--- name: "Mail::Message::Part" section: "3pm" platform: "linux" package: "perl-mail-message" version: "4.05-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/Mail::Message::Part" --- # Mail::Message::Part(3pm) a part of a message, but a message by itself ## NAME Mail::Message::Part - a part of a message, but a message by itself ## INHERITANCE ``` Mail::Message::Part is a Mail::Message is a Mail::Reporter ``` ## SYNOPSIS ``` my Mail::Message $message = ...; if($message->isMultipart) { my Mail::Message::Part $part; foreach $part ($message->body->parts) { $part->print(\*OUT); my $attached_head = $part->head; my $attached_body = $part->body; # encoded as read my $attached_body = $part->decoded; # transfer-encoding removed } } ``` ## DESCRIPTION A `"Mail::Message::Part"` object contains a message which is included in the body of another message. For instance *attachments* are *parts*. READ Mail::Message FIRST. A part is a special message: it has a reference to its parent message, and will usually not be sub-classed into mail folder specific variants. Extends "DESCRIPTION" in Mail::Message. ## METHODS Extends "METHODS" in Mail::Message. ### Constructors Extends "Constructors" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**clone**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructors" in Mail::Message - $class-\>**new**(%options) Create a message part. Improves base, see "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter ``` -Option --Defined in --Default body Mail::Message undef body_type Mail::Message Mail::Message::Body::Lines container deleted Mail::Message false field_type Mail::Message undef head Mail::Message head_type Mail::Message Mail::Message::Head::Complete labels Mail::Message +{} messageId Mail::Message undef message_id Mail::Message undef modified Mail::Message false trusted Mail::Message false ``` - body =\> $object - body\_type =\> $class - container =\> BODY Reference to the parental Mail::Message::Body object where this part is a member of. That object may be a Mail::Message::Body::Multipart or a Mail::Message::Body::Nested. - deleted =\> BOOLEAN - field\_type =\> $class - head =\> $object - head\_type =\> $class - labels =\> \\@pairs\|\\%settings - messageId =\> $id - message\_id =\> $id - modified =\> BOOLEAN - trusted =\> BOOLEAN ### Attributes Extends "Attributes" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**bodyType**() Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**fieldType**() Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**headType**() Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**messageId**() Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Message ### Constructing a message Extends "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**bounce**( \[\<$rg\_object\|%options\>\] ) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Bounce - $class-\>**build**( \[$message\|$part\|$body\], @fields, %options ) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Build - $class-\>**buildFromBody**($body, $container, $headers) Shape a message part around a `$body`. Bodies have information about their content in them, which is used to construct a header for the message. Next to that, more `$headers` can be specified. No headers are obligatory. No extra headers are fabricated automatically. Improves base, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Build ยป example: ``` my $multi = Mail::Message::Body::Multipart->new; my $part = Mail::Message::Part->buildFromBody($body, $multi); ``` - $obj-\>**forward**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $obj-\>**forwardAttach**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $obj-\>**forwardEncapsulate**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $obj-\>**forwardInline**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $obj-\>**forwardNo**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $obj-\>**forwardPostlude**() Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $obj-\>**forwardPrelude**() Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $obj-\>**forwardSubject**(STRING) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Forward - $class-\>**read**($fh\|$text\|\\$text\|\\@lines, %options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Read - $obj-\>**rebuild**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Rebuild - $obj-\>**reply**(%options) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Reply - $obj-\>**replyPrelude**( \[STRING\|$field\|$address\|\\@addrs\|\\@fields\] ) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Reply - $any-\>**replySubject**(STRING) Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Reply ### The message Extends "The message" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**container**() Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**endsOnNewline**() Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isDummy**() Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isPart**() Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**partNumber**() Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**print**( \[$fh\] ) Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**printEscapedFrom**($fh) Prints the message part, but all lines which start with 'From ' will get a leading \>. See **Mail::Message::Body::printEscapedFrom()**. - $obj-\>**send**( \[$mailer\], %options ) Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**size**() Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**toplevel**() Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**write**( \[$fh\] ) Inherited, see "The message" in Mail::Message ### The header Extends "The header" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**bcc**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**cc**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**date**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**destinations**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**from**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**get**($fieldname) Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**guessTimestamp**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**head**( \[$head\] ) Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**nrLines**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**sender**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**study**($fieldname) Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**subject**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**timestamp**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**to**() Inherited, see "The header" in Mail::Message ### The body Extends "The body" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**body**( \[$body\] ) Inherited, see "The body" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**contentType**() Inherited, see "The body" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**decoded**(%options) Inherited, see "The body" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**encode**(%options) Inherited, see "The body" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isMultipart**() Inherited, see "The body" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isNested**() Inherited, see "The body" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**parts**( \[\<'ALL'\|'ACTIVE'\|'DELETED'\|'RECURSE'\|$filter\>\] ) Inherited, see "The body" in Mail::Message ### Flags Extends "Flags" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**delete**() Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**deleted**( \[BOOLEAN\] ) Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isDeleted**() Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isModified**() Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**label**($label\|PAIRS) Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**labels**() Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**labelsToStatus**() Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**modified**( \[BOOLEAN\] ) Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**statusToLabels**() Inherited, see "Flags" in Mail::Message ### The whole message as text Extends "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**file**() Inherited, see "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text - $obj-\>**lines**() Inherited, see "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text - $obj-\>**printStructure**( \[$fh\|undef\],\[$indent\] ) Inherited, see "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text - $obj-\>**string**() Inherited, see "The whole message as text" in Mail::Message::Construct::Text ### Internals Extends "Internals" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**clonedFrom**() Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $class-\>**coerce**( \<$body\|$message\>, $multipart, @headers ) Transforms a `$body` or `$message` to a real message part. The `$multipart` refers to the parental body. When a `$body` is specified, extra `@headers` can be supplied as well. Bodies are coerced into message parts by calling **buildFromBody()**. If you specify a `$message` residing in a folder, this message will automatically be cloned. Improves base, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isDelayed**() Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**isTrusted**() Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**readBody**( $parser, $head, \[$bodytype\] ) Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**readFromParser**( $parser, \[$bodytype\] ) Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**readHead**( $parser, \[$class\] ) Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**recursiveRebuildPart**($part, %options) Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message::Construct::Rebuild - $obj-\>**storeBody**($body) Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**takeMessageId**( \[STRING\] ) Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message ### Error handling Extends "Error handling" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**AUTOLOAD**() Inherited, see "METHODS" in Mail::Message::Construct - $obj-\>**notImplemented**() Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter - $any-\>**shortSize**( \[$value\] ) Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Message - $obj-\>**shortString**() Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Message ### Cleanup Extends "Cleanup" in Mail::Message. - $obj-\>**DESTROY**() Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter - $obj-\>**destruct**() Message parts can not be destructed per part: only whole messages can be forcefully freed from memory. Of course, you can **delete()** separate parts, which only sets a flag not to write a part again. Furthermore, you may cosider **rebuild()** to get rit of deleted parts. Improves base, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Message ## DETAILS Extends "DETAILS" in Mail::Message. ## DIAGNOSTICS - Error: Cannot include forward source as $kind. Unknown alternative for the forward(include). Valid choices are `"NO"`, `"INLINE"`, `"ATTACH"`, and `"ENCAPSULATE"`. Cast by `forward()` - Error: No default mailer found to send message. The message **send()** mechanism had not enough information to automatically find a mail transfer agent to sent this message. Specify a mailer explicitly using the `"via"` options. Cast by `send()` - Error: cannot include reply source as $kind. Unknown alternative for the `"include"` option of **reply()**. Valid choices are `"NO"`, `"INLINE"`, and `"ATTACH"`. Cast by `reply()` - Error: cannot read message from a $source. Cast by `read()` - Error: class $package does not implement method $method. Fatal error: the specific `$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. Cast by `notImplemented()` - Error: method bounce requires To, Cc, or Bcc. The message **bounce()** method forwards a received message off to someone else without modification; you must specified it's new destination. If you have the urge not to specify any destination, you probably are looking for **reply()**. When you wish to modify the content, use **forward()**. Cast by `bounce()` - Error: method forwardAttach requires a preamble. Cast by `forwardAttach()` - Error: method forwardEncapsulate requires a preamble. Cast by `forwardEncapsulate()` - Error: method forwardNo requires a To. Cast by `forwardNo()` - Error: method forwardNo requires a body. Cast by `forwardNo()` - Error: no container specified for part. Cast by `new()` - Error: no rebuild rule $name defined. Cast by `rebuild()` - Error: only **build()** Mail::Message's; they are not in a folder yet. You may wish to construct a message to be stored in a some kind of folder, but you need to do that in two steps. First, create a normal Mail::Message, and then add it to the folder. During this **Mail::Box::addMessage()** process, the message will get **coerce()**-d into the right message type, adding storage information and the like. Cast by `build()` - Error: select parts via '$what'? Cast by `parts()` - Warning: skipped unknown key '$key' in build. Cast by `build()` - Error: you cannot destruct message parts, only whole messages. Message parts can not be destructed per part: only whole messages can be forcefully freed from memory. Consider **delete()** or **rebuild()**. Cast by `destruct()` ## SEE ALSO This module is part of Mail-Message version 4.05, built on April 10, 2026. Website: *http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/* ## LICENSE For contributors see file ChangeLog. This software is copyright (c) 2001-2026 by Mark Overmeer. This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.