NAME¶
Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - forwarding a Mail::Message
SYNOPSIS¶
my Mail::Message $forward = $message->forward(To => 'you');
$forward->send;
DESCRIPTION¶
Complex functionality on Mail::Message objects is implemented in different files
which are autoloaded. This file implements the functionality related to
creating forwarded messages.
METHODS¶
Constructing a message¶
- $obj->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 "bounce" is your choice). A 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 "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
"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
- Bcc => ADDRESSES
- Receivers of blind carbon copies: their names will not be published to
other message receivers.
- Cc => ADDRESSES
- The carbon-copy receivers, by default none.
- Date => DATE
- The date to be used in the message sent.
- From => ADDRESSES
- Your identification, by default taken from the "To" field of the
source message.
- 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.
- 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
forwardSubject() method is used.
- To => ADDRESSES
- The destination of your message. Obligatory. The ADDRESSES may be
specified as string, a Mail::Address object, or as array of Mail::Address
objects.
- 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.
- include => 'NO'|'INLINE'|'ATTACH'|'ENCAPSULATE'
- Must the message where this is a reply to be included in the message? When
"INLINE" is given, you may pass the options of
forwardInline() as well.
In many applications, the forward option "as attachment" results
in a structure which is produced when this option is set to
"ENCAPSULATE". Their default behavior is usually
"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 "Creating a forward"..
- 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
forwardPrelude()
- 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 '-- ' added before
it, and added behind the epilogue.
- $obj->forwardAttach(%options)
- Forward the message as flat attachment to the specified
"preamble". You can specify all options available to
"forward()", although a "preamble" which is provided
as body object is required, and any specified "body" is ignored.
-Option --Default
preamble <required>
- $obj->forwardEncapsulate(%options)
- Like forwardAttach(), but in this case the original message is
first encapsulated as nested message in a Mail::Message::Body::Nested, and
then joint into a multipart.
You can specify all options available to "forward()", although a
"preamble" which is provided as body object is required, and any
specified "body" is ignored. Signatures are not stripped.
Signatures are not stripped.
-Option --Default
preamble <required>
- $obj->forwardInline(%options)
- This method is equivalent in behavior to forward() with the option
"include" set to 'INLINE'. You can specify most of the fields
which are available to forward() except "include" and
"body".
-Option --Default
is_attached "[The forwarded message is attached]\n"
max_signature 10
postlude undef
prelude undef
quote undef
strip_signature qr/^--\s/
- is_attached => STRING
- A forward on binary messages can not be inlined. Therefore, they are
automatically translated into an attachment, as made by
forwardAttach(). 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.
- max_signature => INTEGER
- Passed to Mail::Message::Body::stripSignature(max_lines). Only effective
for single-part messages.
- 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 "INLINE"d.
- prelude => BODY
- The line(s) which will be added before the quoted forwarded lines. If
nothing is specified, the result of the forwardPrelude() method is
used. When "undef" is specified, no prelude will be added.
- quote => CODE|STRING
- Mangle the lines of an "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 $_.
By default, nothing is added before each line. This option is processed
after the body has been decoded.
- strip_signature => REGEXP|STRING|CODE
- Remove the signature of the sender. The value of this parameter is passed
to Mail::Message::Body::stripSignature(pattern), unless the source text is
not included. The signature is stripped from the message before
quoting.
- $obj->forwardNo(%options)
- Construct a forward, where the whole body of the message is already
constructed. That complex body is usually produced in
forwardInline(), forwardAttach(), or
forwardEncapsulate().
The %options are the same as for "forward()" except that
"body" is required. Some other options, like
"preamble", are ignored.
-Option--Default
body <required>
- $obj->forwardPostlude()
- Added after the forwarded message.
example:
---- END forwarded message
- $obj->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>
- $obj->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
DETAILS¶
Creating a forward¶
The main difference between
bounce() and
forward() is the reason
for message processing. The
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
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
reply()), 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
rebuild() the message
to remove unnecessary complexities. Of course, that is not required.
forward, specify a body
When you specify forward(body), you have created your own body object to be used
as content of the forwarded message. This implies that forward(include) is
'NO': no automatic generation of the forwarded body.
forward, inline the original
The forward(include) is set to '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 'ENCAPSULATE' was requested.
forward, attach the original
When forward(include) is explicitly set to '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 "To" and "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
forward, encapsulate the original
When forward(include) is explicitly set to '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
"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.
DIAGNOSTICS¶
- Error: Cannot include forward source as $include.
- Unknown alternative for the forward(include). Valid choices are
"NO", "INLINE", "ATTACH", and
"ENCAPSULATE".
- 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.
SEE ALSO¶
This module is part of Mail-Box distribution version 2.117, built on August 24,
2014. Website:
http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/
LICENSE¶
Copyrights 2001-2014 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