Apache James
Encyclopedia
Apache James, aka Java Apache Mail Enterprise Server or some variation thereof, is an open source
SMTP
and POP3
mail transfer agent
and NNTP
news server
written entirely in Java
. James is maintained by contributors to the Apache Software Foundation
, with initial contributions by Serge Knystautas.. IMAP support has been added as of preview version 3.0-M2, which now requires Java 1.5 or later.
The James project manages the Apache Mailet API
which defines "matchers" and "mailets". These allow users to write their own mail-handling code, such as to update a database, build a message archive, or filter spam
. A matcher is used to classify messages based on some criteria, and then determines whether the message should be passed to an appropriate mailet for processing. Mailets are so-called due to their conceptual similarity to a servlet, and arose because Sun Microsystems
declined a proposal to include mail-handling in the servlet implementation. James ships with a variety of pre-written matchers and mailets to serve common tasks. Many sets of mailets and matchers can be combined to produce sophisticated and complex functional behaviour.
The Apache James project also produces pure Java libraries for implementing Sender Policy Framework (SPF), the Sieve mail filtering language, and parsing MIME content streams, independent of Sun's JavaMail API.
as Jakarta-James.
In January 2003, James was upgraded to a top-level Apache project in a unanimous decision by the ASF Board of Directors under the chairmanship of Serge Knystautas.
James is distributed to within the Phoenix container, which implements the Apache Avalon
application framework
.
Recent developments include a version which runs in the Spring Framework application framework.
Version 2.3.0 was released in October 2006.
Version 2.3.1 was released in April 2007.
Version 2.3.2 was released in August 2009.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is an Internet standard for electronic mail transmission across Internet Protocol networks. SMTP was first defined by RFC 821 , and last updated by RFC 5321 which includes the extended SMTP additions, and is the protocol in widespread use today...
and POP3
Post Office Protocol
In computing, the Post Office Protocol is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection. POP and IMAP are the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval. Virtually all modern...
mail transfer agent
Mail transfer agent
Within Internet message handling services , a message transfer agent or mail transfer agent or mail relay is software that transfers electronic mail messages from one computer to another using a client–server application architecture...
and NNTP
Network News Transfer Protocol
The Network News Transfer Protocol is an Internet application protocol used for transporting Usenet news articles between news servers and for reading and posting articles by end user client applications...
news server
News server
A news server is a set of computer software used to handle Usenet articles. It may also refer to a computer itself which is primarily or solely used for handling Usenet. A reader server provides an interface to read and post articles, generally with the assistance of a news client. A transit...
written entirely in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
. James is maintained by contributors to the Apache Software Foundation
Apache Software Foundation
The Apache Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation to support Apache software projects, including the Apache HTTP Server. The ASF was formed from the Apache Group and incorporated in Delaware, U.S., in June 1999.The Apache Software Foundation is a decentralized community of developers...
, with initial contributions by Serge Knystautas.. IMAP support has been added as of preview version 3.0-M2, which now requires Java 1.5 or later.
The James project manages the Apache Mailet API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
which defines "matchers" and "mailets". These allow users to write their own mail-handling code, such as to update a database, build a message archive, or filter spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
. A matcher is used to classify messages based on some criteria, and then determines whether the message should be passed to an appropriate mailet for processing. Mailets are so-called due to their conceptual similarity to a servlet, and arose because Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
declined a proposal to include mail-handling in the servlet implementation. James ships with a variety of pre-written matchers and mailets to serve common tasks. Many sets of mailets and matchers can be combined to produce sophisticated and complex functional behaviour.
The Apache James project also produces pure Java libraries for implementing Sender Policy Framework (SPF), the Sieve mail filtering language, and parsing MIME content streams, independent of Sun's JavaMail API.
Development
James was originally formed under the Jakarta ProjectJakarta Project
The Jakarta Project creates and maintains open source software for the Java platform. It operates as an umbrella project under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation, and all of Jakarta products are released under the Apache License.-Subprojects:...
as Jakarta-James.
In January 2003, James was upgraded to a top-level Apache project in a unanimous decision by the ASF Board of Directors under the chairmanship of Serge Knystautas.
James is distributed to within the Phoenix container, which implements the Apache Avalon
Apache Avalon
Apache Avalon is a computer software framework developed in 1999 as a project to provide a reusable component framework for container applications...
application framework
Application framework
In computer programming, an application framework consists of a software framework used by software developers to implement the standard structure of an application for a specific development environment ....
.
Recent developments include a version which runs in the Spring Framework application framework.
Version 2.3.0 was released in October 2006.
Version 2.3.1 was released in April 2007.
Version 2.3.2 was released in August 2009.
External links
- Official website
- Working with James at IBM developerWorks