Unicode C

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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#include <C_CkImapW.h>
#include <C_CkMessageSetW.h>

void ChilkatSample(void)
    {
    BOOL success;
    HCkImapW imap;
    HCkMessageSetW msgSet;
    int n;
    int i;

    success = FALSE;

    //  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
    //  TRUE, the identifiers are UIDs; otherwise they are sequence numbers.

    imap = CkImapW_Create();

    CkImapW_putSsl(imap,TRUE);
    CkImapW_putPort(imap,993);

    success = CkImapW_Connect(imap,L"imap.example.com");
    if (success == FALSE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        return;
    }

    success = CkImapW_Login(imap,L"user@example.com",L"myPassword");
    if (success == FALSE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        return;
    }

    success = CkImapW_SelectMailbox(imap,L"Inbox");
    if (success == FALSE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        return;
    }

    //  Search for unseen (unread) messages, returning their UIDs.
    msgSet = CkMessageSetW_Create();
    success = CkImapW_QueryMbx(imap,L"UNSEEN",TRUE,msgSet);
    if (success == FALSE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        CkMessageSetW_Dispose(msgSet);
        return;
    }

    //  Iterate the matching message identifiers.
    n = CkMessageSetW_getCount(msgSet);
    wprintf(L"Matching messages: %d\n",n);

    for (i = 0; i <= n - 1; i++) {
        wprintf(L"UID: %u\n",CkMessageSetW_GetId(msgSet,i));
    }

    success = CkImapW_Disconnect(imap);
    if (success == FALSE) {
        wprintf(L"%s\n",CkImapW_lastErrorText(imap));
        CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
        CkMessageSetW_Dispose(msgSet);
        return;
    }



    CkImapW_Dispose(imap);
    CkMessageSetW_Dispose(msgSet);

    }