NAME
Mail::Message::Head - the header of one message
INHERITANCE
Mail::Message::Head
is a Mail::Reporter
Mail::Message::Head is extended by
Mail::Message::Head::Complete
Mail::Message::Head::Delayed
Mail::Message::Head::Subset
SYNOPSIS
my $head = Mail::Message::Head->new;
$head->add('From: me@localhost');
$head->add(From => 'me@localhost');
$head->add(Mail::Message::Field->new(From => 'me'));
my Mail::Message::Field $subject = $head->get('subject');
my Mail::Message::Field @rec = $head->get('received');
$head->delete('From');
DESCRIPTION
Mail::Message::Head
MIME headers are part of Mail::Message messages, which are grouped in Mail::Box folders.
ATTENTION!!! most functionality about e-mail headers is described in Mail::Message::Head::Complete, which is a matured header object. Other kinds of headers will be translated to that type when time comes.
The header of a MIME message object contains a set of lines, which are called fields (by default represented by Mail::Message::Field objects). Dependent on the situation, the knowledge about the fields can be in one of three situations, each represented by a sub-class of this module:
-
In this case, it is sure that all knowledge about the header is available. When you get() information from the header and it is not there, it will never be there.
-
There is no certainty whether all header lines are known (probably not). This may be caused as result of reading a fast index file, as described in Mail::Box::MH::Index. The object is automatically transformed into a Mail::Message::Head::Complete when all header lines must be known.
-
In this case, there is no single field known. Access to this header will always trigger the loading of the full header.
On this page, the general methods which are available on any header are described. Read about differences in the sub-class specific pages.
OVERLOADED
overload: ""
(stringifaction) The header, when used as string, will format as if Mail::Message::Head::Complete::string() was called, so return a nicely folder full header. An exception is made for Carp, which will get a simplified string to avoid unreadible messages from croak
and confess
.
Example: using a header object as string
print $head; # implicit stringification by print
$head->print; # the same
print "$head"; # explicit stringication
overload: bool
When the header does not contain any lines (which is illegal, according to the RFCs), false is returned. In all other cases, a true value is produced.
METHODS
Constructors
$obj->build(FIELDS)
A fast way to construct a header with many lines. The FIELDS are (name, content) pairs of the header. A Mail::Message::Head::Complete header is created by simply calling Mail::Message::Head::Complete::build(), and then each field is added. Double field names are permitted.
Example:
my $head = Mail::Message::Head->build
( From => 'me@example.com'
, To => 'you@anywhere.aq'
, Received => 'one'
, Received => 'two'
);
print ref $head;
# --> Mail::Message::Head::Complete
Mail::Message::Head->new(OPTIONS)
Create a new message header object. The object will store all the fields of a header. When you get information from the header, it will be returned to you as Mail::Message::Field objects, although the fields may be stored differently internally.
If you try to instantiate a Mail::Message::Head, you will automatically be upgraded to a Mail::Message::Head::Complete --a full head.
Option Defined in Default
field_type L<Mail::Message::Field::Fast|Mail::Message::Field::Fast>
log L<Mail::Reporter> C<'WARNINGS'>
message undef
modified <false>
trace L<Mail::Reporter> C<'WARNINGS'>
. field_type CLASS
The type of objects that all the fields will have. This must be an extension of Mail::Message::Field.
. log LEVEL
. message MESSAGE
The MESSAGE where this header belongs to. Usually, this is not known at creation of the header, but sometimes it is. If not, call the message() method later to set it.
. modified BOOLEAN
. trace LEVEL
The header
$obj->isDelayed
Headers may only be partially read, in which case they are called delayed. This method returns true if some header information still needs to be read. Returns false if all header data has been read. Will never trigger completion.
$obj->isEmpty
Are there any fields defined in the current header? Be warned that the header will not be loaded for this: delayed headers will return true in any case.
$obj->isModified
Returns whether the header has been modified after being read.
Example:
if($head->isModified) { ... }
$obj->knownNames
Like Mail::Message::Head::Complete::names(), but only returns the known header fields, which may be less than names
for header types which are partial. names()
will trigger completion, where knownNames()
does not.
$obj->message([MESSAGE])
Get (after setting) the message where this header belongs to. This does not trigger completion.
$obj->modified([BOOLEAN])
Sets the modified flag to BOOLEAN. Without value, the current setting is returned, but in that case you can better use isModified(). Changing this flag will not trigger header completion.
Example:
$head->modified(1);
if($head->modified) { ... }
if($head->isModified) { ... }
$obj->orderedFields
Retuns the fields ordered the way they were read or added.
Access to the header
$obj->get(NAME [,INDEX])
Get the data which is related to the field with the NAME. The case of the characters in NAME does not matter.
If there is only one data element defined for the NAME, or if there is an INDEX specified as the second argument, only the specified element will be returned. If the field NAME matches more than one header the return value depends on the context. In LIST context, all values will be returned in the order they are read. In SCALAR context, only the last value will be returned.
Example:
my $head = Mail::Message::Head->new;
$head->add('Received: abc');
$head->add('Received: xyz');
$head->add('Subject: greetings');
my @rec_list = $head->get('Received');
my $rec_scalar = $head->get('Received');
print ",@rec_list,$rec_scalar," # ,abc xyz, xyz,
print $head->get('Received', 0); # abc
my @sub_list = $head->get('Subject');
my $sub_scalar = $head->get('Subject');
print ",@sub_list,$sub_scalar," # ,greetings, greetings,
About the body
$obj->guessBodySize
Try to estimate the size of the body of this message, but without parsing the header or body. The result might be undef
or a few percent of the real size. It may even be very far of the real value, that's why this is a guess.
$obj->isMultipart
Returns whether the body of the related message is a multipart body. May trigger completion, when the Content-Type
field is not defined.
Internals
$obj->addNoRealize(FIELD)
Add a field, like Mail::Message::Head::Complete::add() does, but avoid the loading of a possibly partial header. This method does not test the validity of the argument, nor flag the header as changed. This does not trigger completion.
$obj->addOrderedFields(FIELDS)
$obj->fileLocation
Returns the location of the header in the file, as a pair begin and end. The begin is the first byte of the header. The end is the first byte after the header.
$obj->load
Be sure that the header is loaded. This returns the loaded header object.
$obj->moveLocation(DISTANCE)
Move the registration of the header in the file.
$obj->read(PARSER)
Read the header information of one message into this header structure. This method is called by the folder object (some Mail::Box sub-class), which passes the PARSER as an argument.
$obj->setNoRealize(FIELD)
Set a field, but avoid the loading of a possibly partial header as set() does. This method does not test the validity of the argument, nor flag the header as changed. This does not trigger completion.
Error handling
$obj->AUTOLOAD
$obj->defaultTrace([LEVEL, [LEVEL])
Mail::Message::Head->defaultTrace([LEVEL, [LEVEL])
$obj->errors
$obj->log([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])
Mail::Message::Head->log([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])
$obj->logPriority(LEVEL)
Mail::Message::Head->logPriority(LEVEL)
$obj->logSettings
$obj->notImplemented
$obj->report([LEVEL])
$obj->reportAll([LEVEL])
$obj->trace([LEVEL])
$obj->warnings
Cleanup
$obj->DESTROY
$obj->inGlobalDestruction
DIAGNOSTICS
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.
REFERENCES
See the Mail::Box website at http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/ for more details.
COPYRIGHTS
Module version 2.041. Written by Mark Overmeer (mark@overmeer.net). See the ChangeLog for other contributors.
Copyright (c) 2001-2003 by the author(s). All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.