Class: Net::IMAP

Inherits:
Protocol show all
Includes:
MonitorMixin, OpenSSL, SSL
Defined in:
lib/net/imap.rb

Overview

Net::IMAP implements Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) client functionality. The protocol is described in [IMAP].

IMAP Overview

An IMAP client connects to a server, and then authenticates itself using either #authenticate() or #login(). Having authenticated itself, there is a range of commands available to it. Most work with mailboxes, which may be arranged in an hierarchical namespace, and each of which contains zero or more messages. How this is implemented on the server is implementation-dependent; on a UNIX server, it will frequently be implemented as files in mailbox format within a hierarchy of directories.

To work on the messages within a mailbox, the client must first select that mailbox, using either #select() or (for read-only access) #examine(). Once the client has successfully selected a mailbox, they enter selected state, and that mailbox becomes the current mailbox, on which mail-item related commands implicitly operate.

Messages have two sorts of identifiers: message sequence numbers and UIDs.

Message sequence numbers number messages within a mailbox from 1 up to the number of items in the mailbox. If a new message arrives during a session, it receives a sequence number equal to the new size of the mailbox. If messages are expunged from the mailbox, remaining messages have their sequence numbers “shuffled down” to fill the gaps.

UIDs, on the other hand, are permanently guaranteed not to identify another message within the same mailbox, even if the existing message is deleted. UIDs are required to be assigned in ascending (but not necessarily sequential) order within a mailbox; this means that if a non-IMAP client rearranges the order of mailitems within a mailbox, the UIDs have to be reassigned. An IMAP client thus cannot rearrange message orders.

Examples of Usage

List sender and subject of all recent messages in the default mailbox

imap = Net::IMAP.new('mail.example.com')
imap.authenticate('LOGIN', 'joe_user', 'joes_password')
imap.examine('INBOX')
imap.search(["RECENT"]).each do |message_id|
  envelope = imap.fetch(message_id, "ENVELOPE")[0].attr["ENVELOPE"]
  puts "#{envelope.from[0].name}: \t#{envelope.subject}"
end

Move all messages from April 2003 from “Mail/sent-mail” to “Mail/sent-apr03”

imap = Net::IMAP.new('mail.example.com')
imap.authenticate('LOGIN', 'joe_user', 'joes_password')
imap.select('Mail/sent-mail')
if not imap.list('Mail/', 'sent-apr03')
  imap.create('Mail/sent-apr03')
end
imap.search(["BEFORE", "30-Apr-2003", "SINCE", "1-Apr-2003"]).each do |message_id|
  imap.copy(message_id, "Mail/sent-apr03")
  imap.store(message_id, "+FLAGS", [:Deleted])
end
imap.expunge

Thread Safety

Net::IMAP supports concurrent threads. For example,

imap = Net::IMAP.new("imap.foo.net", "imap2")
imap.authenticate("cram-md5", "bar", "password")
imap.select("inbox")
fetch_thread = Thread.start { imap.fetch(1..-1, "UID") }
search_result = imap.search(["BODY", "hello"])
fetch_result = fetch_thread.value
imap.disconnect

This script invokes the FETCH command and the SEARCH command concurrently.

Errors

An IMAP server can send three different types of responses to indicate failure:

NO

the attempted command could not be successfully completed. For instance, the username/password used for logging in are incorrect; the selected mailbox does not exist; etc.

BAD

the request from the client does not follow the server’s understanding of the IMAP protocol. This includes attempting commands from the wrong client state; for instance, attempting to perform a SEARCH command without having SELECTed a current mailbox. It can also signal an internal server failure (such as a disk crash) has occurred.

BYE

the server is saying goodbye. This can be part of a normal logout sequence, and can be used as part of a login sequence to indicate that the server is (for some reason) unwilling to accept your connection. As a response to any other command, it indicates either that the server is shutting down, or that the server is timing out the client connection due to inactivity.

These three error response are represented by the errors Net::IMAP::NoResponseError, Net::IMAP::BadResponseError, and Net::IMAP::ByeResponseError, all of which are subclasses of Net::IMAP::ResponseError. Essentially, all methods that involve sending a request to the server can generate one of these errors. Only the most pertinent instances have been documented below.

Because the IMAP class uses Sockets for communication, its methods are also susceptible to the various errors that can occur when working with sockets. These are generally represented as Errno errors. For instance, any method that involves sending a request to the server and/or receiving a response from it could raise an Errno::EPIPE error if the network connection unexpectedly goes down. See the socket(7), ip(7), tcp(7), socket(2), connect(2), and associated man pages.

Finally, a Net::IMAP::DataFormatError is thrown if low-level data is found to be in an incorrect format (for instance, when converting between UTF-8 and UTF-16), and Net::IMAP::ResponseParseError is thrown if a server response is non-parseable.

References

[IMAP]

  1. Crispin, “INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1”,

RFC 2060, December 1996. (Note: since obsoleted by RFC 3501)

[LANGUAGE-TAGS]

Alvestrand, H., “Tags for the Identification of Languages”, RFC 1766, March 1995.

[MD5]

Myers, J., and M. Rose, “The Content-MD5 Header Field”, RFC 1864, October 1995.

[MIME-IMB]

Freed, N., and N. Borenstein, “MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies”, RFC 2045, November 1996.

[RFC-822]

Crocker, D., “Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages”, STD 11, RFC 822, University of Delaware, August 1982.

[RFC-2087]

Myers, J., “IMAP4 QUOTA extension”, RFC 2087, January 1997.

[RFC-2086]

Myers, J., “IMAP4 ACL extension”, RFC 2086, January 1997.

[RFC-2195]

Klensin, J., Catoe, R., and Krumviede, P., “IMAP/POP AUTHorize Extension for Simple Challenge/Response”, RFC 2195, September 1997.

[SORT-THREAD-EXT]

Crispin, M., “INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - SORT and THREAD Extensions”, draft-ietf-imapext-sort, May 2003.

[OSSL]

www.openssl.org

[RSSL]

savannah.gnu.org/projects/rubypki

[UTF7]

Goldsmith, D. and Davis, M., “UTF-7: A Mail-Safe Transformation Format of Unicode”, RFC 2152, May 1997.

Defined Under Namespace

Modules: NumValidator Classes: Address, Atom, BadResponseError, BodyTypeAttachment, BodyTypeBasic, BodyTypeExtension, BodyTypeMessage, BodyTypeMultipart, BodyTypeText, ByeResponseError, ContentDisposition, ContinuationRequest, CramMD5Authenticator, DataFormatError, DigestMD5Authenticator, Envelope, Error, FetchData, FlagCountError, Literal, LoginAuthenticator, MailboxACLItem, MailboxList, MailboxQuota, MailboxQuotaRoot, MessageSet, NoResponseError, PlainAuthenticator, QuotedString, RawData, ResponseCode, ResponseError, ResponseParseError, ResponseParser, ResponseText, StatusData, TaggedResponse, ThreadMember, UntaggedResponse

Constant Summary collapse

SEEN =

Flag indicating a message has been seen.

:Seen
ANSWERED =

Flag indicating a message has been answered.

:Answered
FLAGGED =

Flag indicating a message has been flagged for special or urgent attention.

:Flagged
DELETED =

Flag indicating a message has been marked for deletion. This will occur when the mailbox is closed or expunged.

:Deleted
DRAFT =

Flag indicating a message is only a draft or work-in-progress version.

:Draft
RECENT =

Flag indicating that the message is “recent,” meaning that this session is the first session in which the client has been notified of this message.

:Recent
NOINFERIORS =

Flag indicating that a mailbox context name cannot contain children.

:Noinferiors
NOSELECT =

Flag indicating that a mailbox is not selected.

:Noselect
MARKED =

Flag indicating that a mailbox has been marked “interesting” by the server; this commonly indicates that the mailbox contains new messages.

:Marked
UNMARKED =

Flag indicating that the mailbox does not contains new messages.

:Unmarked

Instance Attribute Summary collapse

Class Method Summary collapse

Instance Method Summary collapse

Instance Attribute Details

#client_thread ⇒ Object

The thread to receive exceptions.



231
232
233
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 231

def client_thread
  @client_thread
end

#greeting ⇒ Object (readonly)

Returns an initial greeting response from the server.



211
212
213
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 211

def greeting
  @greeting
end

#open_timeout ⇒ Object (readonly)

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.



228
229
230
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 228

def open_timeout
  @open_timeout
end

#response_handlers ⇒ Object (readonly)

Returns all response handlers.



223
224
225
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 223

def response_handlers
  @response_handlers
end

#responses ⇒ Object (readonly)

Returns recorded untagged responses. For example:

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



220
221
222
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 220

def responses
  @responses
end

Class Method Details

.add_authenticator(auth_type, authenticator) ⇒ Object

Adds an authenticator for Net::IMAP#authenticate. auth_type is the type of authentication this authenticator supports (for instance, “LOGIN”). The authenticator is an object which defines a process() method to handle authentication with the server. See Net::IMAP::LoginAuthenticator, Net::IMAP::CramMD5Authenticator, and Net::IMAP::DigestMD5Authenticator for examples.

If auth_type refers to an existing authenticator, it will be replaced by the new one.



301
302
303
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 301

def self.add_authenticator(auth_type, authenticator)
  @@authenticators[auth_type] = authenticator
end

.debug ⇒ Object

Returns the debug mode.



271
272
273
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 271

def self.debug
  return @@debug
end

.debug=(val) ⇒ Object

Sets the debug mode.



276
277
278
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 276

def self.debug=(val)
  return @@debug = val
end

.decode_utf7(s) ⇒ Object

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

UTF-7 is a 7-bit encoding of Unicode [UTF7]. IMAP uses a slightly modified version of this to encode mailbox names containing non-ASCII characters; see [IMAP] section 5.1.3.

Net::IMAP does not automatically encode and decode mailbox names to and from UTF-7.



999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 999

def self.decode_utf7(s)
  return s.gsub(/&([^-]+)?-/n) {
    if $1
      ($1.tr(",", "/") + "===").unpack1("m").encode(Encoding::UTF_8, Encoding::UTF_16BE)
    else
      "&"
    end
  }
end

.default_port ⇒ Object Also known as: default_imap_port

The default port for IMAP connections, port 143



306
307
308
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 306

def self.default_port
  return PORT
end

.default_tls_port ⇒ Object Also known as: default_imaps_port, default_ssl_port

The default port for IMAPS connections, port 993



311
312
313
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 311

def self.default_tls_port
  return SSL_PORT
end

.encode_utf7(s) ⇒ Object

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



1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 1010

def self.encode_utf7(s)
  return s.gsub(/(&)|[^\x20-\x7e]+/) {
    if $1
      "&-"
    else
      base64 = [$&.encode(Encoding::UTF_16BE)].pack("m0")
      "&" + base64.delete("=").tr("/", ",") + "-"
    end
  }.force_encoding("ASCII-8BIT")
end

.format_date(time) ⇒ Object

Formats time as an IMAP-style date.



1022
1023
1024
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 1022

def self.format_date(time)
  return time.strftime('%d-%b-%Y')
end

.format_datetime(time) ⇒ Object

Formats time as an IMAP-style date-time.



1027
1028
1029
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 1027

def self.format_datetime(time)
  return time.strftime('%d-%b-%Y %H:%M %z')
end

.max_flag_count ⇒ Object

Returns the max number of flags interned to symbols.



281
282
283
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 281

def self.max_flag_count
  return @@max_flag_count
end

.max_flag_count=(count) ⇒ Object

Sets the max number of flags interned to symbols.



286
287
288
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 286

def self.max_flag_count=(count)
  @@max_flag_count = count
end

Instance Method Details

#add_response_handler(handler = Proc.new) ⇒ Object

Adds a response handler. For example, to detect when the server sends a new EXISTS response (which normally indicates new messages being added to the mailbox), add the following handler after selecting the mailbox:

imap.add_response_handler { |resp|
  if resp.kind_of?(Net::IMAP::UntaggedResponse) and resp.name == "EXISTS"
    puts "Mailbox now has #{resp.data} messages"
  end
}



906
907
908
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 906

def add_response_handler(handler = Proc.new)
  @response_handlers.push(handler)
end

#append(mailbox, message, flags = nil, date_time = nil) ⇒ Object

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: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

hello world
EOF

A Net::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.



699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 699

def append(mailbox, message, flags = nil, date_time = nil)
  args = []
  if flags
    args.push(flags)
  end
  args.push(date_time) if date_time
  args.push(Literal.new(message))
  send_command("APPEND", mailbox, *args)
end

#authenticate(auth_type, *args) ⇒ Object

Sends an AUTHENTICATE command to authenticate the client. The auth_type parameter is a string that represents the authentication mechanism to be used. Currently Net::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 @@authenticators for more information on plugging in your own authenticator.

For example:

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

A Net::IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if authentication fails.



417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 417

def authenticate(auth_type, *args)
  auth_type = auth_type.upcase
  unless @@authenticators.has_key?(auth_type)
    raise ArgumentError,
      format('unknown auth type - "%s"', auth_type)
  end
  authenticator = @@authenticators[auth_type].new(*args)
  send_command("AUTHENTICATE", auth_type) do |resp|
    if resp.instance_of?(ContinuationRequest)
      data = authenticator.process(resp.data.text.unpack("m")[0])
      s = [data].pack("m0")
      send_string_data(s)
      put_string(CRLF)
    end
  end
end

#capability ⇒ Object

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 Net::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.



359
360
361
362
363
364
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 359

def capability
  synchronize do
    send_command("CAPABILITY")
    return @responses.delete("CAPABILITY")[-1]
  end
end

#check ⇒ Object

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.



713
714
715
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 713

def check
  send_command("CHECK")
end

#close ⇒ Object

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.



720
721
722
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 720

def close
  send_command("CLOSE")
end

#copy(set, mailbox) ⇒ Object

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.



853
854
855
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 853

def copy(set, mailbox)
  copy_internal("COPY", set, mailbox)
end

#create(mailbox) ⇒ Object

Sends a CREATE command to create a new mailbox.

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



480
481
482
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 480

def create(mailbox)
  send_command("CREATE", mailbox)
end

#delete(mailbox) ⇒ Object

Sends a DELETE command to remove the mailbox.

A Net::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.



489
490
491
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 489

def delete(mailbox)
  send_command("DELETE", mailbox)
end

#disconnect ⇒ Object

Disconnects from the server.



322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 322

def disconnect
  return if disconnected?
  begin
    begin
      # try to call SSL::SSLSocket#io.
      @sock.io.shutdown
    rescue NoMethodError
      # @sock is not an SSL::SSLSocket.
      @sock.shutdown
    end
  rescue Errno::ENOTCONN
    # ignore `Errno::ENOTCONN: Socket is not connected' on some platforms.
  rescue Exception => e
    @receiver_thread.raise(e)
  end
  @receiver_thread.join
  synchronize do
    @sock.close
  end
  raise e if e
end

#disconnected? ⇒ Boolean

Returns true if disconnected from the server.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


345
346
347
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 345

def disconnected?
  return @sock.closed?
end

#examine(mailbox) ⇒ Object

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



469
470
471
472
473
474
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 469

def examine(mailbox)
  synchronize do
    @responses.clear
    send_command("EXAMINE", mailbox)
  end
end

#expunge ⇒ Object

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



726
727
728
729
730
731
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 726

def expunge
  synchronize do
    send_command("EXPUNGE")
    return @responses.delete("EXPUNGE")
  end
end

#fetch(set, attr, mod = nil) ⇒ Object

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 Net::IMAP::FetchData for a list of valid attributes.

The return value is an array of Net::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



817
818
819
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 817

def fetch(set, attr, mod = nil)
  return fetch_internal("FETCH", set, attr, mod)
end

#getacl(mailbox) ⇒ Object

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



639
640
641
642
643
644
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 639

def getacl(mailbox)
  synchronize do
    send_command("GETACL", mailbox)
    return @responses.delete("ACL")[-1]
  end
end

#getquota(mailbox) ⇒ Object

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



603
604
605
606
607
608
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 603

def getquota(mailbox)
  synchronize do
    send_command("GETQUOTA", mailbox)
    return @responses.delete("QUOTA")
  end
end

#getquotaroot(mailbox) ⇒ Object

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 Net::IMAP::MailboxQuotaRoot and Net::IMAP::MailboxQuota.



589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 589

def getquotaroot(mailbox)
  synchronize do
    send_command("GETQUOTAROOT", mailbox)
    result = []
    result.concat(@responses.delete("QUOTAROOT"))
    result.concat(@responses.delete("QUOTA"))
    return result
  end
end

#idle(timeout = nil, &response_handler) ⇒ Object

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

Raises:

  • (LocalJumpError) 


952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 952

def idle(timeout = nil, &response_handler)
  raise LocalJumpError, "no block given" unless response_handler

  response = nil

  synchronize do
    tag = Thread.current[:net_imap_tag] = generate_tag
    put_string("#{tag} IDLE#{CRLF}")

    begin
      add_response_handler(response_handler)
      @idle_done_cond = new_cond
      @idle_done_cond.wait(timeout)
      @idle_done_cond = nil
      if @receiver_thread_terminating
        raise @exception || Net::IMAP::Error.new("connection closed")
      end
    ensure
      unless @receiver_thread_terminating
        remove_response_handler(response_handler)
        put_string("DONE#{CRLF}")
        response = get_tagged_response(tag, "IDLE")
      end
    end
  end

  return response
end

#idle_done ⇒ Object

Leaves IDLE.



982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 982

def idle_done
  synchronize do
    if @idle_done_cond.nil?
      raise Net::IMAP::Error, "not during IDLE"
    end
    @idle_done_cond.signal
  end
end

#list(refname, mailbox) ⇒ Object

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 Net::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">]



546
547
548
549
550
551
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 546

def list(refname, mailbox)
  synchronize do
    send_command("LIST", refname, mailbox)
    return @responses.delete("LIST")
  end
end

#login(user, password) ⇒ Object

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 Net::IMAP::NoResponseError is raised if authentication fails.



440
441
442
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 440

def (user, password)
  send_command("LOGIN", user, password)
end

#logout ⇒ Object

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



373
374
375
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 373

def logout
  send_command("LOGOUT")
end

#lsub(refname, mailbox) ⇒ Object

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 Net::IMAP::MailboxList.



651
652
653
654
655
656
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 651

def lsub(refname, mailbox)
  synchronize do
    send_command("LSUB", refname, mailbox)
    return @responses.delete("LSUB")
  end
end

#move(set, mailbox) ⇒ Object

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 IMAP MOVE extension is described in [RFC-6851].



867
868
869
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 867

def move(set, mailbox)
  copy_internal("MOVE", set, mailbox)
end

#noop ⇒ Object

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



367
368
369
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 367

def noop
  send_command("NOOP")
end

#remove_response_handler(handler) ⇒ Object

Removes the response handler.



911
912
913
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 911

def remove_response_handler(handler)
  @response_handlers.delete(handler)
end

#rename(mailbox, newname) ⇒ Object

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

A Net::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.



500
501
502
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 500

def rename(mailbox, newname)
  send_command("RENAME", mailbox, newname)
end

#search(keys, charset = nil) ⇒ Object

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]



773
774
775
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 773

def search(keys, charset = nil)
  return search_internal("SEARCH", keys, charset)
end

#select(mailbox) ⇒ Object

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



456
457
458
459
460
461
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 456

def select(mailbox)
  synchronize do
    @responses.clear
    send_command("SELECT", mailbox)
  end
end

#setacl(mailbox, user, rights) ⇒ Object

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 IMAP ACL commands are described in [RFC-2086].



628
629
630
631
632
633
634
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 628

def setacl(mailbox, user, rights)
  if rights.nil?
    send_command("SETACL", mailbox, user, "")
  else
    send_command("SETACL", mailbox, user, rights)
  end
end

#setquota(mailbox, quota) ⇒ Object

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 IMAP quota commands are described in [RFC-2087].



615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 615

def setquota(mailbox, quota)
  if quota.nil?
    data = '()'
  else
    data = '(STORAGE ' + quota.to_s + ')'
  end
  send_command("SETQUOTA", mailbox, RawData.new(data))
end

#sort(sort_keys, search_keys, charset) ⇒ Object

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]

See [SORT-THREAD-EXT] for more details.



885
886
887
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 885

def sort(sort_keys, search_keys, charset)
  return sort_internal("SORT", sort_keys, search_keys, charset)
end

#starttls(options = {}, verify = true) ⇒ Object

Sends a STARTTLS command to start TLS session.



378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 378

def starttls(options = {}, verify = true)
  send_command("STARTTLS") do |resp|
    if resp.kind_of?(TaggedResponse) && resp.name == "OK"
      begin
        # for backward compatibility
        certs = options.to_str
        options = create_ssl_params(certs, verify)
      rescue NoMethodError
      end
      start_tls_session(options)
    end
  end
end

#status(mailbox, attr) ⇒ Object

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



674
675
676
677
678
679
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 674

def status(mailbox, attr)
  synchronize do
    send_command("STATUS", mailbox, attr)
    return @responses.delete("STATUS")[-1].attr
  end
end

#store(set, attr, flags) ⇒ Object

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 Net::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]}>]



840
841
842
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 840

def store(set, attr, flags)
  return store_internal("STORE", set, attr, flags)
end

#subscribe(mailbox) ⇒ Object

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



510
511
512
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 510

def subscribe(mailbox)
  send_command("SUBSCRIBE", mailbox)
end

#thread(algorithm, search_keys, charset) ⇒ Object

Similar to #search(), but returns message sequence numbers in threaded format, as a Net::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.

See [SORT-THREAD-EXT] for more details.



928
929
930
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 928

def thread(algorithm, search_keys, charset)
  return thread_internal("THREAD", algorithm, search_keys, charset)
end

#uid_copy(set, mailbox) ⇒ Object

Similar to #copy(), but set contains unique identifiers.



858
859
860
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 858

def uid_copy(set, mailbox)
  copy_internal("UID COPY", set, mailbox)
end

#uid_fetch(set, attr, mod = nil) ⇒ Object

Similar to #fetch(), but set contains unique identifiers.



822
823
824
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 822

def uid_fetch(set, attr, mod = nil)
  return fetch_internal("UID FETCH", set, attr, mod)
end

#uid_move(set, mailbox) ⇒ Object

Similar to #move(), but set contains unique identifiers.



872
873
874
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 872

def uid_move(set, mailbox)
  copy_internal("UID MOVE", set, mailbox)
end

#uid_search(keys, charset = nil) ⇒ Object

Similar to #search(), but returns unique identifiers.



778
779
780
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 778

def uid_search(keys, charset = nil)
  return search_internal("UID SEARCH", keys, charset)
end

#uid_sort(sort_keys, search_keys, charset) ⇒ Object

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



890
891
892
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 890

def uid_sort(sort_keys, search_keys, charset)
  return sort_internal("UID SORT", sort_keys, search_keys, charset)
end

#uid_store(set, attr, flags) ⇒ Object

Similar to #store(), but set contains unique identifiers.



845
846
847
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 845

def uid_store(set, attr, flags)
  return store_internal("UID STORE", set, attr, flags)
end

#uid_thread(algorithm, search_keys, charset) ⇒ Object

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



934
935
936
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 934

def uid_thread(algorithm, search_keys, charset)
  return thread_internal("UID THREAD", algorithm, search_keys, charset)
end

#unsubscribe(mailbox) ⇒ Object

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

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



520
521
522
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 520

def unsubscribe(mailbox)
  send_command("UNSUBSCRIBE", mailbox)
end

#xlist(refname, mailbox) ⇒ Object

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 Net::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">]



578
579
580
581
582
583
 
# File 'lib/net/imap.rb', line 578

def xlist(refname, mailbox)
  synchronize do
    send_command("XLIST", refname, mailbox)
    return @responses.delete("XLIST")
  end
end