email parsing

[jpr]

Ive noticed that some php applications are able to parse incoming pop3 emails once they are hooked up to an account. Could anyone please point me in the direction to learn more about this? I needs this feature for a helpdesk system, so that new tickets will be created by incoming emails sent to a [e-mail]. Thank You for your assistence!

Jason

[weekender]

there's a gread article on this at www.evolt.org

http://evolt.org/article/Incoming_Mail_and_PHP/18/27914/index.html

adam

[TruckStuff]

The article above is a good one, but I have to warn you: Not all mail servers on the net user proper message encoding, which makes the above method a PITA. I used to use the above method for checking mail and had all kinds of problems recieving mail from Yahoo (in particular).

The better solution is to use the PHP IMAP functions for retrieving POP mail. They are MUCH easier than trying to figure it all out on your own.

[weekender]

the major difference being that the imap functions require the php script to be run periodically to check for new mail - whereas the evolt.org method is triggered by the arrival of new mail

adam

[jpr]

for the imap feature...... are these functions built into php?