=head1 NAME

Mail::Box::Dbx - read Outlook Express folders

=head1 INHERITANCE

 Mail::Box::Dbx
   is a Mail::Box::File
   is a Mail::Box
   is a Mail::Reporter

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 use Mail::Box::Dbx;
 my $folder = Mail::Box::Dbx->new(...);

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This documentation describes how to read from Outlook Express (dbx)
folders.  Even on Unix/Linux, you can access these folders to
read the data, or copy it to a different format.  Modifying of
xbd files is not supported.

These dbx folders are accessed using Mail::Transport::Dbx which
is distributed via CPAN as separate package.  This C<MAil::Transport::Dbx>
module is based on the open source library named C<libpst>, which can
be found at L<http://alioth.debian.org/projects/libpst/>.  The library does
not support writing of dbx files, and therefore limits the possibilities
of this package.

=head1 OVERLOADED

=over 4

=item overload: B<"">()

See L<Mail::Box/"OVERLOADED">

=item overload: B<@{}>()

See L<Mail::Box/"OVERLOADED">

=item overload: B<cmp>()

See L<Mail::Box/"OVERLOADED">

=back

=head1 METHODS

=head2 Constructors

=over 4

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<new>(OPTIONS)

 -Option           --Defined in     --Default
  access             Mail::Box        always 'r'
  body_delayed_type  Mail::Box        Mail::Message::Body::Delayed
  body_type          Mail::Box::File  <see description>
  coerce_options     Mail::Box        []
  create             Mail::Box        not implemented
  extract            Mail::Box        10240
  field_type         Mail::Box        undef
  fix_headers        Mail::Box        <false>
  folder             Mail::Box        =Folders.dbx
  folderdir          Mail::Box        .
  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        'NONE'
  lock_wait          Mail::Box        10 seconds
  locker             Mail::Box        undef
  log                Mail::Reporter   'WARNINGS'
  manager            Mail::Box        undef
  message_type       Mail::Box        Mail::Box::Dbx::Message
  multipart_type     Mail::Box        Mail::Message::Body::Multipart
  remove_when_empty  Mail::Box        not implemented
  save_on_exit       Mail::Box        not implemented
  trace              Mail::Reporter   'WARNINGS'
  trusted            Mail::Box        <depends on folder location>
  write_policy       Mail::Box::File  not implemented

=over 2

=item access => MODE

=item body_delayed_type => CLASS

=item body_type => CLASS|CODE

=item coerce_options => ARRAY

=item create => BOOLEAN

=item extract => INTEGER | CODE | METHOD | 'LAZY'|'ALWAYS'

=item field_type => CLASS

=item fix_headers => BOOLEAN

=item folder => FOLDERNAME

=item folderdir => DIRECTORY

=item head_delayed_type => CLASS

=item head_type => CLASS

=item keep_dups => BOOLEAN

=item lock_extension => FILENAME|STRING

=item lock_file => FILENAME

=item lock_timeout => SECONDS

=item lock_type => CLASS|STRING|ARRAY

=item lock_wait => SECONDS

=item locker => OBJECT

=item log => LEVEL

=item manager => MANAGER

=item message_type => CLASS

=item multipart_type => CLASS

=item remove_when_empty => BOOLEAN

=item save_on_exit => BOOLEAN

=item trace => LEVEL

=item trusted => BOOLEAN

=item write_policy => 'REPLACE'|'INPLACE'|undef

=back

=back

=head2 The folder

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<addMessage>(MESSAGE, OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<addMessages>(MESSAGE [, MESSAGE, ...])

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<appendMessages>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box::File/"METHODS">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<close>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<copyTo>(FOLDER, OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<delete>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<filename>()

See L<Mail::Box::File/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<folderdir>([DIRECTORY])

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<name>()

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<organization>()

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<size>()

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<type>()

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<update>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<url>()

See L<Mail::Box/"The folder">

=back

=head2 Folder flags

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<access>()

See L<Mail::Box/"Folder flags">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<isModified>()

See L<Mail::Box/"Folder flags">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<modified>([BOOLEAN])

See L<Mail::Box/"Folder flags">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<writable>()

See L<Mail::Box/"Folder flags">

=back

=head2 The messages

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<current>([NUMBER|MESSAGE|MESSAGE-ID])

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<find>(MESSAGE-ID)

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<findFirstLabeled>(LABEL, [BOOLEAN, [ARRAY-OF-MSGS]])

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<message>(INDEX [,MESSAGE])

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<messageId>(MESSAGE-ID [,MESSAGE])

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<messageIds>()

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<messages>(['ALL',RANGE,'ACTIVE','DELETED',LABEL,!LABEL,FILTER])

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<nrMessages>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<scanForMessages>(MESSAGE, MESSAGE-IDS, TIMESPAN, WINDOW)

See L<Mail::Box/"The messages">

=back

=head2 Sub-folders

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<listSubFolders>(OPTIONS)

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<listSubFolders>(OPTIONS)

It is advised to set the C<check> flag, because dbx folder often list
large amounts of folder names which do not really exist.  However, checking
does consume some time.

 -Option    --Defined in     --Default
  check       Mail::Box        <false>
  folder      Mail::Box        <from calling object>
  folderdir   Mail::Box        <from folder>
  skip_empty  Mail::Box        <false>

=over 2

=item check => BOOLEAN

=item folder => FOLDERNAME

=item folderdir => DIRECTORY

=item skip_empty => BOOL

=back

=item $obj-E<gt>B<nameOfSubFolder>(SUBNAME, [PARENTNAME])

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<nameOfSubFolder>(SUBNAME, [PARENTNAME])

See L<Mail::Box/"Sub-folders">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<openRelatedFolder>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"Sub-folders">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<openSubFolder>(SUBNAME, OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"Sub-folders">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<topFolderWithMessages>()

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<topFolderWithMessages>()

See L<Mail::Box/"Sub-folders">

=back

=head2 Internals

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<coerce>(MESSAGE, OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<create>(FOLDERNAME, OPTIONS)

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<create>(FOLDERNAME, OPTIONS)

Creation is not supported for dbx folders.

 -Option   --Defined in--Default
  folderdir  Mail::Box   undef

=over 2

=item folderdir => DIRECTORY

=back

=item $obj-E<gt>B<determineBodyType>(MESSAGE, HEAD)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<folderToFilename>(FOLDERNAME, FOLDERDIR)

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<folderToFilename>(FOLDERNAME, FOLDERDIR)

Translate a folder name into a filename, using the
FOLDERDIR value to replace a leading C<=>.

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<foundIn>([FOLDERNAME], [OPTIONS])

If no FOLDERNAME is specified, then the value of the C<folder> option
is taken.  A dbx folder is a file which name ends on C<.dbx> (case
insensitive).

 -Option   --Defined in     --Default
  folder                      undef
  folderdir  Mail::Box        undef

=over 2

=item folder => FOLDERNAME

=item folderdir => DIRECTORY

=back

=item $obj-E<gt>B<lineSeparator>([STRING|'CR'|'LF'|'CRLF'])

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<locker>()

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<messageCreateOptions>([TYPE, CONFIG])

See L<Mail::Box::File/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<moveAwaySubFolder>(DIRECTORY, EXTENSION)

See L<Mail::Box::File/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<parser>()

The parsing of messages is a combined job for the Mail::Transport::Dbx
module (to get the right data) and L<read()|Mail::Box/"Internals">.  Asking for the parser
will provide the transporter object.  If asked more than once, each time
the same object will be returned.

=item $obj-E<gt>B<read>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<readMessages>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<storeMessage>(MESSAGE)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<toBeThreaded>(MESSAGES)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<toBeUnthreaded>(MESSAGES)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<updateMessages>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box::File/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<write>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box::File/"Internals">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<writeMessages>(OPTIONS)

See L<Mail::Box/"Internals">

=back

=head2 Other methods

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<timespan2seconds>(TIME)

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<timespan2seconds>(TIME)

See L<Mail::Box/"Other methods">

=back

=head2 Error handling

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<AUTOLOAD>()

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<addReport>(OBJECT)

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<defaultTrace>([LEVEL]|[LOGLEVEL, TRACELEVEL]|[LEVEL, CALLBACK])

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<defaultTrace>([LEVEL]|[LOGLEVEL, TRACELEVEL]|[LEVEL, CALLBACK])

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<errors>()

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<log>([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<log>([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<logPriority>(LEVEL)

=item Mail::Box::Dbx-E<gt>B<logPriority>(LEVEL)

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<logSettings>()

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<notImplemented>()

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<report>([LEVEL])

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<reportAll>([LEVEL])

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<trace>([LEVEL])

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<warnings>()

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Error handling">

=back

=head2 Cleanup

=over 4

=item $obj-E<gt>B<DESTROY>()

See L<Mail::Box/"Cleanup">

=item $obj-E<gt>B<inGlobalDestruction>()

See L<Mail::Reporter/"Cleanup">

=back

=head2 DETAILS

=head3 File based folders

=head1 DETAILS

=head2 Different kinds of folders

=head2 Available folder types

=head2 Folder class implementation

=head2 How DBX folders work

DBX files are create by Outlook Express.  I can not tell you too much
about it, because me (as author) never use Windows or MicroSoft tools.
Still, it is possible to access some Outlook created folders from Unix.

The folder structure for dbx starts with a single C<Folders.dbx>
file.  This folder contains names of sub-folders.  Each folder can
either contain messages, or contains sub-folders.  Combinations are
not possible.

=head2 This implementation

The ol2mbox project (see L<http://sourceforge.net/project/ol2mbox/>)
has created a C<libdbx> which can read dbx files using nearly any
operating system.  You can simply transport a dbx file from Windows
to Unix/Linux and the read all the messages from it.

Tassilo von Parseval wrote a Perl wrapper around this C-library,
and distributes it as Mail::Transport::Dbx.  Although it named in
one the MailBox namespaces, it is a separate product, because it
requires a C compiler.  Besides, the module will have its own life.

=head2 Converting DBX folders to MBOX

The title of this section is to attract your attension, but is does
not describe anything special related to DBX or MBOX: you can convert
any kind of mail folder into another with the following code.

=head1 DIAGNOSTICS

=over 4

=item Error: Cannot append messages to folder file $filename: $!

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.

=item Error: Cannot move away sub-folder $dir

=item Error: Cannot read dbx folder file $filename.

=item Warning: Cannot remove folder $name file $filename: $!

Writing an empty folder will usually cause that folder to be removed,
which fails for the indicated reason.  L<new(remove_when_empty)|Mail::Box/"Constructors">

=item Warning: Cannot remove folder $name file $filename: $!

Writing an empty folder will usually cause that folder to be removed,
which fails for the indicated reason.  L<new(remove_when_empty)|Mail::Box/"Constructors">
controls whether the empty folder will removed; setting it to false
(C<0>) may be needed to avoid this message.

=item Error: Cannot replace $filename by $tempname, to update folder $name: $!

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.

=item Warning: Changes not written to read-only folder $self.

You have opened the folder read-only --which is the default set
by L<new(access)|Mail::Box/"Constructors">--, made modifications, and now want to close it.
Set L<close(force)|Mail::Box/"The folder"> if you want to overrule the access mode, or close
the folder with L<close(write)|Mail::Box/"The folder"> set to C<NEVER>.

=item Error: Copying failed for one message.

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.

=item Warning: Dbx folders are read-only.

=item Error: Destination folder $name is not writable.

The folder where the messages are copied to is not opened with write
access (see L<new(access)|Mail::Box/"Constructors">).  This has no relation with write permission
to the folder which is controled by your operating system.

=item Warning: Different messages with id $msgid

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.

=item Error: File too short to get write message $nr ($size, $need)

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 retreived 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.

=item Error: Folder $name not deleted: not writable.

The folder must be opened with write access via L<new(access)|Mail::Box/"Constructors">, 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
C<delete> method permits you to.  The reverse remark is valid as well.

=item Error: Invalid timespan '$timespan' specified.

The string does not follow the strict rules of the time span syntax which
is permitted as parameter.

=item Warning: Message-id '$msgid' does not contain a domain.

According to the RFCs, message-ids need to contain a unique random part,
then an C<@>, and then a domain name.  This is made to avoid the creation
of two messages with the same id.  The warning emerges when the C<@> is
missing from the string.

=item Error: Package $package does not implement $method.

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.

=item Error: Unable to create subfolder $name of $folder.

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.

=item Error: Unable to update folder $self.

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.

=back

=head1 SEE ALSO

This module is part of Mail-Box distribution version 2.106,
built on August 15, 2012. Website: F<http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/>

=head1 LICENSE

Copyrights 2001-2012 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 F<http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html>

