Lua Requires Chilkat v11.0.0+

IMAP Find Emails by Date

See more IMAP Examples

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

local chilkat = require("chilkat")

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

local imap = chilkat.Imap.new()

-- Connect to an IMAP server.
imap.ssl = true
imap.port = 993
local success = imap:connect("imap.example.com")
if not success then
    print(imap.last_error_text)
    return
end

-- Login
success = imap:login("myLogin", "myPassword")
if not success then
    print(imap.last_error_text)
    return
end

-- Select an IMAP mailbox
success = imap:select_mailbox("Inbox")
if not success then
    print(imap.last_error_text)
    return
end

-- 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.
local onDate = "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.
local betweenDates = "SENTSINCE 12-Apr-2024 SENTBEFORE 15-Apr-2024"

-- We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
local fetchUids = true

local messageSet = chilkat.MessageSet.new()
success = imap:query_mbx(betweenDates, fetchUids, messageSet)
if not success then
    print(imap.last_error_text)
    return
end

print(messageSet:to_compact_string())

-- Download each email in the message set.
local email = chilkat.Email.new()
local messageCount = messageSet.count
local i = 0
while i < messageCount do
    success = imap:fetch_email(false, messageSet:get_id(i), fetchUids, email)
    if not success then
        print(imap.last_error_text)
        return
    end

    print(email.subject)
    -- ...

    i = i + 1
end

-- Disconnect from the IMAP server.
success = imap:disconnect()