Mail.dll .NET email component makes receiving vCard business cards easy.

IMail object exposes VCards collection that contains all vCard business cards that were found while parsing an email.

You can use both IMAP or POP3 protocol to download email from the server.

Here’s the simple sample showing how to process VCard business cards:

// C#

IMail email = new MailBuilder().CreateFromEml(client.GetMessageByUID(uid));

foreach (VCard vCard in email.VCards)
{

    Console.WriteLine("first name: " + vCard.Name.FirstName);
    Console.WriteLine("last name: " + vCard.Name.LastName);
    Console.WriteLine("full name: " + vCard.FullName);

    Console.WriteLine("email: " + vCard.Email);
    Console.WriteLine("work phone: " + vCard.WorkPhone);
    Console.WriteLine("home phone: " + vCard.HomePhone);

    if (vCard.WorkAddress != null)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.PostOfficeBox);
        Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.ApartmentNumber);
        Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.Street);
        Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.City);
        Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.Region);
        Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.PostalCode);
        Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.Country);
    }
    if (vCard.HomeAddress != null)
    {
        //...
    }

    foreach (VCardPhone phone in vCard.Phones)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("phone: " + phone.Value);
    }
    foreach (VCardAddress address in vCard.Addresses)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("street: " + address.Street);
    }
    foreach (VCardEmail mail in vCard.Emails)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("email: " + mail.Value);
    }
}

' VB.NET

Dim email As IMail = New MailBuilder().CreateFromEml(client.GetMessageByUID(uid))

For Each vCard As VCard In email.VCards

	Console.WriteLine("first name: " + vCard.Name.FirstName)
	Console.WriteLine("last name: " + vCard.Name.LastName)
	Console.WriteLine("full name: " + vCard.FullName)

	Console.WriteLine("email: " + vCard.Email)
	Console.WriteLine("work phone: " + vCard.WorkPhone)
	Console.WriteLine("home phone: " + vCard.HomePhone)

	If vCard.WorkAddress IsNot Nothing Then
		Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.PostOfficeBox)
		Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.ApartmentNumber)
		Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.Street)
		Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.City)
		Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.Region)
		Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.PostalCode)
		Console.WriteLine(vCard.WorkAddress.Country)
	End If
			'...
	If vCard.HomeAddress IsNot Nothing Then
	End If

	For Each phone As VCardPhone In vCard.Phones
		Console.WriteLine("phone: " + phone.Value)
	Next
	For Each address As VCardAddress In vCard.Addresses
		Console.WriteLine("street: " + address.Street)
	Next
	For Each mail As VCardEmail In vCard.Emails
		Console.WriteLine("email: " + mail.Value)
	Next
Next

You can learn here how to send email with VCard.

Mail.dll .NET email component makes receiving iCalendar meeting request fairly easy.

IMail object exposes Appointments collection that contains all appointments that were found while parsing an email.

You can use both IMAP or POP3 protocol to download email from the server.

Here’s the simple sample showing how to process iCalendar appointments:

// C#

IMail email = new MailBuilder().CreateFromEml(client.GetMessageByUID(uid));

foreach (Appointment appointment in email.Appointments)
{
    if (appointment.Method == Method.Request)
    {
        // appointment was created
        string summary = appointment.Event.Summary;
        DateTime? start = appointment.Event.Start;
        DateTime? end = appointment.Event.End;
        string location = appointment.Event.Location;

        Console.WriteLine("{0} at {1} ({2}-{3})", summary, location, start, end);

        foreach (Participant participant in appointment.Event.Participants)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Common name: " + participant.Cn);
            Console.WriteLine("Email: " + participant.Email);
            Console.WriteLine("Participation status: " + participant.Status);
        }
    }
    else if (appointment.Method == Method.Cancel)
    {
        // appointment was canceled
        Console.WriteLine("Event was cancelled: " + appointment.Event.UID);

    }
    else if (appointment.Method == Method.Reply)
    {
        // someone replied to the request
        foreach (Participant participant in appointment.Event.Participants)
        {
            if (participant.Status == ParticipationStatus.Accepted)
                Console.WriteLine("Event was accepted by: " + participant.Email);
            else if (participant.Status == ParticipationStatus.Declined)
                Console.WriteLine("Event was declined by: " + participant.Email);
        }

    }
}

' VB.NET

Dim email As IMail = New MailBuilder().CreateFromEml(client.GetMessageByUID(uid))

For Each appointment As Appointment In email.Appointments
	If appointment.Method = Method.Request Then
		' appointment was created
		Dim summary As String = appointment.[Event].Summary
		Dim start As System.Nullable(Of DateTime) = appointment.[Event].Start
		Dim [end] As System.Nullable(Of DateTime) = appointment.[Event].[End]
		Dim location As String = appointment.[Event].Location

		Console.WriteLine("{0} at {1} ({2}-{3})", summary, location, start, [end])

		For Each participant As Participant In appointment.[Event].Participants
			Console.WriteLine("Common name: " + participant.Cn)
			Console.WriteLine("Email: " + participant.Email)
			Console.WriteLine("Participation status: " + participant.Status)
		Next
	ElseIf appointment.Method = Method.Cancel Then
		' appointment was canceled

		Console.WriteLine("Event was cancelled: " + appointment.[Event].UID)
	ElseIf appointment.Method = Method.Reply Then
		' someone replied to the request
		For Each participant As Participant In appointment.[Event].Participants
			If participant.Status = ParticipationStatus.Accepted Then
				Console.WriteLine("Event was accepted by: " + participant.Email)
			ElseIf participant.Status = ParticipationStatus.Declined Then
				Console.WriteLine("Event was declined by: " + participant.Email)
			End If

		Next
	End If
Next

To enable POP3 in Gmail:

1. Sign in to Gmail.
2. Click the gear icon in the upper-right and select Mail settings .
3. Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
4. Select Enable POP for all mail or Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on.
5. Now you are able to connect to your Gmail account with Mail.dll POP3 library.

Remember that Gmail only allows secure SSL connections so you need to use ConnectSSL method.

Now you can download emails from Gmail using POP3 protocol.

You can use SupportedAuthenticationMethods to retrieve all authentication methods supported by the server:

// C#

using (Imap client = new Imap())
{
    client.ConnectSSL("imap.example.org");
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

    Console.WriteLine("Supported methods:");

    foreach (var method in client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods())
    {
        Console.WriteLine(method.Name);
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Supports CramMD5:");

    bool supportsCramMD5 = client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods()
        .Contains(ImapAuthenticationMethod.CramMD5);

    Console.WriteLine(supportsCramMD5);

    client.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using client As New Imap()
    client.ConnectSSL("imap.example.org")
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

    Console.WriteLine("Supported methods:")

    For Each method As ImapAuthenticationMethod In client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods()
	    Console.WriteLine(method.Name)
    Next

    Console.WriteLine("Supports CramMD5:")

    Dim supportsCramMD5 As Boolean = client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods() _
        .Contains(ImapAuthenticationMethod.CramMD5)

    Console.WriteLine(supportsCramMD5)

    client.Close()
End Using

For example Gmail produces following output:

Supported method s:
IMAP4rev1
UNSELECT
IDLE
NAMESPACE
QUOTA
ID
XLIST
CHILDREN
X-GM-EXT-1
UIDPLUS
COMPRESS

Supports CramMD5:
False

We take great care for the API to look similar for all protocols (IMAP, POP3, SMTP).

Here’s the sample for POP3:

// C#

using (Pop3 client = new Pop3())
{
    client.ConnectSSL("pop3.example.org");
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

    Console.WriteLine("Supported methods:");

    foreach (var method in client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods())
    {
        Console.WriteLine(method.Name);
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Supports CramMD5:");

    bool supportsCramMD5 = client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods()
        .Contains(Pop3AuthenticationMethod.CramMD5);

    Console.WriteLine(supportsCramMD5);

    client.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using client As New Pop3()
    client.ConnectSSL("pop3.example.org")
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

    Console.WriteLine("Supported methods:")

    For Each method As Pop3AuthenticationMethod In client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods()
	    Console.WriteLine(method.Name)
    Next

    Console.WriteLine("Supports CramMD5:")

    Dim supportsCramMD5 As Boolean = client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods() _
        .Contains(Pop3AuthenticationMethod.CramMD5)

    Console.WriteLine(supportsCramMD5)

    client.Close()
End Using

Here’s the sample for SMTP:

// C#

using (Smtpclient = new Smtp())
{
    client.Connect("smtp.example.org");
    client.UseBestLogin("smtp", "password");

    Console.WriteLine("Supported methods:");

    foreach (var method in client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods())
    {
        Console.WriteLine(method.Name);
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Supports CramMD5:");

    bool supportsCramMD5 = client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods()
        .Contains(SmtpAuthenticationMethod.CramMD5);

    Console.WriteLine(supportsCramMD5);

    client.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using client As New Smtp()
    client.Connect("smtp.example.org")
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

    Console.WriteLine("Supported methods:")

    For Each method As SmtpAuthenticationMethod In client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods()
	    Console.WriteLine(method.Name)
    Next

    Console.WriteLine("Supports CramMD5:")

    Dim supportsCramMD5 As Boolean = client.SupportedAuthenticationMethods() _
        .Contains(SmtpAuthenticationMethod.CramMD5)

    Console.WriteLine(supportsCramMD5)

    client.Close()
End Using

Not every server supports same extensions. There are 3 classes that represent server extensions for each email protocol: ImapExtension, Pop3Extension and SmtpExtension. Those classes contain static properties with well-know extensions like: ImapExtension.Idle or ImapExtension.Sort or Pop3Extension.STLS etc.

You can use SupportedExtensions method to retrieve all protocol extensions supported by the server.

Get supported IMAP server extensions

// C#

using (Imap client = new Imap())
{
    client.ConnectSSL("imap.example.org");
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

    Console.WriteLine("Supported extensions:");

    foreach (ImapExtension extension in client.SupportedExtensions())
    {
        Console.WriteLine(extension.Name);
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Supports IDLE:");

    bool supportsIdle = client.SupportedExtensions()
        .Contains(ImapExtension.Idle);

    Console.WriteLine(supportsIdle);

    client.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using client As New Imap()
    client.ConnectSSL("imap.example.org")
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

    Console.WriteLine("Supported extensions:")

    For Each extension As ImapExtension In client.SupportedExtensions()
	    Console.WriteLine(extension.Name)
    Next

    Console.WriteLine("Supports IDLE:")

    Dim supportsIdle As Boolean = client.SupportedExtensions() _
        .Contains(ImapExtension.Idle)

    Console.WriteLine(supportsIdle)

    client.Close()
End Using

For example Gmail produces following output:

Supported extensions:
IMAP4rev1
UNSELECT
IDLE
NAMESPACE
QUOTA
ID
XLIST
CHILDREN
X-GM-EXT-1
UIDPLUS
COMPRESS

Supports IDLE:
True

We take great care for the API to look similar for all protocols (IMAP, POP3, SMTP).

Get supported POP3 server extensions

// C#

using (Pop3 client = new Pop3())
{
    client.ConnectSSL("pop3.example.org");
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password");

    Console.WriteLine("Supported extensions:");

    foreach (Pop3Extension extension in client.SupportedExtensions())
    {
        Console.WriteLine(extension.Name);
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Supports TOP:");

    bool supportsTop= client.SupportedExtensions()
        .Contains(Pop3Extension.Top);

    Console.WriteLine(supportsTop);

    client.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using client As New Pop3()
    client.ConnectSSL("pop3.example.org")
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

    Console.WriteLine("Supported extensions:")

    For Each extension As Pop3Extension In client.SupportedExtensions()
	    Console.WriteLine(extension.Name)
    Next

    Console.WriteLine("Supports TOP:")

    Dim supportsTop As Boolean = client.SupportedExtensions() _
        .Contains(Pop3Extension.Top)

    Console.WriteLine(supportsTop)

    client.Close()
End Using

Get supported SMTP server extensions

// C#

using (Smtpclient = new Smtp())
{
    client.Connect("smtp.example.org");
    client.UseBestLogin("smtp", "password");

    Console.WriteLine("Supported extensions:");

    foreach (SmtpExtension  extension in client.SupportedExtensions())
    {
        Console.WriteLine(extension.Name);
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Supports STARTTLS:");

    bool supportsStartTLS = client.SupportedExtensions()
        .Contains(SmtpExtension.StartTLS);

    Console.WriteLine(supportsStartTLS);

    client.Close();
}

' VB.NET

Using client As New Smtp()
    client.Connect("smtp.example.org")
    client.UseBestLogin("user", "password")

    Console.WriteLine("Supported extensions:")

    For Each extension As SmtpExtension In client.SupportedExtensions()
	    Console.WriteLine(extension.Name)
    Next

    Console.WriteLine("Supports STARTTLS:")

    Dim supportsStartTLS As Boolean = client.SupportedExtensions() _
        .Contains(SmtpExtension.StartTLS)

    Console.WriteLine(supportsStartTLS)

    client.Close()
End Using