How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

[TheSmitchell]

Can Alpha's email client be used in the web application? I am investigating integrating access to email directly into our web application and wanted to know what (if) people did to make this happen. Any pitfalls or gotchas I should know about?

Thanks
---
Sarah

[Mike Reed]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

Hi,
I use outgoing email and texting routinely with both desktop and web apps. As far as processing incoming email, I have never had much luck using the email client. The Alpha email doesn't seem to handle it well. I think the client was written years ago and hasn't been updated. Most of the trouble was handling attachments and some emails with the html text in the message body.

I'd be glad to send some info if you want some ideas on outgoing.

Mike

[irwincohen]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

Yes I have a web app running under ver 9 that sends email but does not receive any. These emails are generated by the app in accordance with the users' activity but the user does not actually write the email. For example when a web user approves a certain transaction an email is sent to another user. These emails use some prepared text but some parts like user names are filled in on the fly. Sometimes reports are attached to the emails. It would not be hard to allow the user to type the email content. I use calls to email_smtp_open, email_smtp_send and email_smtp_close.
The only caution I have is be sure to keep a log file. Only rarely does an email fail but when it does I log it and keep a copy of the failed email's contents so I can manually resend it later. I am attaching a copy of my routine "emailcore" and I apologize for a few references to other routines. demoval("Prefemail", loginid) returns the email address of the recipient and failed_emails writes the email detail to a data table for resending later. The log file is updated by the routines that call emailcore. Note the multiple sends and resends and timing delays in the routine. I found those by trial and error and maybe 1 percent of emails do require these extra delays. I would be happy to share the details of the calling routines but I hope this gives you an idea. As is the system works quite well.
Good luck,
Irwin

'Date Created: 25-Dec-2010 11:46:46 AM
'Last Updated: 13-Oct-2013 11:04:55 AM
'Created By  : Irwin
'Updated By  : Irwin
'Result is < 10 if the email was not sent
'open1	send1a  send1b 	open2   send2a  send2b	     total
' 0			x      x		0       x       x		0     neither open
' 1			0      0		0       x       x		1     1st open, no send, 2nd no open
' 0			x      x		2       0       0		2     2nd open, no send
' 1			0      0		2       0       0		3     both open, neither send
' 1			10     x 		x       x      	x		11    1st open and send1a
' 1			0     100		x       x      	x		101   1st open and send1b
' 0			x      x		2      20      x		22    1st no open, 2nd open and send2a
' 0			x      x		2      0      	200		202   1st no open, 2nd open and send2b
' 1			0      0		2      20      x		23    1st open, no send, 2nd open and send2a
' 1			0      0		2      0      	200		203   1st open, no send, 2nd open and send2b
'sent > 10, failed < 10

function emailcore as n (loginid as c, thesubject as c, thetext as c, theattachments as c)
emailcore = 0
dim pm as P
dim ps as P
dim eflag as l
eflag = .f.
ps.timeout = 10000
eflag = email_smtp_open(ps, "myserver", port, "my account", "my pw")
if eflag
	emailcore = emailcore + 1
	pm.to = alltrim(demoval("Prefemail", loginid))
	pm.from = "[email protected]"
	pm.from_alias = "NPAP Database"
	pm.subject = thesubject
	pm.attachments = theattachments
	pm.message = thetext
'	pm.html_message = thetext	'this need <br> not cflf()
	eflag = email_smtp_send(pm, ps)		'send 1a
	if eflag	'.f.=not sent, .t.=sent
		emailcore =  emailcore + 10
	else
		eflag = email_smtp_send(pm, ps)	'send 1b
		if eflag
			emailcore = emailcore + 100
		end if
	end if
	if .not. email_smtp_close(ps)
		emailcore = emailcore - 1000
	end if
end if
if eflag = .f.	'.f.=not sent, .t.=sent
	sleep(5)
	ps.timeout = 10000
	eflag = email_smtp_open(ps, "myserver", port, "my account", "my pw")
	if eflag
		emailcore = emailcore + 2
		pm.to = alltrim(demoval("Prefemail", loginid))
		pm.from = "[email protected]"
		pm.from_alias = "NPAP Database"
		pm.subject = thesubject
		pm.attachments = theattachments
		pm.message = thetext
'		pm.html_message = thetext	'this need <br> not cflf()
		eflag = email_smtp_send(pm, ps)		'send 2a
		if eflag	'.f.=not sent, .t.=sent
			emailcore = emailcore + 20
		else
			eflag = email_smtp_send(pm, ps)	'send 2b
			if eflag
				emailcore =  emailcore + 200
			end if
		end if
		if .not. email_smtp_close(ps)
			emailcore = emailcore - 2000
		end if
	end if
end if
if emailcore<10
	failed_emails(Loginid, Thesubject, Thetext, Theattachments)
end if
end function

[Mike Reed]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

Thanks Irwin for the ps.timeout....I am going to add that to mine.
Also a very good reminder about the log file. I have discovered that is an essential item.

Here is a function that I use that is MySQL based. It is similar to Irwin's except that I have MySQL table called email_Control. It contains the userid, port, mail server address and password for the outgoing mail server. It also has a priority field. The file was originally setup as place to keep the email server login info. So that if the user changes their email server, one entry in the table to change parameters and its done. That worked fine. But then the user started have trouble with limits and availability of the email server. They had at one time 3 different outgoing servers that could be used. So we added the priority column. So the routine loads the info for all the possible outgoing mail servers. If one failed, then it goes to the next. The initial response from the function is 0. If the mail is accepted by any of the servers, then the response is changed to the mail server address. So it makes it easy to let the user know if the outgoing mail failed.

This one is also different in that it takes all the info for the email, so the command looks like this:

sql_email_send("[email protected]","[email protected]","subject","message","HTML","[email protected]","[email protected]","c:\a5webroot\myfile.txt") If the is no CC, BCC, etc, then just enter the quotes. And of course, variables can be used instead the "typed info"

So any place I need to send an email, I just call this function. As Irwin mentioned reports can be attached, just create and save the report first, then include the file(s) name(s) where indicated.

I have been using this for a long time. I am however converting everything over to little different process. We have a set up an old computer whose job in life is to send out emails only. (it is like 5 years old, we just a new hard drive and power supply in it and it works fine to send email.) This new process frees up the web app and desktop from having to wait for the actual email process to respond, especially if a large report or file is included. We just offload all the email stuff and attachments to the old computer and it sends the emails. And a log file is integral to it. It runs under the Alpha 5 runtime. Since that is a little more complex I didn't include it here, but I'd be glad to send it if you want.

Anyway here is the function:

FUNCTION sql_email_send AS C (email_to AS C, email_from AS C, email_subject AS C, email_msg AS C ,email_type AS C, email_cc AS C, email_bcc AS C, email_attachment AS C )
'email_type - leave blank if the message is not HTML formatted, else enter "HTML"
dim ps as p
dim pm as p
dim email_result as l
dim e_cnt as n
dim smtp_cnt as n
dim smtp_recs as n

dim cn as SQL::Connection
cn.open("your connection")
dim qry as c
qry = "SELECT * FROM email_control ORDER BY priority"
cn_result = cn.Execute(qry)
rs = cn.ResultSet
cn.Close()
txt = rs.ToJSONObjectSyntax(10)
dim arr[0] as p
A5_JSON_PopulateArray(arr,txt)
smtp_recs = arr.size()
sql_email_send = "0"
e_cnt = 1

starthere:
v_site = arr[e_cnt].smtp
v_port = val(arr[e_cnt].port)
v_user = arr[e_cnt].user
v_pswd = arr[e_cnt].password

IF (email_smtp_open(ps, v_site, v_port, v_user, v_pswd )) THEN
pm.to = alltrim(email_to)
pm.from = alltrim(email_from)
pm.subject = alltrim(email_subject)
IF email_type = "" THEN
pm.message = alltrim(email_msg)
ELSE IF email_type = "HTML"
pm.html_message = alltrim(email_msg)
END IF
IF email_cc <> "" THEN
pm.cc = alltrim(email_cc)
else
pm.cc = ""
END IF
IF email_bcc <> "" THEN
pm.bcc = alltrim(email_bcc)
else
pm.bcc = ""
END IF
IF email_attachment <> "" THEN
pm.attachments = alltrim(email_attachment)
else
pm.attachments = ""
END IF

email_result = email_smtp_send(pm, ps)
IF email_result THEN
sql_email_send = arr[e_cnt].smtp
goto quit
ELSE

IF e_cnt < smtp_recs THEN
e_cnt = e_cnt + 1
goto starthere
ELSE
goto quit
END IF
END IF
end
ELSE
IF e_cnt < smtp_recs THEN
e_cnt = e_cnt + 1
goto starthere
END IF
END IF
quit:

END FUNCTION

[christappan]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

Sarah, these guys' suggestions are far more robust than mine for the outgoing, but I agree from experience that you cannot trust the A5 incoming email system. We found a program called Process Them that watches assigned POP or IMAP email inboxes and can write parameters (e.g. subject, attachments, etc) to a SQL database, download attachments into a directory on the server, or trigger a file to be run. It has almost no further features, but it does what it's supposed to consistently. Then you can write your own code to process these records and files further depending on your needs. There's a more feature-rich program called Email2DB that some Alpha folks are using as well.

[TheSmitchell]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

This information is great! Thank you so much for your feedback. Keep it coming!

Receiving incoming email is a must. My goal is to provide the client a central location to access all communications they have with their customers - email, phone logs/records, and online form submissions/exchanges.

[christappan]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

I should clarify that we are currently working out our system to handle all incoming and outgoing emails, but we've been using Process Them for years now to check some email accounts. Keep us posted on insights you might have.

[GGandhi]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

Can Alpha's email client be used in the web application? I am investigating integrating access to email directly into our web application and wanted to know what (if) people did to make this happen. Any pitfalls or gotchas I should know about?

Thanks
---
Sarah

Receiving incoming email is a must

I send emails alone or with reports from my intranet application. sending seems easy.

the alpha email functions, I think, work with pop3 only not imap. I tried setting up with imap and did not succeed. with pop, synchronization may not be possible, and the message will get downloaded regardless of whether It was downloaded earlier.(unless you delete them from the server after downloading., then they are gone from accessing from elsewhere)
there is a email_receive() function. you can check and see if there is a way to filter the ones downloaded and somehow synchronize with the server.

[TheSmitchell]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

I send emails alone or with reports from my intranet application. sending seems easy.

the alpha email functions, I think, work with pop3 only not imap. I tried setting up with imap and did not succeed. with pop, synchronization may not be possible, and the message will get downloaded regardless of whether It was downloaded earlier.(unless you delete them from the server after downloading., then they are gone from accessing from elsewhere)
there is a email_receive() function. you can check and see if there is a way to filter the ones downloaded and somehow synchronize with the server.

Lack of imap support might be a problem. :/ I have a feeling I'll need to resort to some other language, such as php, to accomplish receive. Unless V12 has made some headway in this department?

[chadbrown]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

I use a program by parker software called email2db which works awesome you can even parse or extract data and directly insert or update data to most types of sql. I use it for an order entry system that pulls customers order directly from the confirmation email.

[TheSmitchell]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

SSL question: I suspect this is a necessity to handle email in a web application. Given that a level of security is probably required for such a task. Are there other things I should consider if providing email fetch/send in our web application?

---
Sarah

[christappan]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

You can send things SSL with the A5 client, and anything like Process Them or email2db is going to access mail addresses from an email server, so you have to specify SSL and ports just like you would any other POP/IMAP client.

Just in case Chad and I are on a different page than you, Process Them and email2db act as clients of an email server but do not replace the email server itself. You can also run your own email server, but that's a whole other can of worms.

[TheSmitchell]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

You can send things SSL with the A5 client, and anything like Process Them or email2db is going to access mail addresses from an email server, so you have to specify SSL and ports just like you would any other POP/IMAP client.

Just in case Chad and I are on a different page than you, Process Them and email2db act as clients of an email server but do not replace the email server itself. You can also run your own email server, but that's a whole other can of worms.

I'm not going to run an email server. It's not necessary.

Regarding SSL, I am looking more for "this is required and also should probably encrypt Y." I'm not sure what Y would be. Then again, if SSL isn't required... then... I still need to do some extra research outside of Alpha.

Your feedback is much appreciated, though! Truthfully. Thank you. :)
---
Sarah

[aburningflame]

Re: How did you integrate email send/receive into your web application?

Y = connection between your app and the email server (connect using SSL if your email server supports SSL)
Y also = connection between your user and the application (if you want data sent by your user to the application encrypted)