(Go) Download and Save Email Attachments (POP3)

See more POP3 Examples

Downloads emails from a POP3 mailbox and saves all attachments.

Chilkat Go Downloads Go Package for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Alpine Linux, Solaris

    // 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 := chilkat.NewMailMan()

    // Set the POP3 server's hostname
    mailman.SetMailHost("pop.yourserver.com")

    // Set the POP3 login/password.
    mailman.SetPopUsername("***")
    mailman.SetPopPassword("***")

    // 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() != true {
        fmt.Println(mailman.LastErrorText())
        mailman.DisposeMailMan()
        return
    }

    // 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"

    var success bool
    bundleIndex := 0
    numMessages := bundle.MessageCount()
    // email is a Email
    for (bundleIndex < numMessages) {
        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 != true {
            fmt.Println(email.LastErrorText())
            mailman.DisposeMailMan()
            return
        }

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

        // Setting OverwriteExisting = false 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.SetOverwriteExisting(false)
        success = email.SaveAllAttachments(dirPath)
        if success != true {
            fmt.Println(email.LastErrorText())
            mailman.DisposeMailMan()
            return
        }

        numAttachments := email.NumAttachments()
        attachIndex := 0
        for (attachIndex < numAttachments) {
            // If the attachment filename was changed to prevent overwriting,
            // GetAttachmentFilename will return the new filename.
            fmt.Println(*email.GetAttachmentFilename(attachIndex))
            attachIndex = attachIndex + 1
        }

        // Attachments can also be saved individually.
        attachIndex = 0
        for (attachIndex < numAttachments) {

            fmt.Println("Original Filename: ", *email.GetAttachmentFilename(attachIndex))
            success = email.SaveAttachedFile(attachIndex,dirPath)
            if success != true {
                fmt.Println(email.LastErrorText())
                mailman.DisposeMailMan()
                return
            }

            // If OverwriteExisting = true, 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.
            fmt.Println("Saved Filename: ", *email.GetAttachmentFilename(attachIndex))
            attachIndex = attachIndex + 1
        }

        email.DisposeEmail()

        bundleIndex = bundleIndex + 1
    }

    bundle.DisposeEmailBundle()

    mailman.DisposeMailMan()