Mail::Box::Maildir - handle Maildir folders Mail::Box::Maildir is a Mail::Box::Dir is a Mail::Box is a Mail::Reporter use Mail::Box::Maildir; my $folder = new Mail::Box::Maildir folder => $ENV{MAIL}, ...; This documentation describes how Maildir mailboxes work, and what you can do with the Maildir folder object "Mail::Box::Maildir". Please read "Mail::Box-Overview" and "Mail::Box::Dir" first. Maildir is not supported for Windows, because it create filenames which are not accepted by the Windows system. The internal organization and details are found at the bottom of this manual-page. Methods prefixed with an abbreviation are described in Mail::Box (MB), Mail::Reporter (MR), Mail::Box::Dir (MBD). The general methods for "Mail::Box::Maildir" objects: MB addMessage MESSAGE MR log [LEVEL [,STRINGS]] MB addMessages MESSAGE [, MESS... MB message INDEX [,MESSAGE] MB close OPTIONS MB messageId MESSAGE-ID [,MESS... MB copyTo FOLDER, OPTIONS MB messageIds MB create FOLDERNAME [, OPTIONS] MB messages ['ALL',RANGE,'ACTI... createDirs FOLDERDIR MB modified [BOOLEAN] MB current [NUMBER|MESSAGE|MES... MB name MB delete new OPTIONS MBD directory MB openSubFolder NAME [,OPTIONS] MR errors MR report [LEVEL] MB find MESSAGE-ID MR reportAll [LEVEL] folderIsEmpty FOLDERDIR MR trace [LEVEL] MB listSubFolders OPTIONS MR warnings MB locker MB writable The extra methods for extension writers: MR AUTOLOAD MB organization MB DESTROY MB read OPTIONS MB appendMessages OPTIONS MBD readMessageFilenames DIRECTORY MB clone OPTIONS MB readMessages OPTIONS MB coerce MESSAGE MB scanForMessages MESSAGE, ME... MB determineBodyType MESSAGE, ... MB sort PREPARE, COMPARE, LIST MBD folderToDirectory FOLDERNAM... MB storeMessage MESSAGE MB folderdir [DIR] MB timespan2seconds TIME MB foundIn [FOLDERNAME], OPTIONS MB toBeThreaded MESSAGES MR inGlobalDestruction MB toBeUnthreaded MESSAGES MB lineSeparator [STRING|'CR'|... MB update OPTIONS MR logPriority LEVEL MB updateMessages OPTIONS MR logSettings MB write OPTIONS MR notImplemented writeMessages [OPTIONS] MB openRelatedFolder OPTIONS Create a new folder. The are many options which are taken from other objects. For some, different options are set. For MH-specific options see below, but first the full list. OPTION DEFINED BY DEFAULT access Mail::Box 'r' create Mail::Box 0 folder Mail::Box $ENV{MAIL} folderdir Mail::Box <no default> head_wrap Mail::Box 72 keep_dups Mail::Box 0 extract Mail::Box 10kB lock_type Mail::Box 'NONE' # constant lock_file Mail::Box <not used> lock_timeout Mail::Box <not used> lock_wait Mail::Box <not used> log Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS' remove_when_empty Mail::Box 1 save_on_exit Mail::Box 1 trace Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS' trusted Mail::Box <depends on folder location> Only useful to write extension to "Mail::Box::MH". Common users of folders you will not specify these: OPTION DEFINED BY DEFAULT body_type Mail::Box::Dir <see Mail::Box::Dir> body_delayed_type Mail::Box 'Mail::Message::Body::Delayed' coerce_options Mail::Box [] field_type Mail::Box undef head_type Mail::Box 'Mail::Message::Head::Complete' head_delayed_type Mail::Box 'Mail::Message::Head::Delayed' locker Mail::Box <not used> multipart_type Mail::Box 'Mail::Message::Body::Multipart' manager Mail::Box undef message_type Mail::Box 'Mail::Box::MH::Message' realhead_type Mail::Box 'Mail::Message::Head' MH specific options: (Instance or class method) The FOLDERDIR contains the absolute path of the location where the messages are kept. Maildir folders contain a "tmp", "new", and "cur" sub-directory within that folder directory as well. This method will ensure that all directories exist. Returns false on failure. (Instance or class method) Checks whether the folder whose directory is specified as absolute FOLDERDIR is empty or not. A folder is empty when the "tmp", "new", and "cur" subdirectories are empty and some files which are left there by application programs. The maildir spec explicitly states: ".qmail", "bulletintime", "bulletinlock" and "seriallock". If any other files are found, the directory is considered not-empty. Write all messages to the folder-file. OPTION DEFINED BY DEFAULT force Mail::Box <true> head_wrap Mail::Box 72 keep_deleted Mail::Box <false> save_deleted Mail::Box <false> The explanation is complicated, but for normal use you should bother yourself with all details.

How Maildir-folders work
Maildir-type folders use a directory to store the messages of one folder. Each message is stored in a seperate file. This seems useful, because changes in a folder change only a few of these small files, in contrast with file-based folders where changes in a folder cause rewrites of huge folder-files. However, Maildir based folders perform very bad if you need header information of all messages. For instance, if you want to have full knowledge about all message-threads (see "Mail::Box::Thread::Manager") in the folder, it requires to read all header lines in all message files. And usually, reading your messages as threads is desired. Maildir maintains a tiny amount of info visible in the filename, which may make it perform just a little bit faster than MH. The following information was found at http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html. Each message is written in a seperate file. The filename is constructed from the time-of-arrival, a unique component, hostname, a syntax marker, and flags. For example "1014220791.meteor.42:2,DF". The filename must match: my ($time, $unique, $hostname, $info) = $filename =~ m!^(\d+)\.(.*)\.(\w+)(\:.*)?$!; my ($semantics, $flags) = $info =~ m!([12])\,([RSTDF]+)$!; my @flags = split //, $flags; The @flags are sorted alphabetically, with the following meanings: D = draft, to be sent later F = flagged for user-defined purpose R = has been replied S = seen / (partially) read by the user T = trashed, flagged to be deleted later

Labels
The filename contains flags, and those flags are translated into labels when the folder is opened. Labels can be changed by the application using the "labels" method. Changes will directly reflect in a filename change. The "Status" and "X-Status" lines in the header, which are used by Mbox kind of folders, are ignored except when a new message is received in the "new" directory. In case a message has to be written to file for some reason, the status header lines are updated as well. Mail::Box-Overview For support and additional documentation, see http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/ Mark Overmeer (mailbox@overmeer.net). All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. This code is beta, version 2.018. Copyright (c) 2001-2002 Mark Overmeer. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.