imap_search

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

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

array imap_search ( resource $imap_stream, string $criteria [, int $options = SE_FREE [, string $charset = NULL ]] )

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 » RFC2060, section 6.4.4).

Parameters:

imap_stream

An IMAP stream returned by imap_open().

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

options

Valid values for options 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.

Returns:

Returns an array of message numbers or UIDs.

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

Examples:

imap_search() example

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

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