(Ruby) Download and Save Email Attachments (POP3)

See more POP3 Examples

Downloads emails from a POP3 mailbox and saves all attachments.

Chilkat Ruby Downloads install from rubygems.org gem install chilkat or download... Ruby Library for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Alpine Linux

require 'chilkat'

# 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.new()

# 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.
# 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 is a CkEmailBundle
bundle = mailman.CopyMail()
if (mailman.get_LastMethodSuccess() != true)
    print mailman.lastErrorText() + "\n";
    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.get_MessageCount()

while (bundleIndex < numMessages)
    # email is a CkEmail
    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)
        print email.lastErrorText() + "\n";
        exit
    end

    # 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 != true)
        print email.lastErrorText() + "\n";
        exit
    end

    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) + "\n";
        attachIndex = attachIndex + 1
    end

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

        print "Original Filename: " + email.getAttachmentFilename(attachIndex) + "\n";
        success = email.SaveAttachedFile(attachIndex,dirPath)
        if (success != true)
            print email.lastErrorText() + "\n";
            exit
        end

        # 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) + "\n";
        attachIndex = attachIndex + 1
    end

    bundleIndex = bundleIndex + 1
end