This module does not perform any magic such as auto-decoding of messages/attachments or parsing of email addresses (node-imap leaves all mail header values as-is).
If you are in need of this kind of extra functionality, check out andris9's [mime.js](http://github.com/andris9/mailparser/blob/master/mime.js) (requires [node-iconv](http://github.com/bnoordhuis/node-iconv)) set of functions, part of his [mailparser](http://github.com/andris9/mailparser) module.
* [node.js](http://nodejs.org/) -- tested with v0.2.4
* An IMAP server -- tested with gmail
Example
=======
This example fetches the 'date', 'from', 'to', 'subject' message headers and the message structure of the first message in the Inbox since May 20, 2010:
var ImapConnection = require('./imap').ImapConnection, sys = require('sys'),
* **messages** - An Object containing properties about message counts for this mailbox.
* **total** - An Integer representing total number of messages in this mailbox.
* **new** - An Integer representing the number of new (unread) messages in this mailbox.
* _FetchResult_ is an Object representing the result of a message fetch, and has the following properties:
* **flags** - An Array containing the flags currently set on this message.
* **date** - A String containing the internal server date for the message (always represented in GMT?)
* **headers** - An Object containing the headers of the message, **if headers were requested when calling fetch().** Note: The value of each property in the object is an Array containing the value(s) for that particular header name (in case of duplicate headers).
* **body** - A String containing the text of the entire or a portion of the message, **if a body was requested when calling fetch().**
* **structure** - An Array containing the structure of the message, **if the structure was requested when calling fetch().** See below for an explanation of the format of this property.
A message structure with multiple parts might look something like the following:
It should be noted however that the IMAP server can limit which flags can be permanently modified for any given message. If in doubt, check the mailbox's **permFlags** Array first.
Additional custom flags may be provided by the server. If available, these will also be listed in the mailbox's **permFlags** Array.
* **alert**(String) - Fires when the server issues an alert (e.g. "the server is going down for maintenance"). The supplied String is the text of the alert message.
* **mail**(Integer) - Fires when new mail arrives in the currently open mailbox. The supplied Integer specifies the number of new messages.
* **close**(Boolean) - Fires when the connection is completely closed (similar to net.Stream's close event). The specified Boolean indicates whether the connection was terminated due to a transmission error or not.
* **end**() - Fires when the connection is ended (similar to net.Stream's end event).
* **error**(Error) - Fires when an exception/error occurs (similar to net.Stream's error event). The given Error object represents the error raised.
* **delim** - A String containing the (top-level) mailbox hierarchy delimiter. If the server does not support mailbox hierarchies and only a flat list, this value will be Boolean false.
* **namespaces** - An Object containing 3 properties, one for each namespace type: personal (mailboxes that belong to the logged in user), other (mailboxes that belong to other users that the logged in user has access to), and shared (mailboxes that are accessible by any logged in user). The value of each of these properties is an Array of namespace Objects containing necessary information for each available namespace. There should always be one entry (although the IMAP spec allows for more, it doesn't seem to be very common) in the personal namespace list (if the server supports namespaces) with a blank namespace prefix. Each namespace Object has the following format (with example values):
{ prefix: '' // A String containing the prefix to use to access mailboxes in this namespace
, delimiter: '/' // A String containing the hierarchy delimiter for this namespace, or Boolean false for a flat namespace with no hierarchy
, extensions: [ // An Array of namespace extensions supported by this namespace, or null if none are specified
{ name: 'X-FOO-BAR' // A String indicating the extension name
, params: [ 'BAZ' ] // An Array of Strings containing the parameters for this extension, or null if none are specified
* **(constructor)**([Object]) - _ImapConnection_ - Creates and returns a new instance of ImapConnection using the specified configuration object. Valid properties of the passed in object are:
* **username** - A String representing the username for authentication.
* **password** - A String representing the password for authentication.
* **host** - A String representing the hostname or IP address of the IMAP server. **Default:** "localhost"
* **port** - An Integer representing the port of the IMAP server. **Default:** 143
* **secure** - A Boolean indicating the connection should use SSL/TLS. **Default:** false
* **connect**(Function) - _(void)_ - Attempts to connect and log into the IMAP server. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **openBox**(String[, Boolean], Function) - _(void)_ - Opens a specific mailbox that exists on the server. The String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the mailbox to open. The optional Boolean parameter specifies if the mailbox should be opened in read-only mode (defaults to false). The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), and the _Box_ object of the newly opened mailbox.
* **closeBox**(Function) - _(void)_ - Closes the currently open mailbox. **Any messages marked as Deleted in the mailbox will be removed if the mailbox was NOT opened in read-only mode.** Also, logging out or opening another mailbox without closing the current one first will NOT cause deleted messages to be removed. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **addBox**(String, Function) - _(void)_ - Creates a new mailbox on the server. The String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the new mailbox to create. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **delBox**(String, Function) - _(void)_ - Removes a specific mailbox that exists on the server. The String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the mailbox to remove. The Function parameter is the callback with one parameter: the error (null if none).
* **renameBox**(String, String, Function) - _(void)_ - Renames a specific mailbox that exists on the server. The first String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the existing mailbox. The second String parameter is the name (including any necessary prefix/path) of the new mailbox. The Boolean parameter specifies whether to open the mailbox in read-only mode or not. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), and the _Box_ object of the newly renamed mailbox. **Note:** Renaming the 'INBOX' mailbox will instead cause all messages in 'INBOX' to be moved to the new mailbox.
* **getBoxes**([String, ]Function) - _(void)_ - Obtains the full list of mailboxes. The optional String parameter is the namespace prefix to use (defaults to the main personal namespace). The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), and an Object with the following format (with example values):
{ INBOX: // mailbox name
{ attribs: [] // mailbox attributes. An attribute of 'NOSELECT' indicates the mailbox cannot be opened
, delim: '/' // hierarchy delimiter for accessing this mailbox's direct children. This should usually be the same as ImapConnection.delim (?)
, children: null // an Object containing another structure similar in format to this top level, null if no children
, parent: null // pointer to parent mailbox, null if at the top level
* **removeDeleted**(Function) - _(void)_ - Permanently removes all messages flagged as Deleted in the mailbox that is currently open. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox.
* **search**(Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Searches the currently open mailbox for messages using specific criterion. The Function parameter is the callback with three parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox, and an Array containing the message IDs matching the search criterion. The Array parameter is a list of Arrays containing the criterion (and any required arguments) to be used. Prefix the criteria name with an "!" to negate. For example, to search for unread messages since April 20, 2010 you could use: [ ['UNSEEN'], ['SINCE', 'April 20, 2010'] ]. To search for messages that are EITHER unread OR are dated April 20, 2010 or later, you could use: [ ['OR', ['UNSEEN'], ['SINCE', 'April 20, 2010'] ] ].
* 'HEADER' - **Requires two String values with the first being the header name and the second being the value to search for.** If this second string is empty, all messages with the given header name will be returned. Example: [ ['UNSEEN'], ['HEADER', 'SUBJECT', 'node-imap'] ]
* **Note:** By default, all criterion are ANDed together. You can use the special 'OR' on **two** criterion to find messages matching either search criteria (see example above).
* **fetch**(Integer, Object, Function) - _(void)_ - Fetches the message with the message ID specified by the Integer parameter in the currently open mailbox. The Function parameter is the callback with three parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox, and the _FetchResult_ containing the result of the fetch request. The Object parameter is a set of options used to determine how and what exactly to fetch. The valid options are:
* **markSeen** - A Boolean indicating whether to mark the message as read when fetching it. **Default:** false
* **request** - An Object indicating what to fetch (at least **headers** OR **body** must be set to false -- in other words, you can only fetch one aspect of the message at a time):
* **struct** - A Boolean indicating whether to fetch the structure of the message. **Default:** true
* **headers** - A Boolean/Array value. A value of true fetches all message headers. An Array containing specific message headers to retrieve can also be specified. **Default:** true
* **body** - A Boolean/String/Array value. A Boolean value of true fetches the entire raw message body. A String value containing a valid partID (see _FetchResult_'s structure property) fetches the entire body/content of that particular part. An Array value of length 2 can be specified if you wish to request a byte range of the content, where the first item is a Boolean/String as previously described and the second item is a String indicating the byte range, for example, to fetch the first 500 bytes: '0-500'. **Default:** false
* **copy**(Integer, String, Function) - _(void)_ - Copies the message with the message ID specified by the Integer parameter in the currently open mailbox to the mailbox specified by the String parameter. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox.
* **move**(Integer, String, Function) - _(void)_ - Copies the message with the message ID specified by the Integer parameter in the currently open mailbox to the mailbox specified by the String parameter and marks the message in the current mailbox as Deleted. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox.
* **addFlags**(Integer, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Adds the specified flag(s) to the message identified by the Integer parameter. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single flag or can be an Array of flags. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox.
* **delFlags**(Integer, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Removes the specified flag(s) from the message identified by the Integer parameter. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single flag or can be an Array of flags. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox.
* **addKeywords**(Integer, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Adds the specified keyword(s) to the message identified by the Integer parameter. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single keyword or can be an Array of keywords. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox.
* **delKeywords**(Integer, String/Array, Function) - _(void)_ - Removes the specified keyword(s) from the message identified by the Integer parameter. The second parameter can either be a String containing a single keyword or can be an Array of keywords. The Function parameter is the callback with two parameters: the error (null if none), the _Box_ object of the currently open mailbox.
