Example of parsing a local maildir.

mail_check.c

#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <dirent.h>

int main(int argc, const char **argv) {
	if (argc < 2) return 1;
	DIR *dir;
	struct dirent *de;
	struct stat info;
	time_t cur = 0,new = 0;
	char *dname = NULL;
	chdir(argv[1]);
	if ( !(dir=opendir("cur")) ) return 2;
	while ( (de=readdir(dir)) )
		if (de->d_name[0] != '.') dname = de->d_name;
	if (dname) {
		chdir("cur");
		stat(dname,&info);
		cur = info.st_mtime;
		chdir("../");
	}
	closedir(dir);
	dname = NULL;
	if ( !(dir=opendir("new")) ) return 3;
	while ( (de=readdir(dir)) )
		if (de->d_name[0] != '.') dname = de->d_name;
	if (dname) {
		chdir("new");
		stat(dname,&info);
		new = info.st_mtime;
		chdir("../");
	}
	closedir(dir);
	if (difftime(new,cur) > 0) printf("newest");
	else if (new) printf("new");
	else if (cur) printf("old");
	else printf("none");
	return 0;
}