20.9. "poplib" — POP3 protocol client
*************************************

**Source code:** Lib/poplib.py

======================================================================

This module defines a class, "POP3", which encapsulates a connection
to a POP3 server and implements the protocol as defined in **RFC
1725**.  The "POP3" class supports both the minimal and optional
command sets. Additionally, this module provides a class "POP3_SSL",
which provides support for connecting to POP3 servers that use SSL as
an underlying protocol layer.

Note that POP3, though widely supported, is obsolescent.  The
implementation quality of POP3 servers varies widely, and too many are
quite poor. If your mailserver supports IMAP, you would be better off
using the "imaplib.IMAP4" class, as IMAP servers tend to be better
implemented.

The "poplib" module provides two classes:

class poplib.POP3(host[, port[, timeout]])

   This class implements the actual POP3 protocol.  The connection is
   created when the instance is initialized. If *port* is omitted, the
   standard POP3 port (110) is used. The optional *timeout* parameter
   specifies a timeout in seconds for the connection attempt (if not
   specified, the global default timeout setting will be used).

   Changed in version 2.6: *timeout* was added.

class poplib.POP3_SSL(host[, port[, keyfile[, certfile]]])

   This is a subclass of "POP3" that connects to the server over an
   SSL encrypted socket.  If *port* is not specified, 995, the
   standard POP3-over-SSL port is used.  *keyfile* and *certfile* are
   also optional - they can contain a PEM formatted private key and
   certificate chain file for the SSL connection.

   New in version 2.4.

One exception is defined as an attribute of the "poplib" module:

exception poplib.error_proto

   Exception raised on any errors from this module (errors from
   "socket" module are not caught). The reason for the exception is
   passed to the constructor as a string.

See also:

  Module "imaplib"
     The standard Python IMAP module.

  Frequently Asked Questions About Fetchmail
     The FAQ for the **fetchmail** POP/IMAP client collects
     information on POP3 server variations and RFC noncompliance that
     may be useful if you need to write an application based on the
     POP protocol.


20.9.1. POP3 Objects
====================

All POP3 commands are represented by methods of the same name, in
lower-case; most return the response text sent by the server.

An "POP3" instance has the following methods:

POP3.set_debuglevel(level)

   Set the instance’s debugging level.  This controls the amount of
   debugging output printed.  The default, "0", produces no debugging
   output.  A value of "1" produces a moderate amount of debugging
   output, generally a single line per request.  A value of "2" or
   higher produces the maximum amount of debugging output, logging
   each line sent and received on the control connection.

POP3.getwelcome()

   Returns the greeting string sent by the POP3 server.

POP3.user(username)

   Send user command, response should indicate that a password is
   required.

POP3.pass_(password)

   Send password, response includes message count and mailbox size.
   Note: the mailbox on the server is locked until "quit()" is called.

POP3.apop(user, secret)

   Use the more secure APOP authentication to log into the POP3
   server.

POP3.rpop(user)

   Use RPOP authentication (similar to UNIX r-commands) to log into
   POP3 server.

POP3.stat()

   Get mailbox status.  The result is a tuple of 2 integers: "(message
   count, mailbox size)".

POP3.list([which])

   Request message list, result is in the form "(response, ['mesg_num
   octets', ...], octets)". If *which* is set, it is the message to
   list.

POP3.retr(which)

   Retrieve whole message number *which*, and set its seen flag.
   Result is in form "(response, ['line', ...], octets)".

POP3.dele(which)

   Flag message number *which* for deletion.  On most servers
   deletions are not actually performed until QUIT (the major
   exception is Eudora QPOP, which deliberately violates the RFCs by
   doing pending deletes on any disconnect).

POP3.rset()

   Remove any deletion marks for the mailbox.

POP3.noop()

   Do nothing.  Might be used as a keep-alive.

POP3.quit()

   Signoff:  commit changes, unlock mailbox, drop connection.

POP3.top(which, howmuch)

   Retrieves the message header plus *howmuch* lines of the message
   after the header of message number *which*. Result is in form
   "(response, ['line', ...], octets)".

   The POP3 TOP command this method uses, unlike the RETR command,
   doesn’t set the message’s seen flag; unfortunately, TOP is poorly
   specified in the RFCs and is frequently broken in off-brand
   servers. Test this method by hand against the POP3 servers you will
   use before trusting it.

POP3.uidl([which])

   Return message digest (unique id) list. If *which* is specified,
   result contains the unique id for that message in the form
   "'response mesgnum uid", otherwise result is list "(response,
   ['mesgnum uid', ...], octets)".

Instances of "POP3_SSL" have no additional methods. The interface of
this subclass is identical to its parent.


20.9.2. POP3 Example
====================

Here is a minimal example (without error checking) that opens a
mailbox and retrieves and prints all messages:

   import getpass, poplib

   M = poplib.POP3('localhost')
   M.user(getpass.getuser())
   M.pass_(getpass.getpass())
   numMessages = len(M.list()[1])
   for i in range(numMessages):
       for j in M.retr(i+1)[1]:
           print j

At the end of the module, there is a test section that contains a more
extensive example of usage.
