imap_search

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

imap_searchThis function returns an array of messages matching the given search criteria

Description

imap_search(
    IMAP\Connection$imap,
    string$criteria,
    int$flags = SE_FREE,
    string$charset = ""
): array|false

This function performs a search on the mailbox currently opened in the given IMAP stream.

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 incomplete or inaccurate (see also » RFC1176, section "tag SEARCH search_criteria").

Parameters

imap

An IMAP\Connection instance.

criteria

A string, delimited by spaces, in which the following keywords are allowed. Any multi-word arguments (e.g. FROM "joey smith") must be quoted. Results will match all criteria entries.

  • 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
flags

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

charset

MIME character set to use when searching strings.

Return Values

Returns an array of message numbers or UIDs.

Return false if it does not understand the search criteria or no messages have been found.

Changelog

VersionDescription
8.1.0 The imap parameter expects an IMAP\Connection instance now; previously, a valid imapresource was expected.

Examples

Example #1 imap_search() example

<?php
$imap
= imap_open('{imap.example.com:993/imap/ssl}INBOX', 'foo@example.com', 'pass123', OP_READONLY);

$some = imap_search($imap, 'SUBJECT "HOWTO be Awesome" SINCE "8 August 2008"', SE_UID);
$msgnos = imap_search($imap, 'ALL');
$uids = imap_search($imap, 'ALL', SE_UID);

print_r($some);
print_r($msgnos);
print_r($uids);
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

Array ( [0] => 4 [1] => 6 [2] => 11 ) Array ( [0] => 1 [1] => 2 [2] => 3 [3] => 4 [4] => 5 [5] => 6 ) Array ( [0] => 1 [1] => 4 [2] => 6 [3] => 8 [4] => 11 [5] => 12 )

See Also

  • imap_listscan() - Returns the list of mailboxes that matches the given text
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