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:mod:`MimeWriter` --- Generic MIME file writer
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==============================================
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:synopsis: Write MIME format files.
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.. sectionauthor:: Christopher G. Petrilli <petrilli@amber.org>
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The :mod:`email` package should be used in preference to the :mod:`MimeWriter`
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module. This module is present only to maintain backward compatibility.
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This module defines the class :class:`MimeWriter`. The :class:`MimeWriter`
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class implements a basic formatter for creating MIME multi-part files. It
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doesn't seek around the output file nor does it use large amounts of buffer
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space. You must write the parts out in the order that they should occur in the
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final file. :class:`MimeWriter` does buffer the headers you add, allowing you
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to rearrange their order.
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.. class:: MimeWriter(fp)
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Return a new instance of the :class:`MimeWriter` class. The only argument
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passed, *fp*, is a file object to be used for writing. Note that a
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:class:`~StringIO.StringIO` object could also be used.
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.. _mimewriter-objects:
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:class:`MimeWriter` instances have the following methods:
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.. method:: MimeWriter.addheader(key, value[, prefix])
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Add a header line to the MIME message. The *key* is the name of the header,
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where the *value* obviously provides the value of the header. The optional
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argument *prefix* determines where the header is inserted; ``0`` means append
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at the end, ``1`` is insert at the start. The default is to append.
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.. method:: MimeWriter.flushheaders()
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Causes all headers accumulated so far to be written out (and forgotten). This is
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useful if you don't need a body part at all, e.g. for a subpart of type
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:mimetype:`message/rfc822` that's (mis)used to store some header-like
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.. method:: MimeWriter.startbody(ctype[, plist[, prefix]])
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Returns a file-like object which can be used to write to the body of the
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message. The content-type is set to the provided *ctype*, and the optional
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parameter *plist* provides additional parameters for the content-type
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declaration. *prefix* functions as in :meth:`addheader` except that the default
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is to insert at the start.
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.. method:: MimeWriter.startmultipartbody(subtype[, boundary[, plist[, prefix]]])
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Returns a file-like object which can be used to write to the body of the
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message. Additionally, this method initializes the multi-part code, where
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*subtype* provides the multipart subtype, *boundary* may provide a user-defined
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boundary specification, and *plist* provides optional parameters for the
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subtype. *prefix* functions as in :meth:`startbody`. Subparts should be created
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using :meth:`nextpart`.
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.. method:: MimeWriter.nextpart()
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Returns a new instance of :class:`MimeWriter` which represents an individual
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part in a multipart message. This may be used to write the part as well as
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used for creating recursively complex multipart messages. The message must first
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be initialized with :meth:`startmultipartbody` before using :meth:`nextpart`.
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.. method:: MimeWriter.lastpart()
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This is used to designate the last part of a multipart message, and should
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*always* be used when writing multipart messages.