Mail::Box::Dbx(3)

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

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

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

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 "MAil::Transport::Dbx" module is based on the open source library named "libpst", which can be found at <http://alioth.debian.org/projects/libpst/>. The library does not support writing of dbx files, and therefore limits the possibilities of this package.

OVERLOADED

overload: ""()
    See "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box

overload: @{}()
    See "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box

overload: cmp()
    See "OVERLOADED" in Mail::Box

METHODS

  Constructors

Mail::Box::Dbx->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

    access => MODE
    body_delayed_type => CLASS
    body_type => CLASS|CODE
    coerce_options => ARRAY
    create => BOOLEAN
    extract => INTEGER | CODE | METHOD | 'LAZY'|'ALWAYS'
    field_type => CLASS
    fix_headers => BOOLEAN
    folder => FOLDERNAME
    folderdir => DIRECTORY
    head_delayed_type => CLASS
    head_type => CLASS
    keep_dups => BOOLEAN
    lock_extension => FILENAME|STRING
    lock_file => FILENAME
    lock_timeout => SECONDS
    lock_type => CLASS|STRING|ARRAY
    lock_wait => SECONDS
    locker => OBJECT
    log => LEVEL
    manager => MANAGER
    message_type => CLASS
    multipart_type => CLASS
    remove_when_empty => BOOLEAN
    save_on_exit => BOOLEAN
    trace => LEVEL
    trusted => BOOLEAN
    write_policy => 'REPLACE'|'INPLACE'|undef

  The folder

$obj->addMessage(MESSAGE, OPTIONS)
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->addMessages(MESSAGE [, MESSAGE, ...])
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

Mail::Box::Dbx->appendMessages(OPTIONS)
    See "METHODS" in Mail::Box::File

$obj->close(OPTIONS)
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->copyTo(FOLDER, OPTIONS)
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->delete(OPTIONS)
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->filename()
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box::File

$obj->folderdir([DIRECTORY])
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->name()
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->organization()
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->size()
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->type()
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->update(OPTIONS)
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

$obj->url()
    See "The folder" in Mail::Box

  Folder flags

$obj->access()
    See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box

$obj->isModified()
    See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box

$obj->modified([BOOLEAN])
    See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box

$obj->writable()
    See "Folder flags" in Mail::Box

  The messages

$obj->current([NUMBER|MESSAGE|MESSAGE-ID])
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->find(MESSAGE-ID)
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->findFirstLabeled(LABEL, [BOOLEAN, [ARRAY-OF-MSGS]])
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->message(INDEX [,MESSAGE])
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->messageId(MESSAGE-ID [,MESSAGE])
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->messageIds()
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->messages(['ALL',RANGE,'ACTIVE','DELETED',LABEL,!LABEL,FILTER])
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->nrMessages(OPTIONS)
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

$obj->scanForMessages(MESSAGE, MESSAGE-IDS, TIMESPAN, WINDOW)
    See "The messages" in Mail::Box

  Sub-folders

$obj->listSubFolders(OPTIONS)
Mail::Box::Dbx->listSubFolders(OPTIONS)
    It is advised to set the "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>

    check => BOOLEAN
    folder => FOLDERNAME
    folderdir => DIRECTORY
    skip_empty => BOOL
$obj->nameOfSubFolder(SUBNAME, [PARENTNAME])
Mail::Box::Dbx->nameOfSubFolder(SUBNAME, [PARENTNAME])
    See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box

$obj->openRelatedFolder(OPTIONS)
    See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box

$obj->openSubFolder(SUBNAME, OPTIONS)
    See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box

$obj->topFolderWithMessages()
Mail::Box::Dbx->topFolderWithMessages()
    See "Sub-folders" in Mail::Box

  Internals

$obj->coerce(MESSAGE, OPTIONS)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->create(FOLDERNAME, OPTIONS)
Mail::Box::Dbx->create(FOLDERNAME, OPTIONS)
    Creation is not supported for dbx folders.

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

    folderdir => DIRECTORY
$obj->determineBodyType(MESSAGE, HEAD)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->folderToFilename(FOLDERNAME, FOLDERDIR)
Mail::Box::Dbx->folderToFilename(FOLDERNAME, FOLDERDIR)
    Translate a folder name into a filename, using the FOLDERDIR value to replace a leading "=".

Mail::Box::Dbx->foundIn([FOLDERNAME], [OPTIONS])
    If no FOLDERNAME is specified, then the value of the "folder" option is taken. A dbx folder is a file which name ends on ".dbx" (case insensitive).

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

    folder => FOLDERNAME
    folderdir => DIRECTORY
$obj->lineSeparator([STRING|'CR'|'LF'|'CRLF'])
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->locker()
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->messageCreateOptions([TYPE, CONFIG])
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File

$obj->moveAwaySubFolder(DIRECTORY, EXTENSION)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File

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

$obj->read(OPTIONS)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->readMessages(OPTIONS)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->storeMessage(MESSAGE)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->toBeThreaded(MESSAGES)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->toBeUnthreaded(MESSAGES)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

$obj->updateMessages(OPTIONS)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File

$obj->write(OPTIONS)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box::File

$obj->writeMessages(OPTIONS)
    See "Internals" in Mail::Box

  Other methods

$obj->timespan2seconds(TIME)
Mail::Box::Dbx->timespan2seconds(TIME)
    See "Other methods" in Mail::Box

  Error handling

$obj->AUTOLOAD()
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->addReport(OBJECT)
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->defaultTrace([LEVEL]|[LOGLEVEL, TRACELEVEL]|[LEVEL, CALLBACK])
Mail::Box::Dbx->defaultTrace([LEVEL]|[LOGLEVEL, TRACELEVEL]|[LEVEL, CALLBACK])
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->errors()
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->log([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])
Mail::Box::Dbx->log([LEVEL [,STRINGS]])
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->logPriority(LEVEL)
Mail::Box::Dbx->logPriority(LEVEL)
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->logSettings()
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->notImplemented()
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->report([LEVEL])
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->reportAll([LEVEL])
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->trace([LEVEL])
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->warnings()
    See "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

  Cleanup

$obj->DESTROY()
    See "Cleanup" in Mail::Box

$obj->inGlobalDestruction()
    See "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter

  DETAILS
File based folders

DETAILS

  Different kinds of folders

  Available folder types

  Folder class implementation

  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 "Folders.dbx" file. This folder contains names of sub-folders. Each folder can either contain messages, or contains sub-folders. Combinations are not possible.

  This implementation
The ol2mbox project (see <http://sourceforge.net/project/ol2mbox/>) has created a "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.

  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.

DIAGNOSTICS

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.

Error: Cannot move away sub-folder $dir
Error: Cannot read dbx folder file $filename.
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. new(remove_when_empty)

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. new(remove_when_empty) controls whether the empty folder will removed; setting it to false (0) may be needed to avoid this message.

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.

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

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.

Warning: Dbx folders are read-only.
Error: Destination folder $name is not writable.
    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 controled by your operating system.

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.

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.

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

Error: Invalid timespan '$timespan' specified.
    The string does not follow the strict rules of the time span syntax which is permitted as parameter.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html