CkPython

Fetch an IMAP Attachment into a BinData

Demonstrates the Chilkat Imap.FetchAttachmentBd method, which stores one attachment's bytes in a BinData object. The first argument is the Email, the second is the zero-based attachment index, and the third is the BinData, which is cleared before the operation. This example fetches the first attachment and prints its byte count.

Background: A BinData holds raw bytes, so it works for any attachment type — image, PDF, zip, and so on. From there you can save it, hash it, or hand it to another API expecting a byte buffer, all without touching the filesystem. Use the string/StringBuilder variants only when the attachment is known to be text.

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import sys
import chilkat

success = False

#  Demonstrates the Imap.FetchAttachmentBd method, which downloads one attachment's bytes into
#  a BinData object.  The 1st argument is the Email, the 2nd is the zero-based attachment
#  index, and the 3rd is the BinData (which is cleared first).
#  
#  The message is fetched headers-only, then the attachment is downloaded on demand.

imap = chilkat.CkImap()

imap.put_Ssl(True)
imap.put_Port(993)

success = imap.Connect("imap.example.com")
if (success == False):
    print(imap.lastErrorText())
    sys.exit()

success = imap.Login("user@example.com","myPassword")
if (success == False):
    print(imap.lastErrorText())
    sys.exit()

success = imap.SelectMailbox("Inbox")
if (success == False):
    print(imap.lastErrorText())
    sys.exit()

#  Fetch only the message headers.  Attachment bodies are NOT downloaded, but the ckx-imap-*
#  metadata describing the attachments is present, so the attachment info methods still work.
headersOnly = True
useUid = False
seqNum = 1
email = chilkat.CkEmail()
success = imap.FetchEmail(headersOnly,seqNum,useUid,email)
if (success == False):
    print(imap.lastErrorText())
    sys.exit()

numAttach = imap.GetMailNumAttach(email)
if (numAttach > 0):
    #  Download just the first attachment's bytes from the server into a BinData.
    bd = chilkat.CkBinData()
    success = imap.FetchAttachmentBd(email,0,bd)
    if (success == False):
        print(imap.lastErrorText())
        sys.exit()

    print("Attachment size: " + str(bd.get_NumBytes()) + " bytes")

success = imap.Disconnect()
if (success == False):
    print(imap.lastErrorText())
    sys.exit()