README

A pure PHP MIME parser for parsing raw email files (.eml) with full support for multipart messages, nested structures, and RFC 2046 compliance.

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Features

• ✅ Pure PHP - No external dependencies required
• ✅ RFC 2046 Compliant - Proper handling of multipart messages with boundaries, preamble, and epilogue
• ✅ Nested Structures - Supports deeply nested multipart messages and message/rfc822 types
• ✅ Header Parsing - Handles folded headers, continuation lines, and header attributes
• ✅ Attachment Detection - Automatically identifies attachments via Content-Disposition header
• ✅ Multiple Input Types - Accepts file paths, arrays, or iterators
• ✅ Immutable Objects - Thread-safe design with immutable message parts
• ✅ PHP 8.2+ - Modern PHP with strict types and latest language features

Requirements

• PHP 8.2 or higher

Installation

composer require vaibhavpandeyvpz/phemail

Basic Usage

Parsing a Simple Email

<?php

use Phemail\MessageParser;

$parser = new MessageParser();
$message = $parser->parse('path/to/email.eml');

// Get header values
echo $message->getHeaderValue('subject'); // "Testing simple email"
echo $message->getHeaderValue('from'); // "sender@example.com"
echo $message->getHeaderValue('date'); // "Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:04:59 +1100"

// Get header attributes
echo $message->getHeaderAttribute('content-type', 'charset'); // "US-ASCII"

// Get message content
echo $message->getContents();

Parsing from Different Sources

// From file path
$message = $parser->parse('/path/to/email.eml');

// From array of lines
$lines = file('email.eml', FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES);
$message = $parser->parse($lines);

// From iterator
$iterator = new \ArrayIterator($lines);
$message = $parser->parse($iterator);

Advanced Usage

Working with Multipart Messages

$message = $parser->parse('multipart.eml');

// Check if message is multipart
if ($message->isMultiPart()) {
 echo "Content-Type: " . $message->getContentType(); // "multipart/mixed"

 // Get all parts
 $parts = $message->getParts();
 foreach ($parts as $part) {
 echo "Part: " . $part->getContentType() . "\n";
 echo "Content: " . $part->getContents() . "\n";
 }
}

Extracting Attachments

$message = $parser->parse('email-with-attachments.eml');

// Get all attachments (non-recursive)
$attachments = $message->getAttachments();
foreach ($attachments as $attachment) {
 echo "Filename: " . $attachment->getHeaderAttribute('content-disposition', 'filename') . "\n";
 echo "Content-Type: " . $attachment->getContentType() . "\n";
 echo "Size: " . strlen($attachment->getContents()) . " bytes\n";
}

// Get all attachments recursively (including nested)
$allAttachments = $message->getAttachments(true);

Working with Nested Messages

$message = $parser->parse('nested-message.eml');

// Check if a part is a nested message
$parts = $message->getParts();
foreach ($parts as $part) {
 if ($part->isMessage()) {
 // This is a message/rfc822 part
 $nestedMessage = $part->getParts()[0];
 echo "Nested Subject: " . $nestedMessage->getHeaderValue('subject') . "\n";
 }
}

Accessing Header Attributes

$message = $parser->parse('email.eml');

// Get a header object
$contentType = $message->getHeader('content-type');

// Get header value
echo $contentType->getValue(); // "text/plain; charset=UTF-8"

// Get all attributes
$attributes = $contentType->getAttributes();
// ['charset' => 'UTF-8', 'format' => 'flowed']

// Get specific attribute
echo $contentType->getAttribute('charset'); // "UTF-8"

Recursive Part Traversal

$message = $parser->parse('complex-nested.eml');

// Get all parts recursively (including nested parts)
$allParts = $message->getParts(true);

// Get all attachments recursively (including from nested messages)
$allAttachments = $message->getAttachments(true);

API Reference

MessageParser

Methods

• parse(string|array|\Iterator $payload, bool $withSubMessage = true): MessagePartInterface
  • Parses an email from file path, array of lines, or iterator
  • $withSubMessage: Whether to parse nested message/rfc822 parts recursively

MessagePartInterface

Header Methods

• getHeaders(): array<string, HeaderInterface> - Get all headers
• getHeader(string $name): ?HeaderInterface - Get a specific header (case-insensitive)
• getHeaderValue(string $name, ?string $default = null): ?string - Get header value
• getHeaderAttribute(string $header, string $attr, ?string $default = null): ?string - Get header attribute

Content Type Methods

• getContentType(): string - Get Content-Type (defaults to "text/plain")
• isMultiPart(): bool - Check if multipart message
• isMessage(): bool - Check if message/rfc822 type
• isText(): bool - Check if text/* content type

Content Methods

• getContents(): string - Get message body content (preamble for multipart)

Parts and Attachments

• getParts(bool $recursive = false): array<MessagePartInterface> - Get nested parts
• getAttachments(bool $recursive = false): array<MessagePartInterface> - Get attachments

HeaderInterface

• getValue(): ?string - Get header value
• getAttributes(): array<string, string> - Get all attributes
• getAttribute(string $name): ?string - Get specific attribute

Examples

Example 1: Simple Text Email

$parser = new MessageParser();
$message = $parser->parse('simple-email.eml');

echo "Subject: " . $message->getHeaderValue('subject') . "\n";
echo "From: " . $message->getHeaderValue('from') . "\n";
echo "Body: " . $message->getContents() . "\n";

Example 2: Multipart with Attachments

$parser = new MessageParser();
$message = $parser->parse('email-with-attachments.eml');

// Get text parts
$parts = $message->getParts();
foreach ($parts as $part) {
 if ($part->isText()) {
 echo "Text part: " . $part->getContents() . "\n";
 }
}

// Get attachments
$attachments = $message->getAttachments();
foreach ($attachments as $attachment) {
 $filename = $attachment->getHeaderAttribute('content-disposition', 'filename');
 file_put_contents($filename, $attachment->getContents());
}

Example 3: Complex Nested Structure

$parser = new MessageParser();
$message = $parser->parse('complex-nested.eml');

// Traverse all parts recursively
function processPart($part, $level = 0) {
 $indent = str_repeat('', $level);
 echo $indent . "Type: " . $part->getContentType() . "\n";

 if ($part->isMultiPart()) {
 foreach ($part->getParts() as $subPart) {
 processPart($subPart, $level + 1);
 }
 }
}

processPart($message);

Supported Email Formats

• Plain text emails
• Multipart/mixed
• Multipart/alternative
• Multipart/related
• Multipart/signed
• Message/rfc822 (nested messages)
• Headers with folded lines
• Headers with attributes (charset, boundary, filename, etc.)
• Attachments with Content-Disposition

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Project Home

https://github.com/vaibhavpandeyvpz/phemail