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mail_struct : Minimalist Email Structure for Rust

mail_struct is a lightweight Rust library designed to define a clear and efficient structure for email messages. It provides optional integration with bitcode for efficient encoding/decoding and mail-send for SMTP transmission with domain-based grouping, making it a versatile choice for email handling in Rust applications.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Usage
• Design Philosophy
• Tech Stack
• Directory Structure
• API Documentation
• Historical Context

Features

• Core Structure: Defines Mail and UserMail structs to represent email data.
• Serialization: Optional encode and decode features using bitcode for high-performance binary serialization.
• SMTP Integration: Optional send feature with domain-based recipient grouping for efficient email delivery.
• Type Safety: Leverages Rust's type system to ensure data integrity.

Usage

Add mail_struct to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
mail_struct = { version = "0.1.7", features = ["send", "encode", "decode"] }

Creating and Grouping Emails by Domain

use mail_struct::Mail;

#[cfg(feature = "send")]
async fn example() {
    let mail = Mail {
        sender: "sender@example.com".to_string(),
        to_li: vec![
            "user1@gmail.com".to_string(),
            "user2@yahoo.com".to_string(),
            "user3@gmail.com".to_string(),
        ],
        body: b"Hello, this is a test email!".to_vec(),
    };

    // With the 'send' feature enabled, group recipients by domain
    let domain_mail = mail.domain_mail();
    
    for item in domain_mail {
        println!("Sending to domain: {}", item.domain);
        // item.mail is a mail_send::smtp::message::Message
        // client.send(item.mail).await?;
    }
}

Design Philosophy

The library follows a separation of concerns principle. The core lib.rs defines the data structures (Mail, UserMail), keeping the base dependency footprint minimal. Functionalities like serialization and sending are gated behind feature flags (encode, decode, send), allowing users to opt-in only for what they need.

When the send feature is active, the send.rs module provides the domain_mail method that groups recipients by their email domain. This optimization reduces the number of SMTP connections needed and improves delivery efficiency, especially when sending to multiple recipients across different domains.

Tech Stack

• Rust: Core language.
• bitcode (Optional): For fast binary encoding and decoding.
• mail-send (Optional): For SMTP message construction and sending.

Directory Structure

.
├── Cargo.toml          # Project configuration
├── README.md           # Main documentation
├── readme              # Documentation in specific languages
│   ├── en.md           # English README
│   └── zh.md           # Chinese README
├── src
│   ├── lib.rs          # Core struct definitions and feature gates
│   └── send.rs         # Domain grouping and SMTP message logic (feature: send)
└── tests
    └── main.rs         # Integration tests

API Documentation

struct Mail

Represents a basic email message.

• sender: String: The email address of the sender.
• to_li: Vec<String>: A list of recipient email addresses.
• body: Vec<u8>: The raw body content of the email.

Methods

domain_mail<'a>(&'a self) -> Vec<DomainMail<'a>> (requires send feature)

Groups recipients by their email domain and creates a DomainMail for each domain. This allows for efficient batch sending where multiple recipients in the same domain can be delivered in a single SMTP transaction.

struct UserMail

A wrapper around Mail associating it with a user ID.

• mail: Mail: The email content.
• user_id: u64: The unique identifier of the user associated with this mail.

struct DomainMail<'a> (requires send feature)

Represents an email grouped by recipient domain.

• domain: &'a str: The domain name (e.g., "gmail.com").
• mail: Message<'a>: The ready-to-send SMTP message containing all recipients for this domain.

Historical Context

RFC 822 and the Separation of Envelope and Content

The design of email systems dates back to the early 1980s with the publication of RFC 822 (Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages) and RFC 821 (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). A key architectural decision was the separation of the "envelope" (handled by SMTP for routing) from the "content" (the message headers and body defined by RFC 822).

mail_struct honors this tradition by focusing on the structure of the message (the content), while delegating the transport (the envelope and transmission) to specialized libraries like mail-send. This modular approach mirrors the original design philosophy of the internet's most enduring communication protocol, ensuring flexibility and maintainability.

About

This project is an open-source component of js0.site ⋅ Refactoring the Internet Plan.

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mail_struct : 极简 Rust 邮件结构库

mail_struct 是一个轻量级的 Rust 库，旨在为邮件消息定义清晰且高效的结构。它提供了与 bitcode（用于高效编码/解码）和 mail-send（用于基于域名分组的 SMTP 传输）的可选集成，使其成为 Rust 应用中处理邮件的灵活选择。

目录

• 功能特性
• 使用指南
• 设计理念
• 技术栈
• 目录结构
• API 文档
• 历史背景

功能特性

• 核心结构: 定义了 Mail 和 UserMail 结构体来表示邮件数据。
• 序列化: 通过 encode 和 decode 特性支持使用 bitcode 进行高性能的二进制序列化。
• SMTP 集成: 可选的 send 特性支持按域名分组收件人，实现高效的邮件投递。
• 类型安全: 利用 Rust 的类型系统确保数据完整性。

使用指南

在 Cargo.toml 中添加 mail_struct：

[dependencies]
mail_struct = { version = "0.1.7", features = ["send", "encode", "decode"] }

创建并按域名分组邮件

use mail_struct::Mail;

#[cfg(feature = "send")]
async fn example() {
    let mail = Mail {
        sender: "sender@example.com".to_string(),
        to_li: vec![
            "user1@gmail.com".to_string(),
            "user2@yahoo.com".to_string(),
            "user3@gmail.com".to_string(),
        ],
        body: b"Hello, this is a test email!".to_vec(),
    };

    // 启用 'send' 特性后，可以按域名分组收件人
    let domain_mail = mail.domain_mail();
    
    for item in domain_mail {
        println!("Sending to domain: {}", item.domain);
        // item.mail 是 mail_send::smtp::message::Message
        // client.send(item.mail).await?;
    }
}

设计理念

本库遵循关注点分离原则。核心 lib.rs 定义了数据结构（Mail, UserMail），保持基础依赖最小化。序列化和发送等功能通过特性标志（encode, decode, send）进行门控，允许用户仅按需开启。

当 send 特性激活时，send.rs 模块提供了 domain_mail 方法，该方法按邮件域名分组收件人。这种优化减少了所需的 SMTP 连接数量并提高了投递效率，特别是在向不同域名的多个收件人发送邮件时。

技术栈

• Rust: 核心开发语言。
• bitcode (可选): 用于快速二进制编码和解码。
• mail-send (可选): 用于构建和发送 SMTP 消息。

目录结构

.
├── Cargo.toml          # 项目配置
├── README.md           # 主文档
├── readme              # 多语言文档
│   ├── en.md           # 英文 README
│   └── zh.md           # 中文 README
├── src
│   ├── lib.rs          # 核心结构定义及特性门控
│   └── send.rs         # 域名分组及 SMTP 消息逻辑 (特性: send)
└── tests
    └── main.rs         # 集成测试

API 文档

struct Mail

表示一个基础的邮件消息。

• sender: String: 发件人邮箱地址。
• to_li: Vec<String>: 收件人邮箱地址列表。
• body: Vec<u8>: 邮件的原始正文内容。

方法

domain_mail<'a>(&'a self) -> Vec<DomainMail<'a>> (需要 send 特性)

按邮件域名分组收件人，并为每个域名创建一个 DomainMail。这允许高效的批量发送，同一域名的多个收件人可以在单个 SMTP 事务中投递。

struct UserMail

Mail 的包装器，将其与用户 ID 关联。

• mail: Mail: 邮件内容。
• user_id: u64: 与此邮件关联的用户的唯一标识符。

struct DomainMail<'a> (需要 send 特性)

表示按收件人域名分组的邮件。

• domain: &'a str: 域名（例如 "gmail.com"）。
• mail: Message<'a>: 准备发送的 SMTP 消息，包含该域名的所有收件人。

历史背景

RFC 822 与信封/内容的分离

电子邮件系统的设计可以追溯到 20 世纪 80 年代初 RFC 822（ARPA 互联网文本消息格式标准）和 RFC 821（简单邮件传输协议）的发布。一个关键的架构决策是将"信封"（由 SMTP 处理用于路由）与"内容"（由 RFC 822 定义的消息头和正文）分离开来。

mail_struct 秉承了这一传统，专注于消息的结构（内容），而将传输（信封和发送）委托给像 mail-send 这样的专用库。这种模块化的方法反映了互联网最持久通信协议的原始设计哲学，确保了灵活性和可维护性。

关于

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