Net::POP3(3pm) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Net::POP3(3pm)
NAME
Net::POP3 - Post Office Protocol 3 Client class (RFC1939)
SYNOPSIS
use Net::POP3;
# Constructors
$pop = Net::POP3->new('pop3host');
$pop = Net::POP3->new('pop3host', Timeout => 60);
$pop = Net::POP3->new('pop3host', SSL => 1, Timeout => 60);
if ($pop->login($username, $password) > 0) {
my $msgnums = $pop->list; # hashref of msgnum => size
foreach my $msgnum (keys %$msgnums) {
my $msg = $pop->get($msgnum);
print @$msg;
$pop->delete($msgnum);
}
}
$pop->quit;
DESCRIPTION
This module implements a client interface to the POP3 protocol,
enabling a perl5 application to talk to POP3 servers. This
documentation assumes that you are familiar with the POP3 protocol
described in RFC1939. With IO::Socket::SSL installed it also provides
support for implicit and explicit TLS encryption, i.e. POP3S or
POP3+STARTTLS.
A new Net::POP3 object must be created with the new method. Once this
has been done, all POP3 commands are accessed via method calls on the
object.
The Net::POP3 class is a subclass of Net::Cmd and (depending on
avaibility) of IO::Socket::IP, IO::Socket::INET6 or IO::Socket::INET.
Class Methods
"new([$host][, %options])"
This is the constructor for a new Net::POP3 object. $host is the
name of the remote host to which an POP3 connection is required.
$host is optional. If $host is not given then it may instead be
passed as the "Host" option described below. If neither is given
then the "POP3_Hosts" specified in "Net::Config" will be used.
%options are passed in a hash like fashion, using key and value
pairs. Possible options are:
Host - POP3 host to connect to. It may be a single scalar, as
defined for the "PeerAddr" option in IO::Socket::INET, or a
reference to an array with hosts to try in turn. The "host" method
will return the value which was used to connect to the host.
Port - port to connect to. Default - 110 for plain POP3 and 995
for POP3s (direct SSL).
SSL - If the connection should be done from start with SSL,
contrary to later upgrade with "starttls". You can use SSL
arguments as documented in IO::Socket::SSL, but it will usually use
the right arguments already.
LocalAddr and LocalPort - These parameters are passed directly to
IO::Socket to allow binding the socket to a specific local address
and port. For compatibility with older versions ResvPort can be
used instead of LocalPort.
Domain - This parameter is passed directly to IO::Socket and makes
it possible to enforce IPv4 connections even if IO::Socket::IP is
used as super class. Alternatively Family can be used.
Timeout - Maximum time, in seconds, to wait for a response from the
POP3 server (default: 120)
Debug - Enable debugging information
Object Methods
Unless otherwise stated all methods return either a true or false
value, with true meaning that the operation was a success. When a
method states that it returns a value, failure will be returned as
undef or an empty list.
"Net::POP3" inherits from "Net::Cmd" so methods defined in "Net::Cmd"
may be used to send commands to the remote POP3 server in addition to
the methods documented here.
host()
Returns the value used by the constructor, and passed to
IO::Socket::INET, to connect to the host.
"auth($username, $password)"
Attempt SASL authentication.
user($user)
Send the USER command.
pass($pass)
Send the PASS command. Returns the number of messages in the
mailbox.
"login([$user[, $pass]])"
Send both the USER and PASS commands. If $pass is not given the
"Net::POP3" uses "Net::Netrc" to lookup the password using the host
and username. If the username is not specified then the current
user name will be used.
Returns the number of messages in the mailbox. However if there are
no messages on the server the string "0E0" will be returned. This
is will give a true value in a boolean context, but zero in a
numeric context.
If there was an error authenticating the user then undef will be
returned.
starttls(%sslargs)
Upgrade existing plain connection to SSL. You can use SSL
arguments as documented in IO::Socket::SSL, but it will usually use
the right arguments already.
"apop([$user[, $pass]])"
Authenticate with the server identifying as $user with password
$pass. Similar to "login", but the password is not sent in clear
text.
To use this method you must have the Digest::MD5 or the MD5 module
installed, otherwise this method will return undef.
banner()
Return the sever's connection banner
capa()
Return a reference to a hash of the capabilities of the server.
APOP is added as a pseudo capability. Note that I've been unable
to find a list of the standard capability values, and some appear
to be multi-word and some are not. We make an attempt at
intelligently parsing them, but it may not be correct.
capabilities()
Just like capa, but only uses a cache from the last time we asked
the server, so as to avoid asking more than once.
"top($msgnum[, $numlines])"
Get the header and the first $numlines of the body for the message
$msgnum. Returns a reference to an array which contains the lines
of text read from the server.
list([$msgnum])
If called with an argument the "list" returns the size of the
message in octets.
If called without arguments a reference to a hash is returned. The
keys will be the $msgnum's of all undeleted messages and the values
will be their size in octets.
"get($msgnum[, $fh])"
Get the message $msgnum from the remote mailbox. If $fh is not
given then get returns a reference to an array which contains the
lines of text read from the server. If $fh is given then the lines
returned from the server are printed to the filehandle $fh.
getfh($msgnum)
As per get(), but returns a tied filehandle. Reading from this
filehandle returns the requested message. The filehandle will
return EOF at the end of the message and should not be reused.
last()
Returns the highest $msgnum of all the messages accessed.
popstat()
Returns a list of two elements. These are the number of undeleted
elements and the size of the mbox in octets.
ping($user)
Returns a list of two elements. These are the number of new
messages and the total number of messages for $user.
uidl([$msgnum])
Returns a unique identifier for $msgnum if given. If $msgnum is not
given "uidl" returns a reference to a hash where the keys are the
message numbers and the values are the unique identifiers.
delete($msgnum)
Mark message $msgnum to be deleted from the remote mailbox. All
messages that are marked to be deleted will be removed from the
remote mailbox when the server connection closed.
reset()
Reset the status of the remote POP3 server. This includes resetting
the status of all messages to not be deleted.
quit()
Quit and close the connection to the remote POP3 server. Any
messages marked as deleted will be deleted from the remote mailbox.
can_inet6()
Returns whether we can use IPv6.
can_ssl()
Returns whether we can use SSL.
Notes
If a "Net::POP3" object goes out of scope before "quit" method is
called then the "reset" method will called before the connection is
closed. This means that any messages marked to be deleted will not be.
EXPORTS
None.
KNOWN BUGS
See <https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Status=Active&Queue=libnet>.
SEE ALSO
Net::Netrc(3), Net::Cmd(3), IO::Socket::SSL(3).
AUTHOR
Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com <mailto:gbarr@pobox.com>>.
Steve Hay <shay@cpan.org <mailto:shay@cpan.org>> is now maintaining
libnet as of version 1.22_02.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1995-2004 Graham Barr. All rights reserved.
Copyright (C) 2013-2016, 2020 Steve Hay. All rights reserved.
LICENCE
This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself, i.e. under the terms of either the
GNU General Public License or the Artistic License, as specified in the
LICENCE file.
VERSION
Version 3.15
DATE
20 March 2023
HISTORY
See the Changes file.
perl v5.38.2 2023-11-28 Net::POP3(3pm)
perl 5.38.2 - Generated Mon Dec 9 15:45:20 CST 2024