Check unread messages with Indy

Question

I'm doing just for fun an unread messages checker application in Delphi. I'm using Indy 10. I can connect with Gmail and can retrieve all the messages but I'm facing a problem here: I cannot tell if a message is already read or not. There is a flag property in the TidMessage component that should tell me if the message has been read. The code looks like this:

procedure TForm1.btTestConnectionClick(Sender: TObject);
var
 i: Integer;
 count: Integer;
 flag: TIdMessageFlags;
begin
 if (pop3Test.Connected) then begin
  pop3Test.Disconnect;
 end;

 pop3Test.Username := edAccount.Text;
 pop3Test.Password := edPassword.Text;
 pop3Test.Host := HOST;
 pop3Test.AuthType := patUserPass;
 pop3Test.Port := PORT;
 pop3Test.Connect;
 Count := 0;
 for i := pop3Test.CheckMessages downto 1 do begin
      pop3Test.Retrieve(i, IdMessage1);
      if (mfSeen in IdMessage1.Flags) then begin
       Count := Count + 1;
      end;
 end;


 ShowMessage(IntToStr(Count));
 pop3Test.Disconnect;
end;

In the test mailbox there is one unread message but all the retrieved messages have the flags enum property empty so the result is always 0. Am I doing something wrong? Is it a problem of Indy/Gmail compatibility?

Thanks.

EDIT: I'm definitely doing something wrong as testing with a Hotmail account shows the same empty-flags property problem.

Answer 1

the POP3 protocol does not support Message state information on the server like read, replied to, or deleted . try using IMAP for Gmail instead.