VB.NET

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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Dim success As Boolean = 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.

Dim imap As New Chilkat.Imap

imap.Ssl = True
imap.Port = 993

success = imap.Connect("imap.example.com")
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

success = imap.Login("user@example.com","myPassword")
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


success = imap.SelectMailbox("Inbox")
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Search for unseen (unread) messages, returning their UIDs.
Dim msgSet As New Chilkat.MessageSet
success = imap.QueryMbx("UNSEEN",True,msgSet)
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Iterate the matching message identifiers.
Dim n As Integer = msgSet.Count
Debug.WriteLine("Matching messages: " & n)
Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To n - 1
    Debug.WriteLine("UID: " & msgSet.GetId(i))
Next

success = imap.Disconnect()
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(imap.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If