Write and Read Messages on Thunderbird Storage in Java

Thunderbird is an open-source application that allows you to configure your email accounts and access email messages from them. The application makes it possible to manage emails from multiple accounts in a single place. In certain cases, you may need to create and access email messages in Thunderbird storage programmatically. In accordance with that, this article shows how to write and read messages on Thunderbird storage in Java.

Java API to Write and Read Messages in Thunderbird Storage

To write and read email messages in Thunderbird storage, we will use Aspose.Email for Java. It is an email processing API that lets you manipulate emails and work with popular email clients such as Thunderbird, Outlook, etc. You can either download the API or install it using the following Maven configurations.

Repository:

<repository>
    <id>AsposeJavaAPI</id>
    <name>Aspose Java API</name>
    <url>http://repository.aspose.com/repo/</url>
</repository>

Dependency:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.aspose</groupId>
    <artifactId>aspose-email</artifactId>
    <version>22.3</version>
    <classifier>jdk16</classifier>
</dependency>

Write a Message on Thunderbird Storage in Java

You can create new messages and store them on Thunderbird’s storage within a few steps using Aspose.Email for Java. The following are the steps to perform this operation in Java.

The following code sample shows how to write a message to Thunderbird storage in Java.

// Load file
try (FileOutputStream writeStream = new FileOutputStream("inbox")) {
// Create writer
try (MboxrdStorageWriter writer = new MboxrdStorageWriter(writeStream, false)) {
// Load message from MSG file
MailMessage msg = MailMessage.load("Message.msg");
String[] fromMarker = {null};
// Write message
writer.writeMessage(msg, fromMarker);
}
}
view raw write-message-thunderbird.java hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Read Messages from Thunderbird Storage in Java

To read the messages from Thunderbird storage, we need to load the storage file using MboxrdStorageReader class. The following are the steps to read messages from Thunderbird in Java.

  • First, load the MBOX file into a FileInputStream object.
  • Then, create an instance of MboxrdStorageReader to read the storage file.
  • After that, read first message using MboxrdStorageReader.readNextMessage() method.
  • Then, start a loop to iterate through all the messages.
  • Read each message and save it on disk if required.
  • Finally, dispose of the reader at the end.

The following code sample shows how to read messages from Thunderbird storage in Java.

// Load file
try (FileInputStream stream = new FileInputStream("file.mbox")) {
// Create load options
MboxLoadOptions lo = new MboxLoadOptions();
lo.setLeaveOpen(false);
// Read messages from file
try (MboxrdStorageReader reader = new MboxrdStorageReader(stream, lo)) {
MailMessage msg;
String[] fromMarker = {null};
while ((msg = reader.readNextMessage(/* out */fromMarker)) != null) {
System.out.println(fromMarker[0]);
}
}
}
view raw read-message-thunderbird.java hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Get a Free API License

You can use Aspose.Email for Java without evaluation limitations using a free temporary license.

Conclusion

Using Thunderbird, you can manage email messages from multiple accounts at a single location. In this article, you have learned how to write messages to Thunderbird storage in Java. Also, you have seen how to read messages from Thunderbird storage programmatically. Apart from that, you can visit the documentation to explore other features of Aspose.Email for Java. In case you would have any questions, you can post to our forum.

See Also