(Unicode C) IMAP Find Emails by Date

See more IMAP Examples

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

Chilkat C/C++ Library Downloads
MS Visual C/C++ Linux/CentOS C/C++ Alpine Linux C/C++ MAC OS X C/C++	armhf/aarch64 C/C++ C++ Builder iOS C/C++ Android C/C++	Solaris C/C++ MinGW C/C++

#include <C_CkImapW.h>
#include <C_CkMessageSetW.h>
#include <C_CkEmailW.h>

void ChilkatSample(void)
    {
    HCkImapW imap;
    BOOL success;
    const wchar_t *onDate;
    const wchar_t *betweenDates;
    BOOL fetchUids;
    HCkMessageSetW messageSet;
    HCkEmailW email;
    int messageCount;
    int i;

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

    imap = CkImapW_Create();

    // Connect to an IMAP server.
    CkImapW_putSsl(imap,TRUE);
    CkImapW_putPort(imap,993);
    success = CkImapW_Connect(imap,L"imap.example.com");
    if (success != TRUE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        return;
    }

    // Login
    success = CkImapW_Login(imap,L"myLogin",L"myPassword");
    if (success != TRUE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        return;
    }

    // Select an IMAP mailbox
    success = CkImapW_SelectMailbox(imap,L"Inbox");
    if (success != TRUE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        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.
    onDate = L"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.
    betweenDates = L"SENTSINCE 12-Apr-2024 SENTBEFORE 15-Apr-2024";

    // We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
    fetchUids = TRUE;
    messageSet = CkImapW_Search(imap,betweenDates,fetchUids);
    if (CkImapW_getLastMethodSuccess(imap) == FALSE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        return;
    }

    wprintf(L"%s\n",CkMessageSetW_toCompactString(messageSet));

    // Download each email in the message set.

    messageCount = CkMessageSetW_getCount(messageSet);
    i = 0;
    while (i < messageCount) {
        email = CkImapW_FetchSingle(imap,CkMessageSetW_GetId(messageSet,i),fetchUids);
        if (CkImapW_getLastMethodSuccess(imap) == FALSE) {
            wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
            CkMessageSetW_Dispose(messageSet);
            CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
            return;
        }

        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkEmailW_subject(email));
        // ...
        CkEmailW_Dispose(email);
        i = i + 1;
    }

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

    CkMessageSetW_Dispose(messageSet);


    CkImapW_Dispose(imap);

    }