PIMAP Component
Properties Methods Events Configuration Settings Errors
The PIMAP component is used to communicate with IMAP servers to retrieve and process OpenPGP encrypted and/or signed messages and any attachments.
Syntax
nsoftware.IPWorksOpenPGP.Pimap
Remarks
The PIMAP component offers an easy-to-use interface: it implements a standard IMAP client, as specified in RFC 1730 and RFC 2060, and supports decrypting and verifying signatures of encrypted and signed emails using OpenPGP. Additionally, it enables you to create messages bound for multiple recipients with different keys, simultaneously encrypt and compress with the most popular compression algorithms, and control other aspects such as the encrypting algorithm to use.
Connect to a Mail Server
The first step in using the component is specifying a MailServer, a User to connect as, and a Password to authenticate with. After that, one or more requests may be sent to the server via the component's methods. Results are retrieved through events and a number of key properties.
Examine a Mailbox
Normally, after connecting to the server a Mailbox is selected (or examined) using the ExamineMailbox method. After the Mailbox is selected, MessageCount and RecentMessageCount show the number of messages in the mailbox, and MailboxFlags shows the flags pertaining to the mailbox.
A number of operations may be performed by the server in response to commands sent via the component's methods. The primary arguments for most commands are the Mailbox property and the MessageSet property. The MessageSet property denotes either a single message or a range of messages. Other arguments are specified through other properties such as SortCriteria, MessageFlags, etc.
Responses are received through events such as MessageInfo and MailboxList, and are also reflected in properties such as MessageText, MessageSubject, etc.
Decrypt
To process an encrypted or signed message, first retrieve the message text and headers by calling FetchMessageHeaders and FetchMessageText.
To decrypt a message specify the private key to be used for decryption by adding a key to Keys. For instance:
pimap.Keys.Add(new Key("c:\\my_keyring_dir", "recipient@nsoftware.com"));
pimap.Keys[0].Passphrase = "password";
The specified private key will be used to decrypt the message when calling Decrypt.
Verify
To verify the signature of a message specify the public key to be used for signature verification by
adding a key to SignerKeys. For instance:
pimap.Keys.Add(new Key("c:\\my_keyring_dir", "sender@nsoftware.com"));
The specified public key will be used to verify the signature when calling VerifySignature. To
decrypt and verify in one step call DecryptAndVerifySignature.
Retrieve MIME Message Parts
The MessagePart event describes the MIME structure of retrieved messages. One MessagePart event is fired for every message part, giving information about the particular part. Later on, message parts may be retrieved separately through the FetchMessagePart method. This speeds up processing by avoiding the need to retrieve full messages from the server.
Trace Client and Server Communication
The PITrail event traces the interaction between the client and the server. It includes all exchanges except for transfers of messages, message parts, and message headers.
Property List
The following is the full list of the properties of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| AuthMechanism | The authentication mechanism to be used when connecting to the mail server. |
| AutoDecodeParts | Determines whether to automatically decode message parts. |
| Command | Can be used to send additional commands directly to the server. |
| Connected | Shows whether the component is connected. |
| EndByte | The byte index of the position where the transfer should end. |
| Firewall | A set of properties related to firewall access. |
| Idle | The current status of the component. |
| Keys | A collection of keys used for cryptographic operations. |
| LastReply | The last reply from the server. |
| LocalHost | The name of the local host or user-assigned IP interface through which connections are initiated or accepted. |
| Mailbox | Name of the mailbox selected on the server. |
| MailboxFlags | Defines flags in the selected mailbox. |
| MailboxList | Collection of mailboxes listed by the server. |
| MailPort | The port of the IMAP server (default is 143). |
| MailServer | The name or address of the mail server (IMAP server). |
| Message | Provides the raw message content. |
| MessageContentEncoding | The ContentEncoding of the selected message. |
| MessageContentType | The ContentType of the message. |
| MessageCount | The total number of messages on the Mailbox . |
| MessageDate | The time the message was created. |
| MessageDeliveryTime | The time the message was delivered to the mail server. |
| MessageFlags | Contains the flags of the current message. |
| MessageFrom | The address of the author of the message. |
| MessageHeaders | Collection of RFC822-encoded headers of the message. |
| MessageHeadersString | String version of RFC822-encoded headers of the message. |
| MessageId | The message identifier of the current message. |
| MessageInfo | Collection of messages retrieved by FetchMessageInfo . |
| MessageInReplyTo | The unique message identifier of the message this one is in reply to. |
| MessageNetId | The globally unique identifier of the message. |
| MessageParts | Collection of message parts collected by FetchMessageInfo . |
| MessageRecipients | Collection of recipients for the current message. |
| MessageReplyTo | Email address(s) where replies to the message should be sent. |
| MessageSender | The address of the sender of the message. |
| MessageSet | The set of messages to operate on. |
| MessageSize | The size of the selected message. |
| MessageSubject | The subject of the message. |
| MessageText | The body of the retrieved message. |
| Overwrite | Indicates whether or not the component should overwrite files during transfer. |
| Password | The password used to authenticate to the MailServer . |
| PeekMode | When set to True, the message Seen flag is not changed during reading. |
| RecentMessageCount | Number of new messages in the Mailbox . |
| SignerKeys | The collection of keys belonging to the signer of the message. |
| SortCriteria | Sorts criteria to use for message retrieval operations. |
| SSLAcceptServerCert | Instructs the component to unconditionally accept the server certificate that matches the supplied certificate. |
| SSLCert | The certificate to be used during SSL negotiation. |
| SSLServerCert | The server certificate for the last established connection. |
| SSLStartMode | Determines how the component starts the SSL negotiation. |
| StartByte | The byte index of the position where the transfer should start. |
| Timeout | A timeout for the component. |
| UIDMode | If true, permanent message identifiers are used instead of the default temporary identifiers. |
| UIDValidity | The UIDValidity parameter sent from the server in response to SelectMailbox command. |
| User | The user name used to authenticate to the MailServer . |
Method List
The following is the full list of the methods of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| AddMessageFlags | Adds the specified flags to the messages specified by MessageSet . |
| AppendToMailbox | Appends the message in MessageText to the mailbox specified by Mailbox . |
| CheckMailbox | Sends a 'CHECK' command to the server. |
| CloseMailbox | Removes all messages marked with 'Deleted' flag from the currently selected mailbox and unselect mailbox. |
| Config | Sets or retrieves a configuration setting . |
| Connect | Connects to an IMAP server. |
| CopyToMailbox | Copies the messages specified by MessageSet to the mailbox specified by Mailbox . |
| CreateMailbox | Creates a new mailbox specified by Mailbox . |
| Decrypt | Decrypts the message. |
| DecryptAndVerifySignature | Decrypts and verifies the signature of the message. |
| DeleteFromMailbox | Marks the messages specified by MessageSet as deleted. |
| DeleteMailbox | Deletes a mailbox specified by Mailbox . |
| DeleteMailboxACL | Deletes mailbox access control rights for a specific user. |
| Disconnect | Disconnects from an IMAP server. |
| DoEvents | Processes events from the internal message queue. |
| ExamineMailbox | Selects a Mailbox (Read-only mode). |
| ExpungeMailbox | Removes all messages marked with 'Deleted' flag from the currently selected mailbox. |
| FetchMessageHeaders | Retrieves the message headers of messages specified by the MessageSet property. |
| FetchMessageInfo | Retrieves information about messages specified by the MessageSet property. |
| FetchMessagePart | Retrieves the message part specified by PartID. |
| FetchMessagePartHeaders | Retrieves the headers of message part specified by PartID. |
| FetchMessageText | Retrieves the message text of messages specified by the MessageSet property. |
| GetMailboxACL | Retrieves mailbox access control rights. |
| Interrupt | Interrupt the current method. |
| ListMailboxes | Lists all mailboxes matching all criteria in the Mailbox property. |
| ListSubscribedMailboxes | Lists all subscribed mailboxes matching all criteria in the Mailbox property. |
| LocalizeDate | Converts a valid RFC 822 message date to local date and time. |
| MoveToMailbox | Moves the messages specified by MessageSet to the mailbox specified by Mailbox . |
| Noop | Sends a 'NOOP' command to the server. |
| RenameMailbox | Change the name of Mailbox to NewName . |
| ResetMessageFlags | Replaces the flags of the messages specified by MessageSet with the flags specified by MessageFlags . |
| SearchMailbox | Search selected mailbox for specified text. |
| SelectMailbox | Select a Mailbox. |
| SetMailboxACL | Sets mailbox access control rights for a specific user. |
| SetMessageStream | Sets the stream to which the message (or message part) downloaded from the server will be written. |
| SubscribeMailbox | Subscribes to the mailbox specified by Mailbox . |
| UnsetMessageFlags | Removes the flags specified by MessageFlags from the messages specified by MessageSet . |
| UnsubscribeMailbox | Unsubscribes from the mailbox specified by Mailbox . |
| VerifySignature | Verifies the signature of the current message. |
Event List
The following is the full list of the events fired by the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| ConnectionStatus | Fired to indicate changes in connection state. |
| EndTransfer | Fired when the message or the part data finishes transferring. |
| Error | Information about errors during data delivery. |
| Header | Fired every time a header line comes in. |
| KeyPassphrase | Fired if the passphrase of current key is incorrect or empty. |
| MailboxACL | Fires for each set of access control rights returned by the server. |
| MailboxList | Fired for each mailbox received through the ListMailboxes and ListSubscribedMailboxes methods. |
| MessageInfo | Fired with information for the message(s) retrieved by the server. |
| MessagePart | Fired for each message part when FetchMessageInfo is called. |
| PITrail | Traces the commands sent to the mail server, and the respective replies. |
| Progress | Fired as progress is made. |
| RecipientInfo | Fired for each recipient key of the encrypted message. |
| SignatureInfo | Fired during verification of the signed message. |
| SSLServerAuthentication | Fired after the server presents its certificate to the client. |
| SSLStatus | Shows the progress of the secure connection. |
| StartTransfer | Fired when the message or the part data starts transferring. |
| Status | Shows the progress of the operation. |
| Transfer | Fired while the message gets transferred from the MailServer . |
| VerificationStatus | Fired after verification of the signed message. |
Configuration Settings
The following is a list of configuration settings for the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.
| Comment | The OpenPGP message comment. |
| ProcessAttachments | Whether or not to process attachments. |
| LogLevel | Specifies the level of detail that is logged. |
| RequireValidSignature | Specifies if an invalid signature is considered an error condition. |
| SymmetricPassphrase | The password used for symmetric encryption or decryption. |
| VersionHeader | The Version header value in the ASCII armored OpenPGP message. |
| AlwaysReturnUIDs | Instructs the server to return UIDs even if not in UIDMode. |
| AppendToMailboxDateTime | Specifies the date-time parameter used in the initial APPEND request. |
| AuthorizationIdentity | The value to use as the authorization identity when SASL authentication is used. |
| AutoDecodeSubject | Instructs the component to automatically decode message subjects. |
| EnableIMAPIDLE | Enables or disables IDLE command support in the component. |
| FetchAfterSearch | Determines if messages matching the SearchCriteria are fetched after calling SearchMailbox. |
| IncludeHeaders | Instructs the component to include the headers in the LocalFile. |
| UTF7MailboxNames | Specifies whether or not to automatically encode and decode UTF-7 mailbox names. |
| ConnectionTimeout | Sets a separate timeout value for establishing a connection. |
| FirewallAutoDetect | Tells the component whether or not to automatically detect and use firewall system settings, if available. |
| FirewallHost | Name or IP address of firewall (optional). |
| FirewallPassword | Password to be used if authentication is to be used when connecting through the firewall. |
| FirewallPort | The TCP port for the FirewallHost;. |
| FirewallType | Determines the type of firewall to connect through. |
| FirewallUser | A user name if authentication is to be used connecting through a firewall. |
| KeepAliveTime | The inactivity time in milliseconds before a TCP keep-alive packet is sent. |
| KeepAliveInterval | The retry interval, in milliseconds, to be used when a TCP keep-alive packet is sent and no response is received. |
| Linger | When set to True, connections are terminated gracefully. |
| LingerTime | Time in seconds to have the connection linger. |
| LocalHost | The name of the local host through which connections are initiated or accepted. |
| LocalPort | The TCP port in the local host where the component binds. |
| MaxLineLength | The maximum amount of data to accumulate when no EOL is found. |
| MaxTransferRate | The transfer rate limit in bytes per second. |
| RecordLength | The length of received data records. |
| TCPKeepAlive | Determines whether or not the keep alive socket option is enabled. |
| UseIPv6 | Whether to use IPv6. |
| TcpNoDelay | Whether or not to delay when sending packets. |
| ReuseSSLSession | Determines if the SSL session is reused. |
| SSLCipherStrength | The minimum cipher strength used for bulk encryption. |
| SSLEnabledProtocols | Used to enable/disable the supported security protocols. |
| SSLProvider | The name of the security provider to use. |
| SSLSecurityFlags | Flags that control certificate verification. |
| OpenSSLCADir | The path to a directory containing CA certificates. |
| OpenSSLCAFile | Name of the file containing the list of CA's trusted by your application. |
| OpenSSLCipherList | A string that controls the ciphers to be used by SSL. |
| OpenSSLPrngSeedData | The data to seed the pseudo random number generator (PRNG). |
| AbsoluteTimeout | Determines whether timeouts are inactivity timeouts or absolute timeouts. |
| FirewallData | Used to send extra data to the firewall. |
| InBufferSize | The size in bytes of the incoming queue of the socket. |
| OutBufferSize | The size in bytes of the outgoing queue of the socket. |
| CodePage | The system code page used for Unicode to Multibyte translations. |