\section{\module{mimetools} ---         Tools for parsing MIME messages} \declaremodule{standard}{mimetools}\modulesynopsis{Tools for parsing MIME-style message bodies.} \deprecated{2.3}{The \refmodule{email} package should be used in                 preference to the \module{mimetools} module.  This                 module is present only to maintain backward                 compatibility.} This module defines a subclass of the\refmodule{rfc822}\refstmodindex{rfc822} module's\class{Message} class and a number of utility functions that areuseful for the manipulation for MIME multipart or encoded message. It defines the following items: \begin{classdesc}{Message}{fp\optional{, seekable}}Return a new instance of the \class{Message} class.  This is asubclass of the \class{rfc822.Message} class, with some additionalmethods (see below).  The \var{seekable} argument has the same meaningas for \class{rfc822.Message}.\end{classdesc} \begin{funcdesc}{choose_boundary}{}Return a unique string that has a high likelihood of being usable as apart boundary.  The string has the form\code{'\var{hostipaddr}.\var{uid}.\var{pid}.\var{timestamp}.\var{random}'}.\end{funcdesc} \begin{funcdesc}{decode}{input, output, encoding}Read data encoded using the allowed MIME \var{encoding} from open fileobject \var{input} and write the decoded data to open file object\var{output}.  Valid values for \var{encoding} include\code{'base64'}, \code{'quoted-printable'}, \code{'uuencode'},\code{'x-uuencode'}, \code{'uue'}, \code{'x-uue'}, \code{'7bit'}, and \code{'8bit'}.  Decoding messages encoded in \code{'7bit'} or \code{'8bit'}has no effect.  The input is simply copied to the output.\end{funcdesc} \begin{funcdesc}{encode}{input, output, encoding}Read data from open file object \var{input} and write it encoded usingthe allowed MIME \var{encoding} to open file object \var{output}.Valid values for \var{encoding} are the same as for \method{decode()}.\end{funcdesc} \begin{funcdesc}{copyliteral}{input, output}Read lines from open file \var{input} until \EOF{} and write them toopen file \var{output}.\end{funcdesc} \begin{funcdesc}{copybinary}{input, output}Read blocks until \EOF{} from open file \var{input} and write them toopen file \var{output}.  The block size is currently fixed at 8192.\end{funcdesc}  \begin{seealso}  \seemodule{email}{Comprehensive email handling package; supersedes                    the \module{mimetools} module.}  \seemodule{rfc822}{Provides the base class for                     \class{mimetools.Message}.}  \seemodule{multifile}{Support for reading files which contain                        distinct parts, such as MIME data.}  \seeurl{http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/mail/mime-faq/.html}{          The MIME Frequently Asked Questions document.  For an          overview of MIME, see the answer to question 1.1 in Part 1          of this document.}\end{seealso}  \subsection{Additional Methods of Message Objects            \label{mimetools-message-objects}} The \class{Message} class defines the following methods inaddition to the \class{rfc822.Message} methods: \begin{methoddesc}{getplist}{}Return the parameter list of the \mailheader{Content-Type} header.This is a list of strings.  For parameters of the form\samp{\var{key}=\var{value}}, \var{key} is converted to lower case but\var{value} is not.  For example, if the message contains the header\samp{Content-type: text/html; spam=1; Spam=2; Spam} then\method{getplist()} will return the Python list \code{['spam=1','spam=2', 'Spam']}.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{getparam}{name}Return the \var{value} of the first parameter (as returned by\method{getplist()}) of the form \samp{\var{name}=\var{value}} for thegiven \var{name}.  If \var{value} is surrounded by quotes of the form`\code{<}...\code{>}' or `\code{"}...\code{"}', these are removed.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{getencoding}{}Return the encoding specified in the\mailheader{Content-Transfer-Encoding} message header.  If no suchheader exists, return \code{'7bit'}.  The encoding is converted tolower case.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{gettype}{}Return the message type (of the form \samp{\var{type}/\var{subtype}})as specified in the \mailheader{Content-Type} header.  If no suchheader exists, return \code{'text/plain'}.  The type is converted tolower case.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{getmaintype}{}Return the main type as specified in the \mailheader{Content-Type}header.  If no such header exists, return \code{'text'}.  The maintype is converted to lower case.\end{methoddesc} \begin{methoddesc}{getsubtype}{}Return the subtype as specified in the \mailheader{Content-Type}header.  If no such header exists, return \code{'plain'}.  The subtypeis converted to lower case.\end{methoddesc}