Exploring Collaboration Data Objects for Windows NT Server (CDONTS) and the newer Collaboration Data Objects for Windows 2000 (CDO or CDOSYS) which enables messaging and email on IIS.

See also "How to migrate the Collaboration Data Objects for NTS applications to Microsoft Collaboration Data Objects for Windows 2000" [support.microsoft.com/?kbid=810702] for migrating from CDONTS to CDO (aka CDOSYS; Microsoft Collaboration Data Objects for Windows 2000).

The main differences:

  • CDONTS.NewMail is now CDO.Message.
  • myMail.Body = strBody is now myMail.TextBody = strBody.

Here is an example of using CDOSYS in JavaScript:

function gSendEmail(email) {
    //Using CDOSYS sending email thru a remote SMTP server:
    var objMessage=Server.CreateObject("CDO.Message");
    objMessage.Subject=email.strSubject;
    objMessage.From=email.strFrom;
    objMessage.To=email.strTo;  //EG: "sam@gmail.com, sue@gmail.com" 
    if ('strCc' in email) objMessage.Cc=email.strCc;
    if ('strBcc' in email) objMessage.Bcc=email.strBcc;
    if (email.blnIsHtml) objMessage.HtmlBody=email.strBody; //EG: "<p>Hello <world!></p>"
    else objMessage.TextBody=email.strBody; //EG: "Hello world!";
    if ('strAttachment' in email) objMessage.AddAttachment(email.strAttachment); //EGs: "http://www.fake.com/hi.jpg" or "c:\y.pdf"
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing")=2;
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver")="smtp.fake.com";
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport")=465;
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpconnectiontimeout")=30;
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpusessl")=true;
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpauthenticate")=1;
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusername")="faker@fake.com";
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendpassword")="F0o-B4r_!";
    objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Update();
    objMessage.Send();
}

See also: "About CDO for Windows 2000" [msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cdosys/html/ecdb51f4-5ba0-46d8-9c7c-7e4154a18f50.asp] and "A Beginner's Guide to Sending Email from an ASP Page" [http://www.devguru.com/features/tutorials/CDONTS/cdonts.html].

CDONTS interfaces with the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server component of Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Server) version 4.0 and later.

The object model for CDONTS is as follows.

The only CDONTS object I am concerned with is NewMail, which enables ASP pages to send email.

If you run into problems, then often times it is fixed by setting RWX permissions on the cdonts.dll and cdosys.dll in C:\WINNT\system32, as well as the C:\Inetpub\mailroot\Pickup directory.

Basic Usage

Only a few lines of code are needed to send an email via the CDONTS NewMail object. EG:

Set objNewMail = CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
objNewMail.Send "sender@fake.com", "receiver@unreal.com", "My Subject", _
                "Body of message", 0 'Importance 0=low, 1=default, 3=high
Set objNewMail = Nothing 'NewMail objects cannot be reused Response.Write "Email has been sent"

Email is often generated via a form. EG:

<%
Sub sendmail(fromWho, toWho, Subject, Body) 
	Dim myMail 
	Set myMail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.Newmail") 
	myMail.From = fromWho 
	myMail.To = toWho 
	myMail.Subject = Subject 
	myMail.Body = Body 
	myMail.Send 
End Sub 
fromWho = Trim( Request.Form( "fromWho") ) 
toWho = Trim( Request.Form( "toWho") ) 
Subject = Trim( Request.Form( "Subject" ) ) 
Body = Trim( Request.Form( "Body") ) 
myMail.AttachFile "\\server\subdir\file.xls", "renamedFile.xls"
'Or Call myMail.AttachFile("\\server\subdir\file.xls", "renamedFile.xls")
If toWho <> "" Then
	sendMail fromWho, toWho, Subject, Body 
	Response.redirect "confirmation.html" 
End If 
%>

<html> 
<head><title>Email Form</title></head> 
<form method="post" action="<%=Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME")%>"> 
<br />TO: <input name="toWho" type="text" size="40"> 
<br />FROM: <input name="fromWho" type="text" size="40"> 
<br />SUBJECT: <input name="Subject" type="text" size="40"> 
<br /><textarea name="Body" cols="40" rows="5"></textarea> 
<br /><input type="submit" value="Send Mail"> 
</form>
</html>

Properties

All the properties are write-only.

Email lists delimited by semicolons.

Name Type Note
Bcc String Blind carbon copied email list.
Body IStream object or String plain text or HTML.
BodyFormat Long 0=HTML allowed in Body.
1=plain text (default).
Cc String Carbon copied email list.
ContentBase String Prefixed to Content Location if Content Location provides relative path. EG: http://www.fake.com/.
See also RFC 2110 and MHTML (MIME HTML).
ContentLocation String Prefixed to URLs in Body that use relative URLs. EG: http://www.fake.com/subdir/. EG: subdir/.
Note that relative URLs in the Body can reference attachments via AttachURL().
From String Only 1 email is allowed for From.
Importance Long 0=low.
1=normal (default).
3=high.
MailFormat Long 0=MIME.
1=uninterrupted plain text (default). Inserts line breaks for lines lengths greater than 74 characters.
See also RFC 1341.
Subject String  
To String To email list.
Value String Syntax: objNewMail.Value(header) = strHdrValue.
Common headers include: File, Reference, Keywords, Reply-To, Confidential.
Version String Returns the version of the CDONTS. Returns "1.2.1" [Ref 2003-07].

Methods

Name Parameters Note
AttachFile Source as Object or String,
(optional) NewFileName as String,
(optional) EncodingMethod as Long 		Adds an attachment to the email.
Source is a physical location. EG: Server.MapPath("file.txt"). EG: c:\subdir\file.txt.
The EncodingMethod:
   0=Attachment is UUEncode format (default).
   1=Attachment is base 64 format.
AttachURL Source as Object or String,
ContentLocation as String,
(optional) ContentBase as String,
(optional) EncodingMethod as Long 		Adds an attachment to the email but also allows the Body to reference the attachment with a relative path.
Send (optional) From as String,
(optional) To as String,
(optional) Subject as String,
(optional) Body as Object or String,
(optional) Importance as Long 		If the To property and the To parameter of Send() are both specified, then the email is sent to both lists.
Only 1 email is allowed for From.
SetLocaleIDs CodePageID as Long Changes the code page ID from the default to the one specified.

Page Modified: (Hand noted: 2008-03-31 18:49:07Z) (Auto noted: 2008-03-31 18:48:24Z)