How can I search for an email using the zend framework?

Question

Hi guys I need to build a functionality that involves searching through emails in an inbox for emails whose subjects match a certain user inputted keyword. SInce I'm using the zend framework I would like a solution that uses the zend framework libraries.

Aside this I have noticed that the zend libraries are a bit limited with respect to my requirements for email handling. Is there any open library available in php which can be used for handling emails - when I mean handling emails I mean like:

• Ease to mark and flag emails
• Moving of emails from folder to folder.
• Parsing emails
• searching through emails
• SOrting emails

etc - the stuff you would require if you wished to build a web client.

EDIT =========

I'm looking for a generic solution here. The emails are in a regular email inbox on an IMAP server. I need a way to be able to read through and search for emails in the inbox using any specialized library to make it easier.

Answer 1

99.9% of the problem here is nothing to do with PHP, let alone the Zend framework.

A lot of the problem here is about how you store emails and the method by which you access them - you've not mentioned either. Nor the OS this is running on, nor whether The emails still need to be accessible via other means.

Most of the tasks you mention are specifically the reasons for using an IMAP capable server - however that just defines the protocol for interacting with the message store - not the format of the message store itself.

Some servers may use a standard database format for storage. Have a look at the docs for Cyrus, Courier and Dovecot. All of which are open-source (and hence not "black-box").

IMAP4 specifically supports server-side searching.

C.