Delphi DLL

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: Boolean;
imap: HCkImap;
msgSet: HCkMessageSet;
n: Integer;
i: Integer;

begin
success := False;

//  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 := CkImap_Create();

CkImap_putSsl(imap,True);
CkImap_putPort(imap,993);

success := CkImap_Connect(imap,'imap.example.com');
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkImap__lastErrorText(imap));
    Exit;
  end;
success := CkImap_Login(imap,'user@example.com','myPassword');
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkImap__lastErrorText(imap));
    Exit;
  end;

success := CkImap_SelectMailbox(imap,'Inbox');
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkImap__lastErrorText(imap));
    Exit;
  end;

//  Search for unseen (unread) messages, returning their UIDs.
msgSet := CkMessageSet_Create();
success := CkImap_QueryMbx(imap,'UNSEEN',True,msgSet);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkImap__lastErrorText(imap));
    Exit;
  end;

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

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

success := CkImap_Disconnect(imap);
if (success = False) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkImap__lastErrorText(imap));
    Exit;
  end;

CkImap_Dispose(imap);
CkMessageSet_Dispose(msgSet);