(AutoIt) IMAP Find Emails by Date

See more IMAP Examples

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

Chilkat ActiveX Downloads ActiveX for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows

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

$oImap = ObjCreate("Chilkat.Imap")

; Connect to an IMAP server.
$oImap.Ssl = True
$oImap.Port = 993
Local $bSuccess = $oImap.Connect("imap.example.com")
If ($bSuccess <> True) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oImap.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

; Login
$bSuccess = $oImap.Login("myLogin","myPassword")
If ($bSuccess <> True) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oImap.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

; Select an IMAP mailbox
$bSuccess = $oImap.SelectMailbox("Inbox")
If ($bSuccess <> True) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oImap.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
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.
Local $sOnDate = "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 $sBetweenDates = "SENTSINCE 12-Apr-2024 SENTBEFORE 15-Apr-2024"

; We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
Local $bFetchUids = True
Local $oMessageSet = $oImap.Search($sBetweenDates,$bFetchUids)
If ($oImap.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oImap.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

ConsoleWrite($oMessageSet.ToCompactString() & @CRLF)

; Download each email in the message set.
Local $oEmail
Local $iMessageCount = $oMessageSet.Count
Local $i = 0
While $i < $iMessageCount
    $oEmail = $oImap.FetchSingle($oMessageSet.GetId($i),$bFetchUids)
    If ($oImap.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
        ConsoleWrite($oImap.LastErrorText & @CRLF)

        Exit
    EndIf

    ConsoleWrite($oEmail.Subject & @CRLF)
    ; ...

    $i = $i + 1
Wend

; Disconnect from the IMAP server.
$bSuccess = $oImap.Disconnect()