Provided by: libmail-box-perl_3.012-1_all 
NAME
Mail::Message::Dummy - a placeholder for a missing messages
INHERITANCE
Mail::Message::Dummy
is a Mail::Message
is a Mail::Reporter
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
Dummy messages are used by modules which maintain ordered lists of messages, usually based on message-id.
A good example is Mail::Box::Thread::Manager, which detects related messages by scanning the known
message headers for references to other messages. As long as the referenced messages are not found
inside the mailbox, their place is occupied by a dummy.
Be careful when using modules which may create dummies. Before trying to access the header or body use
isDummy() to check if the message is a dummy message.
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
$class->new($message_id, %options)
Create a new dummy message to occupy the space for a real message with the specified $message_id.
Improves base, see "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter
-Option --Defined in --Default
body Mail::Message <not used>
body_type Mail::Message Mail::Message::Body::Lines
deleted Mail::Message false
field_type Mail::Message <not used>
head Mail::Message <not used>
head_type Mail::Message <not used>
labels Mail::Message +{}
log Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS'
messageId Mail::Message <required>
modified Mail::Message <always false>
trace Mail::Reporter 'WARNINGS'
trusted Mail::Message <always true>
body => $object
body_type => $class
deleted => BOOLEAN
field_type => $class
head => $object
head_type => $class
labels => ARRAY|HASH
log => LEVEL
messageId => $id
modified => BOOLEAN
trace => LEVEL
trusted => BOOLEAN
ยป example:
my $message = Mail::Message::Dummy->new($msgid);
if($message->isDummy) {...}
Attributes
Extends "Attributes" in Mail::Message.
$obj->logSettings()
Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Reporter
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, [$head], $headers)
Inherited, see "Constructing a message" in Mail::Message::Construct::Build
$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|STRING|SCALAR|ARRAY, %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|$address|ARRAY-$of-$things] )
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->messageId()
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
$obj->send( [$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(...)
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
$class->coerce($message, %options)
Inherited, see "Internals" in Mail::Message
$obj->isDelayed()
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
$obj->addReport($object)
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$any->defaultTrace( [$level]|[$loglevel, $tracelevel]|[$level, $callback] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->errors()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$any->log( [$level, [$strings]] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$any->logPriority($level)
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->notImplemented()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->report( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->reportAll( [$level] )
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
$obj->trace( [$level] )
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->warnings()
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
Cleanup
Extends "Cleanup" in Mail::Message.
$obj->DESTROY()
Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter
$obj->destruct()
Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Message
DETAILS
Extends "DETAILS" in Mail::Message.
DIAGNOSTICS
Error: Cannot coerce a $class object into a $class object
Cast by coerce()
Error: Cannot include forward source as $include.
Unknown alternative for the forward(include). Valid choices are "NO", "INLINE", "ATTACH", and
"ENCAPSULATE". Cast by forward()
Error: Cannot include reply source as $include.
Unknown alternative for the "include" option of reply(). Valid choices are "NO", "INLINE", and
"ATTACH". Cast by reply()
Error: Message-Id is required for a dummy.
A dummy message occupies the place for a real message. When a dummy is created, the id of the
message which place it is holding must be known. Cast by new()
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: No address to create forwarded to.
If a forward message is created, a destination address must be specified. 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: 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: Package $package does not implement $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: You cannot take the head/body of a dummy message
Dummy messages are place-holders in message threads: the thread detected the existence of the
message, because it found the message-id in a Reply-To or References field, however it did not find
the header and body of the message yet. Use isDummy() to check whether the thread node returned a
dummy or not. Cast by head()
Error: coercion starts with some object
Cast by coerce()
SEE ALSO
This module is part of Mail-Box version 3.012, built on November 27, 2025. Website:
http://perl.overmeer.net/CPAN/
LICENSE
For contributors see file ChangeLog.
This software is copyright (c) 2001-2025 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.
perl v5.40.1 2025-12-07 Mail::Message::Dummy(3pm)