Mail::Box::Identity(3)

NAME
Mail::Box::Identity - represents an unopened folder

INHERITANCE
 Mail::Box::Identity
   is a User::Identity::Item

 Mail::Box::Identity
   is a Mail::Reporter

SYNOPSIS
  use User::Identity;
  use Mail::Box::Identity;
  my $me   = User::Identity->new(...);

  my $mailbox = Mail::Box::Identity->new(...);
  $me->add(folders => $mailbox);

  # Simpler

  use User::Identity;
  my $me   = User::Identity->new(...);
  my $addr = $me->add(folders => ...);

DESCRIPTION
The "Mail::Box::Identity" object contains the description of a single mailbox. The mailboxes are collected by an Mail::Box::Collection object. This corresponds with IMAP's "\NoSelect", for instance.

Nearly all methods can return "undef".

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in User::Identity::Item.

METHODS
Extends "METHODS" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "METHODS" in User::Identity::Item.

  Constructors
Extends "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "Constructors" in User::Identity::Item.

$class->new( [$name], %options )
    Inherited, see "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter

     -Option     --Defined in          --Default
      deleted                            <C<false>>
      description  User::Identity::Item  undef
      folder_type                        from parent
      inferiors                          1
      location                           undef
      manager                            <from parent>
      marked                             undef
      name         User::Identity::Item  <required>
      only_subs                          <foldertype and name dependent>
      parent       User::Identity::Item  undef
      subf_type                          <same as parent>

    deleted => BOOLEAN
        The folder is flagged for deletion. This not have any implications yet, because it may still get undeleted.

    description => STRING
    folder_type => CLASS
    inferiors => BOOLEAN
        Can this folder have children? If not, this is cleared.

    location => $directory|$file
        The location of this folder. Often, only the manager can figure-out where this folder really is.

    manager => $object
        Any Mail::Box::Manager or Mail::Box::Manage::User $object.

    marked => 0|1|undef
        Whether the folder is flagged for some reason, for instance because new messages have arrived.

    name => STRING
    only_subs => BOOLEAN
        Some folder types can have messages in their toplevel folder, other cannot. That determines the default. See Mail::Box::topFolderWithMessages()

    parent => OBJECT
    subf_type => $class
        The type for a subfolder collection, must extend class Mail::Box::Collection.

  Attributes
Extends "Attributes" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item.

$obj->deleted( [BOOLEAN] )

$obj->description()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item

$obj->folderType()
    Returns the type of this folder.

$obj->fullname( [$delimeter] )
    Returns the name of the folder, from the toplevel until this one, with the $delimeter string between each level. $delimeter default to a forward slash (a "/").

$obj->inferiors( [BOOLEAN] )
    "Inferiors" are "subfolders". When this flag is set, it is permitted to create subfolders.

$obj->location( [$filename|$directory|undef] )
    Returns the directory or filename of the folder. If this is not pre-defined, it is computed based on the knowledge about the folder type. Be sure to set the location of the toplevel folder to the folderdir of the user to get this to work.

$obj->manager()
    Returns the manager (usually a Mail::Box::Manage::User which owns the folders. May be undefined, by default from parent.

$obj->marked( [BOOLEAN|undef] )
    When something special has happened with the folder, this flag can be set (or cleared). The "undef" status is an "unknown". In the IMAP4 protocol, 0 will result in a "\Unmarked", a 1 results in a "\Marked", and "undef" in nothing.

$obj->name( [$newname] )
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item

$obj->onlySubfolders( [BOOLEAN] )
    Than this folder be opened (without trying) or not? The default depends on the folder type, and whether this is the toplevel folder or not. See Mail::Box::topFolderWithMessages()

$obj->topfolder()
    Run up the tree to find the highest level folder.

  Collections
Extends "Collections" in User::Identity::Item.

$obj->add($collection, $role)
    Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

$obj->addCollection( $object | <[$type], %options> )
    Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

$obj->collection($name)
    Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

$obj->parent( [$parent] )
    Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

$obj->removeCollection($object|$name)
    Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

$any->type()
    Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

$obj->user()
    Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

  Searching
Extends "Searching" in User::Identity::Item.

$obj->find($collection, $role)
    Inherited, see "Searching" in User::Identity::Item

  Error handling
Extends "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter.

$obj->AUTOLOAD()
    Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

$obj->notImplemented()
    Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

  Cleanup
Extends "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter.

$obj->DESTROY()
    Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter

  Subfolders

$obj->addSubfolder(Mail::Box::Identity-object|$data)
    Add a new folder into the administration. With $data, a new object will be instantiated first. The identity is returned on success.

$obj->folder( [..., $name] )
    Returns the subfolder's object with $name or "undef" if it does not exist. When multiple NAMEs are added, those super folders are traverst first. Without any $name, the current object is returned

    » example: get some folder

      my $a = $user->folders->folder('b', 'a');

      my $name  = "a:b:c";
      my $delim = ":";
      my $f = $user->folders->folder(split $delim, $name);

$obj->foreach(CODE)
    For each of the subfolders found below this point call "CODE". This current folder is called first. Be warned that you may find identities with the deleted() flag on.

$obj->open(%options)
    Open the folder which is described by this identity. Returned is some Mail::Box. The options are passed to Mail::Box::Manager::open().

$obj->remove( [$name] )
    Remove the folder (plus subfolders) with the $name. Without $name, this "Mail::Box::Identity" itself is removed.

    The removed structure is returned, which is "undef" if not found. This is only an administrative remove, you still need a Mail::Box::Manager::delete().

$obj->rename( $folder, [$newsubname] )
    Move the folder to a different super-$folder, under a NEW SUBfolder NAME.

    » example: renaming a folder

      my $top = $user->topfolder;
      my $new = $top->folder('xyz') or die;
      my $f   = $top->folder('abc', 'def')->rename($new, '123');

      print $f->name;      # 123
      print $f->fullname;  # =/xyz/123

$obj->subfolderNames()
    Convenience method: returns the names of the collected subfolders.

$obj->subfolders()
    Returns the subfolders or "undef" if there are none. This information is lazy evaluated and cached. In LIST context, the folder objects are returned (Mail::Box::Identity objects), in SCALAR context the collection, the Mail::Box::Collection.

DIAGNOSTICS

Error: cannot load collection module for $type ($class): $@
    Either the specified $type does not exist, or that module named $class returns compilation errors. If the type as specified in the warning is not the name of a package, you specified a nickname which was not defined. Maybe you forgot the 'require' the package which defines the nickname. Cast by addCollection()

Error: class $package does not implement method $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: invalid collection $name.
    The collection with $name does not exist and can not be created. Cast by add()

Error: it is not permitted to add subfolders to $folder.
    The inferiors() flag prohibits the creation of subfolders to this folder. Cast by addSubfolder()

Error: the toplevel folder cannot be removed this way
    The Mail::Box::Identity folder administration structure requires a top directory. That top is registered somewhere (for instance by a Mail::Box::Manage::User). If you need to remove the top, you have to look for a method of that object. Cast by remove()

Error: this $object is not a collection.
    Cast by addCollection()

Error: toplevel directory requires explicit folder type.
    Cast by folderType()

Error: toplevel directory requires explicit location.
    Cast by location()

SEE ALSO
This module is part of Mail-Box version 4.02, built on April 10, 2026. Website: http://perl.overmeer.net/CPAN/

LICENSE
For contributors see file ChangeLog.

This software is copyright (c) 2001-2026 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.