(PHP ActiveX) Reading Unread POP3 Email

The POP3 protocol does not provide the ability to ask the server which emails are "unread". Furthermore, a pure POP3 server does not even keep this information. Some servers, such as Exchange Server, expose both POP3 and IMAP interfaces. In these cases, information about read/unread status exists on the server, but it is only available via the IMAP protocol. Email clients such as Outlook and Thunderbird keep read/unread information on the client computer. This example demonstrates how UIDLs can be saved to track and read "unread" email.

Chilkat ActiveX Downloads ActiveX for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Note: The php_com_dotnet.dll may need to be enabled inside of php.ini.

<?php

// This example requires 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.
// For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use new COM('Chilkat_9_5_0.Chilkat.MailMan')
$mailman = new COM("Chilkat.MailMan");

// Set the POP3 server's hostname
$mailman->MailHost = 'pop.someMailServer.com';

// Set the POP3 login/password.
$mailman->PopUsername = '***';
$mailman->PopPassword = '***';

// You may keep a list of already-seen UIDLs in a text file:
// If this is the first time you're running this example,
// create an empty text file named "seenUidls.txt"
// For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use new COM('Chilkat_9_5_0.Chilkat.StringArray')
$saSeenUidls = new COM("Chilkat.StringArray");
$success = $saSeenUidls->LoadFromFile('seenUidls.txt');
if ($success != 1) {
    print 'failed to load seenUidls.txt' . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Get the complete list of UIDLs on the mail server.
// saUidls is a Chilkat.StringArray
$saUidls = $mailman->GetUidls();
if ($mailman->LastMethodSuccess == 0) {
    print $mailman->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Create a new string array object (it's an object, not an actual array)
// and add the UIDLs from saUidls that aren't already seen.
// For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use new COM('Chilkat_9_5_0.Chilkat.StringArray')
$saUnseenUidls = new COM("Chilkat.StringArray");

$i = 0;
$n = $saUidls->Count;
while ($i < $n) {
    if ($saSeenUidls->Contains($saUidls->getString($i)) != 1) {
        $success = $saUnseenUidls->Append($saUidls->getString($i));
    }

    $i = $i + 1;
}

if ($saUnseenUidls->Count == 0) {
    print 'No unseen emails!' . "\n";

    exit;
}

// Download in full the unseen emails:
// bundle is a Chilkat.EmailBundle
$bundle = $mailman->FetchMultiple($saUnseenUidls);
if ($mailman->LastMethodSuccess == 0) {
    print $mailman->LastErrorText . "\n";

    exit;
}

$i = 0;
while ($i < $bundle->MessageCount) {
    // email is a Chilkat.Email
    $email = $bundle->GetEmail($i);
    print $email->From . "\n";
    print $email->Subject . "\n";
    print '----' . "\n";

    $i = $i + 1;
}

// Save saUidls to "seenUidls.txt"
$success = $saUidls->SaveToFile('seenUidls.txt');


?>