imap_list

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

imap_listRead 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

add a note

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
16 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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