PHP

Check the Number of Messages in a POP3 Mailbox

Demonstrates the Chilkat MailMan.CheckMail method, which returns the number of messages currently available in the POP3 mailbox, or -1 if an error occurs. If no POP3 session is active, Chilkat connects and authenticates automatically using the configured settings. This example configures the POP3 connection and checks the message count.

Background: POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) is the classic protocol for downloading mail from a server to a client. A client connects, authenticates with a username and password, and can then list, retrieve, or delete messages. Modern connections use implicit TLS on port 995 (PopSsl = true). CheckMail is a quick way to ask "how many messages are waiting?" without downloading any of them.

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<?php

use Chilkat2\MailMan;

// Demonstrates the MailMan.CheckMail method, which returns the number of messages currently
// available in the POP3 mailbox (or -1 if an error occurs).  If no POP3 session is active,
// Chilkat connects and authenticates automatically using the configured settings.

$mailman = new MailMan();

// Configure the POP3 server connection.
$mailman->MailHost = 'pop.example.com';
$mailman->MailPort = 995;
$mailman->PopSsl = true;
$mailman->PopUsername = 'user@example.com';
$mailman->PopPassword = 'myPassword';

// Check the mailbox.  A return value of -1 indicates an error.
$numMessages = $mailman->CheckMail();
echo 'Number of messages in the mailbox: ', $numMessages, "\n";

// Note: Explicitly connecting/authenticating is optional.  Chilkat MailMan automatically
// connects and authenticates -- using the property settings above -- whenever a server
// operation requires it.  Calling the explicit connect/authenticate methods can still be
// helpful to determine whether a failure occurs while connecting or while authenticating.