Class: Net::IMAP

Sets the debug mode.

Alias for .default_port.

Alias for .default_tls_port.

The default port for IMAP connections, port 143

Alias for .default_tls_port.

The default port for IMAPS connections, port 993

Encode a string from UTF-8 format to modified UTF-7.

Formats time as an IMAP-style date.

Formats time as an IMAP-style date-time.

Returns true if disconnected from the server.

Returns an initial greeting response from the server.

Seconds to wait until an IDLE response is received.

Seconds to wait until a connection is opened. If the IMAP object cannot open a connection within this time, it raises a Net::OpenTimeout exception. The default value is 30 seconds.

Returns all response handlers.

Returns recorded untagged responses. For example:

imap.select("inbox")
p imap.responses["EXISTS"][-1]
#=> 2
p imap.responses["UIDVALIDITY"][-1]
#=> 968263756

Sends a APPEND command to append the message to the end of the mailbox. The optional flags argument is an array of flags initially passed to the new message. The optional date_time argument specifies the creation time to assign to the new message; it defaults to the current time. For example:

imap.append("inbox", <<EOF.gsub(/\n/, "\r\n"), [:Seen], Time.now)
Subject: hello
From: shugo@ruby-lang.org
To: shugo@ruby-lang.org

hello world
EOF

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if the mailbox does not exist (it is not created automatically), or if the flags, date_time, or message arguments contain errors.

Sends an AUTHENTICATE command to authenticate the client. The auth_type parameter is a string that represents the authentication mechanism to be used. Currently IMAP supports the authentication mechanisms:

LOGIN:: login using cleartext user and password.
CRAM-MD5:: login with cleartext user and encrypted password
           (see [RFC-2195] for a full description).  This
           mechanism requires that the server have the user's
           password stored in clear-text password.

For both of these mechanisms, there should be two args: username and (cleartext) password. A server may not support one or the other of these mechanisms; check #capability for a capability of the form “AUTH=LOGIN” or “AUTH=CRAM-MD5”.

Authentication is done using the appropriate authenticator object: see add_authenticator for more information on plugging in your own authenticator.

For example:

imap.authenticate('LOGIN', user, password)

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if authentication fails.

Sends a CAPABILITY command, and returns an array of capabilities that the server supports. Each capability is a string. See [IMAP] for a list of possible capabilities.

Note that the IMAP class does not modify its behaviour according to the capabilities of the server; it is up to the user of the class to ensure that a certain capability is supported by a server before using it.

Sends a CHECK command to request a checkpoint of the currently selected mailbox. This performs implementation-specific housekeeping; for instance, reconciling the mailbox’s in-memory and on-disk state.

Sends a CLOSE command to close the currently selected mailbox. The CLOSE command permanently removes from the mailbox all messages that have the Deleted flag set.

Sends a COPY command to copy the specified message(s) to the end of the specified destination mailbox. The set parameter is a number, an array of numbers, or a Range object. The number is a message sequence number.

Sends a CREATE command to create a new mailbox.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if a mailbox with that name cannot be created.

Sends a DELETE command to remove the mailbox.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if a mailbox with that name cannot be deleted, either because it does not exist or because the client does not have permission to delete it.

Disconnects from the server.

Sends a EXAMINE command to select a mailbox so that messages in the mailbox can be accessed. Behaves the same as #select, except that the selected mailbox is identified as read-only.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if the mailbox does not exist or is for some reason non-examinable.

Sends a EXPUNGE command to permanently remove from the currently selected mailbox all messages that have the Deleted flag set.

Sends a FETCH command to retrieve data associated with a message in the mailbox.

The set parameter is a number or a range between two numbers, or an array of those. The number is a message sequence number, where -1 represents a ‘*’ for use in range notation like 100..-1 being interpreted as ‘100:*’. Beware that the exclude_end? property of a Range object is ignored, and the contents of a range are independent of the order of the range endpoints as per the protocol specification, so 1…5, 5..1 and 5…1 are all equivalent to 1..5.

attr is a list of attributes to fetch; see the documentation for IMAP::FetchData for a list of valid attributes.

The return value is an array of IMAP::FetchData or nil (instead of an empty array) if there is no matching message.

For example:

p imap.fetch(6..8, "UID")
#=> [#<Net::IMAP::FetchData seqno=6, attr={"UID"=>98}>, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::FetchData seqno=7, attr={"UID"=>99}>, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::FetchData seqno=8, attr={"UID"=>100}>]
p imap.fetch(6, "BODY[HEADER.FIELDS (SUBJECT)]")
#=> [#<Net::IMAP::FetchData seqno=6, attr={"BODY[HEADER.FIELDS (SUBJECT)]"=>"Subject: test\r\n\r\n"}>]
data = imap.uid_fetch(98, ["RFC822.SIZE", "INTERNALDATE"])[0]
p data.seqno
#=> 6
p data.attr["RFC822.SIZE"]
#=> 611
p data.attr["INTERNALDATE"]
#=> "12-Oct-2000 22:40:59 +0900"
p data.attr["UID"]
#=> 98

Send the GETACL command along with a specified mailbox. If this mailbox exists, an array containing objects of IMAP::MailboxACLItem will be returned.

The ACL extension is described in [EXT-ACL]

Sends the GETQUOTA command along with specified mailbox. If this mailbox exists, then an array containing a IMAP::MailboxQuota object is returned. This command is generally only available to server admin.

The QUOTA extension is described in [EXT-QUOTA]

Sends the GETQUOTAROOT command along with the specified mailbox. This command is generally available to both admin and user. If this mailbox exists, it returns an array containing objects of type IMAP::MailboxQuotaRoot and IMAP::MailboxQuota.

The QUOTA extension is described in [EXT-QUOTA]

Sends an ID command, and returns a hash of the server’s response, or nil if the server does not identify itself.

Note that the user should first check if the server supports the ID capability. For example:

capabilities = imap.capability
if capabilities.include?("ID")
  id = imap.id(
    name: "my IMAP client (ruby)",
    version: MyIMAP::VERSION,
    "support-url": "mailto:bugs@example.com",
    os: RbConfig::CONFIG["host_os"],
  )
end

See [EXT-ID] for field definitions.

Sends an IDLE command that waits for notifications of new or expunged messages. Yields responses from the server during the IDLE.

Use #idle_done to leave IDLE.

If timeout is given, this method returns after timeout seconds passed. timeout can be used for keep-alive. For example, the following code checks the connection for each 60 seconds.

loop do
  imap.idle(60) do |res|
    #...
  end
end

Leaves IDLE.

Sends a LIST command, and returns a subset of names from the complete set of all names available to the client. refname provides a context (for instance, a base directory in a directory-based mailbox hierarchy). mailbox specifies a mailbox or (via wildcards) mailboxes under that context. Two wildcards may be used in mailbox: ‘*’, which matches all characters including the hierarchy delimiter (for instance, ‘/’ on a UNIX-hosted directory-based mailbox hierarchy); and ‘%’, which matches all characters except the hierarchy delimiter.

If refname is empty, mailbox is used directly to determine which mailboxes to match. If mailbox is empty, the root name of refname and the hierarchy delimiter are returned.

The return value is an array of IMAP::MailboxList. For example:

imap.create("foo/bar")
imap.create("foo/baz")
p imap.list("", "foo/%")
#=> [#<Net::IMAP::MailboxList attr=[:Noselect], delim="/", name="foo/">, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::MailboxList attr=[:Noinferiors, :Marked], delim="/", name="foo/bar">, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::MailboxList attr=[:Noinferiors], delim="/", name="foo/baz">]

Sends a LOGIN command to identify the client and carries the plaintext password authenticating this user. Note that, unlike calling #authenticate with an auth_type of “LOGIN”, #login does not use the login authenticator.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if authentication fails.

Sends a LOGOUT command to inform the server that the client is done with the connection.

Sends a LSUB command, and returns a subset of names from the set of names that the user has declared as being “active” or “subscribed.” refname and mailbox are interpreted as for #list.

The return value is an array of IMAP::MailboxList.

Sends a MOVE command to move the specified message(s) to the end of the specified destination mailbox. The set parameter is a number, an array of numbers, or a Range object. The number is a message sequence number.

The MOVE extension is described in [EXT-MOVE].

Sends a NAMESPACE command and returns the namespaces that are available. The NAMESPACE command allows a client to discover the prefixes of namespaces used by a server for personal mailboxes, other users’ mailboxes, and shared mailboxes.

The NAMESPACE extension predates [IMAP4rev1], so most IMAP servers support it. Many popular IMAP servers are configured with the default personal namespaces as ‘(“” “/”)`: no prefix and “/” hierarchy delimiter. In that common case, the naive client may not have any trouble naming mailboxes.

But many servers are configured with the default personal namespace as e.g. ("INBOX." "."), placing all personal folders under INBOX, with “.” as the hierarchy delimiter. If the client does not check for this, but naively assumes it can use the same folder names for all servers, then folder creation (and listing, moving, etc) can lead to errors.

From RFC2342:

Although typically a server will support only a single Personal
Namespace, and a single Other User's Namespace, circumstances exist
where there MAY be multiples of these, and a client MUST be prepared
for them. If a client is configured such that it is required to create
a certain mailbox, there can be circumstances where it is unclear which
Personal Namespaces it should create the mailbox in. In these
situations a client SHOULD let the user select which namespaces to
create the mailbox in.

The user of this method should first check if the server supports the NAMESPACE capability. The return value is a IMAP::Namespaces object which has personal, other, and shared fields, each an array of IMAP::Namespace objects. These arrays will be empty when the server responds with nil.

For example:

capabilities = imap.capability
if capabilities.include?("NAMESPACE")
  namespaces = imap.namespace
  if namespace = namespaces.personal.first
    prefix = namespace.prefix  # e.g. "" or "INBOX."
    delim  = namespace.delim   # e.g. "/" or "."
    # personal folders should use the prefix and delimiter
    imap.create(prefix + "foo")
    imap.create(prefix + "bar")
    imap.create(prefix + %w[path to my folder].join(delim))
  end
end

The NAMESPACE extension is described in [EXT-NAMESPACE]

Sends a NOOP command to the server. It does nothing.

Removes the response handler.

Sends a RENAME command to change the name of the mailbox to newname.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if a mailbox with the name mailbox cannot be renamed to newname for whatever reason; for instance, because mailbox does not exist, or because there is already a mailbox with the name newname.

Sends a SEARCH command to search the mailbox for messages that match the given searching criteria, and returns message sequence numbers. keys can either be a string holding the entire search string, or a single-dimension array of search keywords and arguments. The following are some common search criteria; see [IMAP] section 6.4.4 for a full list.

<message set>

a set of message sequence numbers. ‘,’ indicates an interval, ‘:’ indicates a range. For instance, ‘2,10:12,15’ means “2,10,11,12,15”.

BEFORE <date>

messages with an internal date strictly before <date>. The date argument has a format similar to 8-Aug-2002.

BODY <string>

messages that contain <string> within their body.

CC <string>

messages containing <string> in their CC field.

FROM <string>

messages that contain <string> in their FROM field.

NEW

messages with the Recent, but not the Seen, flag set.

NOT <search-key>

negate the following search key.

OR <search-key> <search-key>

“or” two search keys together.

ON <date>

messages with an internal date exactly equal to <date>, which has a format similar to 8-Aug-2002.

SINCE <date>

messages with an internal date on or after <date>.

SUBJECT <string>

messages with <string> in their subject.

TO <string>

messages with <string> in their TO field.

For example:

p imap.search(["SUBJECT", "hello", "NOT", "NEW"])
#=> [1, 6, 7, 8]

Sends a SELECT command to select a mailbox so that messages in the mailbox can be accessed.

After you have selected a mailbox, you may retrieve the number of items in that mailbox from @responses[-1], and the number of recent messages from @responses[-1]. Note that these values can change if new messages arrive during a session; see #add_response_handler for a way of detecting this event.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if the mailbox does not exist or is for some reason non-selectable.

Sends the SETACL command along with mailbox, user and the rights that user is to have on that mailbox. If rights is nil, then that user will be stripped of any rights to that mailbox.

The ACL extension is described in [EXT-ACL]

Sends a SETQUOTA command along with the specified mailbox and quota. If quota is nil, then quota will be unset for that mailbox. Typically one needs to be logged in as a server admin for this to work.

The QUOTA extension is described in [EXT-QUOTA]

Sends a SORT command to sort messages in the mailbox. Returns an array of message sequence numbers. For example:

p imap.sort(["FROM"], ["ALL"], "US-ASCII")
#=> [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 4, 9]
p imap.sort(["DATE"], ["SUBJECT", "hello"], "US-ASCII")
#=> [6, 7, 8, 1]

The SORT extension is described in [EXT-SORT-THREAD].

Sends a STARTTLS command to start TLS session.

Sends a STATUS command, and returns the status of the indicated mailbox. attr is a list of one or more attributes whose statuses are to be requested. Supported attributes include:

MESSAGES:: the number of messages in the mailbox.
RECENT:: the number of recent messages in the mailbox.
UNSEEN:: the number of unseen messages in the mailbox.

The return value is a hash of attributes. For example:

p imap.status("inbox", ["MESSAGES", "RECENT"])
#=> {"RECENT"=>0, "MESSAGES"=>44}

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if status values for mailbox cannot be returned; for instance, because it does not exist.

Sends a STORE command to alter data associated with messages in the mailbox, in particular their flags. The set parameter is a number, an array of numbers, or a Range object. Each number is a message sequence number. attr is the name of a data item to store: ‘FLAGS’ will replace the message’s flag list with the provided one, ‘+FLAGS’ will add the provided flags, and ‘-FLAGS’ will remove them. flags is a list of flags.

The return value is an array of IMAP::FetchData. For example:

p imap.store(6..8, "+FLAGS", [:Deleted])
#=> [#<Net::IMAP::FetchData seqno=6, attr={"FLAGS"=>[:Seen, :Deleted]}>, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::FetchData seqno=7, attr={"FLAGS"=>[:Seen, :Deleted]}>, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::FetchData seqno=8, attr={"FLAGS"=>[:Seen, :Deleted]}>]

Sends a SUBSCRIBE command to add the specified mailbox name to the server’s set of “active” or “subscribed” mailboxes as returned by #lsub.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if mailbox cannot be subscribed to; for instance, because it does not exist.

Similar to #search, but returns message sequence numbers in threaded format, as a IMAP::ThreadMember tree. The supported algorithms are:

ORDEREDSUBJECT

split into single-level threads according to subject, ordered by date.

REFERENCES

split into threads by parent/child relationships determined by which message is a reply to which.

Unlike #search, charset is a required argument. US-ASCII and UTF-8 are sample values.

The THREAD extension is described in [EXT-SORT-THREAD].

Similar to #copy, but set contains unique identifiers.

Similar to #fetch, but set contains unique identifiers.

Similar to #move, but set contains unique identifiers.

The MOVE extension is described in [EXT-MOVE].

Similar to #search, but returns unique identifiers.

Similar to #sort, but returns an array of unique identifiers.

The SORT extension is described in [EXT-SORT-THREAD].

Similar to #store, but set contains unique identifiers.

Similar to #thread, but returns unique identifiers instead of message sequence numbers.

The THREAD extension is described in [EXT-SORT-THREAD].

Sends a UNSUBSCRIBE command to remove the specified mailbox name from the server’s set of “active” or “subscribed” mailboxes.

A IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if mailbox cannot be unsubscribed from; for instance, because the client is not currently subscribed to it.

Sends a XLIST command, and returns a subset of names from the complete set of all names available to the client. refname provides a context (for instance, a base directory in a directory-based mailbox hierarchy). mailbox specifies a mailbox or (via wildcards) mailboxes under that context. Two wildcards may be used in mailbox: ‘*’, which matches all characters including the hierarchy delimiter (for instance, ‘/’ on a UNIX-hosted directory-based mailbox hierarchy); and ‘%’, which matches all characters except the hierarchy delimiter.

If refname is empty, mailbox is used directly to determine which mailboxes to match. If mailbox is empty, the root name of refname and the hierarchy delimiter are returned.

The XLIST command is like the LIST command except that the flags returned refer to the function of the folder/mailbox, e.g. :Sent

The return value is an array of IMAP::MailboxList. For example:

imap.create("foo/bar")
imap.create("foo/baz")
p imap.xlist("", "foo/%")
#=> [#<Net::IMAP::MailboxList attr=[:Noselect], delim="/", name="foo/">, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::MailboxList attr=[:Noinferiors, :Marked], delim="/", name="foo/bar">, \\
     #<Net::IMAP::MailboxList attr=[:Noinferiors], delim="/", name="foo/baz">]