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IMAPEmailChecker

A PHP class to fetch and process emails from an IMAP mailbox. This class provides functionalities to retrieve emails based on different criteria, check mailbox status, manage read/unread flags, perform custom searches, decode email bodies (including handling inline images), extract attachments, delete and archive emails.

Purpose

This class is designed to simplify the process of accessing and managing emails via IMAP in PHP. It provides robust error handling using exceptions and can be used for various applications such as:

• Email Archiving: Storing emails in a database or other storage for record-keeping.
• Automated Email Processing: Building scripts to analyze incoming emails, trigger actions based on email content, or integrate email data into other systems.
• Linking Emails to System Records: Extracting specific identifiers (like ticket numbers, order IDs, or custom tags) directly from email subjects using a configurable regular expression to associate emails with records in your application (e.g., CRM, helpdesk, order management).
• Email Backup Solutions: Downloading and backing up emails from a mailbox.
• Mailbox Monitoring: Checking for new or unread emails and mailbox status using efficient methods.
• Targeted Retrieval: Searching for specific emails based on various criteria and fetching only those.

The class handles complexities like:

• Robust Decoding: Correctly decodes email bodies and headers in various encodings (e.g., Base64, Quoted-Printable) and normalizes text content to UTF-8.
• Inline Image Embedding: Automatically embeds inline images (referenced via cid:) within HTML email bodies as Base64 data URIs.
• Attachment Extraction: Provides access to non-inline email attachments.
• UID Management: Focuses on using Unique Identifiers (UIDs) for reliable message identification and efficient incremental retrieval.
• Status Checks & Flag Management: Provides methods to check mailbox status efficiently and manage the \Seen (read/unread) flag.
• Custom Search: Allows flexible searching using standard IMAP criteria strings.
• Exception-Based Errors: Uses standard PHP exceptions (RuntimeException, InvalidArgumentException) to signal errors clearly.

Installation

Composer:

Standalone:

Usage

To use the IMAPEmailChecker class, you need to have the PHP IMAP extension enabled. Here's an extended example covering many common operations, demonstrating the use of try...catch for error handling:

Available Methods

Methods that perform IMAP operations may throw exceptions on failure. Batch processing methods (check*, fetchMessagesByIds) generally handle failures for individual messages internally (logging the error and skipping the message) but will throw exceptions for failures affecting the entire batch operation (e.g., the initial search/overview). Action methods (setMessageReadStatus, deleteEmail, archiveEmail) return void and throw exceptions on any failure.

• *`static connect(string $hostname, string $username, string $password, string $mailbox = 'INBOX', int $port = 993, string $flags = '/ssl', int $retries = 0, bool $debug = false, string $bidRegex = '/#\s(\d+)/')`**:

  • A static factory method that establishes an IMAP connection and returns an IMAPEmailChecker instance. This is the recommended way to create an object of this class. The constructor remains available for injecting a pre-existing IMAP connection, ensuring backward compatibility.
  • Parameters:
    • $hostname: The IMAP server hostname (e.g., imap.example.com).
    • $username: The username for the IMAP account.
    • $password: The password for the IMAP account.
    • $mailbox (optional string, default INBOX): The mailbox to connect to.
    • $port (optional int, default 993): The IMAP server port (e.g., 993 for IMAPS/SSL, 143 for IMAP/STARTTLS).
    • $flags (optional string, default /ssl): Connection flags (e.g., /ssl, /tls, /novalidate-cert).
    • $retries (optional int, default 0): Number of connection retries for imap_open().
    • $debug (optional bool, default false): Enables verbose logging via error_log() for non-critical issues within the created instance.
    • $bidRegex (optional string, default /#\s*(\d+)/): A PCRE regex string used to extract an identifier from the email subject. See constructor documentation for details.
  • Returns: IMAPEmailChecker - An instance of the class.
  • Throws: InvalidArgumentException If $hostname, $username, or $bidRegex is invalid. RuntimeException If the IMAP connection fails after all retries.

• *`__construct($connection, bool $debug = false, string $bidRegex = '/#\s(\d+)/')`**:

  • Instantiates the email checker.
  • Parameters:
    • $connection: The established IMAP connection resource or IMAP\Connection object.
    • $debug (optional bool, default false): Enables verbose logging via error_log() for non-critical issues.
    • $bidRegex (optional string, default /\\#\\s*(\\d+)/): A PCRE regex string used to extract an identifier string from the email subject. The regex must include a capturing group (typically group 1) that captures the desired ID string and cannot be an empty string.
  • Throws: InvalidArgumentException If $bidRegex is an empty string. RuntimeException If the provided $connection is invalid or closed.

• checkMailboxStatus():

  • Checks the status of the current mailbox efficiently.
  • Returns: array - An associative array with keys: total, unseen_uids, highest_uid.
  • Throws: RuntimeException If any underlying IMAP operation (check, uid, search) fails.

• search(string $criteria, bool $returnUids = true):

  • Performs a search using custom IMAP criteria.
  • Parameters: $criteria, $returnUids (optional).
  • Returns: array - Sorted array of integer UIDs or sequence numbers. Empty array [] if no match.
  • Throws: InvalidArgumentException If $criteria is empty. RuntimeException If the imap_search operation fails.

• fetchMessagesByIds(array $identifiers, bool $isUid = true):

  • Fetches full details for specific messages. Does not update class properties $messages or $lastuid. Handles individual message processing errors internally by logging and skipping.
  • Parameters: $identifiers, $isUid (optional).
  • Returns: array - Associative array of successfully processed message data (see "Message Array Structure"), keyed by identifier. Omits messages that failed processing.

• checkAllEmail():

  • Retrieves all emails. Use with caution on large mailboxes. Stores results in $messages. Handles individual message processing errors internally by logging and skipping.
  • Returns: array - Associative array (keyed by UID) of successfully processed email details. Empty array [] if mailbox is empty. Updates $lastuid.
  • Throws: RuntimeException If the initial imap_num_msg fails.

• checkSinceDate(DateTime $date):

  • Retrieves emails on or after $date. Stores results in $messages. Handles individual message processing errors internally by logging and skipping.
  • Parameters: $date.
  • Returns: array - Associative array of successfully processed emails (keyed by UID). Empty array [] if no messages found. Updates $lastuid.
  • Throws: RuntimeException If the initial imap_search fails.

• checkSinceLastUID(int $uid):

  • Retrieves emails with UID > $uid. Recommended for incremental fetching. Stores results in $messages. Handles individual message processing errors internally by logging and skipping.
  • Parameters: $uid.
  • Returns: array - Associative array of successfully processed emails (keyed by UID). Empty array [] if no messages found. Updates $lastuid.
  • Throws: RuntimeException If the initial imap_fetch_overview fails.

• checkUnreadEmails():

  • Retrieves emails marked \Unseen. Stores results in $messages. Handles individual message processing errors internally by logging and skipping.
  • Returns: array - Associative array of successfully processed unread emails (keyed by UID). Empty array [] if no unread emails found. Updates $lastuid.
  • Throws: RuntimeException If the initial imap_search fails.

• setMessageReadStatus(array $uids, bool $markAsRead):

  • Sets or clears the \Seen (read/unread) flag.
  • Parameters: $uids, $markAsRead.
  • Returns: void
  • Throws: InvalidArgumentException If $uids contains invalid values. RuntimeException If the IMAP flag operation fails.

• deleteEmail(int $uid):

  • Deletes an email by UID (marks and expunges). Permanent! Use with caution.
  • Parameters: $uid.
  • Returns: void
  • Throws: InvalidArgumentException If $uid is invalid. RuntimeException If imap_delete or imap_expunge fails with an error.
• archiveEmail(int $uid, string $archiveFolder = 'Archive'):
  • Moves an email by UID and expunges. Use with caution. Ensure folder exists.
  • Parameters: $uid, $archiveFolder (optional).
  • Returns: void
  • Throws: InvalidArgumentException If $uid or $archiveFolder is invalid. RuntimeException If imap_mail_move or imap_expunge fails with an error.

Public Properties

• $lastuid:

  • Type: int
  • Description: After calling checkAllEmail(), checkSinceDate(), checkSinceLastUID(), or checkUnreadEmails(), this property holds the UID of the last (highest UID) email processed during that specific call. Store this between runs for efficient use with checkSinceLastUID(). Initialized to 0. Note: fetchMessagesByIds does not update this property.
• $messages:
  • Type: array
  • Description: An associative array containing the email messages fetched by the last successful call to a check* method that retrieves full message details (e.g., checkAllEmail, checkUnreadEmails). The array is keyed by the message UID. Note: fetchMessagesByIds populates its own return value but does not update this property.

Message Array Structure

Each email message returned by check* methods or fetchMessagesByIds is an associative array with the following keys:

• uid: (int) - The unique identifier (UID) of the message in the mailbox (persistent).
• message_number: (int) - The sequence number of the message (may not be persistent).
• message_id: (string|null) - The unique Message-ID header, angle brackets trimmed. null if not present.
• subject: (string) - The decoded, UTF-8 subject. Empty string if not present.
• message_body: (string) - The decoded, UTF-8 body (HTML preferred), with inline images embedded. Empty string if empty or decoding failed.
• date: (string|null) - The raw date string from the header. null if not present.
• datetime: (DateTime|null) - A DateTime object for the email's date. null if parsing failed.
• fromaddress: (string) - The decoded sender email address. Empty string if parsing failed.
• from: (string) - The decoded sender friendly name and address.
• to: (array) - Array of decoded "To" addresses.
• tocount: (int) - Count of "To" addresses.
• cc: (array) - Array of decoded "CC" addresses.
• cccount: (int) - Count of "CC" addresses.
• bcc: (array) - Array of decoded "BCC" addresses (often empty).
• bcccount: (int) - Count of "BCC" addresses.
• attachments: (array) - Array of non-inline attachments. Each is an array:
  • filename: (string) - Decoded filename.
  • content: (string) - Raw (decoded) attachment content.
  • type: (string) - Decoded MIME subtype (e.g., jpeg, pdf).
• bid: (string|null) - A string value extracted from the subject using the regex provided to the constructor (or the default /#(\d+)/). The value is taken directly from the first capturing group of the regex match. null if the regex didn't match or the first capturing group wasn't found.
• unseen: (bool) - true if \Unseen flag was set at the time the message details were fetched. Check checkMailboxStatus for current status.

Requirements

• PHP version 8.0 or higher.
• PHP IMAP extension enabled (ext-imap).
• PHP Multibyte String extension enabled (ext-mbstring).

Notes

• Error Handling: The class uses exceptions for critical errors. Catch RuntimeException for IMAP/runtime errors and InvalidArgumentException for bad input passed to methods. Use exception messages ($e->getMessage()) for details, which include imap_last_error() where relevant.
• Debug Mode: You can enable a debug mode by passing true as an argument to the connect() method or to the constructor (new IMAPEmailChecker($conn, true)). When enabled, non-critical processing issues (e.g., skipping an invalid identifier in a list, failing to decode a specific attachment part, fallback during character encoding) will be logged via error_log() for diagnostic purposes. These events are handled gracefully by the class and do not throw exceptions, but logging them can help identify problematic emails or configurations. Exceptions for critical errors are always thrown, regardless of debug mode.
• Performance: checkMailboxStatus and search are efficient for checking status or finding specific message IDs. checkSinceLastUID is best for polling. Fetching full details (check*, fetchMessagesByIds) is slower. Avoid checkAllEmail on large mailboxes.
• Security: Never hardcode credentials. Use environment variables or secure configuration methods. Ensure you connect via SSL/TLS.
• UID Focus: The class prioritizes UIDs for reliability.
• State Management: Be aware that only the main check* methods update the $messages and $lastuid properties. fetchMessagesByIds returns its results directly without altering the main class state.
• UTF-8: Textual content is normalized to UTF-8.
• Resource Management: The destructor closes the connection. Explicit imap_close($connection) after use is still good practice.
• Flags: The unseen value in the message array is a snapshot. Use checkMailboxStatus or setMessageReadStatus for current flag states. \Recent flag behavior varies by server.
• Custom BID Extraction: You can provide a custom regular expression to the constructor ($bidRegex parameter) to extract an identifier string (called a "bid") from email subjects. Ensure your regex includes a capturing group for the ID string you want to extract. The default extracts numbers following a #. This can be used for any sort of identifier that you wish to use such as a Ticket # found in the subject for a ticketing system.