Lianja

IMAP Find Emails by Date

See more IMAP Examples

Explains how to find emails by date using the IMAP protocol. Lianja

llSuccess = .F.

// This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
// See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

loImap = createobject("CkImap")

// Connect to an IMAP server.
loImap.Ssl = .T.
loImap.Port = 993
llSuccess = loImap.Connect("imap.example.com")
if (llSuccess = .F.) then
    ? loImap.LastErrorText
    release loImap
    return
endif

// Login
llSuccess = loImap.Login("myLogin","myPassword")
if (llSuccess = .F.) then
    ? loImap.LastErrorText
    release loImap
    return
endif

// Select an IMAP mailbox
llSuccess = loImap.SelectMailbox("Inbox")
if (llSuccess = .F.) then
    ? loImap.LastErrorText
    release loImap
    return
endif

// In the IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) protocol, criteria strings are used to search for emails matching specific criteria on the mail server. 
// When searching for emails by date, you can use criteria strings to specify the date range you're interested in.
// 
// IMAP provides several options for searching emails by date using criteria strings. Here are the commonly used ones:
// 
// 1. BEFORE: Searches for emails sent before a specific date.
//    Example: BEFORE 01-Apr-2022
// 
// 2. ON: Searches for emails sent on a specific date.
//    Example: ON 01-Apr-2022
// 
// 3. SINCE: Searches for emails sent after a specific date.
//    Example: SINCE 01-Apr-2022
// 
// 4. SENTBEFORE: Searches for emails whose date header (sent date) is before a specific date.
//    Example: SENTBEFORE 01-Apr-2022
// 
// 5. SENTON: Searches for emails whose date header (sent date) is on a specific date.
//    Example: SENTON 01-Apr-2022
// 
// 6. SENTSINCE: Searches for emails whose date header (sent date) is after a specific date.
//    Example: SENTSINCE 01-Apr-2022
// 

// 
// The date format used in IMAP criteria strings is typically a specific format like "DD-Mon-YYYY" (e.g., "01-Apr-2022"), but some servers may also accept other formats 
// such as "YYYY-MM-DD". It's essential to check the documentation or specifications of the IMAP server you're working with to ensure compatibility with the 
// date format you're using.
// 
// By combining these date criteria strings with other search criteria (such as sender, recipient, subject, etc.), 
// you can effectively filter and retrieve emails based on various conditions.
// 

// Search for messages on a specific date.
// The date string is DD-Month-YYYY where Month is
// Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, or Dec.
lcOnDate = "SENTON 15-Apr-2024"

// Search for messages between two dates.  SENTBEFORE
// finds emails sent before a date, and SENTSINCE finds
// email sent on or after a date.  The "AND" operation
// is implied by joining criteria, separated by spaces.
lcBetweenDates = "SENTSINCE 12-Apr-2024 SENTBEFORE 15-Apr-2024"

// We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
llFetchUids = .T.

loMessageSet = createobject("CkMessageSet")
llSuccess = loImap.QueryMbx(lcBetweenDates,llFetchUids,loMessageSet)
if (llSuccess = .F.) then
    ? loImap.LastErrorText
    release loImap
    release loMessageSet
    return
endif

? loMessageSet.ToCompactString()

// Download each email in the message set.
loEmail = createobject("CkEmail")
lnMessageCount = loMessageSet.Count
i = 0
do while i < lnMessageCount
    llSuccess = loImap.FetchEmail(.F.,loMessageSet.GetId(i),llFetchUids,loEmail)
    if (llSuccess = .F.) then
        ? loImap.LastErrorText
        release loImap
        release loMessageSet
        release loEmail
        return
    endif

    ? loEmail.Subject
    // ...

    i = i + 1
enddo

// Disconnect from the IMAP server.
llSuccess = loImap.Disconnect()


release loImap
release loMessageSet
release loEmail