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Chilkat2-Python

Count the Attached Messages in an Email

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Demonstrates the read-only Chilkat Email.NumAttachedMessages property, which is the number of embedded emails represented by message/rfc822 MIME parts. These are counted separately from ordinary attachments and related items, and their indexes are zero-based. This example builds an inner email, attaches it to an outer email as a nested message, and prints the count.

Background: When you "forward as attachment," many mail clients embed the original message as a complete nested email rather than quoting its text. In MIME this appears as a message/rfc822 part — an entire email (its own headers and body) tucked inside the carrier message. Chilkat distinguishes three kinds of enclosed content: ordinary attachments (NumAttachments), inline related items (NumRelatedItems), and these nested messages (NumAttachedMessages). Use GetAttachedEmail to pull an embedded message into its own Email object.

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Chilkat2-Python
import chilkat2

success = False

# Demonstrates the read-only Email.NumAttachedMessages property, which is the
# number of embedded emails (message/rfc822 MIME parts) contained in the email.

# Create an inner email that we'll attach as a complete nested message.
innerEmail = chilkat2.Email()
innerEmail.Subject = "I am an attached message"
innerEmail.Body = "This entire email is nested inside another email."
innerEmail.From = "alice@example.com"
innerEmail.AddTo("Bob","bob@example.com")

# Create the outer email and attach the inner email directly as a
# message/rfc822 part.  AttachEmail attaches a copy of the inner email.
email = chilkat2.Email()
email.Subject = "Outer email with an attached message"
email.Body = "See the attached email."
success = email.AttachEmail(innerEmail)

print("NumAttachedMessages = " + str(email.NumAttachedMessages))