VBScript 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. VBScript

Dim fso, outFile
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
'Create a Unicode (utf-16) output text file.
Set outFile = fso.CreateTextFile("output.txt", True, True)

success = 0

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

set imap = CreateObject("Chilkat.Imap")

'  Connect to an IMAP server.
imap.Ssl = 1
imap.Port = 993
success = imap.Connect("imap.example.com")
If (success = 0) Then
    outFile.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    WScript.Quit
End If

'  Login
success = imap.Login("myLogin","myPassword")
If (success = 0) Then
    outFile.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    WScript.Quit
End If

'  Select an IMAP mailbox
success = imap.SelectMailbox("Inbox")
If (success = 0) Then
    outFile.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    WScript.Quit
End If

'  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 = "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 = "SENTSINCE 12-Apr-2024 SENTBEFORE 15-Apr-2024"

'  We can choose to fetch UIDs or sequence numbers.
fetchUids = 1

set messageSet = CreateObject("Chilkat.MessageSet")
success = imap.QueryMbx(betweenDates,fetchUids,messageSet)
If (success = 0) Then
    outFile.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    WScript.Quit
End If

outFile.WriteLine(messageSet.ToCompactString())

'  Download each email in the message set.
set email = CreateObject("Chilkat.Email")
messageCount = messageSet.Count
i = 0
Do While i < messageCount
    success = imap.FetchEmail(0,messageSet.GetId(i),fetchUids,email)
    If (success = 0) Then
        outFile.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
        WScript.Quit
    End If

    outFile.WriteLine(email.Subject)
    '  ...

    i = i + 1
Loop

'  Disconnect from the IMAP server.
success = imap.Disconnect()

outFile.Close