How to extract only the visible text from an email using EmailReplyParser?

Use the static method EmailReplyParser::parseReply($emailContent) to get a string of visible content in one line. For more control, parse the email into fragments and check isHidden() or isQuoted() to filter as needed.

EmailReplyParser vs PHP-MIME-Mail-Parser: which is better for email parsing?

EmailReplyParser is optimized for separating replies and signatures in plain text emails, ideal for thread extraction. PHP-MIME-Mail-Parser handles full MIME structures and attachments, so choose based on whether you need content separation or comprehensive email decoding.

Does EmailReplyParser work with HTML emails?

No, it only parses plain text email content. For HTML emails, you must convert them to plain text first using another library, which might introduce formatting issues or require extra steps.

How to handle signatures that EmailReplyParser misses?

The library may not detect all signatures; you can post-process fragments by adding custom logic, such as checking for patterns like '--' or using regex examples from the known issues section to clean up content.

What are common issues when using EmailReplyParser with Gmail emails?

Gmail often breaks lines over 80 characters, which can disrupt quoted header detection. You may need to preprocess the email or use provided regex to handle such cases, as noted in the README's known issues.

How to install EmailReplyParser in a Symfony project?

Install via Composer with 'composer require willdurand/email-reply-parser', then use the EmailParser class in your services or controllers, integrating it with Symfony's dependency injection for seamless usage.

Open-Awesome

Email Reply Parser

MITPHP2.10.0

PHP library for parsing plain text email content to extract visible text and separate signatures and quotes.

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650 stars81 forks0 contributors

What is Email Reply Parser?

EmailReplyParser is a PHP library designed to parse plain text email content and extract the visible message body while separating quoted replies, signatures, and other non-essential fragments. It solves the problem of isolating the meaningful content from email threads, which is crucial for applications that need to process or display email communications cleanly.

Target Audience

PHP developers building applications that handle email processing, such as customer support systems, communication platforms, or any software that needs to parse and display email content intelligently.

Value Proposition

Developers choose EmailReplyParser because it provides a reliable, GitHub-inspired solution for email parsing with a simple API, handling the complexities of real-world email formatting while being easy to integrate into PHP projects via Composer.

Overview

PHP library for parsing plain text email content.

Use Cases

Best For

Extracting visible text from email threads in support ticket systems
Parsing email replies in notification or messaging applications
Cleaning up quoted content in email-based comment systems
Separating signatures from email bodies in communication tools
Processing plain text emails in PHP-based CRM platforms
Handling email content in applications that aggregate or display email conversations

Not Ideal For

Projects processing emails in non-English languages, due to reliance on English patterns like 'On ... wrote:' for quoted headers.
Applications that need to parse HTML emails or handle MIME attachments, as it only supports plain text content.
Systems where email clients use highly non-standard quoting or signature formats not covered by the library's detection logic.

Pros & Cons

Pros

GitHub-Proven Logic

Based on GitHub's email_reply_parser library, ensuring battle-tested and reliable parsing for common email formats, as stated in the README.

Simple PHP Integration

Easy installation via Composer with a clean API, offering both object-oriented classes and static helpers for quick parsing, as demonstrated in the usage examples.

Structured Fragment Analysis

Breaks emails into classified fragments (visible, quoted, signature, hidden), providing fine-grained control over content extraction through the Fragment class methods.

Quick Visible Extraction

Includes a static method EmailReplyParser::parseReply() to directly obtain visible text in one line, simplifying common use cases like support ticket systems.

Cons

Language and Format Limitations

Assumes English-centric patterns for quoted headers, making it unreliable for emails in other languages or with client-specific line breaks, as admitted in the known issues section.

Manual Edge Case Handling

Requires custom regex or additional logic to handle weird signatures and strange quoting, increasing maintenance burden for developers dealing with diverse email formats.

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