(VBScript) Reading Unread POP3 Email

The POP3 protocol does not provide the ability to ask the server which emails are "unread". Furthermore, a pure POP3 server does not even keep this information. Some servers, such as Exchange Server, expose both POP3 and IMAP interfaces. In these cases, information about read/unread status exists on the server, but it is only available via the IMAP protocol. Email clients such as Outlook and Thunderbird keep read/unread information on the client computer. This example demonstrates how UIDLs can be saved to track and read "unread" email.

Chilkat ActiveX Downloads ActiveX for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows

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

' This example requires 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.
' For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use CreateObject("Chilkat_9_5_0.MailMan")
set mailman = CreateObject("Chilkat.MailMan")

' Set the POP3 server's hostname
mailman.MailHost = "pop.someMailServer.com"

' Set the POP3 login/password.
mailman.PopUsername = "***"
mailman.PopPassword = "***"

' You may keep a list of already-seen UIDLs in a text file:
' If this is the first time you're running this example,
' create an empty text file named "seenUidls.txt"
' For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use CreateObject("Chilkat_9_5_0.StringArray")
set saSeenUidls = CreateObject("Chilkat.StringArray")
success = saSeenUidls.LoadFromFile("seenUidls.txt")
If (success <> 1) Then
    outFile.WriteLine("failed to load seenUidls.txt")
    WScript.Quit
End If

' Get the complete list of UIDLs on the mail server.
' saUidls is a Chilkat.StringArray
Set saUidls = mailman.GetUidls()
If (mailman.LastMethodSuccess = 0) Then
    outFile.WriteLine(mailman.LastErrorText)
    WScript.Quit
End If

' Create a new string array object (it's an object, not an actual array)
' and add the UIDLs from saUidls that aren't already seen.
' For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use CreateObject("Chilkat_9_5_0.StringArray")
set saUnseenUidls = CreateObject("Chilkat.StringArray")

i = 0
n = saUidls.Count
Do While i < n
    If (saSeenUidls.Contains(saUidls.GetString(i)) <> 1) Then
        success = saUnseenUidls.Append(saUidls.GetString(i))
    End If

    i = i + 1
Loop

If (saUnseenUidls.Count = 0) Then
    outFile.WriteLine("No unseen emails!")

    WScript.Quit
End If

' Download in full the unseen emails:
' bundle is a Chilkat.EmailBundle
Set bundle = mailman.FetchMultiple(saUnseenUidls)
If (mailman.LastMethodSuccess = 0) Then
    outFile.WriteLine(mailman.LastErrorText)

    WScript.Quit
End If

i = 0
Do While i < bundle.MessageCount
    ' email is a Chilkat.Email
    Set email = bundle.GetEmail(i)
    outFile.WriteLine(email.From)
    outFile.WriteLine(email.Subject)
    outFile.WriteLine("----")

    i = i + 1
Loop

' Save saUidls to "seenUidls.txt"
success = saUidls.SaveToFile("seenUidls.txt")


outFile.Close