NAME Convert::TNEF - Perl module to read TNEF files INSTALL The usual: perl Makefile.PL make make test make install SYNOPSIS use Convert::TNEF; $tnef = Convert::TNEF->read($iohandle, \%parms) or die Convert::TNEF::errstr; $tnef = Convert::TNEF->read_in($filename, \%parms) or die Convert::TNEF::errstr; $tnef = Convert::TNEF->read_ent($mime_entity, \%parms) or die Convert::TNEF::errstr; $tnef->purge; $message = $tnef->message; @attachments = $tnef->attachments; $attribute_value = $attachments[$i]->data($att_attribute_name); $attribute_value_size = $attachments[$i]->size($att_attribute_name); $attachment_name = $attachments[$i]->name; $long_attachment_name = $attachments[$i]->longname; $datahandle = $attachments[$i]->datahandle($att_attribute_name); DESCRIPTION TNEF stands for Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format, and if you've ever been unfortunate enough to receive one of these files as an email attachment, you may want to use this module. read() takes as its first argument any file handle open for reading. The optional second argument is a hash reference which contains one or more of the following keys: output_dir - Path for storing TNEF attribute data kept in files (default: current directory). output_prefix - File prefix for TNEF attribute data kept in files (default: 'tnef'). output_to_core - TNEF attribute data will be saved in core memory unless it is greater than this many bytes (default: 4096). May also be set to 'NONE' to keep all data in files, or 'ALL' to keep all data in core. buffer_size - Buffer size for reading in the TNEF file (default: 1024). debug - If true, outputs all sorts of info about what the read() function is reading, including the raw ascii data along with the data converted to hex (default: false). display_after_err - If debug is true and an error is encountered, reads and displays this many bytes of data following the error (default: 32). debug_max_display - If debug is true then read and display at most this many bytes of data for each TNEF attribute (default: 1024). debug_max_line_size - If debug is true then at most this many bytes of data will be displayed on each line for each TNEF attribute (default: 64). ignore_checksum - If true, will ignore checksum errors while parsing data (default: false). read() returns an object containing the TNEF 'attributes' read from the file and the data for those attributes. If all you want are the attachments, then this is mostly garbage, but if you're interested then you can see all the garbage by turning on debugging. If the garbage proves useful to you, then let me know how I can maybe make it more useful. If an error is encountered, an undefined value is returned and the package variable $errstr is set to some helpful message. read_in() is a convienient front end for read() which takes a filename instead of a handle. read_ent() is another convient front end for read() which can take a MIME::Entity object (or any object with like methods, specifically open("r"), read($buff,$num_bytes), and close ). purge() deletes any on-disk data that may be in the attachments of the TNEF object. message() returns the message portion of the tnef object, if any. The thing it returns is like an attachment, but its not an attachment. For instance, it more than likely does not have a name or any attachment data. attachments() returns a list of the attachments that the given TNEF object contains. data() takes a TNEF attribute name, and returns a string value for that attribute for that attachment. Its your own problem if the string is too big for memory. If no argument is given, then the 'AttachData' attribute is assumed, which is probably the data you're looking for. name() is the same as data(), except the attribute 'AttachTitle' is assumed, which returns the 8 character + 3 character extension name of the attachment. longname() returns the long filename and extension of an attachment. This is embedded in the 'Attachment' attribute data, so we attempt to extract the name out of that. size() takes an TNEF attribute name, and returns the size in bytes for the data for that attachment attribute. datahandle() is a method for attachments which takes a TNEF attribute name, and returns the data for that attribute as an object which is the same as a MIME::Body object. See MIME::Body for all the applicable methods. If no argument is given, then 'AttachData' is assumed. SEE ALSO perl(1), IO::Wrap(3), MIME::Parser(3), MIME::Entity(3), MIME::Body(3) CAVEATS The parsing may depend on the endianness (see perlport) and width of integers on the system where the TNEF file was created. If this proves to be the case (check the debug output), I'll see what I can do about it. AUTHOR Douglas Wilson, dwilson@gtemail.net