DataFlex

Save an IMAP Attachment to a File

Demonstrates the Chilkat Imap.FetchAttachment method, which downloads one attachment from the IMAP server and saves it to the filesystem. The first argument is the Email, the second is the zero-based attachment index, and the third is the file path to write. This example fetches a message headers-only, inspects its attachments without downloading them, and then downloads a specific attachment on demand.

Note: The output path is relative to the application's current working directory. Chilkat does not create missing parent directories, so qa_output/ must already exist.

Background: This is the method's real value. A headers-only fetch downloads no attachment bodies, yet methods such as GetMailNumAttach and GetMailAttachFilename still work from the ckx-imap-* metadata. FetchAttachment then uses that metadata to download just the requested MIME part from the server — even in a later session. A client can therefore list messages and their attachment names cheaply and pull individual attachments only when the user actually wants them, instead of downloading every full message. (If the Email already holds the attachment bytes, they are saved without contacting the server.)

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DataFlex

Use ChilkatAx-win32.pkg

Procedure Test
    Boolean iSuccess
    Handle hoImap
    Boolean iHeadersOnly
    Boolean iUseUid
    Integer iSeqNum
    Variant vEmail
    Handle hoEmail
    Integer iNumAttach
    String sFname
    Handle hoSbPath
    String sSavePath
    String sTemp1
    Boolean bTemp1

    Move False To iSuccess

    //  Demonstrates the Imap.FetchAttachment method, which downloads one attachment from the IMAP
    //  server and saves it to a file.  The 1st argument is the Email, the 2nd is the zero-based
    //  attachment index, and the 3rd is the file path to write.
    //  
    //  The compelling use case: fetch a message headers-only, inspect its attachments without
    //  downloading them, and then download just the attachment(s) you want.

    Get Create (RefClass(cComChilkatImap)) To hoImap
    If (Not(IsComObjectCreated(hoImap))) Begin
        Send CreateComObject of hoImap
    End

    Set ComSsl Of hoImap To True
    Set ComPort Of hoImap To 993

    Get ComConnect Of hoImap "imap.example.com" To iSuccess
    If (iSuccess = False) Begin
        Get ComLastErrorText Of hoImap To sTemp1
        Showln sTemp1
        Procedure_Return
    End

    Get ComLogin Of hoImap "user@example.com" "myPassword" To iSuccess
    If (iSuccess = False) Begin
        Get ComLastErrorText Of hoImap To sTemp1
        Showln sTemp1
        Procedure_Return
    End

    Get ComSelectMailbox Of hoImap "Inbox" To iSuccess
    If (iSuccess = False) Begin
        Get ComLastErrorText Of hoImap To sTemp1
        Showln sTemp1
        Procedure_Return
    End

    //  Fetch only the message headers.  Attachment bodies are NOT downloaded, but the ckx-imap-*
    //  metadata describing the attachments is present, so the attachment info methods still work.
    Move True To iHeadersOnly
    Move False To iUseUid
    Move 1 To iSeqNum
    Get Create (RefClass(cComChilkatEmail)) To hoEmail
    If (Not(IsComObjectCreated(hoEmail))) Begin
        Send CreateComObject of hoEmail
    End
    Get pvComObject of hoEmail to vEmail
    Get ComFetchEmail Of hoImap iHeadersOnly iSeqNum iUseUid vEmail To iSuccess
    If (iSuccess = False) Begin
        Get ComLastErrorText Of hoImap To sTemp1
        Showln sTemp1
        Procedure_Return
    End

    //  Even though the body was not downloaded, the attachment count and names are available.
    Get pvComObject of hoEmail to vEmail
    Get ComGetMailNumAttach Of hoImap vEmail To iNumAttach
    Showln "Attachments: " iNumAttach

    If (iNumAttach > 0) Begin
        //  Get the attachment's original filename and use it for the saved file.
        Get pvComObject of hoEmail to vEmail
        Get ComGetMailAttachFilename Of hoImap vEmail 0 To sFname
        Get ComLastMethodSuccess Of hoImap To bTemp1
        If (bTemp1 = False) Begin
            Get ComLastErrorText Of hoImap To sTemp1
            Showln sTemp1
            Procedure_Return
        End

        //  Build the output path "qa_output/<filename>".
        Get Create (RefClass(cComChilkatStringBuilder)) To hoSbPath
        If (Not(IsComObjectCreated(hoSbPath))) Begin
            Send CreateComObject of hoSbPath
        End
        Get ComAppend Of hoSbPath "qa_output/" To iSuccess
        Get ComAppend Of hoSbPath sFname To iSuccess
        Get ComGetAsString Of hoSbPath To sSavePath

        //  Download just the first attachment (index 0) from the server and save it to that path.
        Get pvComObject of hoEmail to vEmail
        Get ComFetchAttachment Of hoImap vEmail 0 sSavePath To iSuccess
        If (iSuccess = False) Begin
            Get ComLastErrorText Of hoImap To sTemp1
            Showln sTemp1
            Procedure_Return
        End

        Showln "Saved attachment: " sSavePath
    End

    Get ComDisconnect Of hoImap To iSuccess
    If (iSuccess = False) Begin
        Get ComLastErrorText Of hoImap To sTemp1
        Showln sTemp1
        Procedure_Return
    End



End_Procedure