=encoding utf8 =head1 NAME Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - forwarding a Mail::Message =head1 SYNOPSIS my Mail::Message $forward = $message->forward(To => 'you'); $forward->send; =head1 DESCRIPTION Complex functionality on L<Mail::Message|Mail::Message> objects is implemented in different files which are autoloaded. This file implements the functionality related to creating forwarded messages. =head1 METHODS =head2 Constructing a message =over 4 =item $obj-E<gt>B<forward>(%options) Forward the content of this message. The body of the message to be forwarded is encapsulated in some accompanying text (if you have no wish for that, than C<bounce> is your choice). A L<Mail::Message|Mail::Message> object is returned on success. You may forward a whole message, but also message parts. You may wish to overrule some of the default header settings for the reply immediately, or you may do that later with C<set> on the header. When a multi-part body is encountered, and the message is included to ATTACH, the parts which look like signatures will be removed. If only one message remains, it will be the added as single attachment, otherwise a nested multipart will be the result. The value of this option does not matter, as long as it is present. See C<Mail::Message::Body::Multipart>. -Option --Default Bcc undef Cc undef Date <now> From <'to' in current> Message-ID <uniquely generated> Subject forwardSubject() To <required> body undef include <if body then 'NO' else C<'INLINE'>> preamble constructed from prelude and postlude signature undef =over 2 =item Bcc => ADDRESSES Receivers of blind carbon copies: their names will not be published to other message receivers. =item Cc => ADDRESSES The carbon-copy receivers, by default none. =item Date => DATE The date to be used in the message sent. =item From => ADDRESSES Your identification, by default taken from the C<To> field of the source message. =item Message-ID => STRING Supply a STRING as specific message-id for the forwarded message. By default, one is generated for you. If there are no angles around your id, they will be added. =item Subject => STRING|CODE Force the subject line to the specific STRING, or the result of the subroutine specified by CODE. The subroutine will be called passing the subject of the original message as only argument. By default, the L<forwardSubject()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> method is used. =item To => ADDRESSES The destination of your message. Obligatory. The ADDRESSES may be specified as string, a L<Mail::Address|Mail::Address> object, or as array of L<Mail::Address|Mail::Address> objects. =item body => OBJECT If you specify a fully prepared body OBJECT, it will be used as forwarded message contents. In this case, only the headers are constructed for you. =item include => 'NO'|'INLINE'|'ATTACH'|'ENCAPSULATE' Must the message where this is a reply to be included in the message? When C<INLINE> is given, you may pass the options of L<forwardInline()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> as well. In many applications, the forward option C<as attachment> results in a structure which is produced when this option is set to C<ENCAPSULATE>. Their default behavior is usually C<INLINE>. It is only possible to inline textual messages, therefore binary or multi-part messages will always be enclosed as attachment. Read the details in section L</Creating a forward>.. =item preamble => STRING|BODY Part which is attached before the forwarded message. If no preamble is given, then it is constructed from the prelude and postlude. When these are also not present, you will still get a one liner: the result of L<forwardPrelude()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> =item signature => BODY|MESSAGE The signature to be added in case of a multi-part forward. The mime-type of the signature body should indicate this is a used as such. However, in INLINE mode, the body will be taken, a line containing C<'-- '> added before it, and added behind the epilogue. =back =item $obj-E<gt>B<forwardAttach>(%options) Forward the message as I<flat> attachment to the specified C<preamble>. You can specify all options available to C<forward()>, although a C<preamble> which is provided as body object is required, and any specified C<body> is ignored. -Option --Default preamble <required> =over 2 =item preamble => BODY|PART =back =item $obj-E<gt>B<forwardEncapsulate>(%options) Like L<forwardAttach()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message">, but in this case the original message is first encapsulated as nested message in a L<Mail::Message::Body::Nested|Mail::Message::Body::Nested>, and then joint into a multipart. You can specify all options available to C<forward()>, although a C<preamble> which is provided as body object is required, and any specified C<body> is ignored. Signatures are not stripped. Signatures are not stripped. -Option --Default preamble <required> =over 2 =item preamble => BODY|PART =back =item $obj-E<gt>B<forwardInline>(%options) This method is equivalent in behavior to L<forward()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> with the option C<include> set to C<'INLINE'>. You can specify most of the fields which are available to L<forward()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> except C<include> and C<body>. -Option --Default is_attached "[The forwarded message is attached]\n" max_signature 10 postlude undef prelude undef quote undef strip_signature qr/^--\s/ =over 2 =item is_attached => STRING A forward on binary messages can not be inlined. Therefore, they are automatically translated into an attachment, as made by L<forwardAttach()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message">. The obligatory preamble option to that method may be specified as option to this method, to be used in case of such a forward of a binary, but is otherwise constructed from the prelude, the value of this option, and the postlude. =item max_signature => INTEGER Passed to L<Mail::Message::Body::stripSignature(max_lines)|Mail::Message::Body::Construct/"Constructing a body">. Only effective for single-part messages. =item postlude => BODY The line(s) which to be added after the quoted reply lines. Create a body for it first. This should not include the signature, which has its own option. The signature will be added after the postlude when the forwarded message is C<INLINE>d. =item prelude => BODY The line(s) which will be added before the quoted forwarded lines. If nothing is specified, the result of the L<forwardPrelude()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> method is used. When C<undef> is specified, no prelude will be added. =item quote => CODE|STRING Mangle the lines of an C<INLINE>d reply with CODE, or by prepending a STRING to each line. The routine specified by CODE is called when the line is in C<$_>. By default, nothing is added before each line. This option is processed after the body has been decoded. =item strip_signature => REGEXP|STRING|CODE Remove the signature of the sender. The value of this parameter is passed to L<Mail::Message::Body::stripSignature(pattern)|Mail::Message::Body::Construct/"Constructing a body">, unless the source text is not included. The signature is stripped from the message before quoting. =back =item $obj-E<gt>B<forwardNo>(%options) Construct a forward, where the whole body of the message is already constructed. That complex body is usually produced in L<forwardInline()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message">, L<forwardAttach()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message">, or L<forwardEncapsulate()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message">. The %options are the same as for C<forward()> except that C<body> is required. Some other options, like C<preamble>, are ignored. -Option--Default body <required> =over 2 =item body => BODY =back =item $obj-E<gt>B<forwardPostlude>() Added after the forwarded message. example: ---- END forwarded message =item $obj-E<gt>B<forwardPrelude>() Create a few lines to be included before the forwarded message content. The return is an array of lines. example: ---- BEGIN forwarded message From: him@somewhere.else.nl (Original Sender) To: me@example.com (Me the receiver) Cc: the.rest@world.net Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 15:44:05 -0500 <blank line> =item $obj-E<gt>B<forwardSubject>(STRING) Create a subject for a message which is a forward from this one. This routine tries to count the level of reply in subject field, and transform it into a standard form. Please contribute improvements. example: subject --> Forw: subject Re: subject --> Forw: Re: subject Re[X]: subject --> Forw: Re[X]: subject <blank> --> Forwarded =back =head1 DETAILS =head2 Creating a forward The main difference between L<bounce()|Mail::Message::Construct::Bounce/"Constructing a message"> and L<forward()|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> is the reason for message processing. The I<bounce> has no intention to modify the content of message: the same information is passed-on to someplace else. This may mean some conversions, but for instance, the Message-ID does not need to be changed. The purpose of I<forward()> is to pass on information which is modified: annotated or reduced. The information is not sent back to the author of the original message (which is implemented by L<reply()|Mail::Message::Construct::Reply/"Constructing a message">), but to someone else. So: some information comes in, is modified, and than forwarded to someone else. Currently, there are four ways to get the original information included, which are explained in the next sections. After the creation of the forward, you may want to L<rebuild()|Mail::Message::Construct::Rebuild/"Constructing a message"> the message to remove unnecessary complexities. Of course, that is not required. =head3 forward, specify a body When you specify L<forward(body)|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message">, you have created your own body object to be used as content of the forwarded message. This implies that L<forward(include)|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> is C<'NO'>: no automatic generation of the forwarded body. =head3 forward, inline the original The L<forward(include)|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> is set to C<'INLINE'> (the default) This is the most complicated situation, but most often used by MUAs: the original message is inserted textually in the new body. You can set-up automatic stripping of signatures, the way of encapsulation, and texts which should be added before and after the encapsulated part. However, the result may not always be what you expect. For instance, some people use very long signatures which will not be automatically stripped because the pass the threshold. So, you probably need some manual intervention after the message is created and before it is sent. When a binary message is encountered, inlining is impossible. In that case, the message is treated as if C<'ENCAPSULATE'> was requested. =head3 forward, attach the original When L<forward(include)|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> is explicitly set to C<'ATTACH'> the result will be a multipart which contains two parts. The first part will be your message, and the second the body of the original message. This means that the headers of the forwarded message are used for the new message, and detached from the part which now contains the original body information. Content related headers will (of course) still be part of that part, but lines line C<To> and C<Subject> will not be stored with that part. As example of the structural transformation: # code: $original->printStructure; multipart/alternative: The source message text/plain: content in raw text text/html: content as html # code: $fwd = $original->forward(include => 'ATTACH'); # code: $fwd->printStructure multipart/mixed: The source message text/plain: prelude/postlude/signature multipart/alternative text/plain: content in raw text text/html: content as html =head3 forward, encapsulate the original When L<forward(include)|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message"> is explicitly set to C<'ENCAPSULATE'>, then the original message is left in-tact as good as possible. The lines of the original message are used in the main message header but also enclosed in the part header. The encapsulation is implemented using a nested message, content type C<message/rfc822>. As example of the structural transformation: # code: $original->printStructure; multipart/alternative: The source message text/plain: content in raw text text/html: content as html # code: $fwd = $original->forward(include => 'ENCAPSULATE'); # code: $fwd->printStructure multipart/mixed: The source message text/plain: prelude/postlude/signature message/rfc822 multipart/alternative: The source message text/plain: content in raw text text/html: content as html The message structure is much more complex, but no information is lost. This is probably the reason why many MUAs use this when the forward an original message as attachment. =head1 DIAGNOSTICS =over 4 =item Error: Cannot include forward source as $include. Unknown alternative for the L<forward(include)|Mail::Message::Construct::Forward/"Constructing a message">. Valid choices are C<NO>, C<INLINE>, C<ATTACH>, and C<ENCAPSULATE>. =item Error: Method forwardAttach requires a preamble =item Error: Method forwardEncapsulate requires a preamble =item Error: No address to create forwarded to. If a forward message is created, a destination address must be specified. =back =head1 SEE ALSO This module is part of Mail-Message distribution version 3.017, built on April 18, 2025. Website: F<http://perl.overmeer.net/CPAN/> =head1 LICENSE Copyrights 2001-2025 by [Mark Overmeer <markov@cpan.org>]. 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 F<http://dev.perl.org/licenses/>