Mail::Message::Field::Address(3)

NAME
Mail::Message::Field::Address - One e-mail address

INHERITANCE
 Mail::Message::Field::Address
   is a Mail::Identity
   is a User::Identity::Item

SYNOPSIS
  my $addr = Mail::Message::Field::Address->new(...);

  my $ui   = User::Identity->new(...);
  my $addr = Mail::Message::Field::Address->coerce($ui);

  my $mi   = Mail::Identity->new(...);
  my $addr = Mail::Message::Field::Address->coerce($mi);

  print $addr->address;
  print $addr->fullName;   # possibly unicode!
  print $addr->domain;

DESCRIPTION
Many header fields can contain e-mail addresses. Each e-mail address can be represented by an object of this class. These objects will handle interpretation and character set encoding and decoding for you.

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in Mail::Identity.

OVERLOADED

overload: '""' stringification
    When the object is used in string context, it will return the encoded representation of the e-mail address, just like string() does.

overload: 'bool' use as boolean
    The object used as boolean will always return "true"

overload: 'cmp' string comparison
    Two address objects are the same when their email addresses are the same.

METHODS
Extends "METHODS" in Mail::Identity.

  Constructors
Extends "Constructors" in Mail::Identity.

$obj->coerce( <STRING|$object>, %options )
    Try to coerce the $object into a "Mail::Message::Field::Address". In case of a "STRING", it is interpreted as an email address.

    The %options are passed to the object creation, and overrule the values found in the $object. The result may be "undef" or a newly created object. If the $object is already of the correct type, it is returned unmodified.

    The $object may currently be a Mail::Address, a Mail::Identity, or a User::Identity. In case of the latter, one of the user's addresses is chosen at random.

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

$obj->parse(STRING)
    Parse the string for an address. You never know whether one or more addresses are specified on a line (often applications are wrong), therefore, the "STRING" is first parsed for as many addresses as possible and then the one is taken at random.

  Attributes
Extends "Attributes" in Mail::Identity.

$obj->address()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

$obj->charset()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

$obj->comment( [STRING] )
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

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

$obj->domain()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

$obj->language()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

$obj->location()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

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

$obj->organization()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

$obj->phrase()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

$obj->username()
    Inherited, see "Attributes" in Mail::Identity

  Collections
Extends "Collections" in Mail::Identity.

$obj->add($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 Mail::Identity.

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

  Accessors

$obj->encoding()
    Character-set encoding, like 'q' and 'b', to be used when non-ascii characters are to be transmitted.

  Access to the content

$obj->string()
    Returns an RFC compliant e-mail address, which will have character set encoding if needed. The objects are also overloaded to call this method in string context.

    » example:

      print $address->string;
      print $address;          # via overloading

DIAGNOSTICS

Error: cannot coerce a $type into a $class
    When addresses are specified to be included in header fields, they may be coerced into Mail::Message::Field::Address objects first. What you specify is not accepted as address specification. This may be an internal error. Cast by coerce()

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

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

SEE ALSO
This module is part of Mail-Message version 4.05, built on April 10, 2026. Website: http://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/

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.