Email As A Datasource
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This document discusses using email as a data source for apps. It provides an overview of common email protocols like SMTP, IMAP, and POP and how apps typically interact with email by sending, receiving, and accessing users' emails. The document also discusses some challenges apps may face when parsing email messages, including identifying messages, accessing attachments, and handling deletions. It promotes IMAP as a protocol for apps to access users' emails and provides examples of complex email message structures with attachments and alternative content types.
![A simple message
Delivered-‐To:
sysadmin@context.io
Return-‐Path:
<2012050639be@bounces.amazon.com>
Received:
by
10.229.135.136
with
SMTP
id
n8mr410292qct.135.1336583200550;
Wed,
09
May
2012
10:06:40
-‐0700
(PDT)
Received:
from
smtp-‐out.amazon.com
(smtp-‐out.amazon.com.
[72.21.212.39])
by
mx.google.com
with
ESMTP
id
b2si1383913qcd.195.2012.05.06.40;
Wed,
09
May
2012
10:06:40
-‐0700
(PDT)
Date:
Wed,
9
May
2012
17:06:39
+0000
(UTC)
From:
Amazon
EC2
Notification
<no-‐reply-‐aws@amazon.com>
To:
"Sys
Admin"
<sys@context.io>
Cc:
"Alerts"
<alerts@context.io>
Message-‐ID:
<urn.correios.msg.2012050639be@1336583199032.us-‐1.amazon.com>
Subject:
Notice:
Amazon
EC2
Instance
scheduled
for
retirement
MIME-‐Version:
1.0
Content-‐Type:
text/plain;
charset=UTF-‐8
Content-‐Transfer-‐Encoding:
7bit
!
Hello,
...](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/emailasdatasource20minpdf-141113123132-conversion-gate02/85/Email-As-A-Datasource-30-320.jpg)
Email As A Datasource
- 1. Email as a datasource for apps Tony Blank tony@context.io @thetonyblank
- 2. “The reports of my death were greatly exaggerated” - Email
- 3. 4.93 .b9 ibllililoionn ibny 2 0210317 183B messages/day 400M tweets/day
- 4. group collaboration task management document collaboration customer support app notification Email is a communications system ! project management client relationship applicant tracking photo sharing bug tracking Nigerian extortion
- 5. Overview of protocols and standards or “which acronym does what”
- 6. SMTP Protocol for transmission of emails across the internet
- 7. IMAP Protocol to allow a client to access and manipulate emails on a receiving server.
- 8. • All messages and their folder organization are on the server • Clients poll to know about new messages that arrive or actions made through other clients • While it doesn’t send messages, clients usually store sent messages through it
- 9. POP Protocol to allow a client to retrieve emails from a receiving server.
- 10. RFC-822 MIME Multipart Standards defining headers and the actual body of the message
- 11. Where does your app fit in there?
- 12. Typical things apps want to do with email 1. Send emails to users 2. Receive emails from users 3. Access emails users send and receive.
- 13. group collaboration task management document collaboration customer support app notification Email is a communications system ! project management client relationship applicant tracking photo sharing bug tracking Nigerian extortion
- 21. Me: “App Developer, meet IMAP. IMAP, meet App Developer.” ! IMAP: “I don’t give a shit about you, App Developer. Go away!”
- 22. Pitfall #1: Identifying messages
- 23. Sequence Number
- 24. Unique Identifier (aka UID)
- 25. Pitfall #2: No data until you select a mailbox
- 27. Pitfall #4: Deleting messages
- 29. The joys of parsing email messages Yo! I fetched a message! Now what do I do?
- 30. A simple message Delivered-‐To: sysadmin@context.io Return-‐Path: <2012050639be@bounces.amazon.com> Received: by 10.229.135.136 with SMTP id n8mr410292qct.135.1336583200550; Wed, 09 May 2012 10:06:40 -‐0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp-‐out.amazon.com (smtp-‐out.amazon.com. [72.21.212.39]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id b2si1383913qcd.195.2012.05.06.40; Wed, 09 May 2012 10:06:40 -‐0700 (PDT) Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 17:06:39 +0000 (UTC) From: Amazon EC2 Notification <no-‐reply-‐aws@amazon.com> To: "Sys Admin" <sys@context.io> Cc: "Alerts" <alerts@context.io> Message-‐ID: <urn.correios.msg.2012050639be@1336583199032.us-‐1.amazon.com> Subject: Notice: Amazon EC2 Instance scheduled for retirement MIME-‐Version: 1.0 Content-‐Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-‐8 Content-‐Transfer-‐Encoding: 7bit ! Hello, ...
- 31. A message with an attachment MIME-‐Version: 1.0 Content-‐Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=_MYBOUNDARY_ ! -‐-‐_MYBOUNDARY_ Content-‐Type: text/plain ! This is the body of the message. -‐-‐_MYBOUNDARY_ Content-‐Type: image/jpeg; name="IMG_713.jpg" Content-‐Disposition: attachment; filename="IMG_713.jpg"; size=6379099; Content-‐Transfer-‐Encoding: base64 ! /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgAAZABkAAD/7AARRHVja3kAAQAEAAAAZA+4AJkFkb2JlAGTAAAAAAQMA AwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMD8IAEQgAegG1AwERAI RAQMRAfEASMAAQACAwEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAHCAUGCQQDAgEKAQEAAgIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB gcFCAEDBAIQAAEEAgEBBgQGAQUAAAAAAAUCAwQGAQcAEjBQERMUFRBgFhcgQHAhNAhBMSIjJD URAAIC== -‐-‐_MYBOUNDARY_-‐-‐
- 32. A message with alternative parts MIME-‐Version: 1.0 Content-‐Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=_MYBOUNDARY_ ! -‐-‐_MYBOUNDARY_ Content-‐Type: text/plain; charset="us-‐ascii" Content-‐Transfer-‐Encoding: quoted-‐printable ! Hello! Here’s a message with *rich* text -‐-‐_MYBOUNDARY_ Content-‐Type: text/html; charset="us-‐ascii" Content-‐Transfer-‐Encoding: quoted-‐printable ! <html><body>Hello! Here’s a message with <b>rich</b> text</body></html> -‐-‐_MYBOUNDARY_-‐-‐
- 33. Pitfall #1: Message-ID is optional
- 34. Pitfall #2: In-Reply-To References
- 35. Pitfall #3: Attachments are what you decide them to be
- 38. contacts messages files threads webhooks
- 39. Email as a datasource for apps Tony Blank tony@context.io @thetonyblank