(Delphi ActiveX) Download and Save Email Attachments (POP3)

See more POP3 Examples

Downloads emails from a POP3 mailbox and saves all attachments.

Chilkat for Delphi Downloads Chilkat ActiveX DLL for Delphi Chilkat non-ActiveX DLL for Delphi * The examples here use the ActiveX DLL.

uses
    Winapi.Windows, Winapi.Messages, System.SysUtils, System.Variants, System.Classes, Vcl.Graphics,
    Vcl.Controls, Vcl.Forms, Vcl.Dialogs, Vcl.StdCtrls, Chilkat_TLB;

...

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
mailman: TChilkatMailMan;
bundle: IChilkatEmailBundle;
dirPath: WideString;
success: Integer;
bundleIndex: Integer;
numMessages: Integer;
email: IChilkatEmail;
numAttachments: Integer;
attachIndex: Integer;

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

// The mailman object is used for receiving (POP3) 
// and sending (SMTP) email.
mailman := TChilkatMailMan.Create(Self);

// Set the POP3 server's hostname
mailman.MailHost := 'pop.yourserver.com';

// Set the POP3 login/password.
mailman.PopUsername := '***';
mailman.PopPassword := '***';

// Copy the all email from the user's POP3 mailbox 
// into a bundle object.  The email remains on the server.
// CopyMail is a reasonable choice for POP3 maildrops that don't have too many
// emails. For larger mail drops, one might download emails one at a time..
bundle := mailman.CopyMail();
if (mailman.LastMethodSuccess <> 1) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(mailman.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

// The directory path can be relative or absolute.
// This shows a Windows style directory path.  On other operating systems, the path
// would be different..
dirPath := 'c:/myAttachments';

bundleIndex := 0;
numMessages := bundle.MessageCount;

while (bundleIndex < numMessages) do
  begin
    email := bundle.GetEmail(bundleIndex);

    // Save all attachments to the specified directory.
    // The directory is automatically created if it does not yet exist.
    success := email.SaveAllAttachments(dirPath);
    if (success <> 1) then
      begin
        Memo1.Lines.Add(email.LastErrorText);
        Exit;
      end;

    // The OverwriteExisting property controls whether already-existing files
    // are automatically overwritten.  By default, it is set to 1 so that existing
    // files will be overwritten.

    // Setting OverwriteExisting = 0 will cause the attachment-saving methods to generate
    // unique filenames if a file with the same name already exists.  The actual filename(s)
    // saved will be present by calling GetAttachmentFilename for each attachment *after*
    // saving.
    // For example...
    email.OverwriteExisting := 0;
    success := email.SaveAllAttachments(dirPath);
    if (success <> 1) then
      begin
        Memo1.Lines.Add(email.LastErrorText);
        Exit;
      end;
    numAttachments := email.NumAttachments;
    attachIndex := 0;
    while (attachIndex < numAttachments) do
      begin
        // If the attachment filename was changed to prevent overwriting,
        // GetAttachmentFilename will return the new filename.
        Memo1.Lines.Add(email.GetAttachmentFilename(attachIndex));
        attachIndex := attachIndex + 1;
      end;

    // Attachments can also be saved individually.
    attachIndex := 0;
    while (attachIndex < numAttachments) do
      begin

        Memo1.Lines.Add('Original Filename: ' + email.GetAttachmentFilename(attachIndex));
        success := email.SaveAttachedFile(attachIndex,dirPath);
        if (success <> 1) then
          begin
            Memo1.Lines.Add(email.LastErrorText);
            Exit;
          end;
        // If OverwriteExisting = 1, the saved filename will always equal the original filename,
        // unless there are characters present in the filename that are not allowed by Windows,
        // such as * ? < > | etc.  In those cases the illegal characters are either removed or replaced
        // with underscore characters to allow the file to be saved.
        Memo1.Lines.Add('Saved Filename: ' + email.GetAttachmentFilename(attachIndex));
        attachIndex := attachIndex + 1;
      end;

    bundleIndex := bundleIndex + 1;
  end;
end;