Delphi ActiveX

Search an IMAP Mailbox

Demonstrates the Chilkat Imap.QueryMbx method, which searches the selected mailbox using IMAP search criteria and stores the matching message identifiers in a MessageSet. If bUid is true, the identifiers are UIDs; otherwise they are sequence numbers. This example finds unseen messages and lists their UIDs.

Background: IMAP search runs on the server, so you can find matching messages without downloading them. The criteria string is standard IMAP search syntax — for example UNSEEN, FROM "alice@example.com", SUBJECT "invoice", or SINCE 1-Jan-2026 — and terms can be combined. The result is a MessageSet of identifiers you then fetch, flag, copy, or move. Requesting UIDs (bUid = true) is preferred because UIDs remain valid across sessions.

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var
success: Integer;
imap: TChilkatImap;
msgSet: TMessageSet;
n: Integer;
i: Integer;

begin
success := 0;

//  Demonstrates the Imap.QueryMbx method, which searches the selected mailbox using IMAP
//  search criteria and stores the matching message identifiers in a MessageSet.  If bUid is
//  1, the identifiers are UIDs; otherwise they are sequence numbers.

imap := TChilkatImap.Create(Self);

imap.Ssl := 1;
imap.Port := 993;

success := imap.Connect('imap.example.com');
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(imap.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;
success := imap.Login('user@example.com','myPassword');
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(imap.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

success := imap.SelectMailbox('Inbox');
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(imap.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

//  Search for unseen (unread) messages, returning their UIDs.
msgSet := TMessageSet.Create(Self);
success := imap.QueryMbx('UNSEEN',1,msgSet.ControlInterface);
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(imap.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

//  Iterate the matching message identifiers.
n := msgSet.Count;
Memo1.Lines.Add('Matching messages: ' + IntToStr(n));

for i := 0 to n - 1 do
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add('UID: ' + IntToStr(msgSet.GetId(i)));
  end;

success := imap.Disconnect();
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(imap.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;