| Net::IMAP::Simple(3pm) | User Contributed Perl Documentation | Net::IMAP::Simple(3pm) |
Net::IMAP::Simple - Perl extension for simple IMAP account handling.
use strict;
use warnings;
use Net::IMAP::Simple;
use Email::Simple;
# Create the object
my $imap = Net::IMAP::Simple->new('imap.example.com') ||
die "Unable to connect to IMAP: $Net::IMAP::Simple::errstr\n";
# Log on
if(!$imap->login('user','pass')){
print STDERR "Login failed: " . $imap->errstr . "\n";
exit(64);
}
# Print the subject's of all the messages in the INBOX
my $nm = $imap->select('INBOX');
for(my $i = 1; $i <= $nm; $i++){
if($imap->seen($i)){
print "*";
} else {
print " ";
}
my $es = Email::Simple->new(join '', @{ $imap->top($i) } );
printf("[%03d] %s\n", $i, $es->header('Subject'));
}
$imap->quit;
This module is a simple way to access IMAP accounts.
my $imap = Net::IMAP::Simple->new( $server [ :port ]);
# OR
my $imap = Net::IMAP::Simple->new( $server [, option_name => option_value ] );
This class method constructs a new Net::IMAP::Simple object. It takes one required parameter which is the server to connect to, and additional optional parameters.
The server parameter may specify just the server, or both the server and port number. To specify an alternate port, separate it from the server with a colon (":"), "example.com:5143".
On success an object is returned. On failure, nothing is returned and an error message is set to $Net::IMAP::Simple.
See "PREAUTH" below for a special hostname invocation that doesn't use Sockets (internally).
Options are provided as a hash to "new()":
This option requires the IO::Socket::INET6 module
Note that no attempt is made to check the certificate validity by default. This is terrible personal security but matches the previous behavior of this module. Please consider using "find_ssl_defaults" below.
This option requires the IO::Socket::SSL module
Warning: setting this will also set "use_ssl".
ssl_options => [ SSL_ca_path => "/etc/ssl/certs/",
SSL_verify_mode => IO::Socket::SSL::SSL_VERIFY_PEER() ]
Warning: setting this will also set "use_ssl".
Rather than passing a port number and issuing a login, in some situations it may be convenient to authenticate with (for example) ssh and simply invoke (for example) dovecot by hand.
If the server name starts with "cmd:", then Net::IMAP::Simple will issue the command rather than building sockets. This is a typical setup:
my $cmd = "ssh -C mailhost dovecot --exec-mail imap";
my $imap = Net::IMAP::Simple->new("cmd:$cmd");
# $imap->login(); ... don't need this
my $number_of_messages = $imap->select("INBOX");
$imap->starttls;
If you start an IMAP session and wish to upgrade to SSL later, you can use this function to start TLS. This function will try to "require" IO::Socket::SSL and Net::SSLeay at runtime.
my $inbox_msgs = $imap->login($user, $passwd);
This method takes two required parameters, a username and password. This pair is authenticated against the server. If authentication is successful TRUE (1) will be returned
Nothing is returned on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
my $num_messages = $imap->status($folder);
my ($unseen, $recent, $num_messages) = $imap->status($folder);
Issue a "STATUS" command. The "STATUS" command counts messages without altering the state of the named (optionally) mailbox. It returns either the number of messages, or the number of unseen messages, recent, and the total number of messages.
$folder is an optional argument. "status()" will use the current mailbox or "INBOX" if the $folder argument is not provided.
This method does not use caching.
This method can also query custom status values. The first argument to the function (if any) is assumed to be the folder name, so the folder argument is required when trying to query custom status values.
my ($f1, $f2) = $imap->status($folder, qw(f1 f2));
my $f2 = $imap->status($folder, qw(f1 f2));
my $uidnext = $imap->uidnext($folder);
Return the "UIDNEXT" value for a mailbox. The $folder argument is optional. This is really just an alias for
my $uidnext = $imap->status($folder, qw(uidnext));
with the mild difference that it can compute the folder argument for you
my $uidvalidity = $imap->uidnext($folder);
Return the "UIDVALIDITY" value for a mailbox. The $folder argument is optional. This is also an alias for the status call like "uidnext()" above.
my($uid)= $imap->uid($msgno);
my @uid = $imap->uid($msg_range); # eg 4:14 or 15,4,14
Return the "UID" value(s) for a message. These unique IDs "must" stay the same during the session and "should" stay the same between sessions. Whether they stay the same depends on the "UIDVALIDITY" value; see: above and RFC3501.
Warning, although you might thing @uid should contain the "UID"s for 15, then 4, then 14 in the example above; most IMAP servers seem to return the UIDs in increasing order. Normally the sequence numbers are in increasing order also, so it all maches up.
my ($uid4, $uid14, $uid15) = $imap->uid("15,4,14"); # warning
One final note, this gives the size of the search match, not the uid like you might expect:
my $uid_search_result_list_size = $imap->uid('3'); # probably always 1
my $seq = $imap->seq($uids);
my @seq = $imap->seq($uids); # eg 58888:58900
Rather like "uid()" above, but maps uids to sequence numbers.
my $num_messages = $imap->select($folder);
Selects a folder named in the single required parameter. The number of messages in that folder is returned on success. On failure, nothing is returned and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
$imap->close;
Un-selects the current mailbox, leaving no mailbox selected.
print "Messages in Junk Mail -- " . $imap->messages("INBOX.Junk Mail") . "\n";
This method is an alias for "$imap->select"
print "Available server flags: " . join(", ", $imap->flags) . "\n";
This method accepts an optional folder name and returns the current available server flags as a list, for the selected folder. If no folder name is provided the last folder "$imap->select"'ed will be used.
This method uses caching.
print "Recent messages value: " . $imap->recent . "\n";
This method accepts an optional folder name and returns the 'RECENT' value provided durning a SELECT result set. If no folder name is provided the last folder "$imap->select"'ed will be used.
This method uses caching.
See also: search
print "Unseen messages value: " . $imap->unseen . "\n";
This method accepts an optional folder name and returns the 'UNSEEN' value provided during a SELECT command result. If no folder name is provided the last folder "$imap->select"'ed will be used. If a folder name is provided, this will issue a SELECT first.
This method uses caching.
If the server does not provide UNSEEN during SELECT -- surprisingly common -- this method will fall back and use STATUS to determine the unseen count.
NOTE: This is not the opposite of seen below. The UNSEEN value varies from server to server, but according to the IMAP specification, it should be the number of the first unseen message, in the case the flag is provided. (If the flag is not provided, users would have to use the SEARCH command to find it.)
See also: search
print "Current Mail Box folder: " . $imap->current_box . "\n";
This method returns the current working mail box folder name.
my $header = $imap->top( $message_number ); print for @{$header};
This method accepts a message number as its required parameter. That message will be retrieved from the currently selected folder. On success this method returns a list reference containing the lines of the header. Nothing is returned on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
defined( my $seen = $imap->seen( $message_number ) )
or warn "problem testing for \Seen: "
. $imap->errstr;
print "msg #$message_number has been \Seen!" if $seen;
A message number is the only required parameter for this method. The message's "\Seen" flag will be examined and if the message has been seen a true value is returned. A defined false value is returned if the message does not have the "\Seen" flag set. The undefined value is returned when an error has occurred while checking the flag status.
NOTE: This is not the opposite of unseen above. This issues a "FETCH" command and checks to see if the given message has been "\Seen" before.
defined( my $deleted = $imap->deleted( $message_number ) )
or warn "problem testing for \Deleted: "
. $imap->errstr;
print "msg #$message_number has been \Deleted!" if $deleted;
A message number is the only required parameter for this method. The message's "\Deleted" flag will be examined and if the message has been deleted a true value is returned. A defined false value is returned if the message does not have the "\Deleted" flag set. The undefined value is returned when an error has occurred while checking the flag status.
my $message_size = $imap->list($message_number);
my $mailbox_sizes = $imap->list;
This method returns size information for a message, as indicated in the single optional parameter, or all messages in a mailbox. When querying a single message a scalar value is returned. When listing the entire mailbox a hash is returned. On failure, nothing is returned and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
my $headers = $imap->fetch("1:5")
Fetch the headers for messages 1-5 in the current folder.
for my $midx ( keys %$headers ) {
for my $hdr in ($headers->{$midx}) {
say "$hdr"
# In many situations the headers will be parsed and may not be simple
# strings (e.g., with the SimpleX RecDescent parse). The simplest
# way to get a feel for the output is to use a dumper on it.
}
}
my $message = $imap->get( $message_number ) or die $imap->errstr;
my @message_lines = $map->get( $message_number ) or die $imap->errstr;
my $part = $imap->get( $message_number, '1.1' ) or die $imap->errstr;
my @part_lines = $imap->get( $message_number, '1.1' ) or die $imap->errstr;
This method fetches a message and returns its lines as an array or, the actual message. On failure, either an empty list is returned and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
Optionally, a part can be specified in order to fetch a specific portion of a message. This is the raw, encoded body of the message part. The part number is a set of zero or more part specifiers delimited by periods. Every message has at least one part. Specifying a part of '1' returns the raw, encoded body. This is only useful if you know the header information such as encoding.
Historically, "get()" returned the array of lines as a reference to the array instead of returning the message or the array itself. Please note that it still does this, although it may be deprecated in the future.
The scalar result returned is actually a blessed arrayref with the stringify member overloaded. If you're intending to use the resulting message as a string more than once, it may make sense to force the stringification first.
my $message = $imap->get(1); $message = "$message"; # force stringification
It is not normally necessary to do this.
$imap->put( $mailbox_name, $message, @flags ) or warn $imap->errstr;
Save a message to the server under the folder named $mailbox_name. You may optionally specify flags for the mail (e.g. "\Seen", "\Answered"), but they must start with a slash.
If $message is an arrayref, the lines will be printed correctly.
$imap->put_with_date( $mailbox_name, $message, $date, @flags ) or warn $imap->errstr;
Save a message to the server under the folder named $mailbox_name just like the put method above, but supplying a date will set the IMAP server internal date for the message if supported per RFC 3501 Section 6.3.11.
Note when using this with Gmail it expects the date format to be: DD-Mon-YYYY hh:mm:ss tz for example 31-Dec-2016 12:59:59 -0500
my @flags = $imap->msg_flags( $message_number );
my $flags = $imap->msg_flags( $message_number );
# aught to come out roughly the same
print "Flags on message #$message_number: @flags\n";
print "Flags on message #$message_number: $flags\n";
Detecting errors with this member functions is usually desirable. In the scalar context, detecting an error is synonymous with testing for defined.
if( defined( my $flags = $imap->msg_flags($num) ) ) {
# it has $flags!
} else {
warn "problem listing flags for message #$num: "
. $imap->errstr;
}
In list context, you must call waserr() to test for success.
my @flags = $imap->msg_flags($num);
warn "problem listing flags for msg #$num: "
. $imap->errstr if $imap->waserr;
my $file = $imap->getfh( $message_number ); print <$file>;
On success this method returns a file handle pointing to the message identified by the required parameter. On failure, nothing is returned and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
$imap->quit;
OR
$imap->quit(BOOL);
This method logs out of the IMAP server, expunges the selected mailbox, and closes the connection. No error message will ever be returned from this method.
Optionally if BOOL is TRUE (1) then a hard quit is performed which closes the socket connection. This hard quit will still issue both EXPUNGE and LOGOUT commands however the response is ignored and the socket is closed after issuing the commands.
$imap->logout;
This method is just like the quit method except that it does not have a hard quit option and it does not expunge the mailbox before it hangs up and closes the socket.
my $message_number = $imap->last;
This method returns the message number of the last message in the selected mailbox, since the last time the mailbox was selected. On failure, nothing is returned and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
print "Gone!" if $imap->delete( $message_number );
This method sets the "\Deleted" flag on the given message (or messages). On success it returns true, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message. If the flag was already there, no error is produced. I takes either a message number or "sequence set" as the only argument. Note that messages aren't actually deleted until they are expunged (see expunge_mailbox).
print "Resurrected!" if $imap->undelete( $message_number );
This method removes the "\Deleted" flag on the given message. On success it returns true, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message. If the flag wasn't there, no error is produced.
print "You've seen message #$msgno" if $imap->see( $messageno );
This method sets the "\Seen" flag on the given message. On success it returns true, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message. If the flag was already there, no error is produced.
print "You've not seen message #$msgno" if $imap->unsee( $messageno );
This method removes the "\Seen" flag on the given message. On success it returns true, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message. If the flag wasn't there, no error is produced.
$imap->add_flags( $msgno, qw(\Seen \Deleted) )
or die $imap->errstr;
$imap->sub_flags( $msgno, '\Seen' ) or die $imap->errstr;
my @boxes = $imap->mailboxes;
my @folders = $imap->mailboxes("Mail/%");
my @lists = $imap->mailboxes("lists/perl/*", "/Mail/");
This method returns a list of mailboxes. When called with no arguments it recurses from the IMAP root to get all mailboxes. The first optional argument is a mailbox path and the second is the path reference. RFC 3501 section 6.3.8 has more information.
On failure nothing is returned and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
my @boxes = $imap->mailboxes_subscribed;
my @folders = $imap->mailboxes_subscribed("Mail/%");
my @lists = $imap->mailboxes_subscribed("lists/perl/*", "/Mail/");
This method returns a list of mailboxes subscribed to. When called with no arguments it recurses from the IMAP root to get all mailboxes. The first optional argument is a mailbox path and the second is the path reference. RFC 3501 has more information.
On failure nothing is returned and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
print "Created" if $imap->create_mailbox( "/Mail/lists/perl/advocacy" );
This method creates the mailbox named in the required argument. Returns true on success, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
my @expunged = $imap->expunge_mailbox( "/Mail/lists/perl/advocacy" );
die $imap->errstr if $imap->waserr;
my $expunged = $imap->expunge_mailbox( "/Mail/lists/perl/advocacy" )
or die $imap->errstr;
This method removes all mail marked as deleted in the mailbox named in the required argument. Returns either the number of messages that were expunged, or the indexes of those messages -- which has a questionable usefulness since it tends to return numbers that don't relate to the message numbers marked with the "\Deleted" flags.
If 0 messages were expunged without error, the function will return 0E0 so it will still test true, but also evaluate to 0.
In list context, you must call waserr() to test for success.
print "Deleted" if $imap->delete_mailbox( "/Mail/lists/perl/advocacy" );
This method deletes the mailbox named in the required argument. Returns true on success, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
print "Renamed" if $imap->rename_mailbox( $old => $new );
This method renames the mailbox in the first required argument to the mailbox named in the second required argument. Returns true on success, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
print "Subscribed" if $imap->folder_subscribe( "/Mail/lists/perl/advocacy" );
This method subscribes to the folder. Returns true on success, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
print "Unsubscribed" if $imap->folder_unsubscribe( "/Mail/lists/perl/advocacy" );
This method un-subscribes to the folder. Returns true on success, false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
print "copied" if $imap->copy( $message_number, $mailbox );
This method copies the message number (or "sequence set") in the currently selected mailbox to the folder specified in the second argument. Both arguments are required. On success this method returns true. Returns false on failure and the "errstr()" error handler is set with the error message.
print "copied" if $imap->uidcopy( $message_uid, $mailbox );
This method is identical to "copy()" above, except that it uses UID numbers instead of sequence numbers.
$imap->noop;
Performs a null operation. This may be needed to get updates on a mailbox, or ensure that the server does not close the connection as idle. RFC 3501 states that servers' idle timeouts must not be less than 30 minutes.
print "Login ERROR: " . $imap->errstr . "\n" if !$imap->login($user, $pass);
Return the last error string captured for the last operation which failed.
my @flags = $imap->msg_flags(14); die $imap->errstr if $imap->waserr;
Because "msg_flags()" can optionally return a list, it's not really possible to detect failure in list context. Therefore, you must call "waserr()" if you wish to detect errors.
Few of the Net::IMAP::Simple methods use "waserr()". The ones that do will mention it.
my @list = (5..9, 13..38, 55,56,57);
my $short = $imap->list2range(@list);
# $short how says: 5:9,13:38,55:57
my @list = $imap->range2list("1,3,5:9");
# @list is (1,3,5,6,7,8,9);
IMAP searching can be a little confusing and this function makes no attempt to parse your searches. If you wish to do searches by hand, please see RFC 3501.
IMAP sorting (see RFC 5256) is supported via an optional second argument. The RFC requires the charset be specified, which can be provided via the optional third argument (defaults to UTF-8).
Here are a few examples:
my @ids = $imap->search("UNSEEN");
my @ids = $imap->search('SUBJECT "blarg is \"blarg\""');
my @ids = $imap->search('FROM "joe@aol.com"');
my @ids = $imap->search("DELETED");
# example from RFC 3501, search terms are ANDed together
my @ids = $imap->search('FLAGGED SINCE 1-Feb-1994 NOT FROM "Smith"');
# example from RFC 3501, search terms are ORed together
my @ids = $imap->search('OR BODY "blard" SUBJECT "blarg"');
# flagged and ( since x or !from y ):
my @ids = $imap->search('FLAGGED OR SINCE x NOT FROM "y"');
# no typo above, see the RFC
# example from RFC 5256, sorted by subject and reverse date
my @ids = $imap->search('BODY "zaphod"', 'SUBJECT REVERSE DATE');
Since this module is meant to be simple, Net::IMAP::Simple has a few search helpers. If you need fancy booleans and things, you'll have to learn search. If you need a quick search for unseen messages, see below.
These all return an array of messages or count of messages exactly as the search function does. Some of them take arguments, some do not. They do try to grok your arguments slightly, the mechanics of this (if any) will be mentioned below.
$imap->copy( "3,4,9:22", "ANOTHERBOX" ) or die $imap->errstr;
$imap->delete( "3,4,9:22" ) or die $imap->errstr;
Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Paul Miller Copyright (c) 2005 Colin Faber Copyright (c) 2004 Casey West Copyright (c) 1999 Joao Fonseca
All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
This module is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Artistic License 2.0.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
[This software may have had previous licenses, of which the current maintainer is completely unaware. If this is so, it is possible the above license is incorrect or invalid.]
There are probably bugs. But don't worry, the current maintainer takes them very seriously and will usually triage (at least) within a single day.
<https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Queue=Net-IMAP-Simple>
perl, Net::IMAP::Server, IO::Socket::SSL, IO::Socket::INET6
| 2018-05-21 | perl v5.26.2 |