Tcl Requires Chilkat v11.0.0+

IMAP Find Emails by Date

See more IMAP Examples

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

load ./chilkat.dll

set success 0

#  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
#  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

set imap [new_CkImap]

#  Connect to an IMAP server.
CkImap_put_Ssl $imap 1
CkImap_put_Port $imap 993
set success [CkImap_Connect $imap "imap.example.com"]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    exit
}

#  Login
set success [CkImap_Login $imap "myLogin" "myPassword"]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    exit
}

#  Select an IMAP mailbox
set success [CkImap_SelectMailbox $imap "Inbox"]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    exit
}

#  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.
set onDate "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.
set betweenDates "SENTSINCE 12-Apr-2024 SENTBEFORE 15-Apr-2024"

#  We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
set fetchUids 1

set messageSet [new_CkMessageSet]

set success [CkImap_QueryMbx $imap $betweenDates $fetchUids $messageSet]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    delete_CkMessageSet $messageSet
    exit
}

puts [CkMessageSet_toCompactString $messageSet]

#  Download each email in the message set.
set email [new_CkEmail]

set messageCount [CkMessageSet_get_Count $messageSet]
set i 0
while {$i < $messageCount} {
    set success [CkImap_FetchEmail $imap 0 [CkMessageSet_GetId $messageSet $i] $fetchUids $email]
    if {$success == 0} then {
        puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
        delete_CkImap $imap
        delete_CkMessageSet $messageSet
        delete_CkEmail $email
        exit
    }

    puts [CkEmail_subject $email]
    #  ...

    set i [expr $i + 1]
}

#  Disconnect from the IMAP server.
set success [CkImap_Disconnect $imap]

delete_CkImap $imap
delete_CkMessageSet $messageSet
delete_CkEmail $email