The imaplib Module

The imaplib module, shown in Example 7-29, provides an Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) client implementation. This protocol lets you access mail folders stored on a central mail server as if they were local.

Example 7-29. Using the imaplib Module

File: imaplib-example-1.py import imaplib import string, random import StringIO, rfc822 SERVER = "imap.spam.egg" USER = "mulder" PASSWORD = "trustno1" # connect to server server = imaplib.IMAP4(SERVER) # login server.login(USER, PASSWORD) server.select() # list items on server resp, items = server.search(None, "ALL") items = string.split(items[0]) # fetch a random item id = random.choice(items) resp, data = server.fetch(id, "(RFC822)") text = data[0][1] file = StringIO.StringIO(text) message = rfc822.Message(file) for k, v in message.items(): print k, "=", v print message.fp.read() server.logout() subject = ANN: (the eff-bot guide to) The Standard Python Library message-id = <199910120816.KAA12177@larch.spam.egg> to = mulder@spam.egg date = Tue, 12 Oct 1999 10:16:19 +0200 (MET DST) from = received = (effbot@spam.egg) by imap.algonet.se (8.8.8+Sun/8.6.12) id KAA12177 for effbot@spam.egg; Tue, 12 Oct 1999 10:16:19 +0200 (MET DST) body text for test 5