(Swift) IMAP Find Emails by Date

See more IMAP Examples

Explains how to find emails by date using the IMAP protocol.

Chilkat Downloads for the Swift Programming Language MAC OS X (Cocoa) Objective-C/Swift Libs iOS Objective-C/Swift Libs

func chilkatTest() {
    // This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
    // See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

    let imap = CkoImap()!

    // Connect to an IMAP server.
    imap.ssl = true
    imap.port = 993
    var success: Bool = imap.connect("imap.example.com")
    if success != true {
        print("\(imap.lastErrorText!)")
        return
    }

    // Login
    success = imap.login("myLogin", password: "myPassword")
    if success != true {
        print("\(imap.lastErrorText!)")
        return
    }

    // Select an IMAP mailbox
    success = imap.selectMailbox("Inbox")
    if success != true {
        print("\(imap.lastErrorText!)")
        return
    }

    // In the IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) protocol, criteria strings are used to search for emails matching specific criteria on the mail server. 
    // When searching for emails by date, you can use criteria strings to specify the date range you're interested in.
    // 
    // IMAP provides several options for searching emails by date using criteria strings. Here are the commonly used ones:
    // 
    // 1. BEFORE: Searches for emails sent before a specific date.
    //    Example: BEFORE 01-Apr-2022
    // 
    // 2. ON: Searches for emails sent on a specific date.
    //    Example: ON 01-Apr-2022
    // 
    // 3. SINCE: Searches for emails sent after a specific date.
    //    Example: SINCE 01-Apr-2022
    // 
    // 4. SENTBEFORE: Searches for emails whose date header (sent date) is before a specific date.
    //    Example: SENTBEFORE 01-Apr-2022
    // 
    // 5. SENTON: Searches for emails whose date header (sent date) is on a specific date.
    //    Example: SENTON 01-Apr-2022
    // 
    // 6. SENTSINCE: Searches for emails whose date header (sent date) is after a specific date.
    //    Example: SENTSINCE 01-Apr-2022
    // 

    // 
    // The date format used in IMAP criteria strings is typically a specific format like "DD-Mon-YYYY" (e.g., "01-Apr-2022"), but some servers may also accept other formats 
    // such as "YYYY-MM-DD". It's essential to check the documentation or specifications of the IMAP server you're working with to ensure compatibility with the 
    // date format you're using.
    // 
    // By combining these date criteria strings with other search criteria (such as sender, recipient, subject, etc.), 
    // you can effectively filter and retrieve emails based on various conditions.
    // 

    // Search for messages on a specific date.
    // The date string is DD-Month-YYYY where Month is
    // Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, or Dec.
    var onDate: String? = "SENTON 15-Apr-2024"

    // Search for messages between two dates.  SENTBEFORE
    // finds emails sent before a date, and SENTSINCE finds
    // email sent on or after a date.  The "AND" operation
    // is implied by joining criteria, separated by spaces.
    var betweenDates: String? = "SENTSINCE 12-Apr-2024 SENTBEFORE 15-Apr-2024"

    // We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
    var fetchUids: Bool = true
    var messageSet: CkoMessageSet? = imap.search(betweenDates, bUid: fetchUids)
    if imap.lastMethodSuccess == false {
        print("\(imap.lastErrorText!)")
        return
    }

    print("\(messageSet!.toCompactString()!)")

    // Download each email in the message set.
    var email: CkoEmail?
    var messageCount: Int = messageSet!.count.intValue
    var i: Int = 0
    while i < messageCount {
        email = imap.fetchSingle(messageSet!.getId(i), bUid: fetchUids)
        if imap.lastMethodSuccess == false {
            print("\(imap.lastErrorText!)")
            messageSet = nil
            return
        }

        print("\(email!.subject!)")
        // ...
        email = nil
        i = i + 1
    }

    // Disconnect from the IMAP server.
    success = imap.disconnect()

    messageSet = nil

}