[Tutor] email & imaplib for beginners like me

[Riumu Kuraku]

Hi all, 

(This started off as a plea for help.)

Just tryng to understand the email package, and the docs are a
little... sparse? Maybe it's more I'm having trouble with OOP.

Anyway, here's a sequence I've learnt from frustrating trial and
error, I'm trying to log on to a mail server, and download a message,
and make it readable.

I thought I'd send it through in case anyone else gets stuck like me.
I'm doing it manually so I can understand how it works before I script it.

I'm having trouble with some stuff like -

a=test.fetch(1, 'RFC822' )... The first argument of fetch is fine.
It's the second that's got me. It's a name of a Internet standard. And
I used it on three different emails, and it got two headers, and one
header and full text. So I am quite confused as to how exactly to get
specific things, like headers/text/attachments only, so any light that
can be shed in that regard would be fantastic.

>>>import imaplib                        # IMAP protocol library
>>>import email.Parser                # email parser library

>>>host="mail... ...com"              # IMAP server name
>>>use="<username>"                # Your login
>>>pas="<password>"                 # Your (plain text) password

>>>test=imaplib.IMAP4(host)        # Create instance of imap protocol connection

>>>test.login(use, pas)                  # Send login and password to server
('OK', ['LOGIN Welcome'])               # Server likes it

>>>test.select()                              # Selects INBOX by
default. Good enough for me...
('OK', ['3'])                                       # I have 3 email messages

>>>x=test.fetch(3,'RFC822')             #Try and get message 3...    

>>> print x
('OK', [('3 (FLAGS (\\Seen hasnoatt) RFC822 {1200}', 'Return-Path:
<cyresse at gmail.com>\r\nReceived: from ....
   ......<cyresse at gmail.com>\r\nReply-To: cyresse at gmail.com,
cynos at safe-mail.net\r\nTo: protocol_test at allmail.net\r\nSubject:
Boo\r\nMime-Version: 1.0\r\nContent-Type: text/plain;
charset=US-ASCII\r\nContent-Transfer-Encoding:
7bit\r\n\r\nWhios\r\n'), ')'])

..Looks vaguely emailish to me (bit chopped out for brevity)

>>>j=Parser            #I want to parse what I downloaded using Parser
>>>print j.parse(x)

TypeError: unbound method parse() must be called with Parser instance
as first argument (got tuple instance instead)

#What does that mean?

.....45 minutes later... oh....

>>>j=Parser()     # REALLY IMPORTANT to include the (), I was running
around in circles
                         # for a looooong time trying to figure that out. 

>>>print j.parse(x)                  
AttributeError: 'tuple' object has no attribute 'readline'

#OK, so x is a tuple, and it has no attr, readline...hmmm...
#Run off to docs, and open parser.py to have a look and:
                                        
>>>print j.parsestr(x)   #Turns out, Parser.parse() is for file
objects... Parser.parsestr()
                                  # is for string objects, as I am
about to learn.

TypeError: expected read buffer, tuple found 

#Still not liking tuple. Hmmm...

>>>i=str(x)
>>>print j.parsestr(i)

>From nobody Thu Oct 14 21:10:42 2004
('OK', [('3 (FLAGS (\\Seen hasnoatt) RFC822 {1200}', 'Return-Path:
<cyresse at gmail.com>\r\nReceived: from ....
	.
	.....Reply-To: cyresse at gmail.com,
	cynos at safe-mail.net\r\nTo:
	protocol_test at allmail.net\r\nSubject: Boo\r\nMime-Version:
	1.0\r\nContent-Type: text/plain;
	charset=US-ASCII\r\nContent-Trarnsfer-Encoding: 7bit\r\n\r\nWhios\r\n'),
	')'])

Huzzah! A header, that is easy to read! (Once again, snipped for brevity.)

Now, to reliably be able to get a whole email... I could write my own client : )