path: root/tcllib/modules/imap4/imap4.man

[manpage_begin imap4 n 0.5.3]
[see_also ftp]
[see_also http]
[see_also imap]
[see_also mime]
[see_also pop3]
[see_also tls]
[keywords email]
[keywords imap]
[keywords internet]
[keywords mail]
[keywords net]
[keywords rfc3501]
[keywords ssl]
[keywords tls]
[moddesc   {imap client}]
[titledesc {imap client-side tcl implementation of imap protocol}]

[require Tcl 8.5]
[require imap4 [opt 0.5.2]]

[description]

The [package imap4] library package provides the client side of the
[emph "Internet Message Access Protocol"] (IMAP) using standard
sockets or secure connection via TLS/SSL.
The package is fully implemented in Tcl.

[para]
This document describes the procedures and explains their usage.

[section "PROCEDURES"]
This package defines the following public procedures:

[list_begin definitions]
[call [cmd ::imap4::open] [arg hostname] [opt [arg port]]]
[para]Open a new IMAP connection and initalize the handler,
the imap communication channel (handler) is returned.
[para][arg hostname] - mail server
[para][arg port] - connection port, defaults to 143
[para]The namespace variable [option ::imap4::use_ssl]
can be used to establish to a secure connection
via TSL/SSL if set to true. In this case default connection port
defaults to 993.
[para][emph Note:]
For connecting via SSL the Tcl module [emph tls] must be already
loaded otherwise an error is raised.
[example {
    package require tls              ; # must be loaded for TLS/SSL
    set ::imap4::use_ssl 1           ; # request a secure connection
    set chan [::imap4::open $server] ; # default port is now 993 }]

[call [cmd ::imap4::starttls] [arg chan]]

Use this when tasked with connecting to an unsecure port which must be
changed to a secure port prior to user login.  This feature is known
as [term STARTTLS].

[call [cmd ::imap4::login] [arg chan] [arg user] [arg pass]]
[para]Login using the IMAP LOGIN command, 0 is returned on successful login.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg user] - username
[para][arg pass] - password

[call [cmd ::imap4::folders] [arg chan] [opt [arg "-inline"]] [opt [arg mboxref]] [opt [arg mboxname]]]
[para]Get list of matching folders, 0 is returned on success.
[para]Wildcards '*' as '%' are allowed for [arg mboxref] and [arg mboxname],
command [cmd ::imap4::folderinfo] can be used to retrieve folder information.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mboxref] - mailbox reference, defaults to ""
[para][arg mboxname] - mailbox name, defaults to "*"
[para]If [option "-inline"] is specified a compact folderlist is
returned instead of the result code. All flags are converted to
lowercase and leading special characters are removed.
[example {{{Arc08 noselect} {Arc08/Private {noinferiors unmarked}} {INBOX noinferiors}}}]

[call [cmd ::imap4::select] [arg chan] [opt [arg mailbox]]]
[para]Select a mailbox, 0 is returned on success.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mailbox] - Path of the mailbox,  defaults to [emph INBOX]
[para]Prior to examine/select an open mailbox must be closed - see: [cmd ::imap4::close].

[call [cmd ::imap4::examine] [arg chan] [opt [arg mailbox]]]
[para]"Examines" a mailbox, read-only equivalent of [cmd ::imap4::select].
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mailbox] - mailbox name or path to mailbox,
defaults to [emph INBOX]
[para]Prior to examine/select an open mailbox must be closed - see: [cmd ::imap4::close].

[call [cmd ::imap4::fetch] [arg chan] [arg range] [opt [arg -inline]] [opt [arg "attr ..."]]]
[para]Fetch attributes from messages.
[para]The attributes are fetched and stored in the internal state
which can be retrieved with command [cmd ::imap4::msginfo], 0 is returned
on success.
If [option -inline] is specified, alle records are returned as list
in order as defined in the [arg attr] argument.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg range] - message index in format [emph FROM]:[emph TO]
[para][arg attr] - imap attributes to fetch
[para][emph Note:]
If [emph FROM] is omitted, the 1st message is assumed,
if [emph TO] is ommitted the last message is assumed.
All message index ranges are 1-based.

[call [cmd ::imap4::noop] [arg chan]]
Send NOOP command to server. May get information as untagged data.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel

[call [cmd ::imap4::check] [arg chan]]
Send CHECK command to server. Flush to disk.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel

[call [cmd ::imap4::folderinfo] [arg chan] [opt [arg info]]]
[para]Get information on the recently selected folderlist.
If the [arg info] argument is omitted or a null string, the full list
of information available for the mailbox is returned.
[para]If the required information name is suffixed with a ? character,
the command returns true if the information is available, or
false if it is not.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg info] - folderlist options to retrieve
[para]
Currently supported options:
[emph delim] - hierarchy delimiter only,
[emph match] - ref and mbox search patterns (see [cmd ::imap4::folders]),
[emph names] - list of folder names only,
[emph flags] - list of folder names with flags in format
[emph "{ {name {flags}} ... }"] (see also compact format in function
[cmd ::imap4::folders]).
[example {
{{Arc08 {{\NoSelect}}} {Arc08/Private {{\NoInferiors} {\UnMarked}}} {INBOX {\NoInferiors}}}
}]
[call [cmd ::imap4::msginfo] [arg chan] [arg msgid] [opt [arg info]] [opt [arg defval]]]
[para]Get information (from previously collected using fetch) from a given
[emph msgid]. If the 'info' argument is omitted or a null string,
the list of available information options for the given message is
returned.
[para]If the required information name is suffixed with a ? character,
the command returns true if the information is available, or
false if it is not.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg msgid] - message number
[para][arg info] - imap keyword to retrieve
[para][arg defval] - default value, returned if info is empty

[para]
[emph Note:]
All message index ranges are 1-based.

[call [cmd ::imap4::mboxinfo] [arg chan] [opt [arg info]]]
[para]Get information on the currently selected mailbox.
If the [arg info] argument is omitted or a null string, the list
of available information options for the mailbox is returned.
[para]If the required information name is suffixed with a ? character,
the command returns true if the information is available, or
false if it is not.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg opt] - mailbox option to retrieve
[para]
Currently supported options:
[emph EXISTS] (noof msgs),
[emph RECENT] (noof 'recent' flagged msgs),
[emph FLAGS]
[para]In conjunction with OK:
[emph PERMFLAGS], [emph UIDNEXT], [emph UIDVAL], [emph UNSEEN]
[para]Div. states:
[emph CURRENT], [emph FOUND], [emph PERM].

[example {
    ::imap4::select $chan INBOX
    puts "[::imap4::mboxinfo $chan exists] mails in INBOX"}]

[call [cmd ::imap4::isableto] [arg chan] [opt [arg capability]]]
[para]Test for capability.
It returns 1 if requested capability is supported, 0 otherwise.
If [arg capability] is omitted all capability imap
codes are retured as list.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg info] - imap keyword to retrieve

[para]
[emph Note:]
Use the capability command to ask the server if not
already done by the user.

[call [cmd ::imap4::create] [arg chan] [arg mailbox]]
[para]Create a new mailbox.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mailbox] - mailbox name

[call [cmd ::imap4::delete] [arg chan] [arg mailbox]]
[para]Delete a new mailbox.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mailbox] - mailbox name

[call [cmd ::imap4::rename] [arg chan] [arg oldname] [arg newname]]
[para]Rename a new mailbox.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mailbox] - old mailbox name
[para][arg mailbox] - new mailbox name

[call [cmd ::imap4::subscribe] [arg chan] [arg mailbox]]
[para]Subscribe a new mailbox.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mailbox] - mailbox name

[call [cmd ::imap4::unsubscribe] [arg chan] [arg mailbox]]
[para]Unsubscribe a new mailbox.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg mailbox] - mailbox name

[call [cmd ::imap4::search] [arg chan] [arg expr] [opt [arg "..."]] ]
[para]Search for mails matching search criterions, 0 is returned on success.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg expr] - imap search expression

[para]
[emph Notes:]
Currently the following search expressions are handled:
[para][emph "Mail header flags:"]
all mail header entries (ending with a colon ":"), like "From:", "Bcc:", ...
[para][emph "Imap message search flags:"]
ANSWERED, DELETED, DRAFT, FLAGGED, RECENT,
SEEN, NEW, OLD, UNANSWERED, UNDELETED,
UNDRAFT, UNFLAGGED, UNSEEN, ALL
[para][emph "Imap header search flags:"]
BODY, CC, FROM, SUBJECT, TEXT, KEYWORD, BCC
[para][emph "Imap conditional search flags:"]
SMALLER, LARGER, ON, SENTBEFORE, SENTON, SENTSINCE, SINCE,
BEFORE (not implemented),
UID (not implemented)
[para][emph "Logical search conditions:"]
OR, NOT
[example {::imap4::search $chan larger 4000 seen
puts "Found messages: [::imap4::mboxinfo $chan found]"
Found messages: 1 3 6 7 8 9 13 14 15 19 20}]

[call [cmd ::imap4::close] [arg chan]]
[para]Close the mailbox. Permanently removes \Deleted messages and
return to the AUTH state.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel

[call [cmd ::imap4::cleanup] [arg chan]]
[para]Destroy an IMAP connection and free the used space.
Close the mailbox. Permanently removes \Deleted messages
and return to the AUTH state.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel

[call [cmd ::imap4::debugmode] [arg chan] [opt [arg errormsg]]]
Switch client into command line debug mode.
[para]This is a developers mode only that pass the control to the
programmer. Every line entered is sent verbatim to the
server (after the addition of the request identifier).
The ::imap4::debug variable is automatically set to '1' on enter.
[para]It's possible to execute Tcl commands starting the line
with a slash.
[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg errormsg] - optional error message to display

[call [cmd ::imap4::store] [arg chan] [arg range] [arg data] [arg flaglist]]

[para] Alters data associated with a message in the selected
mailbox.

[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg range] - message index in format [emph FROM]:[emph TO]
[para][arg flaglist] - Flags the [arg data] operates on.
[para][arg data] - The currently defined [arg data] items that can be
stored are shown below. [emph Note] that all of these data types may
also be suffixed with ".SILENT" to suppress the untagged FETCH
response.

[list_begin definitions]
[def FLAGS]
Replace the flags for the message (other than \Recent) with the
[arg flaglist].
[def "+FLAGS"]
Add the flags in [arg flaglist] to the existing flags for the message.
[def "-FLAGS"]
Remove the flags in [arg flaglist] to the existing flags for the
message.
[list_end]

For example:
[example {
	::imap4::store $chan $start_msgid:$end_msgid +FLAGS "Deleted"
}]

[call [cmd ::imap4::expunge] [arg chan]]

[para] Permanently removes all messages that have the \Deleted flag
set from the currently selected mailbox, without the need to close the
connection.

[para][arg chan] - imap channel

[call [cmd ::imap4::copy] [arg chan] [arg msgid] [arg mailbox]]

[para] Copies the specified message (identified by its message number)
to the named mailbox, i.e. imap folder.

[para][arg chan] - imap channel
[para][arg msgid] - message number
[para][arg mailbox] - mailbox name

[call [cmd ::imap4::logout] [arg chan]]

[para] Informs the server that the client is done with the connection
and closes the network connection. Permanently removes \Deleted
messages.

[para] A new connection will need to be established to login once
more.

[para][arg chan] - imap channel

[list_end]

[section EXAMPLES]

[example_begin]
    set user myusername
    set pass xtremescrt
    set server imap.test.tld
    set FOLDER INBOX
    # Connect to server
    set imap [lb]::imap4::open $server[rb]
    ::imap4::login $imap $user $pass
    ::imap4::select $imap $FOLDER
    # Output all the information about that mailbox
    foreach info [lb]::imap4::mboxinfo $imap[rb] {
        puts "$info -> [lb]::imap4::mboxinfo $imap $info[rb]"
    }
    # fetch 3 records inline
    set fields {from: to: subject: size}
    foreach rec [lb]::imap4::fetch $imap :3 -inline {*}$fields[rb] {
        puts -nonewline "#[lb]incr idx[rb])"
        for {set j 0} {$j<[lb]llength $fields[rb]} {incr j} {
            puts "\t[lb]lindex $fields $j[rb] [lb]lindex $rec $j[rb]"
        }
    }

    # Show all the information available about the message ID 1
    puts "Available info about message 1: [lb]::imap4::msginfo $imap 1[rb]"

    # Use the capability stuff
    puts "Capabilities: [lb]::imap4::isableto $imap[rb]"
    puts "Is able to imap4rev1? [lb]::imap4::isableto $imap imap4rev1[rb]"

    # Cleanup
    ::imap4::cleanup $imap
[example_end]

[include ../common-text/tls-security-notes.inc]

[section REFERENCES]
Mark R. Crispin, "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1",
RFC 3501, March 2003, [uri http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3501.txt]

[para]
OpenSSL, [uri http://www.openssl.org/]

[vset CATEGORY imap4]
[include ../doctools2base/include/feedback.inc]

Only a small part of rfc3501 implemented.
[manpage_end]