See also body() and
storeBody().
body_type => CLASS
Default type of body to be created for readBody().
deleted => BOOLEAN
Is the file deleted from the start?
field_type => CLASS
head => OBJECT
Instantiate the message with a head which has been created
somewhere before the message is constructed. The OBJECT must be
a (sub-)class of Mail::Message::Head. See also head().
head_type => CLASS
Default type of head to be created for readHead().
labels => ARRAY|HASH
Initial values of the labels. In case of Mail::Box::Message's,
this shall reflect the state the message is in. For newly
constructed Mail::Message's, this may be anything you want,
because coerce() will take care of the folder specifics once the
message is added to one.
log => LEVEL
messageId => STRING
The id on which this message can be recognized. If none
specified and not defined in the header --but one is needed--
there will be one assigned to the message to be able to pass
unique message-ids between objects.
modified => BOOLEAN
Flags this message as being modified from the beginning on.
Usually, modification is auto-detected, but there may be reasons
to be extra explicit.
trace => LEVEL
trusted => BOOLEAN
Is this message from a trusted source? If not, the content must
be checked before use. This checking will be performed when the
body data is decoded or used for transmission.
Constructing a message
$obj->bounce([RG-OBJECT|OPTIONS])
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Bounce
Mail::Message->build([MESSAGE|PART|BODY], CONTENT)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Build
Mail::Message->buildFromBody(BODY, [HEAD], HEADERS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Build
$obj->forward(OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
$obj->forwardAttach(OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
$obj->forwardEncapsulate(OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
$obj->forwardInline(OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
$obj->forwardNo(OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
$obj->forwardPostlude
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
$obj->forwardPrelude
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
$obj->forwardSubject(STRING)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward
Mail::Message->read(FILEHANDLE|SCALAR|REF-SCALAR|ARRAY-OF-LINES,
OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Read
$obj->rebuild(OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Rebuild
$obj->reply(OPTIONS)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Reply
$obj->replyPrelude([STRING|FIELD|ADDRESS|ARRAY-OF-THINGS])
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Reply
$obj->replySubject(STRING)
Mail::Message->replySubject(STRING)
See "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Reply
The message
$obj->container
If the message is a part of another message, "container" returns
the reference to the containing body.
example:
my Mail::Message $msg = ...
return unless $msg->body->isMultipart;
my $part = $msg->body->part(2);
return unless $part->body->isMultipart;
my $nested = $part->body->part(3);
$nested->container; # returns $msg->body
$nested->toplevel; # returns $msg
$msg->container; # returns undef
$msg->toplevel; # returns $msg
$msg->isPart; # returns false
$part->isPart; # returns true
$obj->isDummy
Dummy messages are used to fill holes in linked-list and such,
where only a message-id is known, but not the place of the header
of body data.
This method is also available for Mail::Message::Dummy objects,
where this will return "true". On any extension of
"Mail::Message", this will return "false".
$obj->isPart
Returns true if the message is a part of another message. This is
the case for Mail::Message::Part extensions of "Mail::Message".
$obj->messageId
Retrieve the message's id. Every message has a unique message-id.
This id is used mainly for recognizing discussion threads.
$obj->print([FILEHANDLE])
Print the message to the FILE-HANDLE, which defaults to the
selected filehandle, without the encapsulation sometimes required
by a folder type, like write() does.
example:
$message->print(\*STDERR); # to the error output
$message->print; # to the selected file
my $out = IO::File->new('out', 'w');
$message->print($out); # no encapsulation: no folder
$message->write($out); # with encapsulation: is folder.
$obj->send([MAILER], OPTIONS)
Transmit the message to anything outside this Perl program. MAILER
is a Mail::Transport::Send object. When the MAILER is not
specified, one will be created, and kept as default for the next
messages as well.
The OPTIONS are mailer specific, and a mixture of what is usable
for the creation of the mailer object and the sending itself.
Therefore, see for possible options Mail::Transport::Send::new()
and Mail::Transport::Send::send().
example:
$message->send;
is short (but little less flexibile) for
my $mailer = Mail::Transport::SMTP->new(@smtpopts);
$mailer->send($message, @sendopts);
See examples/send.pl in the distribution of Mail::Box.
example:
$message->send(via => 'sendmail')
$obj->size
Returns an estimated size of the whole message in bytes. In many
occasions, the functions which process the message further, for
instance send() or print() will need to add/change header lines or
add CR characters, so the size is only an estimate with a few
percent margin of the real result.
The computation assumes that each line ending is represented by one
character (like UNIX, MacOS, and sometimes Cygwin), and not two
characters (like Windows and sometimes Cygwin). If you write the
message to file on a system which uses CR and LF to end a single
line (all Windows versions), the result in that file will be at
least nrLines() larger than this method returns.
$obj->toplevel
Returns a reference to the main message, which will be the current
message if the message is not part of another message.
$obj->write([FILEHANDLE])
Write the message to the FILE-HANDLE, which defaults to the
selected FILEHANDLE, with all surrounding information which is
needed to put it correctly in a folder file.
In most cases, the result of "write" will be the same as with
print(). The main exception is for Mbox folder messages, which
will get printed with their leading 'From ' line and a trailing
blank. Each line of their body which starts with 'From ' will have
an '>' added in front.
The header
$obj->bcc
Returns the addresses which are specified on the "Bcc" header line
(or lines) A list of Mail::Address objects is returned. "Bcc"
stands for Blind Carbon Copy: destinations of the message which are
not listed in the messages actually sent. So, this field will be
empty for received messages, but may be present in messages you
construct yourself.
$obj->cc
Returns the addresses which are specified on the "Cc" header line
(or lines) A list of Mail::Address objects is returned. "Cc"
stands for Carbon Copy; the people addressed on this line receive
the message informational, and are usually not expected to reply on
its content.
$obj->date
Method has been removed for reasons of consistency. Use
timestamp() or "$msg->head->get('Date')".
$obj->destinations
Returns a list of Mail::Address objects which contains the combined
info of active "To", "Cc", and "Bcc" addresses. Double addresses
are removed if detectable.
$obj->from
Returns the addresses from the senders. It is possible to have
more than one address specified in the "From" field of the message,
according to the specification. Therefore a list of Mail::Address
objects is returned, which usually has length 1.
If you need only one address from a sender, for instance to create
a "original message by" line in constructed forwarded message body,
then use sender().
example: using from() to get all sender addresses
my @from = $message->from;
$obj->get(FIELDNAME)
Returns the value which is stored in the header field with the
specified name. The FIELDNAME is case insensitive. The unfolded
body of the field is returned, stripped from any attributes. See
Mail::Message::Field::body().
If the field has multiple appearances in the header, only the last
instance is returned. If you need more complex handing of fields,
then call Mail::Message::Head::get() yourself. See study() when
you want to be smart, doing the better (but slower) job.
example: the get() short-cut for header fields
print $msg->get('Content-Type'), "\n";
Is equivalent to:
print $msg->head->get('Content-Type')->body, "\n";
$obj->guessTimestamp
Return an estimate on the time this message was sent. The data is
derived from the header, where it can be derived from the "date"
and "received" lines. For MBox-like folders you may get the date
from the from-line as well.
This method may return "undef" if the header is not parsed or only
partially known. If you require a time, then use the timestamp()
method, described below.
example: using guessTimestamp() to get a transmission date
print "Receipt ", ($message->timestamp || 'unknown'), "\n";
$obj->head([HEAD])
Return (optionally after setting) the HEAD of this message. The
head must be an (sub-)class of Mail::Message::Head. When the head
is added, status information is taken from it and transformed into
labels. More labels can be added by the LABELS hash. They are
added later.
example:
my $header = Mail::Message::Head->new;
$msg->head($header); # set
my $head = $msg->head; # get
$obj->nrLines
Returns the number of lines used for the whole message.
$obj->sender
Returns exactly one address, which is the originator of this
message. The returned Mail::Address object is taken from the
"Sender" header field, unless that field does not exists, in which
case the first address from the "From" field is taken. If none of
both provide an address, "undef" is returned.
example: using sender() to get exactly one sender address
my $sender = $message->sender;
print "Reply to: ", $sender->format, "\n" if defined $sender;
$obj->study(FIELDNAME)
Study the content of a field, like get() does, with as main
difference that a Mail::Message::Field::Full object is returned.
These objects stringify to an utf8 decoded representation of the
data contained in the field, where get() does not decode. When the
field does not exist, then "undef" is returned. See
Mail::Message::Field::study().
example: the study() short-cut for header fields
print $msg->study('to'), "\n";
Is equivalent to:
print $msg->head->study('to'), "\n"; # and
print $msg->head->get('to')->study, "\n";
or better:
if(my $to = $msg->study('to')) { print "$to\n" }
if(my $to = $msg->get('to')) { print $to->study, "\n" }
$obj->subject
Returns the message's subject, or the empty string.
example: using subject() to get the message's subject
print $msg->subject;
$obj->timestamp
Get a good timestamp for the message, doesn't matter how much work
it is. The value returned is compatible with the platform
dependent result of function time().
In these days, the timestamp as supplied by the message (in the
"Date" field) is not trustable at all: many spammers produce
illegal or unreal dates to influence their location in the
displayed folder.
To start, the received headers are tried for a date (see
Mail::Message::Head::Complete::recvstamp()) and only then the
"Date" field. In very rare cases, only with some locally produced
messages, no stamp can be found.
$obj->to
Returns the addresses which are specified on the "To" header line
(or lines). A list of Mail::Address objects is returned. The
people addressed here are the targets of the content, and should
read it contents carefully.
example: using to() to get all primar destination addresses
my @to = $message->to;
The body
$obj->body([BODY])
Return the body of this message. BE WARNED that this returns you
an object which may be encoded: use decoded() to get a body with
usable data.
With options, a new BODY is set for this message. This is not for
normal use unless you understand the consequences: you change the
message content without changing the message-ID. The right way to
go is via
$message = Mail::Message->buildFromBody($body); # or
$message = Mail::Message->build($body); # or
$message = $origmsg->forward(body => $body);
The BODY must be an (sub-)class of Mail::Message::Body. In this
case, information from the specified body will be copied into the
header. The body object will be encoded if needed, because
messages written to file or transmitted shall not contain binary
data. The converted body is returned.
When BODY is "undef", the current message body will be dissected
from the message. All relation will be cut. The body is returned,
and can be connected to a different message.
example:
my $body = $msg->body;
my @encoded = $msg->body->lines;
my $new = Mail::Message::Body->new(mime_type => 'text/html');
my $converted = $msg->body($new);
$obj->contentType
Returns the content type header line, or "text/plain" if it is not
defined. The parameters will be stripped off.
$obj->decoded(OPTIONS)
Decodes the body of this message, and returns it as a body object.
If there was no encoding, the body object as read from file is
passed on, however, some more work will be needed when a serious
encoding is encountered. The OPTIONS control how the conversion
takes place.
-Option --Default
charset PERL
result_type <type of body>
charset => CODESET|'PERL'
Translate the bytes of the message into the CODESET. When "PERL"
is given, the content will be translated into Perl strings.
result_type => BODYTYPE
Specifies which kind of body should be used for the final result,
and eventual intermediate conversion stages. It is not sure that
this will be the type of the body returned. BODYTYPE extends
Mail::Message::Body.
example:
$message->decoded->print(\*OUT);
$message->decoded->print;
$obj->encode(OPTIONS)
Encode the message to a certain format. Read the details in the
dedicated manual page Mail::Message::Body::Encode. The OPTIONS
which can be specified here are those of the
Mail::Message::Body::encode() method.
$obj->isMultipart
Check whether this message is a multipart message (has
attachments). To find this out, we need at least the header of the
message; there is no need to read the body of the message to detect
this.
$obj->isNested
Returns "true" for "message/rfc822" messages and message parts.
$obj->parts(['ALL'|'ACTIVE'|'DELETED'|'RECURSE'|FILTER])
Returns the parts of this message. Usually, the term part is used
with multipart messages: messages which are encapsulated in the
body of a message. To abstract this concept: this method will
return you all header-body combinations which are stored within
this message except the multipart and message/rfc822 wrappers.
Objects returned are "Mail::Message"'s and Mail::Message::Part's.
The option default to 'ALL', which will return the message itself
for single-parts, the nested content of a message/rfc822 object,
respectively the parts of a multipart without recursion. In case
of 'RECURSE', the parts of multiparts will be collected
recursively. This option cannot be combined with the other
options, which you may want: it that case you have to test
yourself.
'ACTIVE' and 'DELETED' check for the deleted flag on messages and
message parts. The FILTER is a code reference, which is called for
each part of the message; each part as "RECURSE" would return.
example:
my @parts = $msg->parts; # $msg not multipart: returns ($msg)
my $parts = $msg->parts('ACTIVE'); # returns ($msg)
$msg->delete;
my @parts = $msg->parts; # returns ($msg)
my $parts = $msg->parts('ACTIVE'); # returns ()
Flags
$obj->delete
Flag the message to be deleted, which is a shortcut for
$msg->label(deleted => time); The real deletion only takes place
on a synchronization of the folder. See deleted() as well.
The time stamp of the moment of deletion is stored as value, but
that is not always preserved in the folder (depends on the
implementation). When the same message is deleted more than once,
the first time stamp will stay.
example:
$message->delete;
$message->deleted(1); # exactly the same
$message->label(deleted => 1);
delete $message;
$obj->deleted([BOOLEAN])
Set the delete flag for this message. Without argument, the method
returns the same as isDeleted(), which is preferred. When a true
value is given, delete() is called.
example:
$message->deleted(1); # delete
$message->delete; # delete (preferred)
$message->deleted(0); # undelete
if($message->deleted) {...} # check
if($message->isDeleted) {...} # check (preferred)
$obj->isDeleted
Short-cut for
$msg->label('deleted')
For some folder types, you will get the time of deletion in return.
This depends on the implementation.
example:
next if $message->isDeleted;
if(my $when = $message->isDeleted) {
print scalar localtime $when;
}
$obj->isModified
Returns whether this message is flagged as being modified.
Modifications are changes in header lines, when a new body is set
to the message (dangerous), or when labels change.
$obj->label(LABEL|PAIRS)
Return the value of the LABEL, optionally after setting some
values. In case of setting values, you specify key-value PAIRS.
Labels are used to store knowledge about handling of the message
within the folder. Flags about whether a message was read, replied
to, or scheduled for deletion.
Some labels are taken from the header's "Status" and "X-Status"
lines. Folder types like MH define a separate label file, and
Maildir adds letters to the message filename. But the MailBox
labels are always the same.
example:
print $message->label('seen');
if($message->label('seen')) {...};
$message->label(seen => 1);
$message->label(deleted => 1); # same as $message->delete
$obj->labels
Returns all known labels. In SCALAR context, it returns the
knowledge as reference to a hash. This is a reference to the
original data, but you shall *not* change that data directly: call
"label" for changes!
In LIST context, you get a list of names which are defined. Be
warned that they will not all evaluate to true, although most of
them will.
$obj->labelsToStatus
When the labels were changed, that may effect the "Status" and/or
"X-Status" header lines of mbox messages. Read about the relation
between these fields and the labels in the DETAILS chapter.
The method will carefully only affect the result of modified() when
there is a real change of flags, so not for each call to label().
$obj->modified([BOOLEAN])
Returns (optionally after setting) whether this message is flagged
as being modified. See isModified().
$obj->statusToLabels
Update the labels according the status lines in the header. See
the description in the DETAILS chapter.
The whole message as text
$obj->file
See "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text
$obj->lines
See "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text
$obj->printStructure([FILEHANDLE|undef],[INDENT])
See "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text
$obj->string
See "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text
Internals
$obj->clonedFrom
Returns the MESSAGE which is the source of this message, which was
created by a clone() operation.
Mail::Message->coerce(MESSAGE, OPTIONS)
Coerce a MESSAGE into a Mail::Message. In some occasions, for
instance where you add a message to a folder, this coercion is
automatically called to ensure that the correct message type is
stored.
The coerced message is returned on success, otherwise "undef". The
coerced message may be a reblessed version of the original message
or a new object. In case the message has to be specialized, for
instance from a general Mail::Message into a
Mail::Box::Mbox::Message, no copy is needed. However, to coerce a
Mail::Internet object into a Mail::Message, a lot of copying and
converting will take place.
Valid MESSAGEs which can be coerced into Mail::Message objects are
of type
· Any type of Mail::Box::Message
· MIME::Entity objects, using Mail::Message::Convert::MimeEntity
· Mail::Internet objects, using
Mail::Message::Convert::MailInternet
· Email::Simple objects, using
Mail::Message::Convert::EmailSimple
· Email::Abstract objects
Mail::Message::Part's, which are extensions of "Mail::Message"'s,
can also be coerced directly from a Mail::Message::Body.
example:
my $folder = Mail::Box::Mbox->new;
my $message = Mail::Message->build(...);
my $coerced = Mail::Box::Mbox::Message->coerce($message);
$folder->addMessage($coerced);
Simpler replacement for the previous two lines:
my $coerced = $folder->addMessage($message);
$obj->isDelayed
Check whether the message is delayed (not yet read from file).
Returns true or false, dependent on the body type.
$obj->readBody(PARSER, HEAD [, BODYTYPE])
Read a body of a message. The PARSER is the access to the folder's
file, and the HEAD is already read. Information from the HEAD is
used to create expectations about the message's length, but also to
determine the mime-type and encodings of the body data.
The BODYTYPE determines which kind of body will be made and
defaults to the value specified by new(body_type). BODYTYPE may be
the name of a body class, or a reference to a routine which returns
the body's class when passed the HEAD as only argument.
$obj->readFromParser(PARSER, [BODYTYPE])
Read one message from file. The PARSER is opened on the file.
First readHead() is called, and the head is stored in the message.
Then readBody() is called, to produce a body. Also the body is
added to the message without decodings being done.
The optional BODYTYPE may be a body class or a reference to a code
which returns a body-class based on the header.
$obj->readHead(PARSER [,CLASS])
Read a head into an object of the specified CLASS. The CLASS
defaults to new(head_type). The PARSER is the access to the
folder's file.
$obj->recursiveRebuildPart(PART, OPTIONS)
See "Internals" in Mail::Message::Construct::Rebuild
$obj->storeBody(BODY)
Where the body() method can be used to set and get a body, with all
the necessary checks, this method is bluntly adding the specified
body to the message. No conversions, not checking.
$obj->takeMessageId([STRING])
Take the message-id from the STRING, or create one when the "undef"
is specified. If not STRING nor "undef" is given, the current
header of the message is requested for the value of the
'Message-ID' field.
Angles (if present) are removed from the id.
Error handling
$obj->AUTOLOAD
See "METHODS" in Mail::Message::Construct
$obj->addReport(OBJECT)
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->defaultTrace([LEVEL]|[LOGLEVEL, TRACELEVEL]|[LEVEL, CALLBACK])
Mail::Message->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::Message->log([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->logPriority(LEVEL)
Mail::Message->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->shortSize([VALUE])
Mail::Message->shortSize([VALUE])
Represent an integer VALUE representing the size of file or memory,
(which can be large) into a short string using M and K (Megabytes
and Kilobytes). Without VALUE, the size of the message head is
used.
$obj->shortString
Convert the message header to a short string (without trailing
newline), representing the most important facts (for debugging
purposes only). For now, it only reports size and subject.
$obj->trace([LEVEL])
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->warnings
See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
Cleanup
$obj->DESTROY
When a message is to accessible anymore by any user's reference,
Perl will call DESTROY for final clean-up. In this case, the head
and body are released, and de-registered for the folder. You shall
not call this yourself!
$obj->destruct
Remove the information contained in the message object. This will
be ignored when more than one reference to the same message object
exists, because the method has the same effect as assigning "undef"
to the variable which contains the reference. Normal garbage
collection will call DESTROY() when possible.
This method is only provided to hide differences with messages
which are located in folders: their Mail::Box::Message::destruct()
works quite differently.
example: of Mail::Message destruct
my $msg = Mail::Message->read;
$msg->destruct;
$msg = undef; # same
$obj->inGlobalDestruction
See "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter
DETAILS
Structure of a Message
The header
The header is a list of fields, some spanning more than one line
(folded) each telling something about the message. Information stored
in here are for instance the sender of the message, the receivers of
the message, when it was transported, how it was transported, etc.
Headers can grow quite large.
In MailBox, each message object manages exactly one header object (a
Mail::Message::Head) and one body object (a Mail::Message::Body). The
header contains a list of header fields, which are represented by
Mail::Message::Field objects.
The body
The body contains the "payload": the data to be transfered. The data
can be encoded, only accessible with a specific application, and may
use some weird character-set, like Vietnamese; the MailBox distribution
tries to assist you with handling these e-mails without the need to
know all the details. This additional information ("meta-information")
about the body data is stored in the header. The header contains more
information, for instance about the message transport and relations to
other messages.
A MIME-compliant message is build upon two parts: the header and the
body.
Message object implementation
The general idea about the structure of a message is
Mail::Message
| |
| `-has-one--Mail::Message::Body
|
`----has-one--Mail::Message::Head
|
`-has-many--Mail::Message::Field
However: there are about 7 kinds of body objects, 3 kinds of headers
and 3 kinds of fields. You will usually not see too much of these
kinds, because they are merely created for performance reasons and can
be used all the same, with the exception of the multipart bodies.
A multipart body is either a Mail::Message::Body::Multipart (mime type
"multipart/*") or a Mail::Message::Body::Nested (mime type
"message/rfc822"). These bodies are more complex:
Mail::Message::Body::Multipart
|
`-has-many--Mail::Message::Part
| |
| `-has-one--Mail::Message::Body
|
`----has-one--Mail::Message::Head
Before you try to reconstruct multiparts or nested messages yourself,
you can better take a look at Mail::Message::Construct::Rebuild.
Message class implementation
The class structure of messages is very close to that of folders. For
instance, a Mail::Box::File::Message relates to a Mail::Box::File
folder.
As extra level of inheritance, it has a Mail::Message, which is a
message without location. And there is a special case of message:
Mail::Message::Part is a message encapsulated in a multipart body.
The message types are:
Mail::Box::Mbox::Message Mail::Box::POP3::Message
| Mail::Box::Dbx::Message Mail::Box::IMAP4::Message |
| | | |
Mail::Box::File::Message Mail::Box::Net::Message
| |
| Mail::Box::Maildir::Message |
| | Mail::Box::MH::Message |
| | | |
| Mail::Box::Dir::Message |
| | |
`------------. | .-----------------'
| | |
Mail::Box::Message Mail::Message::Part
| |
| .-------------'
| |
Mail::Message
|
|
Mail::Reporter (general base class)
By far most folder features are implemented in Mail::Box, so available
to all folder types. Sometimes, features which appear in only some of
the folder types are simulated for folders that miss them, like sub-
folder support for MBOX.
Two strange other message types are defined: the Mail::Message::Dummy,
which fills holes in Mail::Box::Thread::Node lists, and a
Mail::Box::Message::Destructed, this is an on purpose demolished
message to reduce memory consumption.
Labels
Predefined labels
To standardize the folder types, MailBox has defined the following
labels, which can be used with the label() and labels() methods on all
kinds of messages:
· deleted
This message is flagged to be deleted once the folder closes. Be
very careful about the concept of 'delete' in a folder context : it
is only a flag, and does not involve immediate action! This means,
for instance, that the memory which is used by Perl to store the
message is not released immediately (see destruct() if you need
to).
The methods delete(), deleted(), and isDeleted() are only short-
cuts for managing the "delete" label (as of MailBox 2.052).
· draft
The user has prepared this message, but is has not been send (yet).
This flag is not automatically added to a message by MailBox, and
has only a meaning in user applications.
· flagged
Messages can be flagged for some purpose, for instance as result of
a search for spam in a folder. The Mail::Box::messages() method
can be used to collect all these flagged messages from the folder.
Probably it is more useful to use an understandable name (like
"spam") for these selections, however these self-defined labels can
not stored in all folder types.
· old
The message was already in the folder when it was opened the last
time, so was not recently added to the folder. This flag will
never automatically be set by MailBox, because it would probably
conflict with the user's idea of what is old.
· passed
Not often used or kept, this flag indicates that the message was
bounced or forwarded to someone else.
· replied
The user (or application) has sent a message back to the sender of
the message, as response of this one. This flag is automatically
set if you use reply(), but not with forward() or bounce().
· seen
When this flag is set, the receiver of the message has consumed the
message. A mail user agent (MUA) will set this flag when the user
has opened the message once.
Status and X-Status fields
Mbox folders have no special means of storing information about
messages (except the message separator line), and therefore have to
revert to adding fields to the message header when something special
comes up. This feature is also enabled for POP3, although whether that
works depends on the POP server.
All applications which can handle mbox folders support the "Status" and
"X-Status" field convensions. The following encoding is used:
Flag Field Label
R Status => seen (Read)
O Status => old (not recent)
A X-Status => replied (Answered)
F X-Status => flagged
There is no special flag for "deleted", which most other folders
support: messages flagged to be deleted will never be written to a
folder file when it is closed.
Labels (also named "Flags") are used to indicate some special condition
on the message, primary targeted on organizational issues: which
messages are already read or should be deleted. There is a very strong
user relation to labels.
The main complication is that each folder type has its own way of
storing labels. To give an indication: MBOX folders use "Status" and
"X-Status" header fields, MH uses a ".mh-sequences" file, MAILDIR
encodes the flags in the message's filename, and IMAP has flags as part
of the protocol.
Besides, some folder types can store labels with user defined names,
where other lack that feature. Some folders have case-insensitive
labels, other don't. Read all about the specifics in the manual page of
the message type you actually have.
DIAGNOSTICS
Error: Cannot coerce a $class object into a $class object
Error: Cannot include forward source as $include.
Unknown alternative for the forward(include). Valid choices are
"NO", "INLINE", "ATTACH", and "ENCAPSULATE".
Error: Cannot include reply source as $include.
Unknown alternative for the "include" option of reply(). Valid
choices are "NO", "INLINE", and "ATTACH".
Error: Method bounce requires To, Cc, or Bcc
The message bounce() method forwards a received message off to
someone else without modification; you must specified it's new
destination. If you have the urge not to specify any destination,
you probably are looking for reply(). When you wish to modify the
content, use forward().
Error: Method forwardAttach requires a preamble
Error: Method forwardEncapsulate requires a preamble
Error: No address to create forwarded to.
If a forward message is created, a destination address must be
specified.
Error: No default mailer found to send message.
The message send() mechanism had not enough information to
automatically find a mail transfer agent to sent this message.
Specify a mailer explicitly using the "via" options.
Error: No rebuild rule $name defined.
Error: Only build() Mail::Message's; they are not in a folder yet
You may wish to construct a message to be stored in a some kind of
folder, but you need to do that in two steps. First, create a
normal Mail::Message, and then add it to the folder. During this
Mail::Box::addMessage() process, the message will get coerce()-d
into the right message type, adding storage information and the
like.
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: coercion starts with some object
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::Message(3)
