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55 | <H2><A NAME="SECTION0014220000000000000000"> | |
56 | 12.2.2 Parsing email messages</A> | |
57 | </H2> | |
58 | <A NAME="module-email.Parser"></A> | |
59 | ||
60 | <P> | |
61 | Message object structures can be created in one of two ways: they can be | |
62 | created from whole cloth by instantiating <tt class="class">Message</tt> objects and | |
63 | stringing them together via <tt class="method">attach()</tt> and | |
64 | <tt class="method">set_payload()</tt> calls, or they can be created by parsing a flat text | |
65 | representation of the email message. | |
66 | ||
67 | <P> | |
68 | The <tt class="module">email</tt> package provides a standard parser that understands | |
69 | most email document structures, including MIME documents. You can | |
70 | pass the parser a string or a file object, and the parser will return | |
71 | to you the root <tt class="class">Message</tt> instance of the object structure. For | |
72 | simple, non-MIME messages the payload of this root object will likely | |
73 | be a string containing the text of the message. For MIME | |
74 | messages, the root object will return <code>True</code> from its | |
75 | <tt class="method">is_multipart()</tt> method, and the subparts can be accessed via | |
76 | the <tt class="method">get_payload()</tt> and <tt class="method">walk()</tt> methods. | |
77 | ||
78 | <P> | |
79 | There are actually two parser interfaces available for use, the classic | |
80 | <tt class="class">Parser</tt> API and the incremental <tt class="class">FeedParser</tt> API. The classic | |
81 | <tt class="class">Parser</tt> API is fine if you have the entire text of the message in | |
82 | memory as a string, or if the entire message lives in a file on the file | |
83 | system. <tt class="class">FeedParser</tt> is more appropriate for when you're reading the | |
84 | message from a stream which might block waiting for more input (e.g. reading | |
85 | an email message from a socket). The <tt class="class">FeedParser</tt> can consume and parse | |
86 | the message incrementally, and only returns the root object when you close the | |
87 | parser<A NAME="tex2html101" | |
88 | HREF="#foot56991"><SUP>12.1</SUP></A>. | |
89 | ||
90 | <P> | |
91 | Note that the parser can be extended in limited ways, and of course | |
92 | you can implement your own parser completely from scratch. There is | |
93 | no magical connection between the <tt class="module">email</tt> package's bundled | |
94 | parser and the <tt class="class">Message</tt> class, so your custom parser can create | |
95 | message object trees any way it finds necessary. | |
96 | ||
97 | <P> | |
98 | <BR><HR><H4>Footnotes</H4> | |
99 | <DL> | |
100 | <DT><A NAME="foot56991">... | |
101 | parser</A><A | |
102 | href="module-email.Parser.html#tex2html101"><SUP>12.1</SUP></A></DT> | |
103 | <DD>As of email package version 3.0, introduced in | |
104 | Python 2.4, the classic <tt class="class">Parser</tt> was re-implemented in terms of the | |
105 | <tt class="class">FeedParser</tt>, so the semantics and results are identical between the two | |
106 | parsers. | |
107 | ||
108 | </DD> | |
109 | </DL> | |
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112 | <!--Table of Child-Links--> | |
113 | <A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"><STRONG>Subsections</STRONG></a> | |
114 | ||
115 | <UL CLASS="ChildLinks"> | |
116 | <LI><A href="node583.html">12.2.2.1 FeedParser API</a> | |
117 | <LI><A href="node584.html">12.2.2.2 Parser class API</a> | |
118 | <LI><A href="node585.html">12.2.2.3 Additional notes</a> | |
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157 | <span class="release-info">Release 2.4.2, documentation updated on 28 September 2005.</span> | |
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