CkPython Requires Chilkat v11.0.0+

Download and Save Email Attachments (POP3)

See more POP3 Examples

Downloads emails from a POP3 mailbox and saves all attachments. CkPython

import sys
import chilkat

success = False

#  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.CkMailMan()

#  Set the POP3 server's hostname
mailman.put_MailHost("pop.yourserver.com")

#  Set the POP3 login/password.
mailman.put_PopUsername("***")
mailman.put_PopPassword("***")

#  Copy the all email from the user's POP3 mailbox 
#  into a bundle object.  The email remains on the server.
#  FetchAll 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 = chilkat.CkEmailBundle()
keepOnServer = True
headersOnly = False
#  Irrelevent because we are NOT downloading headers-only
numBodyLines = 0
success = mailman.FetchAll(keepOnServer,headersOnly,numBodyLines,bundle)
if (success == False):
    print(mailman.lastErrorText())
    sys.exit()

#  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"

email = chilkat.CkEmail()
bundleIndex = 0
numMessages = bundle.get_MessageCount()

while (bundleIndex < numMessages) :
    bundle.EmailAt(bundleIndex,email)

    #  Save all attachments to the specified directory.
    #  The directory is automatically created if it does not yet exist.
    success = email.SaveAllAttachments(dirPath)
    if (success == False):
        print(email.lastErrorText())
        sys.exit()

    #  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.put_OverwriteExisting(False)
    success = email.SaveAllAttachments(dirPath)
    if (success == False):
        print(email.lastErrorText())
        sys.exit()

    numAttachments = email.get_NumAttachments()
    attachIndex = 0
    while (attachIndex < numAttachments) :
        #  If the attachment filename was changed to prevent overwriting,
        #  GetAttachmentFilename will return the new filename.
        print(email.getAttachmentFilename(attachIndex))
        attachIndex = attachIndex + 1

    #  Attachments can also be saved individually.
    attachIndex = 0
    while (attachIndex < numAttachments) :

        print("Original Filename: " + email.getAttachmentFilename(attachIndex))
        success = email.SaveAttachedFile(attachIndex,dirPath)
        if (success == False):
            print(email.lastErrorText())
            sys.exit()

        #  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.
        print("Saved Filename: " + email.getAttachmentFilename(attachIndex))
        attachIndex = attachIndex + 1

    bundleIndex = bundleIndex + 1