Transport protocols

The Mail component provides transport protocols for both sending and retrieving mail.

For sending mail, the following protocols are supported:

• SMTP (ezcMailSmtpTransport) - uses an SMTP server to send mail. Supports plain and TLS/SSL/SSLv2/SSLv3 connections.
• MTA (ezcMailMtaTransport) - wraps around the PHP mail() function.

For mail retrieval we currently support the following protocols:

• POP3 (ezcMailPop3Transport) - an old protocol but still used. SSL is supported.
• IMAP (ezcMailImapTransport) - handles multiple mailboxes. SSL is supported.
• MBOX (ezcMailMboxTransport) - handles Unix mailbox file formats.

Mail retrieval from other sources include:

• File (ezcMailFileSet) - handles mails stored in files.
• Variable (ezcMailVariableSet) - handles mails stored in memory.

Mail parsers

After using a mail retrieval transport to fetch a set of mails, a mail parser can be used to go through the set and extract the needed information like subject, sender, date and attachments from each mail in the set. The ezcMailParser class is used for this purpose.

Mail parts

The ezcMail component supports a wide variety of mail parts that can be used when sending or retrieving mails:

• ezcMailFile - mail attachment from an existing file
• ezcMailStreamFile - mail attachment from an open stream
• ezcMailVirtualFile - mail attachment from a string in memory
• ezcMailMultipartAlternative - used to bundle a group of mail parts where only one should be shown
• ezcMailMultipartDigest - used to bundle a list of mail objects
• ezcMailMultipartMixed - used to bundle an ordered list of mail parts
• ezcMailMultipartRelated - intended for mail parts consisting of several inter-related body parts
• ezcMailMultipartReport - used for sending delivery status notifications
• ezcMailDeliveryStatus - used for sending delivery status notifications
• ezcMailRfc822Digest - used to insert another mail into a mail
• ezcMailText - used for plain text

Mail tools

In the ezcMailTools class, you will find various useful static methods that can be used in your applications:

• ezcMailTools::lineBreak() - returns one end-of-line character (default \r\n). Use ezcMailTools::setLineBreak() to change the default
• ezcMailTools::composeEmailAddress() - returns the RFC822 representation of a mail address as a string. Use ezcMailTools::composeEmailAddresses() for an array of mail address objects
• ezcMailTools::parseEmailAddress() - returns an ezcMailAddress object from a string mail address. Use ezcMailTools::parseEmailAddresses() for a string of mail addresses
• ezcMailTools::generateMessageId() - returns a unique message ID to be used for a mail message
• ezcMailTools::generateContentId() - returns a unique ID to be used for Content-ID headers
• ezcMailTools::mimeDecode() - decodes MIME-encoded fields and tries to recover from errors
• ezcMailTools::replyToMail() - returns a new ezcMail object that is a reply to the specified ezcMail object

See the ezcMailTools example below for information on how to use these methods.

Sending a mail with the composer

Sending a mail using the composer is very straightforward. This small example displays how to send a normal text message.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail composer object
5. $mail = new ezcMailComposer();
7. // Specify the "from" mail address
8. $mail->from = new ezcMailAddress( 'sender@example.com', 'Adrian Ripburger' );
10. // Add one "to" mail address (multiple can be added)
11. $mail->addTo( new ezcMailAddress( 'receiver@example.com', 'Maureen Corley' ) );
13. // Specify the subject of the mail
14. $mail->subject = "This is the subject of the example mail";
16. // Specify the body text of the mail
17. $mail->plainText = "This is the body of the example mail.";
19. // Generate the mail
20. $mail->build();
22. // Create a new MTA transport object
23. $transport = new ezcMailMtaTransport();
25. // Use the MTA transport to send the created mail object
26. $transport->send( $mail );
28. ?>

Sending a mail with HTML, inline images and attachments

This example shows how to send a mail with HTML text, images and attachments using the ezcMailComposer class.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail composer object
5. $mail = new ezcMailComposer();
7. // Specify the "from" mail address
8. $mail->from = new ezcMailAddress( 'john@example.com', 'John Doe' );
10. // Add one "to" mail address (multiple can be added)
11. $mail->addTo( new ezcMailAddress( 'cindy@example.com', 'Cindy Doe' ) );
13. // Specify the subject of the mail
14. $mail->subject = "Example of an HTML email with attachments";
16. // Specify the plain text of the mail
17. $mail->plainText = "Here is the text version of the mail. This is displayed if the client can not understand HTML";
19. // Specify the html text of the mail
20. $mail->htmlText = "<html>Here is the HTML version of your mail with an image: <img src='file://path_to_image.jpg' /></html>";
22. // Add an attachment to the mail
23. $mail->addAttachment( 'path_to_attachment.file' );
25. // Build the mail object
26. $mail->build();
28. // Create a new MTA transport object
29. $transport = new ezcMailMtaTransport();
31. // Use the MTA transport to send the created mail object
32. $transport->send( $mail );
34. ?>

Securing HTML mails which include file:// in image tags

By default, if the htmlText property contains an HTML image tag with file:// in href, that file will be included in the created message.

Example:

<img src="file:///home/me/image.jpg" />

This can be a security risk if a user links to another file, for example logs or password files. With the automaticImageInclude option (default value true) from ezcMailComposerOptions, the automatic inclusion of files can be turned off.

Example:

$options = new ezcMailComposerOptions();
$options->automaticImageInclude = false; // default value is true

$mail = new ezcMailComposer( $options );

// ... add To, From, Subject, etc to $mail
$mail->htmlText = "<html>Here is the image: <img src="file:///etc/passwd" /></html>";

// ... send $mail

After running the above code, the sent mail will not contain the file specified in the htmlText property.

Building a mail from scratch

The class structure of the Mail component follows that of the mail MIME. This means that you can build advanced MIME messages part by part.

The first example displays how to build a similar message to the one above.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail object
5. $mail = new ezcMail();
7. // Specify the "from" mail address
8. $mail->from = new ezcMailAddress( 'sender@example.com', 'Boston Low' );
10. // Add one "to" mail address (multiple can be added)
11. $mail->addTo( new ezcMailAddress( 'receiver@example.com', 'Maggie Robbins' ) );
13. // Specify the subject of the mail
14. $mail->subject = "This is the subject of the example mail";
16. // Specify the body text of the mail as a ezcMailText object
17. $mail->body = new ezcMailText( "This is the body of the example mail." );
19. // Create a new MTA transport object
20. $transport = new ezcMailMtaTransport();
22. // Use the MTA transport to send the created mail object
23. $transport->send( $mail );
25. ?>

As you can see, there is not much difference compared to the composer version. In the next example we will add an attachment to our manually built mail:

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail object
5. $mail = new ezcMail();
7. // Specify the "from" mail address
8. $mail->from = new ezcMailAddress( 'sender@example.com', 'Bernard Bernoulli' );
10. // Add one "to" mail address (multiple can be added)
11. $mail->addTo( new ezcMailAddress( 'receiver@example.com', 'Wendy' ) );
13. // Specify the subject of the mail
14. $mail->subject = "This is the subject of the example mail";
16. // Create a text part to be added to the mail
17. $textPart = new ezcMailText( "This is the body of the example mail." );
19. // Create a file attachment to be added to the mail
20. $fileAttachment = new ezcMailFile( "~/myfile.jpg" );
22. // Specify the body of the mail as a multipart-mixed of the text part and the file attachment
23. $mail->body = new ezcMailMultipartMixed( $textPart, $fileAttachment );
25. // Create a new MTA transport object
26. $transport = new ezcMailMtaTransport();
28. // Use the MTA transport to send the created mail object
29. $transport->send( $mail );
31. ?>

Building MIME structures that work

When you build mail mail from scratch most combinations of MailParts will produce valid messages. Unfortunately, even though a message is valid structurally that does not mean that all mail clients will display it properly. This section gives a few hints on what to do and what not to do.

1. Ommit Multipart/Mixed parts with only one part. Some mail clients like Mozilla Thunderbird do not display these correctly. Of course, they are not necessary either.
2. Mail with alternative text/HTML parts and common attachments can be implemented in many ways. However, we have only found one structure that seems to work across all clients: MultipartMixed( MultipartAlternative( TextPart, TextPart ), FilePart, ... )

Sending a mail using SMTP

This example shows how to send a mail with SMTP, by using an SSLv3 connection:

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail composer object
5. $mail = new ezcMailComposer();
7. // Specify the "from" mail address
8. $mail->from = new ezcMailAddress( 'sender@example.com', 'Adrian Ripburger' );
10. // Add one "to" mail address (multiple can be added)
11. $mail->addTo( new ezcMailAddress( 'receiver@example.com', 'Maureen Corley' ) );
13. // Specify the subject of the mail
14. $mail->subject = "This is the subject of the example mail";
16. // Specify the body text of the mail
17. $mail->plainText = "This is the body of the example mail.";
19. // Generate the mail
20. $mail->build();
22. // Create a new SMTP transport object with an SSLv3 connection.
23. // The port will be 465 by default, use the 4th argument to change it.
24. // Username and password (2nd and 3rd arguments) are left blank, which means
25. // the mail host does not need authentication.
26. // The 5th parameter is the $options object which specifies a SSLV3 connection
27. // (default is ezcMailSmtpTransport::CONNECTION_PLAIN).
28. $options = new ezcMailSmtpTransportOptions();
29. $options->connectionType = ezcMailSmtpTransport::CONNECTION_SSLV3;
31. $transport = new ezcMailSmtpTransport( 'mailhost.example.com', '', '', null, $options );
33. // The option can also be specified via the option property:
34. $transport->options->connectionType = ezcMailSmtpTransport::CONNECTION_SSLV3;
36. // Use the SMTP transport to send the created mail object
37. $transport->send( $mail );
39. ?>

Using stronger authentication methods with the SMTP transports

The SMTP transports supports various authentication methods: DIGEST-MD5, CRAM-MD5, NTLM, LOGIN, PLAIN. Not all methods are supported by all servers, and some servers don't support authentication at all. NTLM authentication requires the mcrypt PHP extension.

By default, the SMTP transport tries to login anonymously to the SMTP server (if an empty username and password have been provided), or to authenticate with the strongest method supported by the server (if username and password have been provided). The preferred authentication method can be changed with the option preferredAuthMethod. See the ezcMailSmtpTransport class for a list of supported authentication methods.

If the preferred method is specified via options, only that authentication method will be attempted on the SMTP server. If it fails, an exception will be thrown.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create an SMTP transport and demand NTLM authentication.
5. // Username and password must be specified, otherwise no authentication
6. // will be attempted.
7. // If NTLM authentication fails, an exception will be thrown.
8. // See the ezcMailSmtpTransport class for a list of supported methods.
9. $options = new ezcMailSmtpTransportOptions();
10. $options->preferredAuthMethod = ezcMailSmtpTransport::AUTH_NTLM;
12. $transport = new ezcMailSmtpTransport( 'mailhost.example.com', 'username', 'password', null, $options );
14. // The option can also be specified via the option property:
15. $transport->options->preferredAuthMethod = ezcMailSmtpTransport::AUTH_NTLM;
17. // Use the SMTP transport to send the created mail object
18. $transport->send( $mail );
20. ?>

Character encoding

Most of the world does not speak and write US ASCII and thus requires more advanced character encoding to display mail correctly.

The following example shows how to send a mail with the body and subject encoded with iso-8859-1 and a custom header encoded with iso-8859-1:

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail object
5. $mail = new ezcMail();
7. // Specify the "from" mail address
8. $mail->from = new ezcMailAddress( 'sender@example.com', 'Norwegian characters: æøå', 'iso-8859-1' );
10. // Add one "to" mail address (multiple can be added)
11. $mail->addTo( new ezcMailAddress( 'reciever@example.com', 'More norwegian characters: æøå', 'iso-8859-1' ) );
13. // Specify the subject of the mail
14. $mail->subject = 'Oslo ligger sør i Norge og har vært landets hovedstad i over 600 år.';
16. // Specify the charset of the subject
17. $mail->subjectCharset = 'iso-8859-1';
19. // Add a header with the default charset (us-ascii)
20. $mail->setHeader( 'X-Related-City', 'Moscow' );
22. // Add a header with a custom charset (iso-8859-5)
23. $mail->setHeader( 'X-Related-Movie', 'James Bond - Å leve og la dø', 'iso-8859-1' );
25. // Specify the body as a text part, also specifying it's charset
26. $mail->body = new ezcMailText( 'Oslo be grunnlagt rundt 1048 av Harald Hardråde.', 'iso-8859-1' );
28. // Create a new MTA transport object
29. $transport = new ezcMailMtaTransport();
31. // Use the MTA transport to send the created mail object
32. $transport->send( $mail );
34. ?>

You can of course choose and combine any available character sets. Make sure that the input text is encoded as specified, or you may get unexpected results.

Extending the Mail component

It is possible to extend the Mail component if you require part types that are not supported by default. The following two examples shows how you can implement support for digest mail messages as attachments to your mail. This functionality is available through the ezcMailRfc822Digest class. For the sake of this example, we will recreate it in the MailRFC822Digest class.

The mail system already supports sending attachments through the ezcMailMultipartMixed type. Unfortunately directly inserting an ezcMail object as a part does not work. This is because mail digests are a special case: they require two extra headers that are separated by the normal mail headers.

To make it work, we create the class RFC822Digest to add these headers:

1. <?php
3. class RFC822Digest extends ezcMailPart
4. {
5. private $mail = null;
6. public function __construct( ezcMail $mail )
7. {
8. $this->mail = $mail;
9. $this->setHeader( 'Content-Type', 'message/rfc822' );
10. $this->setHeader( 'Content-Disposition', 'inline' );
11. }
13. public function generateBody()
14. {
15. return $this->mail->generate();
16. }
17. }
19. ?>

Our new class extends the ezcMailPart class. This is required for all parts of a mail. ezcMailPart provides two important methods that we can override: ezcMailPart::generateHeaders() and ezcMailPart::generateBody(). These two methods are called in succession by the parent part and should return the headers and the body text of the part.

We do not need to override generateHeaders() since we can simply set the headers we want directly on the object. We do need to override generateBody(), since we want to include the full text of the mail digest.

The new class can be used directly when building a mail. The example assumes that a valid ezcMail object is available in the $digest variable.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail object
5. $mail = new ezcMail();
7. // Specify the "from" mail address
8. $mail->from = new ezcMailAddress( 'sender@example.com', 'Largo LaGrande' );
10. // Add one "to" mail address (multiple can be added)
11. $mail->addTo( new ezcMailAddress( 'receiver@example.com', 'Wally B. Feed' ) );
13. // Specify the subject of the mail
14. $mail->subject = "This is the subject of the mail with a mail digest.";
16. // Create a text part to be added to the mail
17. $textPart = new ezcMailText( "This is the body of the mail with a mail digest." );
19. // Specify the body of the mail as a multipart-mixed of the text part and a RFC822 digest object
20. // where $digest is an ezcMail object
21. // and RFC822Digest is the class from the previous example
22. $mail->body = new ezcMailMultipartMixed( $textPart, new RFC822Digest( $digest ) );
24. // Create a new MTA transport object
25. $transport = new ezcMailMtaTransport();
27. // Use the MTA transport to send the created mail object
28. $transport->send( $mail );
30. ?>

Using the ezcMailTools class

In this example, we use the various methods from the ezcMailTools class.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. $mailAddresses = array(
5. new ezcMailAddress( 'john@example.com', 'Jøhn Doe', 'ISO-8859-1' ),
6. new ezcMailAddress( 'jane@example.com', 'Jane Doe' )
7. );
8. $addresses = '=?ISO-8859-1?B?SsO4aG4gRG9l?= <john@example.com>, Jane Doe <jane@example.com';
10. // Convert ezcMailAddress to string representation
11. var_dump( ezcMailTools::composeEmailAddress( $mailAddresses[0] ) );
12. var_dump( ezcMailTools::composeEmailAddresses( $mailAddresses ) );
14. // Convert string to ezcMailAddress
15. var_dump( ezcMailTools::parseEmailAddress( $addresses ) );
16. var_dump( ezcMailTools::parseEmailAddresses( $addresses ) );
18. // Validate an email address
19. $isValid = ezcMailTools::validateEmailAddress( 'john.doe@example.com' );
21. // Validate an email address with MX records check
22. $isValid = ezcMailTools::validateEmailAddress( 'john.doe@example.com', true );
24. // Create a new mail object
25. $mail = new ezcMail();
26. $mail->from = $mailAddresses[1];
27. $mail->addTo( $mailAddresses[0] );
28. $mail->subject = "Top secret";
30. // Use the lineBreak() method
31. $mail->body = new ezcMailText( "Confidential" . ezcMailTools::lineBreak() . "DO NOT READ" );
32. $mail->generate();
34. // Create a reply message to the previous mail object
35. $reply = ezcMailTools::replyToMail( $mail, new ezcMailAddress( 'test@example.com', 'Reply Guy' ) );
37. ?>

Retrieving mail using POP3

The following example shows how to fetch messages from a POP3 account using various methods and to parse the messages for use.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new POP3 transport object by specifying the server name
5. $pop3 = new ezcMailPop3Transport( "pop3.example.com" );
7. // Authenticate to the POP3 server
8. $pop3->authenticate( "user", "password" );
10. // Get the number of messages on the server and their combined size
11. // in the variables $num and $size
12. $pop3->status( $num, $size );
14. // Get the list of message numbers on the server and their sizes
15. // the returned array is something like: array( 1 => 1500, 2 => 45200 )
16. // where the key is a message number and the value is the message size
17. $messages = $pop3->listMessages();
19. // Get the list of message unique ids on the server and their sizes
20. // the returned array is something like: array( 1 => '00000f543d324', 2 => '000010543d324' )
21. // where the key is an message number and the value is the message unique id
22. $messages = $pop3->listUniqueIdentifiers();
24. // Usually you will call one of these 3 fetch functions:
26. // Fetch all messages on the server
27. $set = $pop3->fetchAll();
29. // Fetch one message from the server (here: get the message no. 2)
30. $set = $pop3->fetchByMessageNr( 2 );
32. // Fetch a range of messages from the server (here: get 4 messages starting from message no. 2)
33. $set = $pop3->fetchFromOffset( 2, 4 );
35. // Delete a message from the server
36. $pop3->delete( 1 );
38. // Use this to keep the connection alive
39. $pop3->noop();
41. // Create a new mail parser object
42. $parser = new ezcMailParser();
44. // Parse the set of messages retrieved from the server earlier
45. $mail = $parser->parseMail( $set );
47. ?>

The parser returns an array of ezcMail messages with parts organized according to the MIME structure of the mail.

Retrieving mail using IMAP

The following example shows how to fetch messages from an IMAP account using various functions and to parse the messages for use.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new IMAP transport object by specifying the server name
5. $imap = new ezcMailImapTransport( "imap.example.com" );
7. // Authenticate to the IMAP server
8. $imap->authenticate( "user", "password" );
10. // Select the Inbox mailbox
11. $imap->selectMailbox( 'Inbox' );
13. // Get the number of messages on the server, combined size, number of recent
14. // messages and number of unseen messages
15. // in the variables $num, $size, $recent, $unseen
16. $imap->status( $num, $size, $recent, $unseen );
18. // Get the list of message numbers on the server and their sizes
19. // the returned array is something like: array( 1 => 1500, 2 => 45200 )
20. // where the key is a message number and the value is the message size
21. $messages = $imap->listMessages();
23. // Get the list of message unique ids on the server and their sizes
24. // the returned array is something like: array( 1 => '15', 2 => '16' )
25. // where the key is an message number and the value is the message unique id
26. $messages = $imap->listUniqueIdentifiers();
28. // Usually you will call one of these fetch functions:
30. // Fetch all messages on the server
31. $set = $imap->fetchAll();
33. // Fetch one message from the server (here: get the message no. 2)
34. $set = $imap->fetchByMessageNr( 2 );
36. // Fetch a range of messages from the server (here: get 4 messages starting from message no. 2)
37. $set = $imap->fetchFromOffset( 2, 4 );
39. // Fetch messages which have a certain flag
40. // See the function description for a list of supported flags
41. $set = $imap->fetchByFlag( "DELETED" );
43. // Fetch a range of messages sorted by Date
44. // Use this to page through a mailbox
45. // See the function description for a list of criterias and for how to sort ascending or descending
46. $set = $imap->sortFromOffset( 1, 10, "Date" );
48. // Sort the specified messages by Date
49. // See the function description for a list of criterias and for how to sort ascending or descending
50. $set = $imap->sortMessages( "1,2,3,4,5", "Date" );
52. // Fetch messages which match the specified criteria.
53. // See the section 6.4.4. of RFC 1730 or 2060 for a list of criterias
54. // (http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1730.html)
55. // The following example returns the messages flagged as SEEN and with
56. // 'release' in their Subject
57. $set = $imap->searchMailbox( 'SEEN SUBJECT "release"' );
59. // Delete a message from the server (message is not physically deleted, but it's
60. // list of flags get the "Deleted" flag.
61. $imap->delete( 1 );
63. // Use this to permanently delete the messages flagged with "Deleted"
64. $imap->expunge();
66. // Use this to keep the connection alive
67. $imap->noop();
69. // Create a new mail parser object
70. $parser = new ezcMailParser();
72. // Parse the set of messages retrieved from the server earlier
73. $mail = $parser->parseMail( $set );
75. ?>

The parser returns an array of ezcMail messages with parts organized according to the MIME structure of the mail.

Additional usage of the IMAP transport

The IMAP transport supports multiple mailboxes. In the following example, we work with mailboxes and flags.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new IMAP transport object by specifying the server name
5. $imap = new ezcMailImapTransport( "imap.example.com" );
7. // Authenticate to the IMAP server
8. $imap->authenticate( "user", "password" );
10. // Select the Inbox mailbox
11. $imap->selectMailbox( 'Inbox' );
13. // List the capabilities of the IMAP server
14. $capabilities = $imap->capability();
16. // List existing mailboxes
17. $mailboxes = $imap->listMailboxes( "", "*" );
19. // Fetch the hierarchy delimiter character (usually "/")
20. $delimiter = $imap->getHierarchyDelimiter();
22. // Create a new mailbox
23. $imap->createMailbox( "Reports 2006" );
25. // Delete a mailbox
26. $imap->deleteMailbox( "Reports 2005" );
28. // Rename a mailbox
29. $imap->renameMailbox( "Reports 2006", "Reports" );
31. // Copy messages from the selected mailbox (here: Inbox) to another mailbox
32. $imap->copyMessages( "1,2,4", "Reports" );
34. // Set a flag to messages
35. // See the function description for a list of supported flags
36. $imap->setFlag( "1,2,4", "DELETED" );
38. // Clears a flag from messages
39. // See the function description for a list of supported flags
40. $imap->clearFlag( "1,2,4", "SEEN" );
42. // Append a message to a mailbox. $mail must contain the mail as text
43. // Use this with a "Sent" or "Drafts" mailbox
44. $imap->append( "Sent", $mail );
46. ?>

Refering messages by their unique IDs in IMAP

With IMAP it is possible to refer to messages using their unique IDs, which usually never change, unlike message numbers. Unfortunately this is not possible yet in POP3.

The next example shows how to enable refering to messages by their unique IDs. To see the list of the methods which support unique IDs referencing, consult the documentation for the ezcMailImapTransport class.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new IMAP transport object by specifying the server name, default port
5. // and that the IMAP commands will work with unique IDs instead of message numbers
6. $options = new ezcMailImapTransportOptions();
7. $options->uidReferencing = true;
9. $imap = new ezcMailImapTransport( "imap.example.com", null, $options );
11. // Authenticate to the IMAP server
12. $imap->authenticate( "user", "password" );
14. // Select the Inbox mailbox
15. $imap->selectMailbox( 'Inbox' );
17. // The other IMAP examples apply here, with the distinction that unique IDs are
18. // used to refer to messages instead of message numbers
20. ?>

Working with transport options

The POP3, IMAP and SMTP transports allow options to be specified when calling the transport constructors. These options are implemented in the classes ezcMailPop3TransportOptions, ezcMailImapTransportOptions and ezcMailSmtpTransportOptions. In the following example, we specify options when calling the POP3 transport constructor.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new POP3 transport with a plain connection (default port is 110,
5. // you can specify a different one using the second parameter of the constructor).
6. // A timeout option is specified to be 10 seconds (default is 5).
7. // Another option to be specified is the authenticationMethod as APOP (default is plain text)
8. $options = new ezcMailPop3TransportOptions()
9. $options->timeout = 10;
10. $options->authenticationMethod = ezcMailPop3Transport::AUTH_APOP;
12. $pop3 = new ezcMailPop3Transport( "pop3.example.com", null, $options );
14. // Authenticate to the POP3 server
15. $pop3->authenticate( "user", "password" );
17. ?>

Using SSL with POP3 and IMAP

The POP3 and IMAP transports allow SSL connections (if the mail server supports them). In the following example, we connect to an IMAP server using an SSL connection.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new IMAP transport with an SSL connection (default port is 993,
5. // you can specify a different one using the second parameter of the constructor).
6. $options = new ezcMailImapTransportOptions();
7. $options->ssl = true;
9. $imap = new ezcMailImapTransport( "imap.example.com", null, $options );
11. // Authenticate to the IMAP server
12. $imap->authenticate( "user", "password" );
14. // Select the Inbox mailbox
15. $imap->selectMailbox( 'Inbox' );
17. ?>

Retrieving mail from mbox files

The following example shows how to fetch all messages from an mbox file and to parse the messages for use.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new Mbox transport object by specifiying an existing mbox file name
5. $mbox = new ezcMailMboxTransport( "/path/file.mbox" );
7. // Fetch all messages from the mbox file
8. $set = $mbox->fetchAll();
10. // Create a new mail parser object
11. $parser = new ezcMailParser();
13. // Parse the set of messages retrieved from the mbox file earlier
14. $mail = $parser->parseMail( $set );
16. ?>

The parser returns an array of ezcMail messages with parts organized according to the MIME structure of the mail.

Parsing a message set

The following example shows how to parse a message set retrieved from an IMAP or POP3 account, an mbox file, a single mail file or a variable.

1. <?php
2. require_once 'tutorial_autoload.php';
4. // Create a new mail parser object
5. $parser = new ezcMailParser();
7. // $set is a message set got from an IMAP, POP3 account or Mbox file
8. // like for example:
9. // $mbox = new ezcMailMboxTransport( "/path/file.mbox" );
10. // $set = $mbox->fetchAll();
11. $mail = $parser->parseMail( $set );
13. for ( $i = 0; $i < count( $mail ); $i++ )
14. {
15. // Process $mail[$i] such as use $mail[$i]->subject, $mail[$i]->body
16. echo "From: {$mail[$i]->from}, Subject: {$mail[$i]->subject}\n";
18. // Save the attachments to another folder
19. $parts = $mail[$i]->fetchParts();
20. foreach ( $parts as $part )
21. {
22. if ( $part instanceof ezcMailFile )
23. {
24. rename( $part->fileName, '/path/to/save/to/' . basename( $part->fileName ) );
25. }
26. }
27. }
29. ?>

Because the parser will delete the temporary attachments after the script ends, it is needed to save those files to another directory. On lines 19-26 a way of how to do this is shown.

For a more detailed example on how to use a mail object, please see the display example.

For an example on how to display a listing of mails, please see the mail listing example.

For a list of supported mail-related RFCs, please see the RFCs list.

MTA: Qmail

Qmail insists on only using "\n" line breaks and will send garbled messages with the default "\r\n" setting. To fix this issue, use ezcMailTools::setLineBreak( "\n" ) before sending mail.

MTA: Sendmail relaying denied

This can happen when the SMTP server you try to use has disabled the sending of mail from computers not connected to its network, or if it requires authentication. Talk to the administrator of the SMTP server to see what the requirements are to send mail.

Check also that sendmail is installed and configured correctly.

For Windows, you need to specify a valid SMTP server in php.ini, or you can download a "fake" sendmail from the internet.

IMAP: Authentication failed

Sometimes the IMAP transport fails to authenticate, in which case the authenticate() method will return false. The application should detect when this occurs and attempt authentication again (for example, for a preset number of times such as three).

IMAP: Could not read from the stream

While using the IMAP methods, it is possible that an ezcMailTransportException is thrown, in which case the connection to the IMAP server is closed. The application should catch this exception and decide how to handle this situation (show an error, reconnect).

Parsing: iconv() notices

If the mail that you try to parse is not encoded properly, the iconv () function will throw notices (from the function convertToUTF8Iconv() in ezcMailCharsetConverter).

To avoid the notices you can use your own conversion function:

1. Create a new function which is similar to convertToUTF8Iconv() from ezcMailCharsetConverter, but which supresses notices and errors (with @ in front of iconv ()):

class myConverter
{
     public static function convertToUTF8IconvNoNotices( $text, $originalCharset )
     {
         if ( $originalCharset === 'unknown-8bit' || $originalCharset === 'x-user-defined' )
         {
             $originalCharset = "latin1";
         }
         return @iconv( $originalCharset, 'utf-8', $text );
     }
}

2. Use the created function instead of the normal one (set this before parsing mail):

ezcMailCharsetConverter::setConvertMethod( array( 'myConverter', 'convertToUTF8IconvNoNotices' ) );

Parsing: missing characters

If the mail that you try to parse is not encoded properly, the iconv () function will throw notices (from the function convertToUTF8Iconv() in ezcMailCharsetConverter).

To avoid the missing characters you can use your own conversion function:

1. Create a new function which is similar to convertToUTF8Iconv() from ezcMailCharsetConverter, but which uses one of the options //IGNORE or //TRANSLIT for iconv ():

class myConverter
{
    public static function convertToUTF8IconvIgnore( $text, $originalCharset )
    {
        if ( $originalCharset === 'unknown-8bit' || $originalCharset === 'x-user-defined' )
        {
            $originalCharset = "latin1";
        }
        return iconv( $originalCharset, 'utf-8//TRANSLIT', $text );
    }
}

2. Use the created function instead of the normal one (set this before parsing mail):

ezcMailCharsetConverter::setConvertMethod( array( 'myConverter', 'convertToUTF8IconvIgnore' ) );

See the other examples in ezcMailCharsetConverter, and see also the documentation for the iconv () function to find out how //IGNORE and //TRANSLIT work.