NAME¶
Email::Abstract - unified interface to mail representations
VERSION¶
version 3.007
SYNOPSIS¶
my $message = Mail::Message->read($rfc822)
|| Email::Simple->new($rfc822)
|| Mail::Internet->new([split /\n/, $rfc822])
|| ...
|| $rfc822;
my $email = Email::Abstract->new($message);
my $subject = $email->get_header("Subject");
$email->set_header(Subject => "My new subject");
my $body = $email->get_body;
$rfc822 = $email->as_string;
my $mail_message = $email->cast("Mail::Message");
DESCRIPTION¶
"Email::Abstract" provides module writers with the ability to write
simple, representation-independent mail handling code. For instance, in the
cases of "Mail::Thread" or "Mail::ListDetector", a key
part of the code involves reading the headers from a mail object. Where
previously one would either have to specify the mail class required, or to
build a new object from scratch, "Email::Abstract" can be used to
perform certain simple operations on an object regardless of its underlying
representation.
"Email::Abstract" currently supports "Mail::Internet",
"MIME::Entity", "Mail::Message",
"Email::Simple", "Email::MIME", and "Courriel".
Other representations are encouraged to create their own
"Email::Abstract::*" class by copying
"Email::Abstract::EmailSimple". All modules installed under the
"Email::Abstract" hierarchy will be automatically picked up and
used.
METHODS¶
All of these methods may be called either as object methods or as class methods.
When called as class methods, the email object (of any class supported by
Email::Abstract) must be prepended to the list of arguments, like so:
my $return = Email::Abstract->method($message, @args);
This is provided primarily for backwards compatibility.
new¶
my $email = Email::Abstract->new($message);
Given a message, either as a string or as an object for which an adapter is
installed, this method will return a Email::Abstract object wrapping the
message.
If the message is given as a string, it will be used to construct an object,
which will then be wrapped.
my $header = $email->get_header($header_name);
my @headers = $email->get_header($header_name);
This returns the values for the given header. In scalar context, it returns the
first value.
$email->set_header($header => @values);
This sets the $header header to the given one or more values.
get_body¶
my $body = $email->get_body;
This returns the body as a string.
set_body¶
$email->set_body($string);
This changes the body of the email to the given string.
WARNING! You probably don't want to call this method, despite what you
may think. Email message bodies are complicated, and rely on things like
content type, encoding, and various MIME requirements. If you call
"set_body" on a message more complicated than a single-part
seven-bit plain-text message, you are likely to break something. If you need
to do this sort of thing, you should probably use a specific message class
from end to end.
This method is left in place for backwards compatibility.
as_string¶
my $string = $email->as_string;
This returns the whole email as a decoded string.
cast¶
my $mime_entity = $email->cast('MIME::Entity');
This method will convert a message from one message class to another. It will
throw an exception if no adapter for the target class is known, or if the
adapter does not provide a "construct" method.
object¶
my $message = $email->object;
This method returns the message object wrapped by Email::Abstract. If called as
a class method, it returns false.
Note that, because strings are converted to message objects before wrapping,
this method will return an object when the Email::Abstract was constructed
from a string.
AUTHORS¶
- •
- Ricardo SIGNES <rjbs@cpan.org>
- •
- Simon Cozens <simon@cpan.org>
- •
- Casey West <casey@geeknest.com>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE¶
This software is copyright (c) 2004 by Simon Cozens.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.