Extracting email attachments from .msg files in ColdFusion

Question

Hello,I am building a system where intranet users are allowed to drag and drop files into a div on our site, which after some validation will then automatically upload them to a file server. One of my requirements is: when the file which was uploaded is a .msg file (Outlook Email), extract any files which are attachments to that email and upload them individually. I cannot find an existing solution to accomplish this online.The closest thing I found is this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16473421/coldfusion-extract-information-from-a-msg-file which is fantastic, as it includes everything I need except how to extract the attachments. I believe it is possible with the correct usage of the org.apache.poi.hsmf.MAPIMessage object. With the following code I am able to see each attachment object, and it's filename and extension. I just can't figure out how to save each object to the file system. Any help is GREATLY appreciated!! MAPIMessage = createObject("java", "org.apache.poi.hsmf.MAPIMessage"); message = MAPIMessage.init('C:\Test\Test Email 1 Attachment.msg'); local.msgStruct = {}; local.msgStruct.from = message.getDisplayFrom(); local.msgStruct.to = message.getDisplayTo(); attachments = message.getAttachmentFiles(); if(arrayLen(attachments) > 0) { for (i=1; i LTE arrayLen(attachments); i++) { writeDump( attachments ); attachmentFileName = attachments.attachLongFileName.toString(); attachmentExtension = attachments.attachExtension.toString(); writeDump( attachmentFileName ); writeDump( attachmentExtension ); }}

DanJCard · Accepted Answer

You're 95% there.

When you dump out message.getAttachmentFiles() you'll seean array of org.apache.poi.hsmf.datatypes.AttachmentChunks. Each of these has a method called getEmbeddedAttachmentObject(). This is the entire binary of the file. You can then write that to a file using FileWrite.

Here's your array loop:

attachments = message.getAttachmentFiles();

if(arrayLen(attachments) > 0) {

for (i=1; i LTE arrayLen(attachments); i++) {

writeDump( attachments );

local.data=attachments.getEmbeddedAttachmentObject();

writeDump( local.data );

attachmentFileName = attachments.attachLongFileName.toString();

attachmentExtension = attachments.attachExtension.toString();

FileWrite("#expandPath('/')##attachments.attachLongFileName.toString()#", local.data);

writeDump( attachmentFileName );

writeDump( attachmentExtension );

}

The difficulty you're going to run into is actually not with the attachments but with the message itself. In an MSG file, the message is stored in either HTML, RTF, or text. Notice I said, "either" not "AND". If it's in HTML you're golden and can just display it. If it's stored in text you lose your formatting but have the words. If it's in RTF, you need to find (or build) and RTF parser and I wasn't able to find a good one last year when I was looking. Incidently, would love anyone's recommendations.

Let me know how it goes.

James Moberg · Answer

Hey @Alice35967071qacc How is this supposed to work with ColdFusion?

" Softaken MSG Attachment Extractor Tool" appears to be a human-driven, GUI-only solution. A developed would have to hire someone around the clock to transfer MSG/EML files to a local directory and then use this program to click the buttons and generate the desired exports. (Seems like a lot of work.) There doesn't seem to be any directory/file watcher services or CLI functionality. Please advise.

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