NAME

Mail::Box::Search::Grep - select messages within a mail box like grep does

CLASS INHERITANCE

 Mail::Box::Search::Grep
   is a Mail::Box::Search
   is a Mail::Reporter

SYNOPSIS

 use Mail::Box::Manager;
 my $mgr    = Mail::Box::Manager->new;
 my $folder = $mgr->open('Inbox');

 my $filter = Mail::Box::Search::Grep->new
    ( label => 'selected'
    , in => 'BODY', match => qr/abc?d*e/
    );

 my @msgs   = $filter->search($folder);

 my $filter = Mail::Box::Search::Grep->new
   ( field => 'To'
   , match => $my_email
   );

 if($filter->search($message)) {...}

DESCRIPTION

Try to find some text strings in the header and footer of messages. Various ways to limit the search to certain header fields, the whole header, only the body, the whole message, but even binary multiparts, are provided for.

The name `grep' is derived from the UNIX tool `grep', which means: "Get Regular Expression and Print". Although you can search using regular expressions (the Perl way of them), you do not have to print those as result.

METHODS

Initiation

new OPTIONS

(Class method) Create a UNIX-grep like search filter.

 OPTION               DEFAULT
 binaries             <false>
 decode               <true>
 delayed              <true>
 deleted              <false>
 deliver              undef
 field                undef
 in                   <$field ? 'HEAD' : 'BODY'>
 label                undef
 limit                0
 log                  'WARNINGS'
 logical              'REPLACE'
 match                <obligatory>
 multiparts           <true>
 trace                'WARNINGS'

binaries => BOOLEAN

See Mail::Box::Search::new(binaries)

decode => BOOLEAN

See Mail::Box::Search::new(decode)

delayed => BOOLEAN

See Mail::Box::Search::new(delayed)

deleted => BOOLEAN

See Mail::Box::Search::new(deleted)

deliver => undef|CODE|'DELETE'|LABEL|'PRINT'|REF-ARRAY

Store the details about where the match was found. The search may take much longer when this feature is enabled.

When an ARRAY is specified it will contain a list of references to hashes. Each hash contains the information of one match. A match in a header line will result in a line with fields message, part, and field, where the field is a Mail::Message::Field object. When the match is in the body the hash will contain a message, part, linenr, and line.

In case of a CODE reference, that routine is called for each match. The first argument is this search object and the second a reference to same hash as would be stored in the array.

The PRINT will call printMatchedHead() or printMatchedBody() when any matching header resp body line was found. The output is minimized by not reprinting the message info on multiple matches in the same message.

DELETE will flag the message to be deleted in case of a match. When a multipart's part is matched, the whole message will be flagged for deletion.

field => undef|STRING|REGEX|CODE

Not valid in combination with in => BODY. The STRING is one full field name (case-insensitive). Use a REGEX to select more than one header line to be scanned. CODE is a routine which is called for each field in the header. The CODE is called with the header as first, and the field as second argument. If the CODE returns true, the message is selected.

in => 'HEAD'|'BODY'|'MESSAGE'

See Mail::Box::Search::new(in)

label => STRING

See Mail::Box::Search::new(label)

limit => NUMBER

See Mail::Box::Search::new(limit)

log => LEVEL

See Mail::Reporter::new(log)

logical => 'REPLACE'|'AND'|'OR'|'NOT'|'AND NOT'|'OR NOT'

See Mail::Box::Search::new(logical)

match => STRING|REGEX|CODE

The pattern to be search for can be a REGular EXpression, or a STRING. In both cases, the match succeeds if it is found anywhere within the selected fields.

With a CODE reference, that function will be called each field or body-line. When the result is true, the details are delivered. The call formats are

 $code->($head, $field);          # for HEAD searches
 $code->($body, $linenr, $line);  # for BODY searches

The $head resp $body are one message's head resp. body object. The $field is a header line which matches. The $line and $linenr tell the matching line in the body.

Be warned that when you search in => MESSAGE the code must accept both formats.

multiparts => BOOLEAN

See Mail::Box::Search::new(multiparts)

trace => LEVEL

See Mail::Reporter::new(trace)

Searching

inBody PART, BODY

See Mail::Box::Search::inBody()

inHead PART, HEAD

See Mail::Box::Search::inHead()

search FOLDER|THREAD|MESSAGE|ARRAY-OF-MESSAGES

See Mail::Box::Search::search()

searchPart PART

See Mail::Box::Search::searchPart()

The Results

printMatch [FILEHANDLE], HASH

See Mail::Box::Search::printMatch()

printMatchedBody FILEHANDLE, MATCH

printMatchedHead FILEHANDLE, MATCH

Logging and Tracing

defaultTrace [LEVEL, [LEVEL]

See Mail::Reporter::defaultTrace()

errors

See Mail::Reporter::errors()

log [LEVEL [,STRINGS]]

See Mail::Reporter::log()

report [LEVEL]

See Mail::Reporter::report()

reportAll [LEVEL]

See Mail::Reporter::reportAll()

trace [LEVEL]

See Mail::Reporter::trace()

warnings

See Mail::Reporter::warnings()

Other Methods

AUTOLOAD

See Mail::Reporter::AUTOLOAD()

DESTROY

See Mail::Reporter::DESTROY()

inGlobalDestruction

See Mail::Reporter::inGlobalDestruction()

logPriority LEVEL

See Mail::Reporter::logPriority()

logSettings

See Mail::Reporter::logSettings()

notImplemented

See Mail::Reporter::notImplemented()

SEE ALSO

A good start to read is Mail::Box-Overview. More documentation and a mailinglist are available from the project's website at http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/.

AUTHOR

Written by Mark Overmeer (mark@overmeer.net) with the help of many. See the ChangeLog for details.

VERSION

This code is beta, version 2.040.

Copyright (c) 2001-2003 by the authors. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.