85 lines
3.6 KiB
TeX
85 lines
3.6 KiB
TeX
\section{\module{mailbox} ---
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Read various mailbox formats}
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\declaremodule{standard}{mailbox}
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\modulesynopsis{Read various mailbox formats.}
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This module defines a number of classes that allow easy and uniform
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access to mail messages in a (\UNIX{}) mailbox.
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\begin{classdesc}{UnixMailbox}{fp\optional{, factory}}
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Access to a classic \UNIX{}-style mailbox, where all messages are
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contained in a single file and separate by ``From '' (a.k.a ``From_'')
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lines. The file object \var{fp} points to the mailbox file. Optional
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\var{factory} is a callable that should create new message objects.
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It is called with one argument, \var{fp} by the \method{next()}
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method. The default is the \class{rfc822.Message} class (see the
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\refmodule{rfc822} module).
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For maximum portability, messages in a \UNIX{}-style mailbox are
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separated by any line that begins exactly with the letters \emph{F},
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\emph{r}, \emph{o}, \emph{m}, \emph{[space]} if preceded by exactly two
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newlines. Because of the wide-range of variations in practice,
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nothing else on the From_ line should be considered. However, the
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current implementation doesn't check for the leading two newlines.
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This is usually fine for most applications.
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The \class{UnixMailbox} class implements a more strict version of
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From_ line checking, using a regular expression that usually correctly
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matched From_ delimiters. It considers delimiter line to be separated
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by ``From name time'' lines. For maximum portability, use the
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\class{PortableUnixMailbox} class instead. This
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class is completely identical to \class{UnixMailbox} except that
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individual messages are separated by only ``From '' lines.
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For more
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information see
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\url{http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/demo/content-length.html}.
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\end{classdesc}
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\begin{classdesc}{MmdfMailbox}{fp\optional{, factory}}
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Access an MMDF-style mailbox, where all messages are contained
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in a single file and separated by lines consisting of 4 control-A
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characters. The file object \var{fp} points to the mailbox file.
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Optional \var{factory} is as with the \class{UnixMailbox} class.
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\end{classdesc}
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\begin{classdesc}{MHMailbox}{dirname\optional{, factory}}
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Access an MH mailbox, a directory with each message in a separate
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file with a numeric name.
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The name of the mailbox directory is passed in \var{dirname}.
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\var{factory} is as with the \class{UnixMailbox} class.
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\end{classdesc}
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\begin{classdesc}{Maildir}{dirname\optional{, factory}}
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Access a Qmail mail directory. All new and current mail for the
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mailbox specified by \var{dirname} is made available.
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\var{factory} is as with the \class{UnixMailbox} class.
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\end{classdesc}
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\begin{classdesc}{BabylMailbox}{fp\optional{, factory}}
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Access a Babyl mailbox, which is similar to an MMDF mailbox. Mail
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messages start with a line containing only \code{'*** EOOH ***'} and
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end with a line containing only \code{'\e{}037\e{}014'}.
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\var{factory} is as with the \class{UnixMailbox} class.
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\end{classdesc}
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\subsection{Mailbox Objects \label{mailbox-objects}}
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All implementations of Mailbox objects have one externally visible
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method:
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\begin{methoddesc}[mailbox]{next}{}
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Return the next message in the mailbox, created with the optional
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\var{factory} argument passed into the mailbox object's constructor.
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By defaul this is an \class{rfc822.Message}
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object (see the \refmodule{rfc822} module). Depending on the mailbox
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implementation the \var{fp} attribute of this object may be a true
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file object or a class instance simulating a file object, taking care
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of things like message boundaries if multiple mail messages are
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contained in a single file, etc. If no more messages are available,
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this method returns \code{None}.
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\end{methoddesc}
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