Tcl

Search an IMAP Mailbox

Demonstrates the Chilkat Imap.QueryMbx method, which searches the selected mailbox using IMAP search criteria and stores the matching message identifiers in a MessageSet. If bUid is true, the identifiers are UIDs; otherwise they are sequence numbers. This example finds unseen messages and lists their UIDs.

Background: IMAP search runs on the server, so you can find matching messages without downloading them. The criteria string is standard IMAP search syntax — for example UNSEEN, FROM "alice@example.com", SUBJECT "invoice", or SINCE 1-Jan-2026 — and terms can be combined. The result is a MessageSet of identifiers you then fetch, flag, copy, or move. Requesting UIDs (bUid = true) is preferred because UIDs remain valid across sessions.

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Tcl


load ./chilkat.dll

set success 0

#  Demonstrates the Imap.QueryMbx method, which searches the selected mailbox using IMAP
#  search criteria and stores the matching message identifiers in a MessageSet.  If bUid is
#  1, the identifiers are UIDs; otherwise they are sequence numbers.

set imap [new_CkImap]

CkImap_put_Ssl $imap 1
CkImap_put_Port $imap 993

set success [CkImap_Connect $imap "imap.example.com"]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    exit
}

set success [CkImap_Login $imap "user@example.com" "myPassword"]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    exit
}

set success [CkImap_SelectMailbox $imap "Inbox"]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    exit
}

#  Search for unseen (unread) messages, returning their UIDs.
set msgSet [new_CkMessageSet]

set success [CkImap_QueryMbx $imap "UNSEEN" 1 $msgSet]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    delete_CkMessageSet $msgSet
    exit
}

#  Iterate the matching message identifiers.
set n [CkMessageSet_get_Count $msgSet]
puts "Matching messages: $n"

for {set i 0} {$i <= [expr $n - 1]} {incr i} {
    puts "UID: [CkMessageSet_GetId $msgSet $i]"
}

set success [CkImap_Disconnect $imap]
if {$success == 0} then {
    puts [CkImap_lastErrorText $imap]
    delete_CkImap $imap
    delete_CkMessageSet $msgSet
    exit
}


delete_CkImap $imap
delete_CkMessageSet $msgSet