path: root/Doc/library/email.message.rst

:mod:`email`: Representing an email message
-------------------------------------------

.. module:: email.message
   :synopsis: The base class representing email messages.


The central class in the :mod:`email` package is the :class:`Message` class,
imported from the :mod:`email.message` module.  It is the base class for the
:mod:`email` object model.  :class:`Message` provides the core functionality for
setting and querying header fields, and for accessing message bodies.

Conceptually, a :class:`Message` object consists of *headers* and *payloads*.
Headers are :rfc:`2822` style field names and values where the field name and
value are separated by a colon.  The colon is not part of either the field name
or the field value.

Headers are stored and returned in case-preserving form but are matched
case-insensitively.  There may also be a single envelope header, also known as
the *Unix-From* header or the ``From_`` header.  The payload is either a string
in the case of simple message objects or a list of :class:`Message` objects for
MIME container documents (e.g. :mimetype:`multipart/\*` and
:mimetype:`message/rfc822`).

:class:`Message` objects provide a mapping style interface for accessing the
message headers, and an explicit interface for accessing both the headers and
the payload.  It provides convenience methods for generating a flat text
representation of the message object tree, for accessing commonly used header
parameters, and for recursively walking over the object tree.

Here are the methods of the :class:`Message` class:


.. class:: Message()

   The constructor takes no arguments.


.. method:: Message.as_string([unixfrom])

   Return the entire message flatten as a string.  When optional *unixfrom* is
   ``True``, the envelope header is included in the returned string.  *unixfrom*
   defaults to ``False``.

   Note that this method is provided as a convenience and may not always format the
   message the way you want.  For example, by default it mangles lines that begin
   with ``From``.  For more flexibility, instantiate a :class:`Generator` instance
   and use its :meth:`flatten` method directly.  For example::

      from cStringIO import StringIO
      from email.generator import Generator
      fp = StringIO()
      g = Generator(fp, mangle_from_=False, maxheaderlen=60)
      g.flatten(msg)
      text = fp.getvalue()


.. method:: Message.__str__()

   Equivalent to ``as_string(unixfrom=True)``.


.. method:: Message.is_multipart()

   Return ``True`` if the message's payload is a list of sub-\ :class:`Message`
   objects, otherwise return ``False``.  When :meth:`is_multipart` returns False,
   the payload should be a string object.


.. method:: Message.set_unixfrom(unixfrom)

   Set the message's envelope header to *unixfrom*, which should be a string.


.. method:: Message.get_unixfrom()

   Return the message's envelope header.  Defaults to ``None`` if the envelope
   header was never set.


.. method:: Message.attach(payload)

   Add the given *payload* to the current payload, which must be ``None`` or a list
   of :class:`Message` objects before the call. After the call, the payload will
   always be a list of :class:`Message` objects.  If you want to set the payload to
   a scalar object (e.g. a string), use :meth:`set_payload` instead.


.. method:: Message.get_payload([i[, decode]])

   Return a reference the current payload, which will be a list of :class:`Message`
   objects when :meth:`is_multipart` is ``True``, or a string when
   :meth:`is_multipart` is ``False``.  If the payload is a list and you mutate the
   list object, you modify the message's payload in place.

   With optional argument *i*, :meth:`get_payload` will return the *i*-th element
   of the payload, counting from zero, if :meth:`is_multipart` is ``True``.  An
   :exc:`IndexError` will be raised if *i* is less than 0 or greater than or equal
   to the number of items in the payload.  If the payload is a string (i.e.
   :meth:`is_multipart` is ``False``) and *i* is given, a :exc:`TypeError` is
   raised.

   Optional *decode* is a flag indicating whether the payload should be decoded or
   not, according to the :mailheader:`Content-Transfer-Encoding` header. When
   ``True`` and the message is not a multipart, the payload will be decoded if this
   header's value is ``quoted-printable`` or ``base64``.  If some other encoding is
   used, or :mailheader:`Content-Transfer-Encoding` header is missing, or if the
   payload has bogus base64 data, the payload is returned as-is (undecoded).  If
   the message is a multipart and the *decode* flag is ``True``, then ``None`` is
   returned.  The default for *decode* is ``False``.


.. method:: Message.set_payload(payload[, charset])

   Set the entire message object's payload to *payload*.  It is the client's
   responsibility to ensure the payload invariants.  Optional *charset* sets the
   message's default character set; see :meth:`set_charset` for details.

   .. versionchanged:: 2.2.2
      *charset* argument added.


.. method:: Message.set_charset(charset)

   Set the character set of the payload to *charset*, which can either be a
   :class:`Charset` instance (see :mod:`email.charset`), a string naming a
   character set, or ``None``.  If it is a string, it will be converted to a
   :class:`Charset` instance.  If *charset* is ``None``, the ``charset`` parameter
   will be removed from the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header. Anything else will
   generate a :exc:`TypeError`.

   The message will be assumed to be of type :mimetype:`text/\*` encoded with
   *charset.input_charset*.  It will be converted to *charset.output_charset* and
   encoded properly, if needed, when generating the plain text representation of
   the message.  MIME headers (:mailheader:`MIME-Version`,
   :mailheader:`Content-Type`, :mailheader:`Content-Transfer-Encoding`) will be
   added as needed.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_charset()

   Return the :class:`Charset` instance associated with the message's payload.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2

The following methods implement a mapping-like interface for accessing the
message's :rfc:`2822` headers.  Note that there are some semantic differences
between these methods and a normal mapping (i.e. dictionary) interface.  For
example, in a dictionary there are no duplicate keys, but here there may be
duplicate message headers.  Also, in dictionaries there is no guaranteed order
to the keys returned by :meth:`keys`, but in a :class:`Message` object, headers
are always returned in the order they appeared in the original message, or were
added to the message later.  Any header deleted and then re-added are always
appended to the end of the header list.

These semantic differences are intentional and are biased toward maximal
convenience.

Note that in all cases, any envelope header present in the message is not
included in the mapping interface.


.. method:: Message.__len__()

   Return the total number of headers, including duplicates.


.. method:: Message.__contains__(name)

   Return true if the message object has a field named *name*. Matching is done
   case-insensitively and *name* should not include the trailing colon.  Used for
   the ``in`` operator, e.g.::

      if 'message-id' in myMessage:
          print 'Message-ID:', myMessage['message-id']


.. method:: Message.__getitem__(name)

   Return the value of the named header field.  *name* should not include the colon
   field separator.  If the header is missing, ``None`` is returned; a
   :exc:`KeyError` is never raised.

   Note that if the named field appears more than once in the message's headers,
   exactly which of those field values will be returned is undefined.  Use the
   :meth:`get_all` method to get the values of all the extant named headers.


.. method:: Message.__setitem__(name, val)

   Add a header to the message with field name *name* and value *val*.  The field
   is appended to the end of the message's existing fields.

   Note that this does *not* overwrite or delete any existing header with the same
   name.  If you want to ensure that the new header is the only one present in the
   message with field name *name*, delete the field first, e.g.::

      del msg['subject']
      msg['subject'] = 'Python roolz!'


.. method:: Message.__delitem__(name)

   Delete all occurrences of the field with name *name* from the message's headers.
   No exception is raised if the named field isn't present in the headers.


.. method:: Message.has_key(name)

   Return true if the message contains a header field named *name*, otherwise
   return false.


.. method:: Message.keys()

   Return a list of all the message's header field names.


.. method:: Message.values()

   Return a list of all the message's field values.


.. method:: Message.items()

   Return a list of 2-tuples containing all the message's field headers and values.


.. method:: Message.get(name[, failobj])

   Return the value of the named header field.  This is identical to
   :meth:`__getitem__` except that optional *failobj* is returned if the named
   header is missing (defaults to ``None``).

Here are some additional useful methods:


.. method:: Message.get_all(name[, failobj])

   Return a list of all the values for the field named *name*. If there are no such
   named headers in the message, *failobj* is returned (defaults to ``None``).


.. method:: Message.add_header(_name, _value, **_params)

   Extended header setting.  This method is similar to :meth:`__setitem__` except
   that additional header parameters can be provided as keyword arguments.  *_name*
   is the header field to add and *_value* is the *primary* value for the header.

   For each item in the keyword argument dictionary *_params*, the key is taken as
   the parameter name, with underscores converted to dashes (since dashes are
   illegal in Python identifiers).  Normally, the parameter will be added as
   ``key="value"`` unless the value is ``None``, in which case only the key will be
   added.

   Here's an example::

      msg.add_header('Content-Disposition', 'attachment', filename='bud.gif')

   This will add a header that looks like ::

      Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="bud.gif"


.. method:: Message.replace_header(_name, _value)

   Replace a header.  Replace the first header found in the message that matches
   *_name*, retaining header order and field name case.  If no matching header was
   found, a :exc:`KeyError` is raised.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_content_type()

   Return the message's content type.  The returned string is coerced to lower case
   of the form :mimetype:`maintype/subtype`.  If there was no
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header in the message the default type as given by
   :meth:`get_default_type` will be returned.  Since according to :rfc:`2045`,
   messages always have a default type, :meth:`get_content_type` will always return
   a value.

   :rfc:`2045` defines a message's default type to be :mimetype:`text/plain` unless
   it appears inside a :mimetype:`multipart/digest` container, in which case it
   would be :mimetype:`message/rfc822`.  If the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header
   has an invalid type specification, :rfc:`2045` mandates that the default type be
   :mimetype:`text/plain`.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_content_maintype()

   Return the message's main content type.  This is the :mimetype:`maintype` part
   of the string returned by :meth:`get_content_type`.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_content_subtype()

   Return the message's sub-content type.  This is the :mimetype:`subtype` part of
   the string returned by :meth:`get_content_type`.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_default_type()

   Return the default content type.  Most messages have a default content type of
   :mimetype:`text/plain`, except for messages that are subparts of
   :mimetype:`multipart/digest` containers.  Such subparts have a default content
   type of :mimetype:`message/rfc822`.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.set_default_type(ctype)

   Set the default content type.  *ctype* should either be :mimetype:`text/plain`
   or :mimetype:`message/rfc822`, although this is not enforced.  The default
   content type is not stored in the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_params([failobj[, header[, unquote]]])

   Return the message's :mailheader:`Content-Type` parameters, as a list.  The
   elements of the returned list are 2-tuples of key/value pairs, as split on the
   ``'='`` sign.  The left hand side of the ``'='`` is the key, while the right
   hand side is the value.  If there is no ``'='`` sign in the parameter the value
   is the empty string, otherwise the value is as described in :meth:`get_param`
   and is unquoted if optional *unquote* is ``True`` (the default).

   Optional *failobj* is the object to return if there is no
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header.  Optional *header* is the header to search
   instead of :mailheader:`Content-Type`.

   .. versionchanged:: 2.2.2
      *unquote* argument added.


.. method:: Message.get_param(param[, failobj[, header[, unquote]]])

   Return the value of the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header's parameter *param* as
   a string.  If the message has no :mailheader:`Content-Type` header or if there
   is no such parameter, then *failobj* is returned (defaults to ``None``).

   Optional *header* if given, specifies the message header to use instead of
   :mailheader:`Content-Type`.

   Parameter keys are always compared case insensitively.  The return value can
   either be a string, or a 3-tuple if the parameter was :rfc:`2231` encoded.  When
   it's a 3-tuple, the elements of the value are of the form ``(CHARSET, LANGUAGE,
   VALUE)``.  Note that both ``CHARSET`` and ``LANGUAGE`` can be ``None``, in which
   case you should consider ``VALUE`` to be encoded in the ``us-ascii`` charset.
   You can usually ignore ``LANGUAGE``.

   If your application doesn't care whether the parameter was encoded as in
   :rfc:`2231`, you can collapse the parameter value by calling
   :func:`email.Utils.collapse_rfc2231_value`, passing in the return value from
   :meth:`get_param`.  This will return a suitably decoded Unicode string whn the
   value is a tuple, or the original string unquoted if it isn't.  For example::

      rawparam = msg.get_param('foo')
      param = email.Utils.collapse_rfc2231_value(rawparam)

   In any case, the parameter value (either the returned string, or the ``VALUE``
   item in the 3-tuple) is always unquoted, unless *unquote* is set to ``False``.

   .. versionchanged:: 2.2.2
      *unquote* argument added, and 3-tuple return value possible.


.. method:: Message.set_param(param, value[, header[, requote[, charset[, language]]]])

   Set a parameter in the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header.  If the parameter
   already exists in the header, its value will be replaced with *value*.  If the
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header as not yet been defined for this message, it
   will be set to :mimetype:`text/plain` and the new parameter value will be
   appended as per :rfc:`2045`.

   Optional *header* specifies an alternative header to :mailheader:`Content-Type`,
   and all parameters will be quoted as necessary unless optional *requote* is
   ``False`` (the default is ``True``).

   If optional *charset* is specified, the parameter will be encoded according to
   :rfc:`2231`. Optional *language* specifies the RFC 2231 language, defaulting to
   the empty string.  Both *charset* and *language* should be strings.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.del_param(param[, header[, requote]])

   Remove the given parameter completely from the :mailheader:`Content-Type`
   header.  The header will be re-written in place without the parameter or its
   value.  All values will be quoted as necessary unless *requote* is ``False``
   (the default is ``True``).  Optional *header* specifies an alternative to
   :mailheader:`Content-Type`.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.set_type(type[, header][, requote])

   Set the main type and subtype for the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header. *type*
   must be a string in the form :mimetype:`maintype/subtype`, otherwise a
   :exc:`ValueError` is raised.

   This method replaces the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header, keeping all the
   parameters in place.  If *requote* is ``False``, this leaves the existing
   header's quoting as is, otherwise the parameters will be quoted (the default).

   An alternative header can be specified in the *header* argument. When the
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header is set a :mailheader:`MIME-Version` header is
   also added.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_filename([failobj])

   Return the value of the ``filename`` parameter of the
   :mailheader:`Content-Disposition` header of the message.  If the header does not
   have a ``filename`` parameter, this method falls back to looking for the
   ``name`` parameter.  If neither is found, or the header is missing, then
   *failobj* is returned.  The returned string will always be unquoted as per
   :meth:`Utils.unquote`.


.. method:: Message.get_boundary([failobj])

   Return the value of the ``boundary`` parameter of the :mailheader:`Content-Type`
   header of the message, or *failobj* if either the header is missing, or has no
   ``boundary`` parameter.  The returned string will always be unquoted as per
   :meth:`Utils.unquote`.


.. method:: Message.set_boundary(boundary)

   Set the ``boundary`` parameter of the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header to
   *boundary*.  :meth:`set_boundary` will always quote *boundary* if necessary.  A
   :exc:`HeaderParseError` is raised if the message object has no
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header.

   Note that using this method is subtly different than deleting the old
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header and adding a new one with the new boundary via
   :meth:`add_header`, because :meth:`set_boundary` preserves the order of the
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header in the list of headers. However, it does *not*
   preserve any continuation lines which may have been present in the original
   :mailheader:`Content-Type` header.


.. method:: Message.get_content_charset([failobj])

   Return the ``charset`` parameter of the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header,
   coerced to lower case.  If there is no :mailheader:`Content-Type` header, or if
   that header has no ``charset`` parameter, *failobj* is returned.

   Note that this method differs from :meth:`get_charset` which returns the
   :class:`Charset` instance for the default encoding of the message body.

   .. versionadded:: 2.2.2


.. method:: Message.get_charsets([failobj])

   Return a list containing the character set names in the message.  If the message
   is a :mimetype:`multipart`, then the list will contain one element for each
   subpart in the payload, otherwise, it will be a list of length 1.

   Each item in the list will be a string which is the value of the ``charset``
   parameter in the :mailheader:`Content-Type` header for the represented subpart.
   However, if the subpart has no :mailheader:`Content-Type` header, no ``charset``
   parameter, or is not of the :mimetype:`text` main MIME type, then that item in
   the returned list will be *failobj*.


.. method:: Message.walk()

   The :meth:`walk` method is an all-purpose generator which can be used to iterate
   over all the parts and subparts of a message object tree, in depth-first
   traversal order.  You will typically use :meth:`walk` as the iterator in a
   ``for`` loop; each iteration returns the next subpart.

   Here's an example that prints the MIME type of every part of a multipart message
   structure::

      >>> for part in msg.walk():
      ...     print part.get_content_type()
      multipart/report
      text/plain
      message/delivery-status
      text/plain
      text/plain
      message/rfc822

.. versionchanged:: 2.5
   The previously deprecated methods :meth:`get_type`, :meth:`get_main_type`, and
   :meth:`get_subtype` were removed.

:class:`Message` objects can also optionally contain two instance attributes,
which can be used when generating the plain text of a MIME message.


.. data:: preamble

   The format of a MIME document allows for some text between the blank line
   following the headers, and the first multipart boundary string. Normally, this
   text is never visible in a MIME-aware mail reader because it falls outside the
   standard MIME armor.  However, when viewing the raw text of the message, or when
   viewing the message in a non-MIME aware reader, this text can become visible.

   The *preamble* attribute contains this leading extra-armor text for MIME
   documents.  When the :class:`Parser` discovers some text after the headers but
   before the first boundary string, it assigns this text to the message's
   *preamble* attribute.  When the :class:`Generator` is writing out the plain text
   representation of a MIME message, and it finds the message has a *preamble*
   attribute, it will write this text in the area between the headers and the first
   boundary.  See :mod:`email.parser` and :mod:`email.generator` for details.

   Note that if the message object has no preamble, the *preamble* attribute will
   be ``None``.


.. data:: epilogue

   The *epilogue* attribute acts the same way as the *preamble* attribute, except
   that it contains text that appears between the last boundary and the end of the
   message.

   .. versionchanged:: 2.5
      You do not need to set the epilogue to the empty string in order for the
      :class:`Generator` to print a newline at the end of the file.


.. data:: defects

   The *defects* attribute contains a list of all the problems found when parsing
   this message.  See :mod:`email.errors` for a detailed description of the
   possible parsing defects.

   .. versionadded:: 2.4