How does one programmatically access email account settings of mail app in Mavericks?

Question

I would like to access email account settings, such as username, password, port, ssl settings etc that are stored by the stock OSX Mail app, from my app. Where are these settings stored, and how does one read them ?

Answer 1

Passwords are usually stored in the keychain, if the user enabled storage of passwords. The other parameters are in the preference file.

Before accessing them make sure the user gives its okay.