imap_list

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

    imap_list — Read the list of mailboxes

    Description

    imap_list(IMAP\Connection $imap, string $reference, string $pattern): array|false

    Read the list of mailboxes.

    Parameters

    imap

    An IMAP\Connection instance.

    reference

    reference should normally be just the server specification as described in imap_open().

    Warning

    Passing untrusted data to this parameter is insecure, unless imap.enable_insecure_rsh is disabled.

    pattern

    Specifies where in the mailbox hierarchy to start searching.

    There are two special characters you can pass as part of the pattern: '*' and '%'. '*' means to return all mailboxes. If you pass pattern as '*', you will get a list of the entire mailbox hierarchy. '%' means to return the current level only. '%' as the pattern parameter will return only the top level mailboxes; '~/mail/%' on UW_IMAPD will return every mailbox in the ~/mail directory, but none in subfolders of that directory.

    Return Values

    Returns an array containing the names of the mailboxes or false in case of failure.

    Changelog

    Version Description
    8.1.0 The imap parameter expects an IMAP\Connection instance now; previously, a valid imap resource was expected.

    Examples

    Example #1 imap_list() example

    <?php
    $mbox     = imap_open("{imap.example.org}", "username", "password", OP_HALFOPEN)
    or die(    "can't connect: " . imap_last_error());

    $list = imap_list($mbox, "{imap.example.org}", "*");
    if (    is_array($list)) {
    foreach (    $list as $val) {
    echo     imap_utf7_decode($val) . "\n";
    }
    } else {
    echo     "imap_list failed: " . imap_last_error() . "\n";
    }

    imap_close($mbox);
    ?>

    See Also

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    User Contributed Notes 5 notes

    up
    3
    maxime dot marais+php at gmail dot com
    5 years ago
    Please be aware that if you are trying to list an empty mailbox, imap_list will return FALSE as if there was an error instead of an empty array() as one may expect.

    Example:

    With a brand new account created on your mail server, with an empty INBOX, you will get:

    $list = imap_list( $imap_stream, $ref, "INBOX/*");
    var_dump( $list );
    // bool(false)
    up
    4
    Anonymous
    5 years ago
    use
    echo mb_convert_encoding($val, "utf-8", "UTF7-IMAP");
    for cyrrilic folder names
    up
    2
    c6h1206free at gmail dot com
    15 years ago
    imap_list returns a simple array of strings that look just like the $ref parameter one needs to specify:

    <?php

    $srv     = '{imap.example.com}';

    $conn = imap_open($srv, 'me', 'mypass');

    $boxes = imap_list($conn, $srv, '*');

    print_r($boxes);
    imap_close($conn);
    ?>

    Output:

    <pre>
    Array
    (
    [0] => {imap.example.com}Calendar
    [1] => {imap.example.com}Contacts
    [2] => {imap.example.com}Deleted Items
    [3] => {imap.example.com}Drafts
    [4] => {imap.example.com}Journal
    [5] => {imap.example.com}Junk E-mail
    [6] => {imap.example.com}Notes
    [7] => {imap.example.com}Outbox
    [8] => {imap.example.com}RSS Feeds
    [9] => {imap.example.com}Sent Items
    [10] => {imap.example.com}Tasks
    )
    </pre>

    These directly fill in the $ref argument for every function that takes one.
    up
    0
    kevin at metalaxe dot com
    17 years ago
    if there is an error imap_list returns FALSE not an empty array (as expected by docs)
    up
    -1
    jemore at free dot fr
    10 years ago
    With the values returned from the imap_list function, you can search a message in the folder, but you have to use the imap_reopen function before . Continuing the previous example (from c6h1206free at gmail dot com )

    <?php
    $srv     = '{imap.example.com}';
    $conn = imap_open($srv, 'me', 'mypass');
    $boxes = imap_list($conn, $srv, '*');
    foreach(    $boxes as $box)
    {
    imap_reopen($srv, $box);
    var_dump(imap_search($srv, "ALL"));
    }
    imap_close($conn);
    ?>
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