imap_search

(PHP 3>= 3.0.12, PHP 4 >= 4.0.0)

imap_search --  This function returns an array of messages matching the given search criteria

Description

array imap_search ( int imap_stream, string criteria, int flags)

This function performs a search on the mailbox currently opened in the given imap stream. criteria is a string, delimited by spaces, in which the following keywords are allowed. Any multi-word arguments (eg. FROM "joey smith") must be quoted.

  • ALL - return all messages matching the rest of the criteria

  • ANSWERED - match messages with the \\ANSWERED flag set

  • BCC "string" - match messages with "string" in the Bcc: field

  • BEFORE "date" - match messages with Date: before "date"

  • BODY "string" - match messages with "string" in the body of the message

  • CC "string" - match messages with "string" in the Cc: field

  • DELETED - match deleted messages

  • FLAGGED - match messages with the \\FLAGGED (sometimes referred to as Important or Urgent) flag set

  • FROM "string" - match messages with "string" in the From: field

  • KEYWORD "string" - match messages with "string" as a keyword

  • NEW - match new messages

  • OLD - match old messages

  • ON "date" - match messages with Date: matching "date"

  • RECENT - match messages with the \\RECENT flag set

  • SEEN - match messages that have been read (the \\SEEN flag is set)

  • SINCE "date" - match messages with Date: after "date"

  • SUBJECT "string" - match messages with "string" in the Subject:

  • TEXT "string" - match messages with text "string"

  • TO "string" - match messages with "string" in the To:

  • UNANSWERED - match messages that have not been answered

  • UNDELETED - match messages that are not deleted

  • UNFLAGGED - match messages that are not flagged

  • UNKEYWORD "string" - match messages that do not have the keyword "string"

  • UNSEEN - match messages which have not been read yet

For example, to match all unanswered messages sent by Mom, you'd use: "UNANSWERED FROM mom". Searches appear to be case insensitive. This list of criteria is from a reading of the UW c-client source code and may be uncomplete or inaccurate (see also RFC2060, section 6.4.4).

Valid values for flags are SE_UID, which causes the returned array to contain UIDs instead of messages sequence numbers.