Perl

Start IMAP IDLE to Monitor a Mailbox

Demonstrates the Chilkat Imap.IdleStart method, which sends the IMAP IDLE command to begin listening for unsolicited mailbox updates. It takes no arguments. A mailbox must first be selected, and the server must advertise the IDLE capability.

Background: IDLE is IMAP's push mechanism: instead of polling for new mail, the client tells the server "notify me when something changes," and the server pushes updates as they happen. This is what enables near-instant new-mail alerts. While IDLE is active, no other IMAP command may be sent on that connection — call IdleDone to leave IDLE before issuing other commands.

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Chilkat2 Perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Chilkat2;

# Demonstrates the Imap.IdleStart method, which sends the IMAP IDLE command to begin listening
# for unsolicited mailbox updates.  It takes no arguments.  A mailbox must be selected and the
# server must advertise the IDLE capability.

my $imap = Chilkat2::Imap->new;

$imap->Ssl(1);
$imap->Port(993);

my $success = $imap->Connect('imap.example.com');
if (!$success) {
    print $imap->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

$success = $imap->Login('user@example.com', 'myPassword');
if (!$success) {
    print $imap->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

$success = $imap->SelectMailbox('Inbox');
if (!$success) {
    print $imap->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

# Enter IDLE mode to monitor the mailbox for changes (new mail, deletions, flag changes).
$success = $imap->IdleStart();
if (!$success) {
    print $imap->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

print "IDLE mode started.\n";

# While IDLE is active, no other IMAP command may be sent.  End IDLE before doing more work.
$success = $imap->IdleDone();
if (!$success) {
    print $imap->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

$success = $imap->Disconnect();
if (!$success) {
    print $imap->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}