This is the email I sent to a guy I know who is great at all things PHP:
We’re looking at doing this website I could do with some advice on. They basically want to be able to add a new entry into a MySQL table via an email.
Here’s the gist:
A client sends an enquiry via the website, this gets emailed to an expert on their blackberry or PDA, then the idea is that the expert hits ‘reply all’ and the answer not only goes to the client but also into the database.
I know that some of the blogging sites have this feature, and was wondering if you had any ideas how I might be able to set it up.
I figure there are a few other ways that we could possibly get the information into the database, but I think the email thing will work best if it is possible.
And following is the reply I got from him:
Ok, so what you need is a PHP script that acts like a POP3 client, which is a fancy way of saying that it logs into an mailbox and allows you to manipulate the contents.
I’ve attached a class that does just that, and an example script that gets you as far as retrieving the message from the server.
You would run this script periodically via a cron job to pick up the messages and add the contents to the database. cPanel gives you easy access to cron.
The best way for the user to work it would be to copy in an email address dedicated to this purpose.
There are a couple of security issues to overcome - for example, entering data via an email address means anyone who sends email to that address is able to add to that table, which could mean spam in your database - but it should work ok. The other (less cool) solution is for them to compose and send the email from a web based client. A PHP script then handles the database entry and the emailing.
So following is the Class that does this:
<?php /**
* mail_fetch/setup.php
*
* Copyright (c) 1999-2002 The SquirrelMail Project Team
*
* Copyright (c) 1999 CDI (cdi@thewebmasters.net) All Rights Reserved
* Modified by Philippe Mingo 2001 mingo@rotedic.com
* An RFC 1939 compliant wrapper class for the POP3 protocol.
*
* Licensed under the GNU GPL. For full terms see the file COPYING.
*
* pop3 class
*
* $Id: class-pop3.php 2066 2005-01-07 :49Z saxmatt $
*/class POP3 {
var $ERROR = ”; // Error string. var $TIMEOUT = 60; // Default timeout before giving up on a
// network operation. var $COUNT = -1; // Mailbox msg count var $BUFFER = 512; // Socket buffer for socket fgets() calls.
// Per RFC 1939 the returned line a POP3
// server can send is 512 bytes. var $FP = ”; // The connection to the server’s
// file descriptor var $MAILSERVER = ”; // Set this to hard code the server name var $DEBUG = FALSE; // set to true to echo pop3
// commands and responses to error_log
// this WILL log passwords! var $BANNER = ”; // Holds the banner returned by the
// pop server - used for apop() var $RFC1939 = TRUE; // Set by noop(). See rfc1939.txt
// var $ALLOWAPOP = FALSE; // Allow or disallow apop()
// This must be set to true
// manually function POP3 ( $server = ”, $timeout = ” ) {
settype($this->BUFFER,”integer”);
if( !empty($server) ) {
// Do not allow programs to alter MAILSERVER
// if it is already specified. They can get around
// this if they -really- want to, so don’t count on it.
if(empty($this->MAILSERVER))
$this->MAILSERVER = $server;
}
if(!empty($timeout)) {
settype($timeout,”integer”);
$this->TIMEOUT = $timeout;
set_time_limit($timeout);
}
return true;
} function update_timer () {
set_time_limit($this->TIMEOUT);
return true;
} function connect ($server, $port = 110) {
// Opens a socket to the specified server. Unless overridden,
// port defaults to 110. Returns true on success, false on fail // If MAILSERVER is set, override $server with it’s value if(!empty($this->MAILSERVER))
$server = $this->MAILSERVER; if(empty($server)){
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 connect:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No server specified”);
unset($this->FP);
return false;
} $fp = fsockopen(”$server”, $port, $errno, $errstr); if(!$fp) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 connect:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$errno] [$errstr]”;
unset($this->FP);
return false;
} socket_set_blocking($fp,-1);
$this->update_timer();
$reply = fgets($fp,$this->BUFFER);
$reply = $this->strip_clf($reply);
if($this->DEBUG)
error_log(”POP3 SEND [connect: $server] GOT [$reply]”,0);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 connect:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
unset($this->FP);
return false;
}
$this->FP = $fp;
$this->BANNER = $this->parse_banner($reply);
$this->RFC1939 = $this->noop();
if($this->RFC1939) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3: premature NOOP OK, NOT an RFC 1939 Compliant server”);
$this->quit();
return false;
} else
return true;
} function noop () { if(!isset($this->FP)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 noop:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
} else {
$cmd = “NOOP”;
$reply = $this->send_cmd( $cmd );
return( $this->is_ok( $reply ) );
}
} function user ($user = “”) {
// Sends the USER command, returns true or false if( empty($user) ) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 user:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”no login ID submitted”);
return false;
} elseif(!isset($this->FP)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 user:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”connection not established”);
return false;
} else {
$reply = $this->send_cmd(”USER $user”);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 user:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
} else
return true;
}
} function pass ($pass = “”) {
// Sends the PASS command, returns # of msgs in mailbox,
// returns false (undef) on Auth failure if(empty($pass)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pass:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No password submitted”);
return false;
} elseif(!isset($this->FP)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pass:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”connection not established”);
return false;
} else {
$reply = $this->send_cmd(”PASS $pass”);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pass:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”authentication failed “) . “[$reply]”;
$this->quit();
return false;
} else {
// Auth successful.
$count = $this->last(”count”);
$this->COUNT = $count;
$this->RFC1939 = $this->noop();
if(!$this->RFC1939) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pass:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”NOOP failed. Server not RFC 1939 compliant”);
$this->quit();
return false;
} else
return $count;
}
}
} function apop ($login,$pass) {
// Attempts an APOP login. If this fails, it’ll
// try a standard login. YOUR SERVER MUST SUPPORT
// THE USE OF THE APOP COMMAND!
// (apop is optional per rfc1939) if(!isset($this->FP)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 apop:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
} elseif(!$this->ALLOWAPOP) {
$retVal = $this->login($login,$pass);
return $retVal;
} elseif(empty($login)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 apop:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No login ID submitted”);
return false;
} elseif(empty($pass)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 apop:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No password submitted”);
return false;
} else {
$banner = $this->BANNER;
if( (!$banner) or (empty($banner)) ) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 apop:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No server banner”) . ‘ - ‘ . _(”abort”);
$retVal = $this->login($login,$pass);
return $retVal;
} else {
$AuthString = $banner;
$AuthString .= $pass;
$APOPString = md5($AuthString);
$cmd = “APOP $login $APOPString”;
$reply = $this->send_cmd($cmd);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 apop:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”apop authentication failed”) . ‘ - ‘ . _(”abort”);
$retVal = $this->login($login,$pass);
return $retVal;
} else {
// Auth successful.
$count = $this->last(”count”);
$this->COUNT = $count;
$this->RFC1939 = $this->noop();
if(!$this->RFC1939) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 apop:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”NOOP failed. Server not RFC 1939 compliant”);
$this->quit();
return false;
} else
return $count;
}
}
}
} function login ($login = “”, $pass = “”) {
// Sends both user and pass. Returns # of msgs in mailbox or
// false on failure (or -1, if the error occurs while getting
// the number of messages.) if( !isset($this->FP) ) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 login:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
} else {
$fp = $this->FP;
if( !$this->user( $login ) ) {
// Preserve the error generated by user()
return false;
} else {
$count = $this->pass($pass);
if( (!$count) || ($count == -1) ) {
// Preserve the error generated by last() and pass()
return false;
} else
return $count;
}
}
} function top ($msgNum, $numLines = “0″) {
// Gets the header and first $numLines of the msg body
// returns data in an array with each returned line being
// an array element. If $numLines is empty, returns
// only the header information, and none of the body. if(!isset($this->FP)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 top:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
}
$this->update_timer(); $fp = $this->FP;
$buffer = $this->BUFFER;
$cmd = “TOP $msgNum $numLines”;
fwrite($fp, “TOP $msgNum $numLines\r\n”);
$reply = fgets($fp, $buffer);
$reply = $this->strip_clf($reply);
if($this->DEBUG) {
@error_log(”POP3 SEND [$cmd] GOT [$reply]”,0);
}
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 top:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
} $count = 0;
$MsgArray = array(); $line = fgets($fp,$buffer);
while ( !ereg(”^\.\r\n”,$line))
{
$MsgArray[$count] = $line;
$count++;
$line = fgets($fp,$buffer);
if(empty($line)) { break; }
} return $MsgArray;
} function pop_list ($msgNum = “”) {
// If called with an argument, returns that msgs’ size in octets
// No argument returns an associative array of undeleted
// msg numbers and their sizes in octets if(!isset($this->FP))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pop_list:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
}
$fp = $this->FP;
$Total = $this->COUNT;
if( (!$Total) or ($Total == -1) )
{
return false;
}
if($Total == 0)
{
return array(”0″,”0″);
// return -1; // mailbox empty
} $this->update_timer(); if(!empty($msgNum))
{
$cmd = “LIST $msgNum”;
fwrite($fp,”$cmd\r\n”);
$reply = fgets($fp,$this->BUFFER);
$reply = $this->strip_clf($reply);
if($this->DEBUG) {
@error_log(”POP3 SEND [$cmd] GOT [$reply]”,0);
}
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pop_list:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
}
list($junk,$num,$size) = explode(” “,$reply);
return $size;
}
$cmd = “LIST”;
$reply = $this->send_cmd($cmd);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$reply = $this->strip_clf($reply);
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pop_list:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
}
$MsgArray = array();
$MsgArray[0] = $Total;
for($msgC=1;$msgC <= $Total; $msgC++)
{
if($msgC > $Total) { break; }
$line = fgets($fp,$this->BUFFER);
$line = $this->strip_clf($line);
if(ereg(”^\.”,$line))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 pop_list:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Premature end of list”);
return false;
}
list($thisMsg,$msgSize) = explode(” “,$line);
settype($thisMsg,”integer”);
if($thisMsg != $msgC)
{
$MsgArray[$msgC] = “deleted”;
}
else
{
$MsgArray[$msgC] = $msgSize;
}
}
return $MsgArray;
} function get ($msgNum) {
// Retrieve the specified msg number. Returns an array
// where each line of the msg is an array element. if(!isset($this->FP))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 get:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
} $this->update_timer(); $fp = $this->FP;
$buffer = $this->BUFFER;
$cmd = “RETR $msgNum”;
$reply = $this->send_cmd($cmd); if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 get:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
} $count = 0;
$MsgArray = array(); $line = fgets($fp,$buffer);
while ( !ereg(”^\.\r\n”,$line))
{
$MsgArray[$count] = $line;
$count++;
$line = fgets($fp,$buffer);
if(empty($line)) { break; }
}
return $MsgArray;
} function last ( $type = “count” ) {
// Returns the highest msg number in the mailbox.
// returns -1 on error, 0+ on success, if type != count
// results in a popstat() call (2 element array returned) $last = -1;
if(!isset($this->FP))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 last:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return $last;
} $reply = $this->send_cmd(”STAT”);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 last:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return $last;
} $Vars = explode(” “,$reply);
$count = $Vars[1];
$size = $Vars[2];
settype($count,”integer”);
settype($size,”integer”);
if($type != “count”)
{
return array($count,$size);
}
return $count;
} function reset () {
// Resets the status of the remote server. This includes
// resetting the status of ALL msgs to not be deleted.
// This method automatically closes the connection to the server. if(!isset($this->FP))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 reset:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
}
$reply = $this->send_cmd(”RSET”);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
// The POP3 RSET command -never- gives a -ERR
// response - if it ever does, something truely
// wild is going on. $this->ERROR = _(”POP3 reset:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
@error_log(”POP3 reset: ERROR [$reply]”,0);
}
$this->quit();
return true;
} function send_cmd ( $cmd = “” )
{
// Sends a user defined command string to the
// POP server and returns the results. Useful for
// non-compliant or custom POP servers.
// Do NOT includ the \r\n as part of your command
// string - it will be appended automatically. // The return value is a standard fgets() call, which
// will read up to $this->BUFFER bytes of data, until it
// encounters a new line, or EOF, whichever happens first. // This method works best if $cmd responds with only
// one line of data. if(!isset($this->FP))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 send_cmd:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
} if(empty($cmd))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 send_cmd:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Empty command string”);
return “”;
} $fp = $this->FP;
$buffer = $this->BUFFER;
$this->update_timer();
fwrite($fp,”$cmd\r\n”);
$reply = fgets($fp,$buffer);
$reply = $this->strip_clf($reply);
if($this->DEBUG) { @error_log(”POP3 SEND [$cmd] GOT [$reply]”,0); }
return $reply;
} function quit() {
// Closes the connection to the POP3 server, deleting
// any msgs marked as deleted. if(!isset($this->FP))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 quit:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”connection does not exist”);
return false;
}
$fp = $this->FP;
$cmd = “QUIT”;
fwrite($fp,”$cmd\r\n”);
$reply = fgets($fp,$this->BUFFER);
$reply = $this->strip_clf($reply);
if($this->DEBUG) { @error_log(”POP3 SEND [$cmd] GOT [$reply]”,0); }
fclose($fp);
unset($this->FP);
return true;
} function popstat () {
// Returns an array of 2 elements. The number of undeleted
// msgs in the mailbox, and the size of the mbox in octets. $PopArray = $this->last(”array”); if($PopArray == -1) { return false; } if( (!$PopArray) or (empty($PopArray)) )
{
return false;
}
return $PopArray;
} function uidl ($msgNum = “”)
{
// Returns the UIDL of the msg specified. If called with
// no arguments, returns an associative array where each
// undeleted msg num is a key, and the msg’s uidl is the element
// Array element 0 will contain the total number of msgs if(!isset($this->FP)) {
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 uidl:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
} $fp = $this->FP;
$buffer = $this->BUFFER; if(!empty($msgNum)) {
$cmd = “UIDL $msgNum”;
$reply = $this->send_cmd($cmd);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 uidl:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
}
list ($ok,$num,$myUidl) = explode(” “,$reply);
return $myUidl;
} else {
$this->update_timer(); $UIDLArray = array();
$Total = $this->COUNT;
$UIDLArray[0] = $Total; if ($Total < 1)
{
return $UIDLArray;
}
$cmd = “UIDL”;
fwrite($fp, “UIDL\r\n”);
$reply = fgets($fp, $buffer);
$reply = $this->strip_clf($reply);
if($this->DEBUG) { @error_log(”POP3 SEND [$cmd] GOT [$reply]”,0); }
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 uidl:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Error “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
} $line = “”;
$count = 1;
$line = fgets($fp,$buffer);
while ( !ereg(”^\.\r\n”,$line)) {
if(ereg(”^\.\r\n”,$line)) {
break;
}
list ($msg,$msgUidl) = explode(” “,$line);
$msgUidl = $this->strip_clf($msgUidl);
if($count == $msg) {
$UIDLArray[$msg] = $msgUidl;
}
else
{
$UIDLArray[$count] = ‘deleted’;
}
$count++;
$line = fgets($fp,$buffer);
}
}
return $UIDLArray;
} function delete ($msgNum = “”) {
// Flags a specified msg as deleted. The msg will not
// be deleted until a quit() method is called. if(!isset($this->FP))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 delete:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No connection to server”);
return false;
}
if(empty($msgNum))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 delete:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”No msg number submitted”);
return false;
}
$reply = $this->send_cmd(”DELE $msgNum”);
if(!$this->is_ok($reply))
{
$this->ERROR = _(”POP3 delete:”) . ‘ ‘ . _(”Command failed “) . “[$reply]”;
return false;
}
return true;
} // ********************************************************* // The following methods are internal to the class. function is_ok ($cmd = “”) {
// Return true or false on +OK or -ERR if( empty($cmd) )
return false;
else
return( ereg (”^\+OK”, $cmd ) );
} function strip_clf ($text = “”) {
// Strips \r\n from server responses if(empty($text))
return $text;
else {
$stripped = str_replace(”\r”,”,$text);
$stripped = str_replace(”\n”,”,$stripped);
return $stripped;
}
} function parse_banner ( $server_text ) {
$outside = true;
$banner = “”;
$length = strlen($server_text);
for($count =0; $count < $length; $count++)
{
$digit = substr($server_text, $count, 1);
if ( false !== $digit ) {
if( (!$outside) && ($digit != ‘<’) && ($digit != ‘>’) )
{
$banner .= $digit;
}
if ($digit == ‘<’)
{
$outside = false;
}
if($digit == ‘>’)
{
$outside = true;
}
}
}
$banner = $this->strip_clf($banner); // Just in case
return “<$banner>”;
}} // End class?>
And this is the example script that gets you as far as retrieving the message from the server:
<pre>
<?
include(’class-pop3.php’);$pop3 = new POP3();$server = ‘example.com’;
$port = 110;
$username = ‘user@example.com’;
$password = ‘password’;if ($pop3->connect($server, $port)) { $count = $pop3->login($username, $password); if ($count) { for ($i = 1; $i <= $count; $i++) { $message = $pop3->get($i);
echo implode(”", $message);
} } else {
echo “No new mail.”;
}} else {
echo “Could not connect to $server”;
}
?>
</pre>