mime parser multiple emails

jjoerg has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Dear Monks,

I know there is something very basic that your deep knowledge and wisdom will see immediately. I am a broken and imperfect vessel and cannot see. Please help me.

I get many emails with attachments to a user account that need automated extracting on a regular basis. They come in at irregular times, and the mail gets checked 1x/month or so. I have not used MIME::Parser before, and wrote the following:

use MIME::Parser;


$mailfile = "$mailspool/[username]";

  $parser = new MIME::Parser;
  $head = new MIME::Head;

open(IN, "$mailfile");
$parser->output_under("$basedir/INCOMING");
$entity = $parser->parse(\*IN);
[download]

This works nicely, but only for the first message in the mailbox. The attachments of that message get saved and the program exits. How do I keep it going through all the messages in the mail spool?

I thank you for your kind assistance.

Comment on mime parser multiple emails Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: mime parser multiple emails by roboticus (Chancellor) on Mar 27, 2019 at 18:06 UTC
jjoerg: That's because you're expecting a bit too much from MIME::Parser--it wants a thing with MIME in it, and you're passing it an entire mailbox. Try using a module to parse the mailbox into individual messages (such as Mail::Box or similar). Then you can examine the EMail to see if you've processed it or not. For the ones you haven't, call the MIME::Parser to do your extractions. ...roboticus When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.	[reply]
Re: mime parser multiple emails by thanos1983 (Parson) on Mar 28, 2019 at 08:34 UTC
Hello jjoerg, Welcome to the Monastery. Fellow Monk roboticus already answered your question but I wanted to add something small in case that can help you move with your task and possibly get more information on the process. There is a really nice "Tutorial" and sample of code on the Monastery, have you read this Parsing emails with attachments? From my point of view this all you need to get you going :). ~~If this is not enough why not use another module as well Email::Simple?~~ Update: Removing wrong recommendation of module. Thanks to fellow Monk parv for noticing. Hope this helps, BR. Seeking for Perl wisdom...on the process of learning...not there...yet!	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: mime parser multiple emails by parv (Parson) on Mar 28, 2019 at 08:46 UTC
I do not see how Email::Simple would help OP as it (a) works with a single message and (b) gives headers & body; does not have the capability to extract an attachment.	[reply]
Re^3: mime parser multiple emails by thanos1983 (Parson) on Mar 28, 2019 at 09:12 UTC
Hello parv, You are right, I skipped checking further if Email::Simple can parse the attachment. Thanks for pointing out :). BR / Thanos Seeking for Perl wisdom...on the process of learning...not there...yet!	[reply] [d/l] [select]