Reference

Reading and Storing Mail

laminas-mail can read mail messages from several local or remote mail storage types. Storage adapters share the same API for counting and fetching messages, and some of them implement additional interfaces for less common features. For a feature overview of the implemented storages, see the following table.

Feature	Mbox	Maildir	Pop3	IMAP
Storage type	local	local	remote	remote
Fetch message	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fetch MIME-part	emulated	emulated	emulated	emulated
Folders	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Create message/folder	No	todo	No	todo
Flags	No	Yes	No	Yes
Quota	No	Yes	No	No

Storage adapters return instances of Laminas\Mail\Storage\Message, which has a different API than messages used when sending; the API is described in the "Working with messages" section.

Basic POP3 example

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Pop3;

$mail = new Pop3([
    'host'     => 'localhost',
    'user'     => 'test',
    'password' => 'test',
]);

echo $mail->countMessages() . " messages found\n";
foreach ($mail as $message) {
    printf("Mail from '%s': %s\n", $message->from, $message->subject);
}

Using local storage via mbox and maildir

Mbox and Maildir are the two supported formats for local mail storage.

If you want to read from an mbox file, provide the filename to the constructor of Laminas\Mail\Storage\Mbox:

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Mbox;

$mail = new Mbox(['filename' => '/home/test/mail/inbox']);

Maildir operates similarly, but requires a dirname instead:

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Maildir;
$mail = new Maildir(['dirname' => '/home/test/mail/']);

Both constructors throw a Laminas\Mail\Exception if the storage can't be read.

Using remote storage protocols

For remote storage, the two most popular protocols are supported: POP3 and IMAP. Both need at least a host and a user to connect and login. The default password is an empty string, and the default port for the protocol is used if none is provided.

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Imap;
use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Pop3;

// Connecting with Pop3:
$mail = new Pop3([
    'host'     => 'example.com',
    'user'     => 'test',
    'password' => 'test',
]);

// Connecting with Imap:
$mail = new Imap([
    'host'     => 'example.com',
    'user'     => 'test',
    'password' => 'test',
]);

// Example of using POP3 on a non-standard port:
$mail = new Pop3([
    'host'     => 'example.com',
    'port'     => 1120,
    'user'     => 'test',
    'password' => 'test',
]);

Both storage adapters support SSL and TLS. If you use SSL, the default port changes as specified in the relevant RFC.

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Pop3;

// Examples use Pop3; the same configuration works for Imap.

// Use SSL on a non-standard port (default is 995 for Pop3 and 993 for Imap)
$mail = new Pop3([
    'host'     => 'example.com',
    'user'     => 'test',
    'password' => 'test',
    'ssl'      => 'SSL',
]);

// use TLS on the default port:
$mail = new Pop3([
    'host'     => 'example.com',
    'user'     => 'test',
    'password' => 'test',
    'ssl'      => 'TLS',
]);

If you are connecting to a mail server with a self-signed certificate and want to skip the SSL verification, you can also pass an additional argument novalidatecert with the value true.

Both constructors throw Laminas\Mail\Exception or Laminas\Mail\Protocol\Exception (extends Laminas\Mail\Exception) for connection errors, depending on the type of error encountered.

Fetching, counting, and removing messages

Once you have opened the mail storage, you may fetch messages. To do so, you need the message number, which is a counter starting with 1 for the first message. To fetch the message, you use the method getMessage():

$message = $mail->getMessage($messageNum);

Array access is also supported, but this access method does not support any additional parameters that could be added to getMessage(). As long as you don't mind, and can live with the default values, you may use:

$message = $mail[$messageNum];

For iterating over all messages the Iterator interface is implemented:

foreach ($mail as $messageNum => $message) {
    // do stuff ...
}

To count the messages in the storage, you can use the method countMessages(); alternately, storage adapters implement Countable, allowing you to count() the instance.

// method
$maxMessage = $mail->countMessages();

// array access
$maxMessage = count($mail);

To remove a mail, use the method removeMessage(), or rely on array access and use unset():

// method
$mail->removeMessage($messageNum);

// array access
unset($mail[$messageNum]);

Working with messages

After you fetch a message, you can:

fetch headers
fetch the message content
fetch individual parts of multipart messages

All headers can be accessed as message instance properties or via the method getHeader(); use the latter for messages with compound names. Header names are normalized to lowercase internally, but may be fetched using any case structure; dash-separated headers may be fetched using camelCase notation. If no header matching the name is found, an exception is thrown; use the headerExists() method (or isset($message->headerName)) to test for header existence prior to retrieval.

// get the message object
$message = $mail->getMessage(1);

// output subject of message
echo $message->subject . "\n";

// get content-type header
$type = $message->contentType;

// check if CC isset:
if (isset($message->cc)) { // or $message->headerExists('cc');
    $cc = $message->cc;
}

If you have multiple headers with the same name — e.g. the Received headers — you will want an array of values. Property access always returns a string, so use getHeader() instead for these situations:

// get header as property - the result is always a string,
// with new lines between each value.
$received = $message->received;

// The same via getHeader() method:
$received = $message->getHeader('received', 'string');

// To retrieve an array of values:
$received = $message->getHeader('received', 'array');
foreach ($received as $line) {
    // do stuff
}

// If you don't define a format you'll get the internal representation
// (string for single headers, array for multiple):
$received = $message->getHeader('received');
if (is_string($received)) {
    // only one received header found in message
}

The method getHeaders() returns all headers as an array with the lower-cased name as the key and the value as an array for multiple headers or as string for single headers.

// dump all headers
foreach ($message->getHeaders() as $name => $value) {
    if (is_string($value)) {
        echo "$name: $value\n";
        continue;
    }
    foreach ($value as $entry) {
        echo "$name: $entry\n";
    }
}

If you don't have a multipart message, fetch the content via getContent(). Unlike headers, the content is only fetched when needed (aka late-fetch).

// output message content for HTML
echo '<pre>';
echo $message->getContent();
echo '</pre>';

Checking for multipart messages is done with the method isMultipart(). If you have a multipart message you, can get retrieve the individual Laminas\Mail\Storage\Part instances making up the message via the getPart() method, which accepts the part index as a parameter (indices start with 1). Laminas\Mail\Storage\Part is the base class of Laminas\Mail\Storage\Message, and thus exposes the same API with regards to headers, content, and retrieving nested parts.

// get the first non-multipart part
$part = $message;
while ($part->isMultipart()) {
    $part = $message->getPart(1);
}
echo 'Type of this part is ' . strtok($part->contentType, ';') . "\n";
echo "Content:\n";
echo $part->getContent();

Laminas\Mail\Storage\Part also implements RecursiveIterator, which allows iterating through all parts, even when nested. Additionally, it implements the magic method __toString(), which returns the content.

use RecursiveIteratorIterator;
use Laminas\Mail\Exception;

// output first text/plain part
$foundPart = null;
foreach (new RecursiveIteratorIterator($mail->getMessage(1)) as $part) {
    try {
        if (strtok($part->contentType, ';') == 'text/plain') {
            $foundPart = $part;
            break;
        }
    } catch (Exception $e) {
        // ignore
    }
}
if (! $foundPart) {
    echo 'no plain text part found';
} else {
    echo "plain text part: \n" . $foundPart;
}

Checking for flags

Maildir and IMAP support storing flags with messages. The Laminas\Mail\Storage class defines constants for all known maildir and IMAP system flags, named FLAG_<flagname>. To check for flags, Laminas\Mail\Storage\Message has a method called hasFlag(). With getFlags() you'll get all flags.

use Laminas\Mail\Storage;

// Find unread messages:
echo "Unread mails:\n";
foreach ($mail as $message) {
    if ($message->hasFlag(Storage::FLAG_SEEN)) {
        continue;
    }

    // mark recent/new mails
    echo ($message->hasFlag(Storage::FLAG_RECENT))
        ? '! '
        : '  ';

    echo $message->subject . "\n";
}

// Check for known flags
$flags = $message->getFlags();
echo 'Message is flagged as: ';
foreach ($flags as $flag) {
    switch ($flag) {
        case Storage::FLAG_ANSWERED:
            echo 'Answered ';
            break;
        case Storage::FLAG_FLAGGED:
            echo 'Flagged ';
            break;

        // ...
        // check for other flags
        // ...

        default:
            echo $flag . '(unknown flag) ';
    }
}

As IMAP allows user or client defined flags, you could get flags that don't have a constant in Laminas\Mail\Storage. Instead, they are returned as strings and can be checked the same way with hasFlag().

// check message for client defined flags $IsSpam, $SpamTested
if (! $message->hasFlag('$SpamTested')) {
    echo 'message has not been tested for spam';
} elseif ($message->hasFlag('$IsSpam')) {
    echo 'this message is spam';
} else {
    echo 'this message is ham';
}

Using folders

All storage adapters except POP3 support folders (also called mailboxes). The interface implemented by all adapters supporting folders is called Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder\FolderInterface. Each also supports an optional configuration parameter called folder, which is the folder selected after login.

For the local storage adapters, you need to use the adapter-specific folder classes, Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder\Mbox and Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder\Maildir. Each accepts a single parameter, dirname, with the name of the base direcor. The format for maildir is as defined in maildir++ (with a dot as default delimiter); mbox uses a directory hierarchy of mbox files. If you don't have an mbox file called INBOX in your mbox base directory, you need to specify another folder via the constructor.

Laminas\Mail\Storage\Imap supports folders by default.

Examples for opening folders with each adapter:

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder;
use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Imap;

// mbox with folders:
$mail = new Folder\Mbox(['dirname' => '/home/test/mail/']);

// mbox with a default folder not called INBOX; also works
// with the maildir and IMAP implementations.
$mail = new Folder\Mbox([
    'dirname' => '/home/test/mail/',
    'folder'  => 'Archive',
]);

// maildir with folders:
$mail = new Folder\Maildir(['dirname' => '/home/test/mail/']);

// maildir with colon as delimiter, as suggested in Maildir++:
$mail = new Folder\Maildir([
    'dirname' => '/home/test/mail/',
    'delim'   => ':',
]);

// IMAP is the same with and without folders:
$mail = new Imap([
    'host'     => 'example.com',
    'user'     => 'test',
    'password' => 'test',
]);

With the method getFolders($root = null), you can get the folder hierarchy starting with the root folder, or the given folder. The method returns an instance of Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder, which implements RecursiveIterator, and all children are also instances of Folder. Each of these instances has a local and a global name returned by the methods getLocalName() and getGlobalName(). The global name is the absolute name from the root folder (including delimiters); the local name is the name in the parent folder.

If you use the iterator, the key of the current element is the local name. The global name is also returned by the magic method __toString(). Some folders may not be selectable, which means they can't store messages; selecting them results in an error. This can be checked with the method isSelectable().

The following demonstrates providing a tree view of a folder:

use RecursiveIteratorIterator;

$folders = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(
    $this->mail->getFolders(),
    RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST
);

echo '<select name="folder">';
foreach ($folders as $localName => $folder) {
    $localName = str_pad('', $folders->getDepth(), '-', STR_PAD_LEFT)
        .  $localName;
    echo '<option';

    if (! $folder->isSelectable()) {
        echo ' disabled="disabled"';
    }

    printf(
        ' value="%s">%s</option>',
        htmlspecialchars($folder),
        htmlspecialchars($localName)
    );
}
echo '</select>';

The current selected folder is returned by the method getSelectedFolder(). Changing the folder is done with the method selectFolder(), which needs the global name as a parameter. If you want to avoid writing delimiters, you can also use the properties of a Folder instance:

// depending on your mail storage and its settings $rootFolder->Archive->2005
// is the same as:
//  /Archive/2005
//  Archive:2005
//  INBOX.Archive.2005
//  ...
$folder = $mail->getFolders()->Archive->2005;
printf("Last folder was %s; new folder is %s\n", $mail->getSelectedFolder(), $folder);
$mail->selectFolder($folder);

Advanced Use

Using NOOP

If you're using a remote storage and have some long tasks, you might need to keep the connection alive via noop:

foreach ($mail as $message) {

    // do some calculations ...

    $mail->noop(); // keep alive

    // do something else ...

    $mail->noop(); // keep alive
}

Caching instances

Laminas\Mail\Storage\Mbox, Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder\Mbox, Laminas\Mail\Storage\Maildir, and Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder\Maildir implement the magic methods __sleep() and __wakeup(), which means they are serializable.

Serialization avoids parsing files and directory trees multiple times. The disadvantage is that your mbox or maildir storage should not change; as such, its best used with static storage.

You can combine serialization with writable storage in a number of ways:

Check the current mbox file for modification time changes.
Reparse the folder structure if a folder has vanished (which still results in an error, but you can search for another folder afterwards).
Create a signal file whenever a change is made; check for that signal file, reparse if present, and remove it afterwards.

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Folder\Mbox;

// There's no specific cache handler/class used here,
// change the code to match your cache handler.
$signalFile  = '/home/test/.mail.last_change';
$mboxBasedir = '/home/test/mail/';
$cacheId     = 'example mail cache ' . $mboxBasedir . $signalFile;
$cache       = new Cache();
$hasCache    = ($cache->has($cacheId)
    && filemtime($signalFile) <= $cache->getMTime($cacheId)
);

$mail        = $hasCache
    ? $cache->get($cacheId)
    : new Mbox(['dirname' => $mboxBasedir]);

// do stuff ...

// Cache when done
$cache->set($cacheId, $mail);

Extending Protocol Classes

Remote storage adapters use two classes: Laminas\Mail\Storage\<Name> and Laminas\Mail\Protocol\<Name>. The protocol class translates the protocol commands and responses from and to PHP, like methods for the commands or variables with different structures for data. The storage class implements the common interface for message access.

If you need additional protocol features, you can extend the protocol class and use it in the constructor of the main class. As an example, assume we need to knock different ports before we can connect to POP3.

namespace Example\Mail
{
    use Laminas\Mail;

    class Exception extends Mail\Exception
    {
    }
}

namespace Example\Mail\Protocol
{
    use Laminas\Mail\Protocol;

    class Exception extends Protocol\Exception
    {
    }
}

namespace Example\Mail\Protocol\Pop3
{
    use Laminas\Mail\Protocol\Pop3;

    class Knock extends Pop3
    {
        private $host

        private $port;

        public function __construct($host, $port = null)
        {
            // no auto connect in this class
            $this->host = $host;
            $this->port = $port;
        }

        public function knock($port)
        {
            $sock = @fsockopen($this->host, $port);
            if ($sock) {
                fclose($sock);
            }
        }

        public function connect($host = null, $port = null, $ssl = false)
        {
            if ($host === null) {
                $host = $this->host;
            }
            if ($port === null) {
                $port = $this->port;
            }
            parent::connect($host, $port);
        }
    }
}

namespace Example\Mail\Pop3
{
    use Example\Mail\Protoco\Pop3\Knock as KnockProtocol;
    use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Pop3;

    class Knock extends Pop3
    {
        public function __construct(array $params)
        {
            // ... check $params here! ...
            $protocol = new KnockProtocol($params['host']);

            // do our "special" thing
            foreach ((array) $params['knock_ports'] as $port) {
                $protocol->knock($port);
            }

            // get to correct state
            $protocol->connect($params['host'], $params['port']);
            $protocol->login($params['user'], $params['password']);

            // initialize parent
            parent::__construct($protocol);
        }
    }
}

$mail = new Example\Mail\Pop3\Knock([
    'host'        => 'localhost',
    'user'        => 'test',
    'password'    => 'test',
    'knock_ports' => [1101, 1105, 1111],
]);

The above assumes a connection is made; when connected, it logs in and, if supported, selects a folder as provided to the constructor. When defining your own protocol class, make sure that's done or the next method will fail if the server doesn't allow it in the current state.

Using Quotas

Laminas\Mail\Storage\Writable\Maildir has support for Maildir++ quotas. It's disabled by default, but it's possible to use it manually, if the automatic checks are not desired (this means appendMessage(), removeMessage(), and copyMessage() do no checks and do not add entries to the maildirsize file). If enabled, an exception is thrown if you try to write to the maildir and it's already over quota.

There are three methods used for quotas: getQuota(), setQuota(), and checkQuota():

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Writable\Maildir;

$mail = new Maildir(['dirname' => '/home/test/mail/']);
$mail->setQuota(true); // true to enable, false to disable

printf("Quota check is now %s\n", $mail->getQuota() ? 'enabled' : 'disabled');

// Check quota can be used even if quota checks are disabled:
printf("You are %sover quota\n", $mail->checkQuota() ? '' : 'not ');

checkQuota() can also return a more detailed response by passing a boolean true argument:

$quota = $mail->checkQuota(true);
printf("You are %sover quota\n", $quota['over_quota'] ? '' : 'not ');
printf(
    "You have %d of %d messages and use %d of %d octets\n",
    $quota['count'],
    $quota['quota']['count'],
    $quota['size'],
    $quota['quota']['size']
);

If you want to specify your own quota instead of using the one specified in the maildirsize file, you can do with setQuota():

// Message count and octet size supported; order does matter.
$quota = $mail->setQuota(['size' => 10000, 'count' => 100]);

To add your own quota checks, use single letters as keys, and they will be preserved (but obviously not checked). It's also possible to extend Laminas\Mail\Storage\Writable\Maildir to define your own quota if the maildirsize file is missing (which can happen in Maildir++):

namespace Example\Mail\Storage;

use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Exception;
use Laminas\Mail\Storage\Writable\Maildir as BaseMaildir;

class Maildir extends BaseMaildir
{
    /**
     * getQuota is called with $fromStorage = true by quota checks.
     *
     * @param bool $fromStorage
     * @return bool|array
     */
    public function getQuota($fromStorage = false) {
        try {
            return parent::getQuota($fromStorage);
        } catch (Exception $e) {
            if (! $fromStorage) {
                // unknown error:
                throw $e;
            }

            // maildirsize file must be missing
            list($count, $size) = get_quota_from_somewhere_else();
            return ['count' => $count, 'size' => $size];
        }
    }
}

Components laminas-mail

On this page

Reference

Reading and Storing Mail

Basic POP3 example

Using local storage via mbox and maildir

Using remote storage protocols

Fetching, counting, and removing messages

Working with messages

Checking for flags

Using folders

Advanced Use

Using NOOP

Caching instances

Extending Protocol Classes

Using Quotas

Donate

Find documentation…

On this page

Reference

Reading and Storing Mail

Basic POP3 example

Using local storage via mbox and maildir

Using remote storage protocols

Fetching, counting, and removing messages

Working with messages

Checking for flags

Using folders

Advanced Use

Using NOOP

Caching instances

Extending Protocol Classes

Using Quotas

Donate

Find documentation…

laminas-mail

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