Mail::Box::Mbox(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Mail::Box::Mbox(3)

Mail::Box::Mbox - handle folders in Mbox format

Mail::Box::Mbox
  is a Mail::Box::File
  is a Mail::Box
  is a Mail::Reporter

use Mail::Box::Mbox;
my $folder = Mail::Box::Mbox->new(folder => $ENV{MAIL}, ...);

This documentation describes how Mbox mailboxes work, and also describes what you can do with the Mbox folder object Mail::Box::Mbox.

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in Mail::Box::File.

Extends "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box::File.

Inherited, see "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box
Inherited, see "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box
Inherited, see "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box

Extends "METHODS" in Mail::Box::File.

Extends "Constructors" in Mail::Box::File.

-Option             --Defined in     --Default
 access               Mail::Box        'r'
 body_delayed_type    Mail::Box        Mail::Message::Body::Delayed
 body_type            Mail::Box::File  <see description>
 coerce_options       Mail::Box        []
 create               Mail::Box        <false>
 extract              Mail::Box        10240
 field_type           Mail::Box        undef
 fix_headers          Mail::Box        <false>
 folder               Mail::Box        $ENV{MAIL}
 folderdir            Mail::Box        $ENV{HOME}.'/Mail'
 head_delayed_type    Mail::Box        Mail::Message::Head::Delayed
 head_type            Mail::Box        Mail::Message::Head::Complete
 keep_dups            Mail::Box        <false>
 lock_extension       Mail::Box::File  '.lock'
 lock_file            Mail::Box        <foldername><lock-extension>
 lock_timeout         Mail::Box        1 hour
 lock_type            Mail::Box        Mail::Box::Locker::DotLock
 lock_wait            Mail::Box        10 seconds
 locker               Mail::Box        undef
 log                  Mail::Reporter   'WARNINGS'
 manager              Mail::Box        undef
 message_type         Mail::Box        Mail::Box::Mbox::Message
 multipart_type       Mail::Box        Mail::Message::Body::Multipart
 remove_when_empty    Mail::Box        <true>
 save_on_exit         Mail::Box        <true>
 subfolder_extension                   '.d'
 trace                Mail::Reporter   'WARNINGS'
 trusted              Mail::Box        <depends on folder location>
 write_policy         Mail::Box::File  undef
Mbox folders do not support sub-folders. However, this module can simulate sub-directories if the user wants it to. When a subfolder of folder "xyz" is created, we create a directory which is called "xyz.d" to contain them. This extension ".d" can be changed using this option.

Extends "The folder" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->addMessage($message, %options)
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->addMessages(@messages)
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
Inherited, see "METHODS" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->close(%options)
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->copyTo($folder, %options)
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->delete(%options)
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->filename()
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->folderdir( [$directory] )
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->name()
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->organization()
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->size()
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->type()
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->update(%options)
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box
$obj->url()
Inherited, see "The folder" in Mail::Box

Extends "Folder flags" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->access()
Inherited, see "Folder flags" in Mail::Box
$obj->isModified()
Inherited, see "Folder flags" in Mail::Box
$obj->modified( [BOOLEAN] )
Inherited, see "Folder flags" in Mail::Box
$obj->writable()
Inherited, see "Folder flags" in Mail::Box

Extends "The messages" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->current( [$number|$message|$message_id] )
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->find($message_id)
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->findFirstLabeled( $label, [BOOLEAN, [$msgs]] )
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->message( $index, [$message] )
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->messageId( $message_id, [$message] )
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->messageIds()
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->messages( <'ALL'|$range|'ACTIVE'|'DELETED'|$label| !$label|$filter> )
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->nrMessages(%options)
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box
$obj->scanForMessages($message, $message_ids, $timespan, $window)
Inherited, see "The messages" in Mail::Box

Extends "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->listSubFolders(%options)
-Option             --Defined in     --Default
 check                Mail::Box        <false>
 folder               Mail::Box        <from calling object>
 folderdir            Mail::Box        <from folder>
 skip_empty           Mail::Box        <false>
 subfolder_extension                   <from object>
When the method is called on an open folder, the extension defined by it is used to detect sub-folders by default. Otherwise, '.d' is taken.
$obj->nameOfSubFolder( $subname, [$parentname] )
Inherited, see "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box
$obj->openRelatedFolder(%options)
Inherited, see "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box
$obj->openSubFolder($subname, %options)
Inherited, see "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box
$obj->topFolderWithMessages()
Inherited, see "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box

Extends "Internals" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->coerce($message, %options)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->create($foldername, %options)
-Option             --Defined in     --Default
 folderdir            Mail::Box        undef
 subfolder_extension                   undef
If a directory is found on the location of the folder to be created, this STRING is used to extend that directory name with. This will cause the directory to be seen as sub-folder for the created folder. This argument is passed to folderToFilename().
$obj->determineBodyType($message, $head)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->folderToFilename( $foldername, $folderdir, [$extension] )
Translate a folder name into a filename, using the $folderdir value to replace a leading "=". If no $extension is specified and this method is called as instance method, new(subfolder_extension) is used. Otherwise, the extension default to '.d'.
If no $foldername is specified, then the value of the "folder" option is taken. A mbox folder is a file which starts with a separator line: a line with 'From ' as first characters. Blank lines which start the file are ignored, which is not for all MUA's acceptable. 
-Option             --Defined in     --Default
 folder                                undef
 folderdir            Mail::Box        undef
 subfolder_extension                   <from object>
$obj->lineSeparator( [<STRING|'CR'|'LF'|'CRLF'>] )
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->locker()
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->messageCreateOptions( [$type, $config] )
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->moveAwaySubFolder($directory, $extension)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->parser()
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->read(%options)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->readMessages(%options)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->storeMessage($message)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->toBeThreaded($messages)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->toBeUnthreaded($messages)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box
$obj->updateMessages(%options)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->write(%options)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box::File
$obj->writeMessages(%options)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Box

Extends "Other methods" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->timespan2seconds($time)
Inherited, see "Other methods" in Mail::Box

Extends "Error handling" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->AUTOLOAD()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->addReport($object)
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->defaultTrace( [$level]|[$loglevel, $tracelevel]|[$level, $callback] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->errors()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->log( [$level, [$strings]] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->logPriority($level)
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->logSettings()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->notImplemented()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->report( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->reportAll( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->trace( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->warnings()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

Extends "Cleanup" in Mail::Box::File.

$obj->DESTROY()
Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Box

DETAILS

Extends "DETAILS" in Mail::Box::File.

Extends "DETAILS" in Mail::Box::File.

Extends "Different kinds of folders" in Mail::Box::File.

Extends "Available folder types" in Mail::Box::File.

Extends "Folder class implementation" in Mail::Box::File.

MBOX folders store many messages in one file. Each message begins with a line which starts with the string "From ". Lines inside a message which accidentally start with "From" are, in the file, preceded by `>'. This character is stripped when the message is read.

In this respect must be noted that the format of the MBOX files is not strictly defined. The exact content of the separator lines differ between Mail User Agents (MUA's). Besides, some MUAs (like mutt) forget to encode the "From " lines within message bodies, breaking other parsers....

MBOX folders do not have a sub-folder concept as directory based folders do, but this MBOX module tries to simulate them. In this implementation a directory like

Mail/subject1/

is taken as an empty folder "Mail/subject1", with the folders in that directory as sub-folders for it. You may also use

Mail/subject1
Mail/subject1.d/

where "Mail/subject1" is the folder, and the folders in the "Mail/subject1.d" directory are used as sub-folders. If your situation is similar to the first example and you want to put messages in that empty folder, the directory is automatically (and transparently) renamed, so that the second situation is reached.

Appending messages to a not-opened file-organized folder may fail when the operating system does not allow write access to the file at hand.
Writing an empty folder will usually cause that folder to be removed, which fails for the indicated reason. new(remove_when_empty)
Writing an empty folder will usually cause that folder to be removed, which fails for the indicated reason. new(remove_when_empty) controls whether the empty folder will removed; setting it to false (0) may be needed to avoid this message.
The replace policy wrote a new folder file to update the existing, but was unable to give the final touch: replacing the old version of the folder file for the indicated reason.
You have opened the folder read-only --which is the default set by new(access)--, made modifications, and now want to close it. Set close(force) if you want to overrule the access mode, or close the folder with close(write) set to "NEVER".
For some reason, for instance disc full, removed by external process, or read-protection, it is impossible to copy one of the messages. Copying will proceed for the other messages.
The folder where the messages are copied to is not opened with write access (see new(access)). This has no relation with write permission to the folder which is controlled by your operating system.
The message id is discovered more than once within the same folder, but the content of the message seems to be different. This should not be possible: each message must be unique.
Mail::Box is lazy: it tries to leave messages in the folders until they are used, which saves time and memory usage. When this message appears, something is terribly wrong: some lazy message are needed for updating the folder, but they cannot be retrieved from the original file anymore. In this case, messages can be lost.

This message does appear regularly on Windows systems when using the 'replace' write policy. Please help to find the cause, probably something to do with Windows incorrectly handling multiple filehandles open in the same file.

The folder must be opened with write access via new(access), otherwise removing it will be refused. So, you may have write-access according to the operating system, but that will not automatically mean that this "delete" method permits you to. The reverse remark is valid as well.
The string does not follow the strict rules of the time span syntax which is permitted as parameter.
According to the RFCs, message-ids need to contain a unique random part, then an "@", and then a domain name. This is made to avoid the creation of two messages with the same id. The warning emerges when the "@" is missing from the string.
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.
The copy includes the subfolders, but for some reason it was not possible to copy one of these. Copying will proceed for all other sub-folders.
When a folder is to be written, both replace and inplace write policies are tried, If both fail, the whole update fails. You may see other, related, error messages to indicate the real problem.

This module is part of Mail-Box distribution version 3.009, built on August 18, 2020. Website: http://perl.overmeer.net/CPAN/

Copyrights 2001-2020 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://dev.perl.org/licenses/

2022-06-02 perl v5.36.0