In Files

  • net/pop.rb

Net::POPSession

Net::POP3

What is This Library?

This library provides functionality for retrieving email via POP3, the Post Office Protocol version 3. For details of POP3, see [RFC1939] (www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1939.txt).

Examples

Retrieving Messages

This example retrieves messages from the server and deletes them on the server.

Messages are written to files named 'inbox/1', 'inbox/2', .… Replace 'pop.example.com' with your POP3 server address, and 'YourAccount' and 'YourPassword' with the appropriate account details.

require 'net/pop'

pop = Net::POP3.new('pop.example.com')
pop.start('YourAccount', 'YourPassword')             # (1)
if pop.mails.empty?
  puts 'No mail.'
else
  i = 0
  pop.each_mail do |m|   # or "pop.mails.each ..."   # (2)
    File.open("inbox/#{i}", 'w') do |f|
      f.write m.pop
    end
    m.delete
    i += 1
  end
  puts "#{pop.mails.size} mails popped."
end
pop.finish                                           # (3)
  1. Call Net::POP3#start and start POP session.

  2. Access messages by using Net::POP3#each_mail and/or Net::POP3#mails.

  3. Close POP session by calling Net::POP3#finish or use the block form of start.

Shortened Code

The example above is very verbose. You can shorten the code by using some utility methods. First, the block form of Net::POP3.start can be used instead of Net::POP3.new, Net::POP3#start and Net::POP3#finish.

require 'net/pop'

Net::POP3.start('pop.example.com', 110,
                'YourAccount', 'YourPassword') do |pop|
  if pop.mails.empty?
    puts 'No mail.'
  else
    i = 0
    pop.each_mail do |m|   # or "pop.mails.each ..."
      File.open("inbox/#{i}", 'w') do |f|
        f.write m.pop
      end
      m.delete
      i += 1
    end
    puts "#{pop.mails.size} mails popped."
  end
end

Net::POP3#delete_all is an alternative for each_mail and delete.

require 'net/pop'

Net::POP3.start('pop.example.com', 110,
                'YourAccount', 'YourPassword') do |pop|
  if pop.mails.empty?
    puts 'No mail.'
  else
    i = 1
    pop.delete_all do |m|
      File.open("inbox/#{i}", 'w') do |f|
        f.write m.pop
      end
      i += 1
    end
  end
end

And here is an even shorter example.

require 'net/pop'

i = 0
Net::POP3.delete_all('pop.example.com', 110,
                     'YourAccount', 'YourPassword') do |m|
  File.open("inbox/#{i}", 'w') do |f|
    f.write m.pop
  end
  i += 1
end

Memory Space Issues

All the examples above get each message as one big string. This example avoids this.

require 'net/pop'

i = 1
Net::POP3.delete_all('pop.example.com', 110,
                     'YourAccount', 'YourPassword') do |m|
  File.open("inbox/#{i}", 'w') do |f|
    m.pop do |chunk|    # get a message little by little.
      f.write chunk
    end
    i += 1
  end
end

Using APOP

The net/pop library supports APOP authentication. To use APOP, use the Net::APOP class instead of the Net::POP3 class. You can use the utility method, Net::POP3.APOP(). For example:

require 'net/pop'

# Use APOP authentication if $isapop == true
pop = Net::POP3.APOP($is_apop).new('apop.example.com', 110)
pop.start(YourAccount', 'YourPassword') do |pop|
  # Rest of the code is the same.
end

Fetch Only Selected Mail Using 'UIDL' POP Command

If your POP server provides UIDL functionality, you can grab only selected mails from the POP server. e.g.

def need_pop?( id )
  # determine if we need pop this mail...
end

Net::POP3.start('pop.example.com', 110,
                'Your account', 'Your password') do |pop|
  pop.mails.select { |m| need_pop?(m.unique_id) }.each do |m|
    do_something(m.pop)
  end
end

The Net::POPMail#unique_id method returns the unique-id of the message as a String. Normally the unique-id is a hash of the message.

Constants

Revision

Attributes

address[R]

The address to connect to.

open_timeout[RW]

Seconds to wait until a connection is opened. If the POP3 object cannot open a connection within this time, it raises a TimeoutError exception.

port[R]

The port number to connect to.

read_timeout[R]

Seconds to wait until reading one block (by one read(1) call). If the POP3 object cannot complete a read() within this time, it raises a TimeoutError exception.

Public Class Methods

APOP( isapop ) click to toggle source

Returns the APOP class if isapop is true; otherwise, returns the POP class. For example:

# Example 1
pop = Net::POP3::APOP($is_apop).new(addr, port)

# Example 2
Net::POP3::APOP($is_apop).start(addr, port) do |pop|
  ....
end
 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 223
def POP3.APOP( isapop )
  isapop ? APOP : POP3
end
            
auth_only( address, port = nil, account = nil, password = nil, isapop = false ) click to toggle source

Opens a POP3 session, attempts authentication, and quits.

This method raises POPAuthenticationError if authentication fails.

Example: normal POP3

Net::POP3.auth_only('pop.example.com', 110,
                    'YourAccount', 'YourPassword')

Example: APOP

Net::POP3.auth_only('pop.example.com', 110,
                    'YourAccount', 'YourPassword', true)
 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 290
def POP3.auth_only( address, port = nil,
                    account = nil, password = nil,
                    isapop = false )
  new(address, port, isapop).auth_only account, password
end
            
default_port() click to toggle source

The default port for POP3 connections, port 110

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 200
def POP3.default_port
  110
end
            
delete_all( address, port = nil, account = nil, password = nil, isapop = false, &block ) click to toggle source

Starts a POP3 session and deletes all messages on the server. If a block is given, each POPMail object is yielded to it before being deleted.

This method raises a POPAuthenticationError if authentication fails.

Example

Net::POP3.delete_all('pop.example.com', 110,
                     'YourAccount', 'YourPassword') do |m|
  file.write m.pop
end
 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 268
def POP3.delete_all( address, port = nil,
                     account = nil, password = nil,
                     isapop = false, &block )
  start(address, port, account, password, isapop) {|pop|
    pop.delete_all(&block)
  }
end
            
foreach( address, port = nil, account = nil, password = nil, isapop = false ) click to toggle source

Starts a POP3 session and iterates over each POPMail object, yielding it to the block. This method is equivalent to:

Net::POP3.start(address, port, account, password) do |pop|
  pop.each_mail do |m|
    yield m
  end
end

This method raises a POPAuthenticationError if authentication fails.

Example

Net::POP3.foreach('pop.example.com', 110,
                  'YourAccount', 'YourPassword') do |m|
  file.write m.pop
  m.delete if $DELETE
end
 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 247
def POP3.foreach( address, port = nil,
                  account = nil, password = nil,
                  isapop = false, &block )  # :yields: message
  start(address, port, account, password, isapop) {|pop|
    pop.each_mail(&block)
  }
end
            
new( addr, port = nil, isapop = false ) click to toggle source

Creates a new POP3 object.

address is the hostname or ip address of your POP3 server.

The optional port is the port to connect to; it defaults to 110.

The optional isapop specifies whether this connection is going to use APOP authentication; it defaults to false.

This method does not open the TCP connection.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 342
def initialize( addr, port = nil, isapop = false )
  @address = addr
  @port = port || self.class.default_port
  @apop = isapop

  @command = nil
  @socket = nil
  @started = false
  @open_timeout = 30
  @read_timeout = 60
  @debug_output = nil

  @mails = nil
  @n_mails = nil
  @n_bytes = nil
end
            
start( address, port = nil, account = nil, password = nil, isapop = false ) click to toggle source

Creates a new POP3 object and open the connection. Equivalent to

Net::POP3.new(address, port, isapop).start(account, password)

If block is provided, yields the newly-opened POP3 object to it, and automatically closes it at the end of the session.

Example

Net::POP3.start(addr, port, account, password) do |pop|
  pop.each_mail do |m|
    file.write m.pop
    m.delete
  end
end
 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 326
def POP3.start( address, port = nil,
                account = nil, password = nil,
                isapop = false, &block ) # :yield: pop
  new(address, port, isapop).start(account, password, &block)
end
            

Public Instance Methods

active?() click to toggle source
Alias for: started?
apop?() click to toggle source

Does this instance use APOP authentication?

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 360
def apop?
  @apop
end
            
auth_only( account, password ) click to toggle source

Starts a pop3 session, attempts authentication, and quits. This method must not be called while POP3 session is opened. This method raises POPAuthenticationError if authentication fails.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 299
def auth_only( account, password )
  raise IOError, 'opening previously opened POP session' if started?
  start(account, password) {
    ;
  }
end
            
delete_all() click to toggle source

Deletes all messages on the server.

If called with a block, yields each message in turn before deleting it.

Example

n = 1
pop.delete_all do |m|
  File.open("inbox/#{n}") do |f|
    f.write m.pop
  end
  n += 1
end

This method raises a POPError if an error occurs.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 551
def delete_all # :yield: message
  mails().each do |m|
    yield m if block_given?
    m.delete unless m.deleted?
  end
end
            
each( ) click to toggle source
Alias for: each_mail
each_mail( ) click to toggle source

Yields each message to the passed-in block in turn. Equivalent to:

pop3.mails.each do |popmail|
  ....
end

This method raises a POPError if an error occurs.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 529
def each_mail( &block )  # :yield: message
  mails().each(&block)
end
            
Also aliased as: each
finish() click to toggle source

Finishes a POP3 session and closes TCP connection.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 458
def finish
  raise IOError, 'POP session not yet started' unless started?
  do_finish
end
            
inspect() click to toggle source

Provide human-readable stringification of class state.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 365
def inspect
  "#<#{self.class} #{@address}:#{@port} open=#{@started}>"
end
            
mails() click to toggle source

Returns an array of Net::POPMail objects, representing all the messages on the server. This array is renewed when the session restarts; otherwise, it is fetched from the server the first time this method is called (directly or indirectly) and cached.

This method raises a POPError if an error occurs.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 507
def mails
  return @mails.dup if @mails
  if n_mails() == 0
    # some popd raises error for LIST on the empty mailbox.
    @mails = []
    return []
  end

  @mails = command().list.map {|num, size|
    POPMail.new(num, size, self, command())
  }
  @mails.dup
end
            
n_bytes() click to toggle source

Returns the total size in bytes of all the messages on the POP server.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 495
def n_bytes
  return @n_bytes if @n_bytes
  @n_mails, @n_bytes = command().stat
  @n_bytes
end
            
n_mails() click to toggle source

Returns the number of messages on the POP server.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 488
def n_mails
  return @n_mails if @n_mails
  @n_mails, @n_bytes = command().stat
  @n_mails
end
            
read_timeout=( sec ) click to toggle source

Set the read timeout.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 403
def read_timeout=( sec )
  @command.socket.read_timeout = sec if @command
  @read_timeout = sec
end
            
reset() click to toggle source

Resets the session. This clears all “deleted” marks from messages.

This method raises a POPError if an error occurs.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 561
def reset
  command().rset
  mails().each do |m|
    m.instance_eval {
      @deleted = false
    }
  end
end
            
set_debug_output( arg ) click to toggle source

WARNING: This method causes a serious security hole. Use this method only for debugging.

Set an output stream for debugging.

Example

pop = Net::POP.new(addr, port)
pop.set_debug_output $stderr
pop.start(account, passwd) do |pop|
  ....
end
 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 382
def set_debug_output( arg )
  @debug_output = arg
end
            
start( account, password ) click to toggle source

Starts a POP3 session.

When called with block, gives a POP3 object to the block and closes the session after block call finishes.

This method raises a POPAuthenticationError if authentication fails.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 421
def start( account, password ) # :yield: pop
  raise IOError, 'POP session already started' if @started

  if block_given?
    begin
      do_start account, password
      return yield(self)
    ensure
      do_finish
    end
  else
    do_start account, password
    return self
  end
end
            
started?() click to toggle source

true if the POP3 session has started.

 
               # File net/pop.rb, line 409
def started?
  @started
end
            
Also aliased as: active?