phpman > perldoc > Net::IMAP::Simple(3pm)

Markdown | JSON | MCP    

NAME
    Net::IMAP::Simple - Perl extension for simple IMAP account handling.

SYNOPSIS
        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;

DESCRIPTION
    This module is a simple way to access IMAP accounts.

OBJECT CREATION METHOD
        my $imap = Net::IMAP::Simple->new( $server [ :port ]);

        # OR

        my $imap = Net::IMAP::Simple->new( $server [, option_name => option_value ] );

  new
    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()":

    port => int
        Assign the port number (default: 143)

    timeout => int (default: 90)
        Connection timeout in seconds.

    retry => int (default: 1)
        Attempt to retry the connection attmpt (x) times before giving up

    retry_delay => int (default: 5)
        Wait (x) seconds before retrying a connection attempt

    use_v6 => BOOL
        If set to true, attempt to use IPv6 sockets rather than IPv4 sockets.

        This option requires the IO::Socket::INET6 module

    use_ssl => BOOL
        If set to true, attempt to use IO::Socket::SSL sockets rather than vanilla sockets.

        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

    ssl_version => version
        This should be one or more of the following (space separated): SSLv3 SSLv2 TLSv1. If you
        specify, for example, "SSLv3 SSLv2" then IO::Socket::SSL will attempt auto negotiation. At
        the time of this writing, the default string was v3/v2 auto negotiation -- it may have
        changed by the time you read this.

        Warning: setting this will also set "use_ssl".

    find_ssl_defaults => []
        Looks in some standard places for CA certificate libraries and if found sets reasonable
        defaults along the lines of the following.

            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".

    ssl_options => []
        You may provide your own IO::Socket::SSL options if you desire to do so. It is completely
        overridden by "find_ssl_defaults" above.

    bindaddr => str
        Assign a local address to bind

    use_select_cache => BOOL
        Enable "select()" caching internally

    select_cache_ttl => int
        The number of seconds to allow a select cache result live before running "$imap->select()"
        again.

    debug => BOOL | \*HANDLE | warn | file:name
        Enable debugging output. If "\*HANDLE" is a valid file handle, debugging will be written to
        it. If it is the string "warn" then the debugging will be written using the warn command. If
        it is a string of the form "file:name" then the named file will be opened for append and the
        debugs written to it. Otherwise debugging will be written to "STDOUT"

    readline_callback => CODE
        You may choose to pass a callback function for the purpose of pre-processing lines before
        they are handed to the rest of the Net::IMAP::Simple internals. This can be handy for
        animating a spinner or modifying the IMAP behavior.

PREAUTH
    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");

METHODS
    starttls
            $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.

    login
          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.

    status
            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));

    uidnext
            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

    uidvalidity
            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.

    uid This function is actually an alias for "$imap->uidsearch($msg_range)".

            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

    seq
            my $seq = $imap->seq($uids);
            my @seq = $imap->seq($uids); # eg 58888:58900

        Rather like "uid()" above, but maps uids to sequence numbers.

    select
            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.

    examine
        This is very nearly a synonym for "select()". The only real difference is that the EXAMINE
        command is sent to the server instead of SELECT. Net::IMAP::Simple is otherwise unaware of
        the read-only-ness of the mailbox.

    close
            $imap->close;

        Un-selects the current mailbox, leaving no mailbox selected.

    messages
            print "Messages in Junk Mail -- " . $imap->messages("INBOX.Junk Mail") .  "\n";

        This method is an alias for "$imap->select"

    flags
            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.

    separator
        Returns the folder separator (technically "hierarchy separator", rfc3501§6.3.8) for the
        server.

    recent
            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

    unseen
            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

    current_box
           print "Current Mail Box folder: " . $imap->current_box . "\n";

        This method returns the current working mail box folder name.

    top
            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.

    seen
            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.

    deleted
            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.

    list
            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.

    fetch
          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.
              }
          }

    get
          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.

    put
          $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.

    put_with_date
          $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

    msg_flags
            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;

    getfh
          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.

    quit
          $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.

    logout
          $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.

    last
          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.

    delete
          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).

    undelete
          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.

    see
          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.

    unsee
          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.

    add_flags
        delete and see above really just call this function for those flags.

           $imap->add_flags( $msgno, qw(\Seen \Deleted) )
                or die $imap->errstr;

    sub_flags
        unsee above really just calls this function for that flag.

           $imap->sub_flags( $msgno, '\Seen' ) or die $imap->errstr;

    mailboxes
          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.

    mailboxes_subscribed
          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.

    create_mailbox
          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.

    expunge_mailbox
          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.

    delete_mailbox
          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.

    rename_mailbox
          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.

    folder_subscribe
          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.

    folder_unsubscribe
          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.

    copy
          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.

    uidcopy
          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.

    noop
          $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.

    errstr
         print "Login ERROR: " . $imap->errstr . "\n" if !$imap->login($user, $pass);

        Return the last error string captured for the last operation which failed.

    waserr
         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.

    list2range
        Sometimes you have a long list of sequence numbers which are consecutive and really want to
        be an IMAP-style range.

            my @list  = (5..9, 13..38, 55,56,57);
            my $short = $imap->list2range(@list);

            # $short how says: 5:9,13:38,55:57

    range2list
        Pretty much the opposite of "list2range".

            my @list = $imap->range2list("1,3,5:9");
            # @list is (1,3,5,6,7,8,9);

SEARCHING
    search
        This function returns an array of message numbers (in list context) or the number of matched
        messages (in scalar context). It takes a single argument: the search.

        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 AT 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.

        search_seen
            Returns numbers of messages that have the \Seen flag.

        search_recent
            Returns numbers of messages that have the \Recent flag.

        search_answered
            Returns numbers of messages that have the \Answered flag.

        search_deleted
            Returns numbers of messages that have the \Deleted flag.

        search_flagged
            Returns numbers of messages that have the \Flagged flag.

        search_draft
            Returns numbers of messages that have the \Draft flag.

        search_unseen
            Returns numbers of messages that do not have the \Seen flag.

        search_old
            Returns numbers of messages that do not have the \Recent flag.

        search_unanswered
            Returns numbers of messages that do not have the \Answered flag.

        search_undeleted
            Returns numbers of messages that do not have the \Deleted flag.

        search_unflagged
            Returns numbers of messages that do not have the \Flagged flag.

        search_smaller
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that are smaller than "<x>" octets. This function will try to force your argument to be
            a number before passing it to the IMAP server.

        search_larger
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that are larger than "<x>" octets. This function will try to force your argument to be a
            number before passing it to the IMAP server.

        search_from
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have "<x>" in the from header. This function will attempt to force your string into
            the RFC3501 quoted-string format.

        search_to
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have "<x>" in the to header. This function will attempt to force your string into
            the RFC3501 quoted-string format.

        search_cc
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have "<x>" in the cc header. This function will attempt to force your string into
            the RFC3501 quoted-string format.

        search_bcc
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have "<x>" in the bcc header. This function will attempt to force your string into
            the RFC3501 quoted-string format.

        search_subject
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have "<x>" in the subject header. This function will attempt to force your string
            into the RFC3501 quoted-string format.

        search_body
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have "<x>" in the message body. This function will attempt to force your string
            into the RFC3501 quoted-string format.

        search_before
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that were received before "<x>". If you have Date::Manip installed (optional), this
            function will attempt to force the date into the format "%d-%b-%Y" (date-monthName-year)
            as RFC3501 requires. If you do not have that module, no attempt will be made to coerce
            your date into the correct format.

        search_since
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that were received after "<x>". If you have Date::Manip installed (optional), this
            function will attempt to force the date into the format "%d-%m-%Y" (date-month-year) as
            RFC3501 requires. If you do not have that module, no attempt will be made to coerce your
            date into the correct format.

        search_sent_before
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have a header date before "<x>". If you have Date::Manip installed (optional), this
            function will attempt to force the date into the format "%d-%m-%Y" (date-month-year) as
            RFC3501 requires. If you do not have that module, no attempt will be made to coerce your
            date into the correct format.

        search_sent_since
            This function takes a single argument we'll call "<x>" and returns numbers of messages
            that have a header date after "<x>". If you have Date::Manip installed (optional), this
            function will attempt to force the date into the format "%d-%m-%Y" (date-month-year) as
            RFC3501 requires. If you do not have that module, no attempt will be made to coerce your
            date into the correct format.

    uidsearch
        This function works exactly like "search()" but it returns UIDs instead of sequence numbers.
        The convenient shortcuts above are not provided for it.

OTHER NOTES
    sequence set
        Message numbers are never checked before being passed to the IMAP server (this is a "simple"
        module after all), so in most places where a message number is required, you can instead use
        so-called *sequence sets*. Examples:

            $imap->copy(   "3,4,9:22", "ANOTHERBOX" ) or die $imap->errstr;
            $imap->delete( "3,4,9:22" ) or die $imap->errstr;

AUTHOR
    Creator
        Joao Fonseca "<joao_g_fonseca AT yahoo.com>"

    Maintainer 2004
        Casey West "<casey AT geeknst.com>"

    Maintainer 2005
        Colin Faber "<cfaber AT fpsn.net>"

    Maintainer 2009
        Paul Miller "<jettero AT cpan.org>"

COPYRIGHT
    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.

LICENSE
    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.]

BUGS
    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>

SEE ALSO
    perl, Net::IMAP::Server, IO::Socket::SSL, IO::Socket::INET6

Net::IMAP::Simple(3pm)
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OBJECT CREATION METHOD PREAUTH METHODS SEARCHING OTHER NOTES AUTHOR COPYRIGHT LICENSE BUGS SEE ALSO

Generated by phpman v3.7.12 Author: Che Dong Under GNU General Public License
2026-06-13 17:33 @216.73.216.233
CrawledBy Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
Valid XHTML 1.0 TransitionalValid CSS!

^_back to top