NAME
   Text::Header - RFC 822/2068 `header' and `unheader' functions

SYNOPSIS
      use Text::Header;     # header and unheader exported

      # Construct headers similar to CGI.pm and HTTP::Headers

      @HEADERS = header(content_type => 'text/html',
                        author => 'Nathan Wiger',
                        last_modified => $date,
                        accept => [qw(text/html text/plain)]);

      # The above produces the array:

      @HEADERS = ("Content-Type: text/html\n",
                  "Author: Nathan Wiger\n",
                  "Last-Modified: Wed Sep 27 13:31:06 PDT 2000\n",
                  "Accept: text/html, text/plain\n");

      # Can also construct SMTP headers to format mail

      @mail_headers = header(from => 'Nathan Wiger <[email protected]>',
                             to => '[email protected]');

      print $MAIL @mail_headers, "\nKeep up the great work!\n";

      # The above would print this to the $MAIL handle:

      From: Nathan Wiger <[email protected]>
      To: [email protected]

      Keep up the great work!

DESCRIPTION
   This module provides two new functions, `header' and `unheader', which
   provide general-purpose RFC 822 header construction and parsing. They do
   not provide any intelligent defaults of HTTP-specific methods. They are
   simply aimed at providing an easy means to address the mechanics of
   header parsing.

   The output style is designed to mimic `CGI.pm' and `HTTP::Headers', so
   that users familiar with these interfaces will feel at home with these
   functions. As shown above, the `headers' function automatically does the
   following:

      1. uc's the first letter of each tag token and lc's the
         rest, also converting _'s to -'s automatically

      2. Adds a colon separating each tag and its value, and
         exactly one newline after each one

      3. Combines list elements into a comma-delimited
         string

   Note that a list is always joined into a comma-delimited string. To
   insert multiple separate headers, simply call `header' with multiple
   args:

      push @out, header(accept => 'text/html',
                        accept => 'text/plain');

   This would create multiple "Accept:" lines.

   Note that unlike `CGI.pm', the `header' function provided here does not
   provide any intelligent defaults. If called as:

       @out_headers = header;

   It will return an empty list. This allows `header' to be more general
   pupose, so it can provide SMTP and other headers as well. You can also
   use it as a generic text formatting tool, hence the reason it's under
   the `Text::' hierarchy.

   The `unheader' function works in exactly the opposite direction from
   `header', pulling apart headers and returning a list. `unheader':

      1. lc's the entire tag name, converting -'s to _'s

      2. Separates each tag based on the colon delimiter,
         chomping newlines.

      3. Returns a list of tag/value pairs for easy assignment
         to a hash

   So, assuming the `@HEADERS' array shown up top:

      %myheaders = unheader(@HEADERS);

   The hash `%myheaders' would have the following values:

      %myheaders = (
          content_type => 'text/html',
          author => 'Nathan Wiger',
          last_modified => 'Wed Sep 27 13:31:06 PDT 2000',
          accept => 'text/html, text/plain'
      );

   Note that all keys are converted to lowercase, and their values have
   their newlines stripped. However, note that comma-separated fields are
   not split up on input. This cannot be done reliably because some fields,
   such as the HTTP `Date:' header, can contain commas even though they are
   not lists. Inferring this type of structure would require knowledge of
   content, and these functions are specifically designed to be
   content-independent.

   The `unheader' function will respect line wrapping, as seen in SMTP
   headers. It will simply join the lines and return the value, so that:

      %mail = unheader("To: Nathan Wiger <[email protected]>,
                                [email protected]");

   Would return:

      $mail{to} = "Nathan Wiger <[email protected]>, [email protected]"

   Notice that multiple spaces between the comma separator have been
   condensed to a single space. Since the `header' and `unheader' functions
   are direct inverses, this call:

      @out = header unheader @in;

   Will result in `@out' being exactly equivalent to `@in'.

REFERENCES
   This is designed as both a Perl 5 module and also a Perl 6 prototype.
   Please see the Perl 6 proposal at http://dev.perl.org/rfc/333.html

   This module is designed to be fully compliant with the internet
   standards RFC 822 (SMTP Headers) and RFC 2068 (HTTP Headers).

AUTHOR
   Copyright (c) 2000 Nathan Wiger <[email protected]>. All Rights Reserved.

   This module is free software; you may copy this under the terms of the
   GNU General Public License, or the Artistic License, copies of which
   should have accompanied your Perl kit.

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