Edit File: mimetools.txt
:mod:`mimetools` --- Tools for parsing MIME messages ==================================================== .. module:: mimetools :synopsis: Tools for parsing MIME-style message bodies. :deprecated: .. deprecated:: 2.3 The :mod:`email` package should be used in preference to the :mod:`mimetools` module. This module is present only to maintain backward compatibility, and it has been removed in 3.x. .. index:: module: rfc822 This module defines a subclass of the :mod:`rfc822` module's :class:`Message` class and a number of utility functions that are useful for the manipulation for MIME multipart or encoded message. It defines the following items: .. class:: Message(fp[, seekable]) Return a new instance of the :class:`Message` class. This is a subclass of the :class:`rfc822.Message` class, with some additional methods (see below). The *seekable* argument has the same meaning as for :class:`rfc822.Message`. .. function:: choose_boundary() Return a unique string that has a high likelihood of being usable as a part boundary. The string has the form ``'hostipaddr.uid.pid.timestamp.random'``. .. function:: decode(input, output, encoding) Read data encoded using the allowed MIME *encoding* from open file object *input* and write the decoded data to open file object *output*. Valid values for *encoding* include ``'base64'``, ``'quoted-printable'``, ``'uuencode'``, ``'x-uuencode'``, ``'uue'``, ``'x-uue'``, ``'7bit'``, and ``'8bit'``. Decoding messages encoded in ``'7bit'`` or ``'8bit'`` has no effect. The input is simply copied to the output. .. function:: encode(input, output, encoding) Read data from open file object *input* and write it encoded using the allowed MIME *encoding* to open file object *output*. Valid values for *encoding* are the same as for :meth:`decode`. .. function:: copyliteral(input, output) Read lines from open file *input* until EOF and write them to open file *output*. .. function:: copybinary(input, output) Read blocks until EOF from open file *input* and write them to open file *output*. The block size is currently fixed at 8192. .. seealso:: Module :mod:`email` Comprehensive email handling package; supersedes the :mod:`mimetools` module. Module :mod:`rfc822` Provides the base class for :class:`mimetools.Message`. Module :mod:`multifile` Support for reading files which contain distinct parts, such as MIME data. http://faqs.cs.uu.nl/na-dir/mail/mime-faq/.html The MIME Frequently Asked Questions document. For an overview of MIME, see the answer to question 1.1 in Part 1 of this document. .. _mimetools-message-objects: Additional Methods of Message Objects ------------------------------------- The :class:`Message` class defines the following methods in addition to the :class:`rfc822.Message` methods: .. method:: Message.getplist() Return the parameter list of the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header. This is a list of strings. For parameters of the form ``key=value``, *key* is converted to lower case but *value* is not. For example, if the message contains the header ``Content-type: text/html; spam=1; Spam=2; Spam`` then :meth:`getplist` will return the Python list ``['spam=1', 'spam=2', 'Spam']``. .. method:: Message.getparam(name) Return the *value* of the first parameter (as returned by :meth:`getplist`) of the form ``name=value`` for the given *name*. If *value* is surrounded by quotes of the form '``<``...\ ``>``' or '``"``...\ ``"``', these are removed. .. method:: Message.getencoding() Return the encoding specified in the :mailheader:`Content-Transfer-Encoding` message header. If no such header exists, return ``'7bit'``. The encoding is converted to lower case. .. method:: Message.gettype() Return the message type (of the form ``type/subtype``) as specified in the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header. If no such header exists, return ``'text/plain'``. The type is converted to lower case. .. method:: Message.getmaintype() Return the main type as specified in the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header. If no such header exists, return ``'text'``. The main type is converted to lower case. .. method:: Message.getsubtype() Return the subtype as specified in the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header. If no such header exists, return ``'plain'``. The subtype is converted to lower case.