Lua Requires Chilkat v11.0.0+

IMAP Search with THREAD Semantics

See more IMAP Examples

Demonstrates how to search an IMAP mailbox and return message numbers grouped together in parent/child relationships based on which messages are replies to others. Lua

    -- In the following call to loadlib, change the path (./chilkat.dll) to the relative or absolute directory where the chilkat.dll, chilkat.so, or chilkat.dylib is located.
    chilkat = assert(package.loadlib("./chilkat.dll", "luaopen_chilkat"))()
    print(chilkat._VERSION)

    local success = false

    --  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
    --  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

    local imap = chilkat.newImap{}

    --  Connect to your IMAP server and authenticate..
    imap:setSsl(true)
    imap:setPort(993)
    success = imap:Connect("imap.mail.us-west-2.awsapps.com")
    if success == false then
        print(imap:LastErrorText())

    end

    success = imap:Login("myLogin","myPassword")
    if success == false then
        print(imap:LastErrorText())

    end

    --  Select a mailbox
    success = imap:SelectMailbox("Inbox")
    if success == false then
        print(imap:LastErrorText())

    end

    --  Search for all message having the letter 'a' somewhere in the Subject,
    --  and return the messages as JSON.
    local json = chilkat.newJsonObject{}
    success = imap:QueryThread("REFERENCES","SUBJECT a",true,json)
    if success == false then
        print(imap:LastErrorText())

    end

    --  The IMAP server will return a raw response with a format such as this:  (2)(3 6 (4 23)(44 7 96))

    --  In tree form, it's like this:
    --  
    --              -- 2
    --              -- 3
    --                  \-- 6
    --                     |-- 4
    --                     |      \-- 23
    --                     |
    --                     |-- 44
    --                                \-- 7
    --                                        \-- 96
    --  

    --  It means there are 2 main threads returned, but the 2nd thread splits into two sub-threads.
    --  In total, we can think of it as 3 threads -- 2 main threads (with no parents) and one sub-thread w/ a parent.
    --  
    --  - The 1st thread contains the message 2, and has no parent thread.
    --  - The 2nd thread contains the messages 3, 6, 4, 23, and has no parent thread.
    --  - The 3rd thread contains the messages 44, 7, 96 and the parent thread is message 6.
    --  

    --  (Yes, this is all highly confusing...)

    --  Chilkat will return the above sample response as JSON that looks like this:

    --  {
    --    "threads": [
    --      [2],
    --      [3, 6, [4, 23], [44, 7, 96]]
    --    ]
    --  }
    --  

    --  Use this online tool to generate parsing code from sample JSON: 
    --  Generate Parsing Code from JSON
    --  In this case, the online tool can help you get a feel for how to write the JSON parsing code..

    local numThreads = json:SizeOfArray("threads")
    print("The total number of top-level threads is ", numThreads)

    --  Let's say we wanted to get the messages in the thread 3, 6, 4, 23.
    --  We always follow the 1st branch to the bottom, ignoring the other branches.
    --  For example, if we had  [3, 5, [4, 23, [55, 56, 57], [68, 69]], [44, 7, 96]]
    --  then the thread would be 3, 5, 4, 43, 55, 56, 57

    --  For testing, let's substitute the response from the IMAP server with this sample:
    json:Load("{\"threads\": [[2], [3, 5, [4, 23, [55, 56, 57], [68, 69]], [44, 7, 96]]]}")

    --  Begin with the 2nd top-level thread, which is at index 1.
    print("Following the 2nd top level thread...")
    local arr = json:ArrayOf("threads[1]")
    local threadSize = arr:Size()
    local i = 0
    while i < threadSize do
        --  Do we have an array or integer at this position?
        if arr:TypeAt(i) == 4 then
            --  This is a sub-array.
            local subArr = arr:ArrayAt(i)

            --  Follow the sub-array starting at the 1st position..
            arr = subArr
            i = 0
            threadSize = arr:Size()
        else
            --  Must be a single integer.
            print(arr:IntAt(i))
            i = i + 1
        end

    end

    --  The output is:
    --  
    --  Following the 2nd top level thread...
    --  3
    --  5
    --  4
    --  23
    --  55
    --  56
    --  57