MailMessage Class

Definition

public ref class MailMessage : IDisposable

public class MailMessage : IDisposable

type MailMessage = class
    interface IDisposable

Public Class MailMessage
Implements IDisposable

Inheritance

Object

MailMessage

Implements

IDisposable

Examples

The following code example demonstrates creating and sending an email message that includes an attachment.

static void CreateMessageWithAttachment( String^ server )
{
   
   // Specify the file to be attached and sent.
   // This example assumes that a file named Data.xls exists in the
   // current working directory.
   String^ file = L"data.xls";
   
   // Create a message and set up the recipients.
   MailMessage^ message = gcnew MailMessage( L"[email protected]",L"[email protected]",L"Quarterly data report.",L"See the attached spreadsheet." );
   
   // Create  the file attachment for this email message.
   Attachment^ data = gcnew Attachment(file, MediaTypeNames::Application::Octet);
   
   // Add time stamp information for the file.
   ContentDisposition^ disposition = data->ContentDisposition;
   disposition->CreationDate = System::IO::File::GetCreationTime( file );
   disposition->ModificationDate = System::IO::File::GetLastWriteTime( file );
   disposition->ReadDate = System::IO::File::GetLastAccessTime( file );
   
   // Add the file attachment to this email message.
   message->Attachments->Add( data );
   
   //Send the message.
   SmtpClient^ client = gcnew SmtpClient( server );
   
   // Add credentials if the SMTP server requires them.
   client->Credentials = CredentialCache::DefaultNetworkCredentials;
   client->Send( message );
   
   // Display the values in the ContentDisposition for the attachment.
   ContentDisposition^ cd = data->ContentDisposition;
   Console::WriteLine( L"Content disposition" );
   Console::WriteLine( cd );
   Console::WriteLine( L"File {0}", cd->FileName );
   Console::WriteLine( L"Size {0}", cd->Size );
   Console::WriteLine( L"Creation {0}", cd->CreationDate );
   Console::WriteLine( L"Modification {0}", cd->ModificationDate );
   Console::WriteLine( L"Read {0}", cd->ReadDate );
   Console::WriteLine( L"Inline {0}", cd->Inline );
   Console::WriteLine( L"Parameters: {0}", cd->Parameters->Count );
   IEnumerator^ myEnum1 = cd->Parameters->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum1->MoveNext() )
   {
      DictionaryEntry^ d = safe_cast<DictionaryEntry^>(myEnum1->Current);
      Console::WriteLine( L"{0} = {1}", d->Key, d->Value );
   }

   data->~Attachment();
   client->~SmtpClient();
}

public static void CreateMessageWithAttachment(string server)
{
    // Specify the file to be attached and sent.
    // This example assumes that a file named Data.xls exists in the
    // current working directory.
    string file = "data.xls";
    // Create a message and set up the recipients.
    MailMessage message = new MailMessage(
        "[email protected]",
        "[email protected]",
        "Quarterly data report.",
        "See the attached spreadsheet.");

    // Create  the file attachment for this email message.
    Attachment data = new Attachment(file, MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet);
    // Add time stamp information for the file.
    ContentDisposition disposition = data.ContentDisposition;
    disposition.CreationDate = System.IO.File.GetCreationTime(file);
    disposition.ModificationDate = System.IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(file);
    disposition.ReadDate = System.IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(file);
    // Add the file attachment to this email message.
    message.Attachments.Add(data);

    //Send the message.
    SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient(server);
    // Add credentials if the SMTP server requires them.
    client.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultNetworkCredentials;

    try
    {
        client.Send(message);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Exception caught in CreateMessageWithAttachment(): {0}",
            ex.ToString());
    }
    // Display the values in the ContentDisposition for the attachment.
    ContentDisposition cd = data.ContentDisposition;
    Console.WriteLine("Content disposition");
    Console.WriteLine(cd.ToString());
    Console.WriteLine("File {0}", cd.FileName);
    Console.WriteLine("Size {0}", cd.Size);
    Console.WriteLine("Creation {0}", cd.CreationDate);
    Console.WriteLine("Modification {0}", cd.ModificationDate);
    Console.WriteLine("Read {0}", cd.ReadDate);
    Console.WriteLine("Inline {0}", cd.Inline);
    Console.WriteLine("Parameters: {0}", cd.Parameters.Count);
    foreach (DictionaryEntry d in cd.Parameters)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("{0} = {1}", d.Key, d.Value);
    }
    data.Dispose();
}

Public Shared Sub CreateMessageWithAttachment(ByVal server As String)
    ' Specify the file to be attached And sent.
    ' This example assumes that a file named Data.xls exists in the
    ' current working directory.
    Dim file As String = "data.xls"
    ' Create a message and set up the recipients.
    Dim message As MailMessage = New MailMessage(
        "[email protected]",
        "[email protected]",
        "Quarterly data report.",
        "See the attached spreadsheet.")

    ' Create  the file attachment for this email message.
    Dim data As Attachment = New Attachment(file, MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet)
    ' Add time stamp information for the file.
    Dim disposition As ContentDisposition = data.ContentDisposition
    disposition.CreationDate = System.IO.File.GetCreationTime(file)
    disposition.ModificationDate = System.IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(file)
    disposition.ReadDate = System.IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(file)
    ' Add the file attachment to this email message.
    message.Attachments.Add(data)

    ' Send the message
    Dim client As SmtpClient = New SmtpClient(server)
    ' Add credentials if the SMTP server requires them.
    client.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultNetworkCredentials

    Try
        client.Send(message)
    Catch ex As Exception
        Console.WriteLine("Exception caught in CreateMessageWithAttachment(): {0}", ex.ToString())
    End Try

    ' Display the values in the ContentDisposition for the attachment.
    Dim cd As ContentDisposition = data.ContentDisposition
    Console.WriteLine("Content disposition")
    Console.WriteLine(cd.ToString())
    Console.WriteLine("File {0}", cd.FileName)
    Console.WriteLine("Size {0}", cd.Size)
    Console.WriteLine("Creation {0}", cd.CreationDate)
    Console.WriteLine("Modification {0}", cd.ModificationDate)
    Console.WriteLine("Read {0}", cd.ReadDate)
    Console.WriteLine("Inline {0}", cd.Inline)
    Console.WriteLine("Parameters: {0}", cd.Parameters.Count)

    For Each d As DictionaryEntry In cd.Parameters
        Console.WriteLine("{0} = {1}", d.Key, d.Value)
    Next

    data.Dispose()
End Sub

Remarks

Instances of the MailMessage class are used to construct email messages that are transmitted to an SMTP server for delivery using the SmtpClient class.

The sender, recipient, subject, and body of an email message may be specified as parameters when a MailMessage is used to initialize a MailMessage object. These parameters may also be set or accessed using properties on the MailMessage object.

The primary mail message headers and elements for the message may be set using the following properties of the MailMessage class.

The MailMessage class also allows an application to access the headers collection for the message using the Headers property. While this collection is read-only (a new collection can not be set), custom headers can be added to or deleted from this collection. Any custom headers added will be included when the MailMessage instance is sent. Before a message is sent, only headers specifically added to this collection in the Headers property are included in the collection. After a the MailMessage instance is sent, the Headers property will also include headers that are set using the associated properties of the MailMessage class or parameters passed when a MailMessage is used to initialize a MailMessage object.

If some mail headers are malformed, they could cause the email message to become corrupted. So any mail header in the headers collection that can be set using a property on the MailMessage class should only be set using the MailMessage class property or as a parameter passed when a MailMessage initializes a MailMessage object. The following list of mail headers should not be added using the Headers property and any values set for these headers using the Headers property will be discarded or overwritten when the message is sent:

• Bcc

• Cc

• Content-ID

• Content-Location

• Content-Transfer-Encoding

• Content-Type

• Date

• From

• Importance

• MIME-Version

• Priority

• Reply-To

• Sender

• To

• X-Priority

If the application does not specify an X-Sender header using the Headers property, the MailMessage class will create one when the message is sent.

Use the AlternateViews property to specify copies of an email message in different formats. For example, if you send a message in HTML, you might also want to provide a plain text version in case some of the recipients use email readers that cannot display HTML content. For an example that demonstrates creating a message with alternate views, see AlternateViews.

Use the Attachments property to add attachments to an email message. For an example that demonstrates creating a message with an attachment, see Attachments. Calling Dispose on the MailMessage also calls Dispose on each referenced Attachment.

After assembling your email message, you can send it by using the Send or SendAsync methods.

Constructors

Properties

Methods

Applies to