4 replies to this topic

[AIGuy]

looking on the web it is almost impossible to find an example of the smtplib being used to RETRIEVE mail. I've seen plenty of examples on how to send mail.

I'm trying to build a small program that will periodically check a gmail inbox for mail and upon finding an email with a certain subject (a secret code) it will send a response.

Can someone give me a brief example of this program?(or at least the retrieval aspect)

Edited by AIGuy, 25 May 2011 - 08:48 PM.

[AIGuy]

anyone? just a quick example of smtplib getting mail.

[Alexander]

You must understand that the SMTP protocol was not meant for mail access, you must look at IMAP or POP3 modules if those services are available on Gmail.

[fayyazlodhi]

Like Alexander said, SMTP is only for sending email. POP3 or IMAP are protocols for mail retrieval.

Gmail or for that matter any known service provider DOES not provide unencrypted email service for plain pop3 or imap. So your program has to use encryption (SSL mostly) to be able to fetch email successfully.

I remember finding aol.com to be an email service where i could configure in options to use unencrypted plain pop3 or imap.

[fayyazlodhi]

A student of mine a few years ago implemented both smtp and pop3 along with encryption in C# available at

Email Client Application by Implementing Our Own SMTP and POP3 protocols using C# - CodeProject