Test Automation Utility to Verify Email

Test Automation Utility to Verify Email

Many applications send its users emails as part of the process flow but it’s not obvious how to use Selenium WebDriver to verify email. This is of course possible, but automating UI steps of a 3rd-party email application is not the most optimal approach. Because of this, I worked on a project once where we simply skipped the verification of the email receipt. This always bothered me, so I eventually blocked out some time to research how I might be able to automate the verification of email.

I found the JavaMail API. This is an absolute life saver! With this, I’ve been able to not only verify that an email was received, but also verify its contents, open links within the email, extract data sent (temp passwords, verification codes, etc). Someone recently asked me about email verification within automation, so I decided to open source the utility methods I’ve written that use the JavaMail API.

This is written to work for Gmail accounts. I’ve also tweaked this in past projects to work for Outlook accounts as well, so that’s definitely possible.

Downloading the Dependencies

Here are the dependencies that I add to my maven project. These go inside of pom.xml

		<dependency>
			<groupId>javax.mail</groupId>
			<artifactId>javax.mail-api</artifactId>
			<version>1.5.5</version>
		</dependency>

		<dependency>
			<groupId>com.sun.mail</groupId>
			<artifactId>smtp</artifactId>
			<version>1.6.0</version>
		</dependency>

		<dependency>
			<groupId>com.sun.mail</groupId>
			<artifactId>javax.mail</artifactId>
			<version>1.6.0</version>
		</dependency>

<groupId>javax.mail</groupId>

<artifactId>javax.mail-api</artifactId>

</dependency>

</dependency>

<artifactId>javax.mail</artifactId>

</dependency>

Setting Email Properties

There’s quite a few properties that need to be set. It’s cleaner to put this in a properties file as opposed to directly in the code, but that would work just as well. Here’s my email.properties file which is located in a resources folder in my project.

mail.smtp.host=smtp.gmail.com
mail.smtp.socketFactory.port=465
mail.smtp.socketFactory.class=javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory
mail.smtp.auth=true
mail.smtp.port=465
mail.transport.protocol=smtp

mail.smtp.host=smtp.gmail.com

mail.smtp.socketFactory.port=465

mail.smtp.socketFactory.class=javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory

mail.smtp.auth=true

mail.smtp.port=465

mail.transport.protocol=smtp

Utility Class

All interactions with the email application are contained in this EmailUtils.java class. Tests can then call any method needed.

I start by defining a private Folder object which represents the current folder that we’re reading from. I also created an enum of possible folders my application’s emails may be found in. This can be expanded to any other folders that exist in the email application.

 private Folder folder;

  public enum EmailFolder {
    INBOX("INBOX"),
    SPAM("SPAM");

    private String text;

    private EmailFolder(String text){
      this.text = text;
    }

    public String getText() {
      return text;
    }
  }

private Folder folder;

public enum EmailFolder {

INBOX("INBOX"),

SPAM("SPAM");

private String text;

private EmailFolder(String text){

this.text = text;

}

public String getText() {

return text;

}

Next, I provide multiple constructors. All of these may not necessary in most cases, but I wanted to be as flexible as possible to allow for the use of another properties file that holds the email account authentication data, and also provide a constructor that allows you to just pass the data in.

  /**
   * Uses email.username and email.password properties from the properties file. Reads from Inbox folder of the email application
   * @throws MessagingException
   */
  public EmailUtils() throws MessagingException {
    this(EmailFolder.INBOX);
  }

  /**
   * Uses username and password in properties file to read from a given folder of the email application
   * @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with
   * @throws MessagingException
   */
  public EmailUtils(EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {
    this(getEmailUsernameFromProperties(),
        getEmailPasswordFromProperties(),
        getEmailServerFromProperties(),
        emailFolder);
  }

  /**
   * Connects to email server with credentials provided to read from a given folder of the email application
   * @param username Email username (e.g. janedoe@email.com)
   * @param password Email password
   * @param server Email server (e.g. smtp.email.com)
   * @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with
   */
  public EmailUtils(String username, String password, String server, EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {
    Properties props = System.getProperties();
    try {
      props.load(new FileInputStream(new File("resources/email.properties")));
    } catch(Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
      System.exit(-1);
    }

    Session session = Session.getInstance(props);
    Store store = session.getStore("imaps");
    store.connect(server, username, password);


    folder = store.getFolder(emailFolder.getText());
    folder.open(Folder.READ_WRITE);
  }

/**

* Uses email.username and email.password properties from the properties file. Reads from Inbox folder of the email application

* @throws MessagingException

public EmailUtils() throws MessagingException {

this(EmailFolder.INBOX);

}

/**

* Uses username and password in properties file to read from a given folder of the email application

* @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with

* @throws MessagingException

public EmailUtils(EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {

this(getEmailUsernameFromProperties(),

getEmailPasswordFromProperties(),

getEmailServerFromProperties(),

emailFolder);

}

/**

* Connects to email server with credentials provided to read from a given folder of the email application

* @param username Email username (e.g. janedoe@email.com)

* @param password Email password

* @param server Email server (e.g. smtp.email.com)

* @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with

public EmailUtils(String username, String password, String server, EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {

Properties props = System.getProperties();

try {

props.load(new FileInputStream(new File("resources/email.properties")));

} catch(Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

System.exit(-1);

}

Session session = Session.getInstance(props);

Store store = session.getStore("imaps");

store.connect(server, username, password);

folder = store.getFolder(emailFolder.getText());

folder.open(Folder.READ_WRITE);

}

If you’d like to store the email credentials in a properties file, you can add methods to be able to retrieve them. These are needed for the second constructor.

  //************* GET EMAIL PROPERTIES *******************

  public static String getEmailAddressFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.address");
  }

  public static String getEmailUsernameFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.username");
  }

  public static String getEmailPasswordFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.password");
  }

  public static String getEmailProtocolFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.protocol");
  }

  public static int getEmailPortFromProperties(){
    return Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("email.port"));
  }

  public static String getEmailServerFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.server");
  }

//************* GET EMAIL PROPERTIES *******************

public static String getEmailAddressFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.address");

}

public static String getEmailUsernameFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.username");

}

public static String getEmailPasswordFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.password");

}

public static String getEmailProtocolFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.protocol");

}

public static int getEmailPortFromProperties(){

return Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("email.port"));

}

public static String getEmailServerFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.server");

}

Here are methods to interact and/or read info from the email folder

  //************* EMAIL ACTIONS *******************

  public void openEmail(Message message) throws Exception{
    message.getContent();
  }

  public int getNumberOfMessages() throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getMessageCount();
  }

  public int getNumberOfUnreadMessages()throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getUnreadMessageCount();
  }

  /**
   * Gets a message by its position in the folder. The earliest message is indexed at 1.
   */
  public Message getMessageByIndex(int index) throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getMessage(index);
  }

  public Message getLatestMessage() throws MessagingException{
    return getMessageByIndex(getNumberOfMessages());
  }

  /**
   * Gets all messages within the folder
   */
  public Message[] getAllMessages() throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getMessages();
  }

  /**
   * @param maxToGet maximum number of messages to get, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to get the last 100 messages received.
   */
  public Message[] getMessages(int maxToGet) throws MessagingException {
    Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToGet);
    return folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex"));
  }

  /**
   * Searches for messages with a specific subject
   * @param subject Subject to search messages for
   * @param unreadOnly Indicate whether to only return matched messages that are unread
   * @param maxToSearch maximum number of messages to search, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to search through the last 100 messages.
   */
  public Message[] getMessagesBySubject(String subject, boolean unreadOnly, int maxToSearch) throws Exception{
    Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToSearch);

    Message messages[] = folder.search(
        new SubjectTerm(subject),
        folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex")));

    if(unreadOnly){
      List<Message> unreadMessages = new ArrayList<Message>();
      for (Message message : messages) {
        if(isMessageUnread(message)) {
          unreadMessages.add(message);
        }
      }
      messages = unreadMessages.toArray(new Message[]{});
    }

    return messages;
  }

  /**
   * Returns HTML of the email's content
   */
  public String getMessageContent(Message message) throws Exception {
    StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(message.getInputStream()));
    String line;
    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
      buffer.append(line);
    }
    return buffer.toString();
  }

  /**
   * Returns all urls from an email message with the linkText specified
   */
  public List<String> getUrlsFromMessage(Message message, String linkText) throws Exception{
    String html = getMessageContent(message);
    List<String> allMatches = new ArrayList<String>();
    Matcher matcher = Pattern.compile("(<a [^>]+>)"+linkText+"</a>").matcher(html);
    while (matcher.find()) {
      String aTag = matcher.group(1);
      allMatches.add(aTag.substring(aTag.indexOf("http"), aTag.indexOf("\">")));
    }
    return allMatches;
  }

  private Map<String, Integer> getStartAndEndIndices(int max) throws MessagingException {
    int endIndex = getNumberOfMessages();
    int startIndex = endIndex - max;

    //In event that maxToGet is greater than number of messages that exist
    if(startIndex < 1){
      startIndex = 1;
    }

    Map<String, Integer> indices = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
    indices.put("startIndex", startIndex);
    indices.put("endIndex", endIndex);

    return indices;
  }

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//************* EMAIL ACTIONS *******************

public void openEmail(Message message) throws Exception{

message.getContent();

}

public int getNumberOfMessages() throws MessagingException {

return folder.getMessageCount();

}

public int getNumberOfUnreadMessages()throws MessagingException {

return folder.getUnreadMessageCount();

}

/**

* Gets a message by its position in the folder. The earliest message is indexed at 1.

public Message getMessageByIndex(int index) throws MessagingException {

return folder.getMessage(index);

}

public Message getLatestMessage() throws MessagingException{

return getMessageByIndex(getNumberOfMessages());

}

/**

* Gets all messages within the folder

public Message[] getAllMessages() throws MessagingException {

return folder.getMessages();

}

/**

* @param maxToGet maximum number of messages to get, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to get the last 100 messages received.

public Message[] getMessages(int maxToGet) throws MessagingException {

Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToGet);

return folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex"));

}

/**

* Searches for messages with a specific subject

* @param subject Subject to search messages for

* @param unreadOnly Indicate whether to only return matched messages that are unread

* @param maxToSearch maximum number of messages to search, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to search through the last 100 messages.

public Message[] getMessagesBySubject(String subject, boolean unreadOnly, int maxToSearch) throws Exception{

Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToSearch);

Message messages[] = folder.search(

new SubjectTerm(subject),

folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex")));

if(unreadOnly){

List<Message> unreadMessages = new ArrayList<Message>();

for (Message message : messages) {

if(isMessageUnread(message)) {

unreadMessages.add(message);

}

messages = unreadMessages.toArray(new Message[]{});

}

return messages;

}

/**

* Returns HTML of the email's content

public String getMessageContent(Message message) throws Exception {

StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(message.getInputStream()));

String line;

while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {

buffer.append(line);

}

return buffer.toString();

}

/**

* Returns all urls from an email message with the linkText specified

public List<String> getUrlsFromMessage(Message message, String linkText) throws Exception{

String html = getMessageContent(message);

List<String> allMatches = new ArrayList<String>();

Matcher matcher = Pattern.compile("(<a [^>]+>)"+linkText+"</a>").matcher(html);

while (matcher.find()) {

String aTag = matcher.group(1);

allMatches.add(aTag.substring(aTag.indexOf("http"), aTag.indexOf("\">")));

}

return allMatches;

}

private Map<String, Integer> getStartAndEndIndices(int max) throws MessagingException {

int endIndex = getNumberOfMessages();

int startIndex = endIndex - max;

//In event that maxToGet is greater than number of messages that exist

if(startIndex < 1){

startIndex = 1;

}

Map<String, Integer> indices = new HashMap<String, Integer>();

indices.put("startIndex", startIndex);

indices.put("endIndex", endIndex);

return indices;

}

Boolean methods helpful for verification

  /**
   * Searches an email message for a specific string
   */
  public boolean isTextInMessage(Message message, String text) throws Exception {
    String content = getMessageContent(message);

    //Some Strings within the email have whitespace and some have break coding. Need to be the same.
    content = content.replace("&nbsp;", " ");
    return content.contains(text);
  }

  public boolean isMessageInFolder(String subject, boolean unreadOnly) throws Exception {
    int messagesFound = getMessagesBySubject(subject, unreadOnly, getNumberOfMessages()).length;
    return messagesFound > 0;
  }

  public boolean isMessageUnread(Message message) throws Exception {
    return !message.isSet(Flags.Flag.SEEN);
  }
}

/**

* Searches an email message for a specific string

public boolean isTextInMessage(Message message, String text) throws Exception {

String content = getMessageContent(message);

//Some Strings within the email have whitespace and some have break coding. Need to be the same.

content = content.replace(" ", " ");

return content.contains(text);

}

public boolean isMessageInFolder(String subject, boolean unreadOnly) throws Exception {

int messagesFound = getMessagesBySubject(subject, unreadOnly, getNumberOfMessages()).length;

return messagesFound > 0;

}

public boolean isMessageUnread(Message message) throws Exception {

return !message.isSet(Flags.Flag.SEEN);

}

Parsing methods can also prove helpful. For example, if your application sends out an authorization code that you need to retrieve to verify or continue on with your testing, you can use the method below to parse it out. Here’s an example where the data you want to parse is on the same line with other text.

Example Email

Subject: Authorization Code
Dear JANE DOE:

The authorization code you requested is listed below.
Authorization code:870632
Please note that this code is temporary. If you try entering the authorization code and it has expired, you’ll need to request a new one.

/**
 * Gets text from the end of a line. 
 * In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'
 * And the line to get the text from begins with 'Authorization code:'
 * Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.
*/ 
 public String getAuthorizationCode() throws Exception {
    Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];
    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

    String line;
    String prefix = "Authorization code:";

    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
      if(line.startsWith(prefix)) {
        return line.substring(line.indexOf(":") + 1);
      }
    }
    return null;
  }

/**

* Gets text from the end of a line.

* In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'

* And the line to get the text from begins with 'Authorization code:'

* Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.

public String getAuthorizationCode() throws Exception {

Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

String line;

String prefix = "Authorization code:";

while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {

if(line.startsWith(prefix)) {

return line.substring(line.indexOf(":") + 1);

}

return null;

}

There could also be the case where the data you need to parse is on its own line. In that case, the method would be slightly different.

Subject: Authorization Code
Dear JANE DOE:

The authorization code you requested is listed below.
Authorization code:
870632
Please note that this code is temporary. If you try entering the authorization code and it has expired, you’ll need to request a new one.

/**
 * Gets one line of text
 * In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'
 * And the line preceding the code begins with 'Authorization code:'
 * Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.
 */  
 public String getVerificationCode() throws Exception {
    Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];
    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

    String line;
    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
      if(line.startsWith("Authorization code:")) {
        return reader.readLine();
      }
    }
    return null;
  }

/**

* Gets one line of text

* In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'

* And the line preceding the code begins with 'Authorization code:'

* Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.

public String getVerificationCode() throws Exception {

Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

String line;

while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {

if(line.startsWith("Authorization code:")) {

return reader.readLine();

}

return null;

}

EmailUtils.java in its entirety

package utils;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Properties;
import java.util.regex.Matcher;
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

import javax.mail.Flags;
import javax.mail.Folder;
import javax.mail.Message;
import javax.mail.MessagingException;
import javax.mail.Session;
import javax.mail.Store;
import javax.mail.search.SubjectTerm;



/**
 * Utility for interacting with an Email application
 */
public class EmailUtils {

  private Folder folder;

  public enum EmailFolder {
    INBOX("INBOX"),
    SPAM("SPAM");

    private String text;

    private EmailFolder(String text){
      this.text = text;
    }

    public String getText() {
      return text;
    }
  }

  /**
   * Uses email.username and email.password properties from the properties file. Reads from Inbox folder of the email application
   * @throws MessagingException
   */
  public EmailUtils() throws MessagingException {
    this(EmailFolder.INBOX);
  }

  /**
   * Uses username and password in properties file to read from a given folder of the email application
   * @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with
   * @throws MessagingException
   */
  public EmailUtils(EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {
    this(getEmailUsernameFromProperties(),
        getEmailPasswordFromProperties(),
        getEmailServerFromProperties(),
        emailFolder);
  }

  /**
   * Connects to email server with credentials provided to read from a given folder of the email application
   * @param username Email username (e.g. janedoe@email.com)
   * @param password Email password
   * @param server Email server (e.g. smtp.email.com)
   * @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with
   */
  public EmailUtils(String username, String password, String server, EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {
    Properties props = System.getProperties();
    try {
      props.load(new FileInputStream(new File("resources/email.properties")));
    } catch(Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
      System.exit(-1);
    }

    Session session = Session.getInstance(props);
    Store store = session.getStore("imaps");
    store.connect(server, username, password);


    folder = store.getFolder(emailFolder.getText());
    folder.open(Folder.READ_WRITE);
  }



  //************* GET EMAIL PROPERTIES *******************

  public static String getEmailAddressFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.address");
  }

  public static String getEmailUsernameFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.username");
  }

  public static String getEmailPasswordFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.password");
  }

  public static String getEmailProtocolFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.protocol");
  }

  public static int getEmailPortFromProperties(){
    return Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("email.port"));
  }

  public static String getEmailServerFromProperties(){
    return System.getProperty("email.server");
  }




  //************* EMAIL ACTIONS *******************

  public void openEmail(Message message) throws Exception{
    message.getContent();
  }

  public int getNumberOfMessages() throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getMessageCount();
  }

  public int getNumberOfUnreadMessages()throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getUnreadMessageCount();
  }

  /**
   * Gets a message by its position in the folder. The earliest message is indexed at 1.
   */
  public Message getMessageByIndex(int index) throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getMessage(index);
  }

  public Message getLatestMessage() throws MessagingException{
    return getMessageByIndex(getNumberOfMessages());
  }

  /**
   * Gets all messages within the folder
   */
  public Message[] getAllMessages() throws MessagingException {
    return folder.getMessages();
  }

  /**
   * @param maxToGet maximum number of messages to get, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to get the last 100 messages received.
   */
  public Message[] getMessages(int maxToGet) throws MessagingException {
    Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToGet);
    return folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex"));
  }

  /**
   * Searches for messages with a specific subject
   * @param subject Subject to search messages for
   * @param unreadOnly Indicate whether to only return matched messages that are unread
   * @param maxToSearch maximum number of messages to search, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to search through the last 100 messages.
   */
  public Message[] getMessagesBySubject(String subject, boolean unreadOnly, int maxToSearch) throws Exception{
    Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToSearch);

    Message messages[] = folder.search(
        new SubjectTerm(subject),
        folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex")));

    if(unreadOnly){
      List<Message> unreadMessages = new ArrayList<Message>();
      for (Message message : messages) {
        if(isMessageUnread(message)) {
          unreadMessages.add(message);
        }
      }
      messages = unreadMessages.toArray(new Message[]{});
    }

    return messages;
  }

  /**
   * Returns HTML of the email's content
   */
  public String getMessageContent(Message message) throws Exception {
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(message.getInputStream()));
    String line;
    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
      builder.append(line);
    }
    return builder.toString();
  }

  /**
   * Returns all urls from an email message with the linkText specified
   */
  public List<String> getUrlsFromMessage(Message message, String linkText) throws Exception{
    String html = getMessageContent(message);
    List<String> allMatches = new ArrayList<String>();
    Matcher matcher = Pattern.compile("(<a [^>]+>)"+linkText+"</a>").matcher(html);
    while (matcher.find()) {
      String aTag = matcher.group(1);
      allMatches.add(aTag.substring(aTag.indexOf("http"), aTag.indexOf("\">")));
    }
    return allMatches;
  }

  private Map<String, Integer> getStartAndEndIndices(int max) throws MessagingException {
    int endIndex = getNumberOfMessages();
    int startIndex = endIndex - max;

    //In event that maxToGet is greater than number of messages that exist
    if(startIndex < 1){
      startIndex = 1;
    }

    Map<String, Integer> indices = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
    indices.put("startIndex", startIndex);
    indices.put("endIndex", endIndex);

    return indices;
  }

  /**
   * Gets text from the end of a line.
   * In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'
   * And the line to get the text from begins with 'Authorization code:'
   * Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.
   */
  public String getAuthorizationCode() throws Exception {
    Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];
    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

    String line;
    String prefix = "Authorization code:";

    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
      if(line.startsWith(prefix)) {
        return line.substring(line.indexOf(":") + 1);
      }
    }
    return null;
  }

  /**
   * Gets one line of text
   * In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'
   * And the line preceding the code begins with 'Authorization code:'
   * Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.
   */
  public String getVerificationCode() throws Exception {
    Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];
    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

    String line;
    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
      if(line.startsWith("Authorization code:")) {
        return reader.readLine();
      }
    }
    return null;
  }



  //************* BOOLEAN METHODS *******************

  /**
   * Searches an email message for a specific string
   */
  public boolean isTextInMessage(Message message, String text) throws Exception {
    String content = getMessageContent(message);

    //Some Strings within the email have whitespace and some have break coding. Need to be the same.
    content = content.replace("&nbsp;", " ");
    return content.contains(text);
  }

  public boolean isMessageInFolder(String subject, boolean unreadOnly) throws Exception {
    int messagesFound = getMessagesBySubject(subject, unreadOnly, getNumberOfMessages()).length;
    return messagesFound > 0;
  }

  public boolean isMessageUnread(Message message) throws Exception {
    return !message.isSet(Flags.Flag.SEEN);
  }
}

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package utils;

import java.io.BufferedReader;

import java.io.File;

import java.io.FileInputStream;

import java.io.InputStreamReader;

import java.util.ArrayList;

import java.util.HashMap;

import java.util.List;

import java.util.Map;

import java.util.Properties;

import java.util.regex.Matcher;

import java.util.regex.Pattern;

import javax.mail.Flags;

import javax.mail.Folder;

import javax.mail.Message;

import javax.mail.MessagingException;

import javax.mail.Session;

import javax.mail.Store;

import javax.mail.search.SubjectTerm;

/**

* Utility for interacting with an Email application

public class EmailUtils {

private Folder folder;

public enum EmailFolder {

INBOX("INBOX"),

SPAM("SPAM");

private String text;

private EmailFolder(String text){

this.text = text;

}

public String getText() {

return text;

}

/**

* Uses email.username and email.password properties from the properties file. Reads from Inbox folder of the email application

* @throws MessagingException

public EmailUtils() throws MessagingException {

this(EmailFolder.INBOX);

}

/**

* Uses username and password in properties file to read from a given folder of the email application

* @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with

* @throws MessagingException

public EmailUtils(EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {

this(getEmailUsernameFromProperties(),

getEmailPasswordFromProperties(),

getEmailServerFromProperties(),

emailFolder);

}

/**

* Connects to email server with credentials provided to read from a given folder of the email application

* @param username Email username (e.g. janedoe@email.com)

* @param password Email password

* @param server Email server (e.g. smtp.email.com)

* @param emailFolder Folder in email application to interact with

public EmailUtils(String username, String password, String server, EmailFolder emailFolder) throws MessagingException {

Properties props = System.getProperties();

try {

props.load(new FileInputStream(new File("resources/email.properties")));

} catch(Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

System.exit(-1);

}

Session session = Session.getInstance(props);

Store store = session.getStore("imaps");

store.connect(server, username, password);

folder = store.getFolder(emailFolder.getText());

folder.open(Folder.READ_WRITE);

}

//************* GET EMAIL PROPERTIES *******************

public static String getEmailAddressFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.address");

}

public static String getEmailUsernameFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.username");

}

public static String getEmailPasswordFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.password");

}

public static String getEmailProtocolFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.protocol");

}

public static int getEmailPortFromProperties(){

return Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("email.port"));

}

public static String getEmailServerFromProperties(){

return System.getProperty("email.server");

}

//************* EMAIL ACTIONS *******************

public void openEmail(Message message) throws Exception{

message.getContent();

}

public int getNumberOfMessages() throws MessagingException {

return folder.getMessageCount();

}

public int getNumberOfUnreadMessages()throws MessagingException {

return folder.getUnreadMessageCount();

}

/**

* Gets a message by its position in the folder. The earliest message is indexed at 1.

public Message getMessageByIndex(int index) throws MessagingException {

return folder.getMessage(index);

}

public Message getLatestMessage() throws MessagingException{

return getMessageByIndex(getNumberOfMessages());

}

/**

* Gets all messages within the folder

public Message[] getAllMessages() throws MessagingException {

return folder.getMessages();

}

/**

* @param maxToGet maximum number of messages to get, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to get the last 100 messages received.

public Message[] getMessages(int maxToGet) throws MessagingException {

Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToGet);

return folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex"));

}

/**

* Searches for messages with a specific subject

* @param subject Subject to search messages for

* @param unreadOnly Indicate whether to only return matched messages that are unread

* @param maxToSearch maximum number of messages to search, starting from the latest. For example, enter 100 to search through the last 100 messages.

public Message[] getMessagesBySubject(String subject, boolean unreadOnly, int maxToSearch) throws Exception{

Map<String, Integer> indices = getStartAndEndIndices(maxToSearch);

Message messages[] = folder.search(

new SubjectTerm(subject),

folder.getMessages(indices.get("startIndex"), indices.get("endIndex")));

if(unreadOnly){

List<Message> unreadMessages = new ArrayList<Message>();

for (Message message : messages) {

if(isMessageUnread(message)) {

unreadMessages.add(message);

}

messages = unreadMessages.toArray(new Message[]{});

}

return messages;

}

/**

* Returns HTML of the email's content

public String getMessageContent(Message message) throws Exception {

StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(message.getInputStream()));

String line;

while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {

builder.append(line);

}

return builder.toString();

}

/**

* Returns all urls from an email message with the linkText specified

public List<String> getUrlsFromMessage(Message message, String linkText) throws Exception{

String html = getMessageContent(message);

List<String> allMatches = new ArrayList<String>();

Matcher matcher = Pattern.compile("(<a [^>]+>)"+linkText+"</a>").matcher(html);

while (matcher.find()) {

String aTag = matcher.group(1);

allMatches.add(aTag.substring(aTag.indexOf("http"), aTag.indexOf("\">")));

}

return allMatches;

}

private Map<String, Integer> getStartAndEndIndices(int max) throws MessagingException {

int endIndex = getNumberOfMessages();

int startIndex = endIndex - max;

//In event that maxToGet is greater than number of messages that exist

if(startIndex < 1){

startIndex = 1;

}

Map<String, Integer> indices = new HashMap<String, Integer>();

indices.put("startIndex", startIndex);

indices.put("endIndex", endIndex);

return indices;

}

/**

* Gets text from the end of a line.

* In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'

* And the line to get the text from begins with 'Authorization code:'

* Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.

public String getAuthorizationCode() throws Exception {

Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

String line;

String prefix = "Authorization code:";

while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {

if(line.startsWith(prefix)) {

return line.substring(line.indexOf(":") + 1);

}

return null;

}

/**

* Gets one line of text

* In this example, the subject of the email is 'Authorization Code'

* And the line preceding the code begins with 'Authorization code:'

* Change these items to whatever you need for your email. This is only an example.

public String getVerificationCode() throws Exception {

Message email = getMessagesBySubject("Authorization Code", true, 5)[0];

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream()));

String line;

while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {

if(line.startsWith("Authorization code:")) {

return reader.readLine();

}

return null;

}

//************* BOOLEAN METHODS *******************

/**

* Searches an email message for a specific string

public boolean isTextInMessage(Message message, String text) throws Exception {

String content = getMessageContent(message);

//Some Strings within the email have whitespace and some have break coding. Need to be the same.

content = content.replace(" ", " ");

return content.contains(text);

}

public boolean isMessageInFolder(String subject, boolean unreadOnly) throws Exception {

int messagesFound = getMessagesBySubject(subject, unreadOnly, getNumberOfMessages()).length;

return messagesFound > 0;

}

public boolean isMessageUnread(Message message) throws Exception {

return !message.isSet(Flags.Flag.SEEN);

}

Using the Utility in Tests

All of the following methods are example test methods that would go in another class, such as EmailTests.java

Connect to Email

  private static EmailUtils emailUtils;

  @BeforeClass
  public static void connectToEmail() {
    try {
      emailUtils = new EmailUtils("YOUR_USERNAME@gmail.com", "YOUR_PASSWORD", "smtp.gmail.com", EmailUtils.EmailFolder.INBOX);
    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
      Assert.fail(e.getMessage());
    }
  }

private static EmailUtils emailUtils;

@BeforeClass

public static void connectToEmail() {

try {

emailUtils = new EmailUtils("YOUR_USERNAME@gmail.com", "YOUR_PASSWORD", "smtp.gmail.com", EmailUtils.EmailFolder.INBOX);

} catch (Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

Assert.fail(e.getMessage());

}

Example of test using verification code

  @Test
  public void testVerificationCode() {
    try {
      //TODO: Execute actions to send verification code to email

      String verificationCode = emailUtils.getAuthorizationCode();

      //TODO: Enter verification code on screen and submit

      //TODO: add assertions

    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
      Assert.fail(e.getMessage());
    }
  }

@Test

public void testVerificationCode() {

try {

//TODO: Execute actions to send verification code to email

String verificationCode = emailUtils.getAuthorizationCode();

//TODO: Enter verification code on screen and submit

//TODO: add assertions

} catch (Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

Assert.fail(e.getMessage());

}

Example of test verifying that email contains a specific text

Notice the call to getMessagesBySubject. This utility method allows you to indicate whether you only want to get unread messages or not. This is very helpful for tests that are running repeatedly. This ensures you’re not looking at an older message from a previous run.

The third argument here, 5, is the max number of messages to look through to find this email message. This also helps ensure you’re only looking at the latest messages, and also speeds up the test by limiting the search and avoiding going through the entire folder.

getMessagesBySubject returns an array of Message objects, so the test uses an index to get the first one (which would be the latest one in the email folder)…the one we want.

  @Test
  public void testTextContained() {
    try{
    Message email = emailUtils.getMessagesBySubject("Loan Approval", true, 5)[0];
    Assert.assertTrue("Approval message is not in email", emailUtils.isTextInMessage(email, "You have been approved"));
    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
      Assert.fail(e.getMessage());
    }
  }

@Test

public void testTextContained() {

try{

Message email = emailUtils.getMessagesBySubject("Loan Approval", true, 5)[0];

Assert.assertTrue("Approval message is not in email", emailUtils.isTextInMessage(email, "You have been approved"));

} catch (Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

Assert.fail(e.getMessage());

}

Go to link within email

The utility method getUrlsFromMessage will return a list of links contained within the email. This method can of course be used to verify the link’s existence, but coupling this with Selenium WebDriver, you can also go to the link if you need to do further verification.

  @Test
  public void testLink() {
    
    //TODO: apply for a loan using criteria that will result in the application being rejected
    
    try{
      Message email = emailUtils.getMessagesBySubject("Decision on Your Loan Application", true, 5)[0];
      String link = emailUtils.getUrlsFromMessage(email, "Click here to view the reason").get(0);
      
      driver.get(link);
      
      //TODO: continue testing
    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
      Assert.fail(e.getMessage());
    }
  }

@Test

public void testLink() {

//TODO: apply for a loan using criteria that will result in the application being rejected

try{

Message email = emailUtils.getMessagesBySubject("Decision on Your Loan Application", true, 5)[0];

String link = emailUtils.getUrlsFromMessage(email, "Click here to view the reason").get(0);

driver.get(link);

//TODO: continue testing

} catch (Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

Assert.fail(e.getMessage());

}

There are many more methods in the EmailUtils class that can prove useful for your automation needs. The utility class is on Github, so can be downloaded and/or contributed to.

Troubleshooting

Gmail has gotten stricter about third party applications accessing their services. I’ve noticed recently, Gmail will block the authorization and you’ll see an error like this

Please log in via your web browser and then try again

Additionally, you may also get an email from Gmail alerting you that the API is trying to access your account and has been blocked.

To resolve this, you’ll need to change your settings within Gmail to allow access to less secure accounts. Note that this makes the account more susceptible to attacks, so I wouldn’t recommend doing this on your corporate or even personal account. Ensure you’re using an account set up just for testing which holds no sensitive data.

January 28, 2018

65 Comments

Alister Scott

We use a service called Mailosaur which built straight for this purpose and allows full API access to all emails and JSON objects to easily retrieve content. We found using GMail too unreliable due to Google constantly blocking and shutting down the account for API access. See my blog post: https://watirmelon.blog/2016/02/15/testing-email-in-e2e-tests-with-mailosaur/

January 29, 2018 at 10:07 pm Reply
Jithin Mathew

Hi Angie, Nice tutorial.

I have a suggestion. A disposable web mail applications will also do the same job. We can get the message content by using their API’s. This one is an open source.

http://www.inbucket.org.

January 30, 2018 at 11:26 am Reply
- Greg
  
  Thanks for recommending inbucket. I’ll try it out since Gmail sometimes messes up my automation workflow with their random verification of recovery info.
  
  February 16, 2018 at 11:48 am Reply
- Rohit
  
  Hi , How do you actually send Emails to inbuket from your application . We have a application which sends emails via a service(that belongs to some security team) to whatever email we set via the UI . How then can I send emails to inbucket . I tried to ask my IT Team if they could set a autoforward rule in my microsoft exchange so that when my application sends email to me it gets routed to this local smtp server.But they are not agreeing to this ? Is there any other alternative ?
  
  September 6, 2018 at 6:59 am Reply
Luke

I use Putbox.com which allows me to send an email to anyemail@putbox.com then hit the website itself to grab the email and get/verify whatever I need in it. It’s a nice simple, fast, and free option for verifying email.

April 20, 2018 at 9:20 pm Reply
Vinodh

Hi Angie, Nice to read this article. Email testing involves 2 step process (viz) triggering email templates for set of users from 3rd party tool & verifying the triggered email in multiple email clients/browsers which involves content check against your template source (HTML/PDF), images, links & alt-tag info. I see this covers part1 only, have you done the other part.

We have done this end-to-end implementation, just want to know if you have any solution for alignment check visually.

Our tech stack has BOX API for content check against source, Java and Selenium. Let me know if you have any solution.

Regards,
Vinodh
@vinu015

June 9, 2018 at 10:32 am Reply
siva

What are the changes need to do in order to work with outlook?

July 16, 2018 at 7:26 am Reply
Mircea Cocosila

Hi Angie,So nice that you open source your email verification utility. You said ” I’ve also tweaked this in past projects to work for Outlook accounts as well, so that’s definitely possible. ” Could you please also open source the variant that works with Outlook?Thanks,mircea

July 20, 2018 at 3:57 pm Reply
- Angie Jones
  
  Mircea, all you should have to do is change the properties in email.properties. Mine are set for gmail but you would change yours for Outlook. Here’s a resource that shows where to get the Outlook values:
  
  https://www.lifewire.com/what-are-the-outlook-com-smtp-server-settings-1170671
  
  July 22, 2018 at 6:52 pm Reply
  - Rohit T
    
    Hi Angie/Mircea,
    
    Were you able to read the email from exchange service/outlook successfully. As I am unable to that even following above steps. Can someone help me in the same. Thank in advance.
    
    Regards,
    
    Rohit
    
    August 29, 2020 at 8:40 am Reply
    - Sandy
      
      Hi,
      I am trying to do the same where i am trying to verify the incoming mails to my official outlook using java code. I am able to send mails using smtp but tried a lot, still failing to verify incoming mails into my official outlook account. Please let me know if u can help here.
      
      June 3, 2021 at 7:44 am Reply
  - Adil A Chaudry
    
    Hi Angie,
    
    If we are working with a vpn connection with outlook, would any of this work? Is there a workaround, if we can only use one email address in outlook?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Adil
    
    December 30, 2020 at 7:11 am Reply
Veer

Hi Angie. Thanks a lot for sharing this. Do you have the code in any repositories like Git that you can share?

September 10, 2018 at 12:04 am Reply
- Angie Jones
  
  yep
  
  https://github.com/angiejones/email-test-automation
  
  September 10, 2018 at 4:45 am Reply
Svetlana Petrenko

Thank you, Angie, you saved my week. Very nice tutorial!

September 11, 2018 at 10:50 am Reply
Ruchi Saklani

Hi Angie, I am getting following error, can you please help me out – javax.mail.MessagingException: Connection timed out: connect; nested exception is: java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out: connect at com.sun.mail.imap.IMAPStore.protocolConnect(IMAPStore.java:670) at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:295) at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:176) at utils.EmailUtils.<init>(EmailUtils.java:85)

October 8, 2018 at 2:38 am Reply
- Aathi
  
  Hey Ruchi,I faced the same issue and later found out to be the network issue, try configuring Fire wall rules (inbound and outbound rules) for the port which you are trying to communicate ( 993 for imap). Thanks
  
  January 8, 2019 at 4:12 am Reply
  - Shehani Hew
    
    Hi Aathi,
    
    I have the same problem.
    
    I tried to resolve it by adding mail.imap.proxy.host /port to properties file, but it didn’t work. Can you explain a little bit more about how you resolved it?
    
    May 22, 2019 at 9:02 pm Reply
Krishna Chaitanya

Thanks!!! This article has really increase the scope of automation.

October 9, 2018 at 12:47 am Reply
Dima

Thank you so much, you’re awesome !!!

November 21, 2018 at 7:30 am Reply
Bhushan

Hi Angie, Your article is really helpful. I wanted to know why have you used SMTP instead of IMAP.Thanks

January 4, 2019 at 12:01 pm Reply
Aathi

Hi Angie,I am trying this method Go to link within email, but getting an error – java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 0, can you tell me where am i going wrong?

January 8, 2019 at 4:11 am Reply
Bharath

Hi Angie,java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 0I am getting this error inspite of having emails in the mailbox.I want know the reason am I missing on something.Thanks

January 8, 2019 at 4:34 pm Reply
- Angie Jones
  
  Make sure you’re indicating the right folder (e.g. INBOX)
  
  January 27, 2019 at 8:44 pm Reply
  - Rohit Vatta
    
    I also saw this error message. The indices is calculated wrongly. I could see count of emails as 62000 but the getTotalMessagesCount comes out as 100000;
    
    April 24, 2020 at 4:40 am Reply
  - Ashmi
    
    I also get this error: java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 0
    
    And also indicating the folder as (INBOX) can you please help me to resolve this?
    
    December 14, 2020 at 9:52 pm Reply
    - Amna
      
      I was having the same error what I did is that I have added a wait condition for 10 sec incase my code is running fast than receiving the mail
      
      July 9, 2021 at 5:33 am Reply
      - jp
        
        it is resolved for my update the this line.
        Message email = getMessagesBySubject(sub, true, getNumberOfMessages())[0];
        try this. hope it will resolved your java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 0 issue
        
        August 5, 2021 at 11:24 pm
Atif

Thanks for sharing your solution Angie. Do you have or know of any similar solution for C#?

January 22, 2019 at 9:32 pm Reply
Thomas Knee

Hi Angie,In the “Connect To Email” code snippet, shouldn’t the host be pop3 or imap instead of smtp as you are retrieving incoming emails rather than sending outgoing ones, or am I totally missing something?Cheers,-Thomas

April 24, 2019 at 12:09 pm Reply
Rodrigo

Hi Angie:

I already tried to implement your class, with no success.

I tried to implement a public static void method that could be accessed from the test class.

This is the method that I`´ try to implement:

public static void getCode() throws Exception { Message email = getMessagesBySubject( “Code” , true , 5 )[ 0 ]; BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader( new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream())); String line; String prefix = “code ” ;}The expression: getMessagesBySubject gives me error.I want to rescue a security code from

June 14, 2019 at 12:24 pm Reply
- Rodrigo
  
  Hi Again, Angie:
  
  As I told you before, I need to rescue the value of a security code taken from a Mailtrap mail and pass that value to a String. I want something like invoke a public static void from the test class calling like: Emailutils.getCode();
  
  This is my code (I have errors in the getMessagesBySubject:
  
  public static void getCode() throws Exception { Message email = getMessagesBySubject( “Code” , true , 5 )[ 0 ]; BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader( new InputStreamReader(email.getInputStream())); String line; String prefix = “code ” ;}Can you please help me.
  
  June 14, 2019 at 12:31 pm Reply
- Angie Jones
  
  can you send me an example of the email you’re trying to test and tell me the code you’re trying to extract out?
  
  June 21, 2019 at 10:31 am Reply
  - WYS
    
    Hi Angie,
    
    Thanks for sharing this tutorial.I also received the null from this method, getVerificationCode() .Email content I’m using,
    
    Email Verification
    
    We’ve noticed that you have updated your email address.
    Please use below code to verify your email address.1234Can I know why I’m receiving the result as null?Please help me out to solve this.
    
    February 27, 2021 at 10:51 am Reply
  - Sandy
    
    Hi, Angie,
    
    I am trying to automation the scenario where i have to verify an incoming mail and extract the subject from it into my official outlook account. I am able to send one using the smtp protocol in java code but failed to verify an incoming mail in outlook.
    
    Please help if you can
    
    June 3, 2021 at 7:48 am Reply
satish parimi

Hi Angie,

Your article is helping a lot to check inbox for email notification testing. We are unable to login with username and password and google is blocking through script.

Can you suggest any work around for this.

[RemoteTestNG] detected TestNG version 6.14.3

javax.mail.AuthenticationFailedException: [AUTHENTICATIONFAILED] Invalid credentials (Failure)

at com.sun.mail.imap.IMAPStore.protocolConnect(IMAPStore.java:732)

at javax.mail.Service.connect(Service.java:

August 16, 2019 at 5:46 am Reply
- Viji
  
  Please look at troubleshooting section.
  
  To resolve this, you’ll need to change your settings within Gmail to allow access to less secure accounts . Note that this makes the account more susceptible to attacks, so I wouldn’t recommend doing this on your corporate or even personal account. Ensure you’re using an account set up just for testing which holds no sensitive data.
  
  October 16, 2019 at 11:56 pm Reply
Radha Reddy

IAM GETTING RESOURCE EMAIL PROPERTIES NOT FOUND ERROR- PLEASE HELP

java.io.FileNotFoundException: resourcesemail.properties (The system cannot find the file specified)

at java.io.FileInputStream.open0(Native Method)

at java.io.FileInputStream.open(FileInputStream.java:195)

at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(FileInputStream.java:138)

at test.integration.app.EmailUtils.<init>(EmailUtils.java:76)

at test.integration.app.EmailTests.connectToEmail(EmailTests.java:22)

at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)

January 6, 2020 at 2:10 am Reply
Pipul

Angie while I’m retrieving the email I’m not getting the exact content. When extracting I’m getting amp sign as well I’m getting extra character when using the same function. Can you tell me a solution for this?

January 21, 2020 at 3:40 am Reply
Asma Razaq

Hi,

Can we automate ‘sms noification, like email?

April 7, 2020 at 8:14 am Reply
- Angie Jones
  
  Probably with something like Twilio
  
  April 7, 2020 at 8:33 am Reply
Omprakash

Good solution, however Google’s OAuth2 is better due to Google’s security restrictions that might break automation. I believe even for OAuth2, you have to authenticate once manually in order to make it work.

The challenge is when you run this in CI/CD pipeline. Usually the servers are Linux based. There can be practical limitations around authenticating the OAuth2 project manually on these servers.

To get rid of this, I’m using our internal e-mail server to work with e-mail accounts pro-grammatically (create, fetch, delete, etc.) and it works like charm in CI/CD too.

I’m wondering if there is an open source e-mail server available for use to general public. I would like to explore that option as well for my personal projects.

April 10, 2020 at 10:14 pm Reply
Dung

This code is great but I have a question. I’m realizing that this code gets latest emails by the first email in the list of email. However when I want to get the latest message from emails that are sent by only one person, it gets the first email, this is not my expectation. I want to get the latest one. How can I get the latest one in this case?

May 30, 2020 at 5:35 am Reply
Jeff

This is a rare QA article with usable Java code!

There are fake email testing services which are more reliable than gmail – which limits daily interactions, inbound and outbound mail, and can hide messages marked spam.

For example, Mailinator, Mailsac, Mailsaur, trashmail, etc. These are disposable email providers. Certain disposable email services are better or worse for QA. Some have rest APIs so you don’t need to connect via SMTP.

Often, ISPs or hosting providers block SMTP ports, so using a REST API to check email is more r

June 1, 2020 at 10:41 am Reply
Oleksandr Iavgel

Hello Angie,

I am getting this error when trying to connectToEmail ( ) with my Gmail creds:

java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: com.sun.mail.util.TraceInputStream.<init>(Ljava/io/InputStream;Lcom/sun/mail/util/MailLogger;)V

Please assist – thank you a lot in advance!

June 8, 2020 at 12:13 pm Reply
- Maria Feier
  
  Hello,
  
  I faced the same error as you, and it turned out I had the dependency javax.mail-api twice. I had an older version and the newer one 1.5.5.
  
  I excluded the older dependency, and the error was no longer displayed.
  
  June 17, 2020 at 2:57 am Reply
Asserted

Hi Angie,

Thanks for the great write-up. Does your setup here cover waiting for emails?

Like if you send a request and have to wait x seconds for a mail to arrive and AFTER that do the actions above like get subject and so on?There is a MessageCountListener for MessageCountEvent. Any examples in one of your repos that would be usefull?

June 19, 2020 at 12:16 pm Reply
Vivek Rathod

Awesome! Thanks for writing this Angie, very helpful article

June 30, 2020 at 3:44 pm Reply
Gummadi Kalyan

Hi Angie,

your code really helpful but I am getting below error.

java.lang.AssertionError: Software caused connection abort: recv failed

Failing at store.connect(server, username, password);

Unable to establish the connection. Please give me solution for this.

July 6, 2020 at 1:39 pm Reply
Anisha Raju

Could you please share this through your Youtube channel. So that we can visualize each steps

August 10, 2020 at 11:09 pm Reply
David Tran

Hi Angie,

My system : login and verify code by gmail, I’m applied your code but appeared this error :

TC_03_CheckLoginWithValidIPIStaffAccount(ipi.script.TestScriptForTechOffersAndTechNeeds) Time elapsed: 18.684 sec <<< FAILURE!

java.lang.NullPointerException

at ipi.script.TestScriptForTechOffersAndTechNeeds.TC_03_CheckLoginWithValidIPIStaffAccount(TestScriptForTechOffersAndTechNeeds.java:103)

Failed tests:

TestScriptForTechOffersAndTechNeeds.TC_03_CheckLoginWithValidIPIStaffAccount:103 NullPointer

August 19, 2020 at 9:09 pm Reply
Bhavesh Soni

Message email = emailUtils.getMessagesBySubject(“Fwd: App password created”, false, 100)[0];

String link = emailUtils.getUrlsFromMessage(email, “recently used devices”).get(0);

System.out.println(link);

Message email2 = emailUtils.getMessagesBySubject(“Bem-vindo a PodeSubir”, false, 100)[0];

String link2 = emailUtils.getUrlsFromMessage(email2, “Verificar email”).get(0);

System.out.println(link2);

For first link I am getting correct output however, for 2 email I am getting below error:

java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException: Index 0 out of bounds for length 0

at java.base/jdk.internal.util.Preconditions.outOfBounds(Preconditions.java:64)

at java.base/jdk.internal.util.Preconditions.outOfBoundsCheckIndex(Preconditions.java:70)

at java.base/jdk.internal.util.Preconditions.checkIndex(Preconditions.java:248)

at java.base/java.util.Objects.checkIndex(Objects.java:372)

at java.base/java.util.ArrayList.get(ArrayList.java:459)

at utils.EmailTests.testLink(EmailTests.java:38)

September 15, 2020 at 10:50 pm Reply
Manoj

I used the below code to login in to my gmail account but getting the exception javax.mail.AuthenticationFailedException: [AUTHENTICATIONFAILED] Invalid credentials (Failure) however when i try to login manually it is working fine.

Note:- I have replaced my password with ***** here but in real time i am giving my correct password .

emailUtils = new EmailUtils(“myemail@gmail.com”, “********”, “smtp.gmail.com”, EmailUtils.EmailFolder.INBOX);

October 9, 2020 at 10:34 am Reply
Michelle Cortes

Hi Angie, thanks for this article, found this to be really sensible and easy to understand. However when I tried doing this in my Selenium Webdriver- Java project that aims to verify an outlook email, I have a number of import that returns an unresolved error, which causes a huge chunk of the code to not work.

these are the following imports with error:

import javax.mail.Flags;import javax.mail.Folder; import javax.mail.Message, import javax.mail.MessagingException, session, store

April 19, 2021 at 6:17 am Reply
Waqas Raza

Hey,

I’ve been able to connect to the email client using only 3 x properties as that’s what the 3rd constructor uses. If you instantiate the EmailUtils object using no args constructor it calls the 2nd and then the 3rd constructor which only needs the below 3 properties as email folder is set to INBOX:

email.server

email.username

email.password

I’m wondering what’s the use of all the other properties like mail.smtp.host, mail.smtp.port.

May 11, 2021 at 4:08 am Reply
Cindy

Hey,

When i click on the link using getUrlsFromMessage() it’s not getting the exact url present in the email and the link has append with some other characters like ‘=3D%”. How do I resolve this issue?

June 16, 2021 at 4:08 pm Reply
- Amna
  
  Try to do some string operations like split, substring, join etc. to get the desired link
  
  July 9, 2021 at 5:38 am Reply
prasad

hey.
i am getting the below error please help me to get out of this

javax.mail.MessagingException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target;
nested exception is:
javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target

August 3, 2021 at 10:15 pm Reply
- Nhi
  
  Yes I’m facing the same issue. I resolve it by adding the server certificate to JDK’s keystore. You can see more details here how to do it https://www.mkyong.com/webservices/jax-ws/suncertpathbuilderexception-unable-to-find-valid-certification-path-to-requested-target/
  
  August 24, 2021 at 5:28 am Reply
Aalaa Osama

Dear Angie,
I hope you are fine ,
Thanks for this article it is amazing .
I need to ask a question about
Do you have example for [sent]
I replace inbox by sent in the example above and i get error that don’t find sent

September 17, 2021 at 5:16 am Reply
selenium_123

Hi, I am not able to extract particular link from the email content, I need to extract it and click on it. Can you please let me how to do it?

September 21, 2021 at 7:12 pm Reply
Sahana

Hello Angie
Thank you for this wonderful effort. I am trying to work on this but I’m lost. I’m using the cucumber java framework and I don’t know where to put the config file. Also if someone from here can also help me run this on Jenkins (Linux-based) please?

Thanks,
Sahana

December 29, 2021 at 2:13 pm Reply
Geeta S H

Hi, Thank you for this article. I’m trying this but getting exception: javax.mail.AuthenticationFailedException:
Please suggest me some solutions.

February 23, 2022 at 3:53 am Reply
- Siva
  
  You might configured 2 factor authentication for Gmail. try to enable this https://myaccount.google.com/lesssecureapps
  
  May 3, 2022 at 11:18 am Reply
Prabhu

How can i ignore electronic message
IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ: This electronic message, including its attachments, is CONFIDENTIAL and may contain PROPRIETARY or LEGALLY PRIVILEGED or PROTECTED information and is intended for the authorized recipient of the sender. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message or any of the information included in it is unauthorized and strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail and permanently delete this message and its attachments, along with any copies thereof, from all locations received (e.g., computer, mobile device, etc.). To the extent permitted by law, we may monitor electronic communications for the purposes of ensuring compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and internal policies. We may also collect email traffic headers for analyzing patterns of network traffic and managing client relationships. For further information see our privacy-policy. Thank you.
Please suggest me some solutions.

July 19, 2022 at 11:39 am Reply

Test Automation Utility to Verify Email