class 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)
-
Call
Net::POP3#start
and start POP session. -
Access messages by using
POP3#each_mail
and/orPOP3#mails
. -
Close POP session by calling
POP3#finish
or use the block form ofstart
.
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 POP3.new
, POP3#start
and 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
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 $isapop == true pop = Net::POP3.APOP($isapop).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 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
- VERSION
version of this library
Attributes
The address to connect to.
Seconds to wait until a connection is opened. If the POP3
object cannot open a connection within this time, it raises a Net::OpenTimeout
exception. The default value is 30 seconds.
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 Net::ReadTimeout
exception. The default value is 60 seconds.
Public Class Methods
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 238 def POP3.APOP(isapop) isapop ? APOP : POP3 end
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 305 def POP3.auth_only(address, port = nil, account = nil, password = nil, isapop = false) new(address, port, isapop).auth_only account, password end
returns the :ca_file or :ca_path from POP3.ssl_params
# File net/pop.rb, line 377 def POP3.certs return @ssl_params[:ca_file] || @ssl_params[:ca_path] end
Constructs proper parameters from arguments
# File net/pop.rb, line 337 def POP3.create_ssl_params(verify_or_params = {}, certs = nil) begin params = verify_or_params.to_hash rescue NoMethodError params = {} params[:verify_mode] = verify_or_params if certs if File.file?(certs) params[:ca_file] = certs elsif File.directory?(certs) params[:ca_path] = certs end end end return params end
The default port for POP3
connections, port 110
# File net/pop.rb, line 210 def POP3.default_pop3_port 110 end
The default port for POP3S connections, port 995
# File net/pop.rb, line 215 def POP3.default_pop3s_port 995 end
returns the port for POP3
# File net/pop.rb, line 205 def POP3.default_port default_pop3_port() end
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 283 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
Disable SSL for all new instances.
# File net/pop.rb, line 355 def POP3.disable_ssl @ssl_params = nil end
Enable SSL for all new instances. params
is passed to OpenSSL::SSLContext#set_params.
# File net/pop.rb, line 332 def POP3.enable_ssl(*args) @ssl_params = create_ssl_params(*args) end
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 262 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
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.
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 417 def initialize(addr, port = nil, isapop = false) @address = addr @ssl_params = POP3.ssl_params @port = 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
returns the SSL Parameters
see also POP3.enable_ssl
# File net/pop.rb, line 362 def POP3.ssl_params return @ssl_params end
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 401 def POP3.start(address, port = nil, account = nil, password = nil, isapop = false, &block) # :yield: pop new(address, port, isapop).start(account, password, &block) end
returns true
if POP3.ssl_params
is set
# File net/pop.rb, line 367 def POP3.use_ssl? return !@ssl_params.nil? end
returns whether verify_mode is enable from POP3.ssl_params
# File net/pop.rb, line 372 def POP3.verify return @ssl_params[:verify_mode] end
Public Instance Methods
Does this instance use APOP
authentication?
# File net/pop.rb, line 436 def apop? @apop end
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 314 def auth_only(account, password) raise IOError, 'opening previously opened POP session' if started? start(account, password) { ; } end
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 687 def delete_all # :yield: message mails().each do |m| yield m if block_given? m.delete unless m.deleted? end end
Disable SSL for all new instances.
# File net/pop.rb, line 463 def disable_ssl @ssl_params = nil end
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 665 def each_mail(&block) # :yield: message mails().each(&block) end
Enables SSL for this instance. Must be called before the connection is established to have any effect. params[:port]
is port to establish the SSL connection on; Defaults to 995. params
(except :port) is passed to OpenSSL::SSLContext#set_params.
# File net/pop.rb, line 452 def enable_ssl(verify_or_params = {}, certs = nil, port = nil) begin @ssl_params = verify_or_params.to_hash.dup @port = @ssl_params.delete(:port) || @port rescue NoMethodError @ssl_params = POP3.create_ssl_params(verify_or_params, certs) @port = port || @port end end
Finishes a POP3
session and closes TCP connection.
# File net/pop.rb, line 586 def finish raise IOError, 'POP session not yet started' unless started? do_finish end
Provide human-readable stringification of class state.
# File net/pop.rb, line 468 def inspect +"#<#{self.class} #{@address}:#{@port} open=#{@started}>" end
debugging output for msg
# File net/pop.rb, line 712 def logging(msg) @debug_output << msg + "\n" if @debug_output end
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 643 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
Returns the total size in bytes of all the messages on the POP server.
# File net/pop.rb, line 631 def n_bytes return @n_bytes if @n_bytes @n_mails, @n_bytes = command().stat @n_bytes end
Returns the number of messages on the POP server.
# File net/pop.rb, line 624 def n_mails return @n_mails if @n_mails @n_mails, @n_bytes = command().stat @n_mails end
The port number to connect to.
# File net/pop.rb, line 493 def port return @port || (use_ssl? ? POP3.default_pop3s_port : POP3.default_pop3_port) end
Set the read timeout.
# File net/pop.rb, line 508 def read_timeout=(sec) @command.socket.read_timeout = sec if @command @read_timeout = sec end
Resets the session. This clears all “deleted” marks from messages.
This method raises a POPError
if an error occurs.
# File net/pop.rb, line 697 def reset command().rset mails().each do |m| m.instance_eval { @deleted = false } end end
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 485 def set_debug_output(arg) @debug_output = arg end
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 526 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
true
if the POP3
session has started.
# File net/pop.rb, line 514 def started? @started end
does this instance use SSL?
# File net/pop.rb, line 441 def use_ssl? return !@ssl_params.nil? end