Knowledge Base

How To Send an Attachment in ASP Using CDONTS and the Posting Acceptor

Article ID: 266452

Article Last Modified on 4/21/2006

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Visual InterDev 6.0 Standard Edition, when used with:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT 4.0

This article was previously published under Q266452

SUMMARY

Use of Collaboration Data Objects for Microsoft Windows NT Server (CDONTS) to send e-mail from Active Server Pages (ASP) pages has become very common. By using CDONTS along with other technologies, you can create a Web-based interface that allows users to send attachments with their e-mail. CDONTS executes on the server so the file attachment must be uploaded to the server before it can be attached to the e-mail.

The file upload can be accomplished through the Microsoft Posting Acceptor. The Posting Acceptor is installed on the server and enables a client to post a file to the Web server from the user's computer. This file can then be sent as an attachment to e-mail.

MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service must be enabled and configured in order to use CDONTS. (See the Internet Information Services documentation for details.)

Steps to Attach a File to a Message

Create a new Web application project called myEmailWebApp in Microsoft Visual InterDev on the Web server with the Posting Acceptor installed.
Add an ASP page called Default.asp to the project.
Delete the code that comes with the page by default.

Add the following code to the page:

<%@ Language=VBScript %>
<HTML>
<HEAD>

<%
Dim strServerURL  'Server Name including http:// protocol
strServerURL = "http://" + Request.ServerVariables("SERVER_NAME")

Dim strServerURLFull 'Path to subweb directory
strServerURLFull = strServerURL & "/myEmailWebApp"

Dim strTargetURL  'Directory where we will upload our file to
strTargetURL = strServerURLFull & "/uploaded_files"

Dim strRepostURL  'Path to the page we will display after our file uploads
strRepostURL = strServerURLFull & "/SendMail.asp"

Dim strPathToPA   'Path to the cpshost.dll
strPathToPA =  strServerURL & "/Scripts/cpshost.dll"

Dim strPostingURL 'Action path for our form
strPostingURL = strPathToPA + "?PUBLISH?" + strRepostURL
%>



</HEAD>
<BODY bgcolor="white"> 
<!--The Form must include the enctype properties set to "multipart/form-data" or the upload will fail. -->
<FORM enctype="multipart/form-data" action="<%=strPostingURL %>" method="post" id="form1" name="form1">
<INPUT type="hidden" name="TargetURL" value="<% = strTargetURL %>">
<!--This hidden field is used to determine if a file post is being made.-->
<INPUT type="hidden" name="bolAttach" value="true"> 
    <CENTER>
        <TABLE bgcolor=Gray border=1>
            <tr>
                <td>From:</td>
                <!--Who is this message from.-->
                <td><INPUT id="FromBox" name="FromBox" maxlength="50" value="myEmail@myDomain.com"></td>
            <tr>
            <tr>
                <!--Who is this message To.-->
                <td>To:</td>
                <td><INPUT id="ToBox" name="ToBox" maxlength="50" value="myEmail@myDomain.com"></td>
            <tr>
            <tr>
                <!--This message's Subject.-->
                <td>Subject:</td>
                <td><INPUT id="SubjectBox" name="SubjectBox" maxlength="50" value="Email with attachment.">
                </td>
                
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <!--This message's body.-->
                <td colspan="2"><br><br>Message:<br>
                <TEXTAREA cols="40" id="MessageArea" name="MessageArea" rows="10">Here is the text for this message.</TEXTAREA>
                <br>
                </td>
            </tr>
                <tr>
                <td colspan="2" align="Left" valign="center">
                Specify File Attachment Paths: 
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <!--Path to the file to attach to this message.-->
                <td colspan="2" align="right" valign="center">
                <INPUT name="my_file" type="file" size="20">
                <br><br>
                </td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <!--This message's importance.-->
                <td colspan="2" ><br>Importance Level:
                <INPUT type="radio" id=optImpo name=optImpo value=0 checked>Low
                <INPUT type="radio" id=optImpo name=optImpo value=1>Medium
                <INPUT type="radio" id=optImpo name=optImpo value=2>High
                <br></td>
            <tr>
            <tr>
                <!--Validating Submit Button.-->
                <td colspan="2" align="right" valign="center">
                <INPUT type="button" value="Send" id="button1" name="button1" LANGUAGE="javascript" onclick="return button1_onclick()">
                <INPUT type="reset" value="Reset" id="reset1" name="reset1">
                </td>
            </tr>
        </TABLE>
    </CENTER>
</FORM>
<SCRIPT ID="clientEventHandlersJS" LANGUAGE="javascript">
<!--
function button1_onclick() {
    //Determine if there is a From address at all.
    if(form1.FromBox.value =="")
    {
        //No from Address -Stop Submission
        alert("You have not typed a From: Address.");
        return;
    }
    //Determine if there is a To address at all.
    if(form1.ToBox.value =="")
    {
        //No To Address -Stop Submission
        alert("You have not typed a TO: Address.");
        return;
    }
    //Determine if there is a subject at all.
    if(form1.SubjectBox.value =="")
    {
        //No Subject - Question Submission
        //Determine if they care.
        var bolCancel = confirm("You have not typed a Subject continue?\n");
        
        if(bolCancel==false)
        {
            //User clicked Cancel -Stop Submission
            return;
        }
    }
    if(form1.MessageArea.value =="")
    {
        //No Message - Question Submission
        //Determine if they care.
        var bolStop = confirm("You have not typed a Message continue?\n");
        
        if(bolStop==false)
        {
            //User clicked Cancel -Stop Submission
            return;
        }
    }
    SubmitForm();
}

function SubmitForm()
{
   //File counter for the number of files on the Form
   var FileNumber = 0;
   //FormMain is set to the form1 of the document
   var FormMain = document.forms("form1");
   //Loop counter
   var i;
   //Start at zero and loop until i is equal to the number of
   //elements in the page. Step i +1 per loop through
   for (i=0;i<FormMain.elements.length;i++)
   {
    if (FormMain.elements[i].name == 'my_file' && FormMain.elements[i].value.length > 0)
    {
        FileNumber++;
    }
   }
   //If there are files being posted then send the file to the Posting Acceptor
   //If not, skip to the send mail page with the Attachment boolean set to false.
   if(FileNumber==0)
   {
    form1.bolAttach.value = "false"
    form1.action = 'SendMail.asp';
    //The encoding must be set to a different type in order to not 
    //use the posting acceptor.
    form1.encoding = 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded';
    form1.submit(); 
   }
   else
   {
   //There are files attached use normal submit.
    form1.submit();
   }
};
//-->
</SCRIPT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

In Visual InterDev right-click the project name in the Project Explorer and choose New Folder from the pop-up menu.
Name the new folder Uploaded_files.
Open the Internet Service Manager Console and browse to the Uploaded_files folder that you created.
Right-click the folder, and then click Properties.
On the Directory tab select read/write permissions, and then click OK.
Close the Internet Services Manager.
Open Windows Explorer and browse to the MyEmailWebApp folder under the Root:\Inetpub\Wwwroot directory.
Right-click the Uploaded_files folder, and then choose Properties.
On the Security tab make sure that the Internet guest account has read/write/change permissions on the folder.
Click OK, and then close Windows Explorer.
In Visual InterDev, add a second page named SendMail.asp to the Web application.
Delete the code that comes with the page by default.

Add the following code to the page:

<%@ Language=VBScript %>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>E-mail Sent Confirmation</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<HR>
<%
'Dim Message Variables
Dim objMsg, strFrom, strTo, strSubject,lngImportance
'Get the values to use with the message from the post.
strFrom = lcase(Trim(Request.Form("FromBox")))
strTo = lcase(Trim(Request.Form("ToBox")))
strSubject = Request.Form("SubjectBox")
lngImportance = CInt(Request.Form("optImpo"))

'Create the Message Object
Set objMsg = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'Set the properties of the Message
objMsg.From = strFrom
objMsg.To = strTo
objMsg.Subject = strSubject
'Use the actual Request Object so that you do not over load the string Data type.
objMsg.Body = Request.Form("MessageArea")
objMsg.Importance = lngImportance

'Determine if we need to attach a file.
Dim bolAttachmentPosted
bolAttachmentPosted = CBool(Request.Form("bolAttach"))
If bolAttachmentPosted Then 
    'If do then where on the server can we get it
    FilePathOnServer= Server.MapPath("/myEmailWebApp/uploaded_files")
    FilePath_Name = FilePathOnServer & "\" & Request.Form("FileName") & Request.Form("FileExtention") 
    'Attach it
    objMsg.AttachFile FilePath_Name
End If

'Send Message
objMsg.Send 

'Destroy the object
Set objMsg = Nothing
'Determine if there is a file on the server to delete.
If bolAttachmentPosted Then 
    Dim FSO
    'Create a File System Object
    Set FSO = server.CreateObject ("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
    'Delete the file from the server
    FSO.DeleteFile FilePath_Name
    'Destroy the object
    Set FSO = Nothing
End If

'Write out results
Response.Write "The following message was sent via CDO for NTS:" & "<br>"
Response.Write "From: " & strFrom  & "<br>"
Response.Write "To: " & strTo  & "<br>"
Response.Write "Subject: " & strSubject  & "<br>"
Response.Write "Importance: " & lngImportance  & "<br>"
Response.Write "Body: " & Request.Form("MessageArea")  & "<br>"


%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Click Save All on the toolbar.
Right-click the Default.asp file, and then select View in Browser.

REFERENCES

For a reference on installing and using the Posting Acceptor, see "Uploading Files: The Posting Acceptor, Part 1" in the MSDN Online Web Workshop:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/server/asp/server052499.asp

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

217425 A Simple ASP Example Using Posting Acceptor

222618 Using ASP and User Names with Posting Acceptor

260317 Configuring the Posting Acceptor to Upload to Remote Servers

189651 Uploading a File to IIS Using a Browser

250384 Posting Acceptor AllowAnonymous Upload Repost Failure on Windows

186204 How To Use CDONTS to Collect and Mail Information from a User

177850 INFO: What is the Difference Between CDO 1.2 and CDONTS?

189945 How To Send HTML Formatted Mail Over SMTP Using CDONTS

Keywords: kbhowto kbscript kbsample KB266452

Microsoft KB Archive/266452

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