CkPython

Fetch a Text IMAP Attachment as a String

Demonstrates the Chilkat Imap.FetchAttachmentString method, which returns one text attachment decoded to a string. The first argument is the Email, the second is the zero-based attachment index, and the third is the charset used to decode the bytes. This example returns the first attachment as a UTF-8 string.

Background: This is the convenient form when you simply want a small text attachment's content inline as a string. Only use it for attachments known to be text; decoding binary content through a charset can alter or corrupt the bytes. For binary data use FetchAttachmentBd, and for large text a StringBuilder (via FetchAttachmentSb) avoids an extra copy.

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import sys
import chilkat

success = False

#  Demonstrates the Imap.FetchAttachmentString method, which downloads one text attachment and
#  returns it decoded to a string.  The 1st argument is the Email, the 2nd is the zero-based
#  attachment index, and the 3rd is the charset used to decode the bytes.
#  
#  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):
    #  FetchAttachmentString returns a string, so assign it to a string variable.
    attachText = imap.fetchAttachmentString(email,0,"utf-8")
    if (imap.get_LastMethodSuccess() == False):
        print(imap.lastErrorText())
        sys.exit()

    print(attachText)

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