Create Email Messages with Customized Options in C#

Create New Email Message

To create a new email message you can use MailMessage class. The MailMessage class also initializes properties of the created email message such as the sender’s email address, the recipients' email addresses, the subject of the email, and the email body content in HTML format.

Consider the following code, with detailed steps, to create a new email message and set its properties.

  1. Create a new instance of the MailMessage class.
  2. Set the From property to the email address of the sender.
  3. Set the To property to a comma-separated list of email addresses of the recipients.
  4. Set the Subject property to the subject of the email.
  5. Set the HtmlBody property to the HTML content of the email body.
// Create a new instance of MailMessage class
var message = new MailMessage
{
    From = "from@domain.com",
    To = "to1@domain.com, to2@domain.com",
    Subject = "New message",
    HtmlBody = @"<!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
     <head>
      <style>
       h3{font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;}
       p {font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;
         font-weight:normal;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;}
      </style>
     </head>
     <body>
       <h3>New message</h3>
       <p>This is a new message created by Aspose.Email.</p>
     </body>
    </html>"
};

Set Mail Body

Set Plain Text Body

A mail body can be specified using the Body property of the MailMessage class.

// Declare message as MailMessage instance
var eml = new MailMessage
{
    // Specify HtmlBody
    Body = "This is a plain text body"
};

Set HTML Body

A mail body can also be specified using HtmlBody property of the MailMessage class.

// Declare message as MailMessage instance
var eml = new MailMessage
{
    // Specify HtmlBody
    HtmlBody = "<html><body>This is the HTML body</body></html>"
};

Set Alternate Text

An alternate view in an EML file is an additional representation of the email content that can be used to provide a different rendering of the email message. 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 that purpose use the AlternateView class. This class has two properties, LinkedResources and BaseUri, which are used to resolve URLs within the content of the email.

  • LinkedResources is a collection of LinkedResource objects. When rendered, URLs within the email content are first matched against the URLs in the Content Link of each LinkedResource object in the LinkedResources collection and resolved.
  • BaseUri is used by the mail reader to resolve relative URLs within the body, and also to resolve relative Content Link URLs, in the LinkedResources collection.

Consider the following code with detailed steps to set an alternate text.

  1. Create an instance of MailMessage class.
  2. Create AlternateView to view an email message using the content specified in the string.
  3. Add alternate text using Add method of MailMessage.AlternateViews collection.
// Declare message as MailMessage instance
var eml = new MailMessage();

// Creates AlternateView to view an email message using the content specified in the //string
var alternate = AlternateView.CreateAlternateViewFromString("Alternate Text");

// Adding alternate text
 eml.AlternateViews.Add(alternate);

Specify Mail Body Encoding

Aspose.Email uses the BodyEncoding property of the MailMessage class to specify the email body encoding. For example:

eml.BodyEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;

Specify Multiple Recipients

There are three ways to specify recepients of an email message: using To, CC, or BCC fields.

  • To field is the main recipient of your message. You can enter one or more email addresses in this field, separated by commas. The To field is mandatory for every email message.

  • CC field stands for carbon copy. It is used to send a copy of your message to other people who are interested or involved in the topic. The CC field is optional and can also contain multiple email addresses. The recipients in the CC field can see who else received the message.

  • BCC field stands for blind carbon copy. It is similar to the CC field, but the recipients in the BCC field are hidden from the other recipients. The BCC field is useful when you want to protect the privacy of some recipients or avoid cluttering their inbox with replies. The BCC field is also optional and can have multiple email addresses.

Consider the following code, with detailed steps, to specify multiple recipients for an email message.

Code steps:

  1. Create a new instance of the MailMessage class.
  2. Set the From property to the email address of the sender.
  3. Set the To property to an array of email addresses of the primary recipients.
  4. Set the CC property to an array of email addresses of the recipients who will receive a copy of the email.
  5. Set the Bcc property to an array of email addresses of the recipients who will receive a blind carbon copy of the email.

Code sample:

var eml = new MailMessage
{
    // Specify From address
    From = "sender@sender.com",
    //  Specify recipients’ mail addresses
    To = {"receiver1@receiver.com", "receiver2@receiver.com", "receiver3@receiver.com"},
    // Specify CC addresses
    CC = {"CC1@receiver.com", "CC2@receiver.com"},
    // Specify BCC addresses
    Bcc = {"Bcc1@receiver.com", "Bcc2@receiver.com"}
};

Add Display Names to Email Addresses

Along with an email address, a display name can be included to identify the sender or recipient of the email. It may include a person’s full name, nickname, or other identifier.

When an email message is displayed in an email client or webmail interface, the display name is usually shown alongside the email address, making it easier for the user to identify who the message is from or who it is addressed to. To add display names to email addresses in an email message, consider the following code with detailed steps:

  1. Load the email message from a file using MailMessage.Load method.
  2. Set the sender of the email using the From property of the eml object by creating a new MailAddress object with the email address and a display name of the sender.
  3. Add a recipient to the email by using the To property of the eml object, if necessary add CC (Carbon Copy) list using the CC property, BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) list using the Bcc property and call the Add method with a new MailAddress object that contains the email address and a display name of the recipient.

Code sample:

// Load eml from file
var eml = MailMessage.Load(Data.Email/"test.eml");

eml.From = new MailAddress("TimothyFairfield@from.com", "Timothy Fairfield");

// A To address with a friendly name can also be specified like this
eml.To.Add(new MailAddress("kyle@to.com", "Kyle Huang"));

// Specify Cc and Bcc email address along with a friendly name
eml.CC.Add(new MailAddress("guangzhou@cc.com", "Guangzhou Team"));
eml.Bcc.Add(new MailAddress("ahaq@bcc.com", "Ammad ulHaq "));

Set Additional Properties

With Aspose.Email you can use additional properties of the MailMessage class such as:

  • Date property - sets date and time of an email. By default, the date is the actual date when the message was sent, and time is the time it was sent, as displayed by Microsoft Outlook. However, the real email delivery time is added by the SMTP server itself in the mail header. For example, below is a common mail header, where Date sets the field Date.

    // For complete examples and data files, please go to https://github.com/aspose-email/Aspose.Email-for-.NET
  
// Add by SMTP server in delivery emails
Received: from ip-123.56.99.216.dsl-cust.ca.inter.net ([216.99.56.123]) by Aspose.secureserver.net with MailEnable ESMTP; Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:58:57 -0700
  
// Add by SMTP server in delivery emails
Return-Path: <xyz@oikoscucine.it>
  
// Add by SMTP server in delivery emails
Received: from 195.120.225.20 (HELO mail.oikoscucine.it)
by aspose.com with esmtp (:1CYY+<LA*- *1WK@)
id Q8,/O/-.N83@7-9M
for abc@aspose.com; Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:58:51 +0300
From: "XYZ" <xyz@oikoscucine.it>
To: <abc@aspose.com>
Subject: For ABC
  
// Date will set the Date field, outlook will show this as
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:58:51 +0300
Message-ID: <01c756c4$41b554d0$6c822ecf@dishonestyinsufferably>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0006_01C7569A.58DF4CD0"
X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook, Build 11.0.5510
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
Thread-Index: Aca6Q:=ES0M(9-=(<.<1.<Q9@QE6CD==
X-Read: 1

  • MailPriority enumeration- specifies priority levels for sending an email message. It can be low, normal or high. Priority influences transmission speed and delivery.

  • MailSensitivity enumeration - specifies five levels of sensitivity.

  • XMailer- specifies the software that created the e-mail message.

The code snippet below illustrates how each of the properties discussed above can be used.

var eml = new MailMessage("sender@gmail.com", "receiver@gmail.com", "Some subject", "Some body text")
{
    Date = DateTime.Now,
    Priority = MailPriority.High,
    Sensitivity = MailSensitivity.Normal,
    Xmailer = "Aspose.Email"
};

Request Read Receipt

To request a read receipt, use Aspose.Email DeliveryNotificationOptions property of the MailMessage class. This property contains the values of the DeliveryNotificationOptions enumeration.

Consider the following code sample:

// Create an Instance of MailMessage class
var eml = new MailMessage
{
    // Specify From, To, HtmlBody, DeliveryNotificationOptions field
    From = "sender@sender.com",
    To = "receiver@receiver.com",
    HtmlBody = "<html><body>This is the Html body</body></html>",
    DeliveryNotificationOptions = DeliveryNotificationOptions.OnSuccess
};

eml.Headers.Add("Return-Receipt-To", "sender@sender.com");
eml.Headers.Add("Disposition-Notification-To", "sender@sender.com");

// Create an instance of SmtpClient Class
var client = new SmtpClient
{
    // Specify your mailing host server, Username, Password and Port No
    Host = "smtp.server.com",
    Username = "Username",
    Password = "Password",
    Port = 25
};

try
{
    // Client.Send will send this message
    client.Send(eml);
    // Display ‘Message Sent’, only if message sent successfully
    Console.WriteLine(@"Message sent");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
}

Note: Read receipt requests may not be always honored because:

  • A mail client may not implement that functionality.
  • The end-user may have that functionality turned off.
  • The end-user may choose not to send one.

Customize Email Headers

Email headers represent an Internet standard and RFC define header fields which are included in Internet email messages. An email header can be specified using the MailMessage class. Common header types are defined in the HeaderType class. It is a sealed class working as a normal enumeration.

Normally, an email header contains these fields:

  • To: Recipient addresses can be specified in the To field. The To field recipients are the message’s primary audience. There can be more than one recipient addresses.
  • From: This field presents the email address of the message sender.
  • Cc: Allows users to send a message as a “Carbon Copy” or “Courtesy Copy”. That is, the receiver is not expected to reply or act. Typically, supervisory personnel are notified with CC.
  • Bcc: It stands for Blind Carbon Copy, which lets you send an email to a recipient that is hidden from other recipients.
  • ReplyTo: This header field is meant to indicate where the sender wants replies to go.
  • Subject: Title, heading, subject. Often used as a thread indicator for messages replying to or commenting on other messages.
  • Date: This header specifies a date (and time). Normally this is the date at which the message was composed and sent.
  • XMailer: Information about the client software of the originator. Example: X-Mailer: Aspose.Email XMailer is used by mail clients. Different mail clients will have different XMailer values. MS Outlook’s XMailer value is Microsoft Office Outlook, Build 11.0.5510. It is ignored by the email receiver or email reader.

Normally, an email header looks something like this:

Reply-To: reply@reply.com
From: sender@sender.com
To: guangzhou@guangzhoo.com
Subject: test mail
Date: 6 Mar 2006 8:2:2 +0800
X-Mailer: Aspose.Email

To customize an email header, follow these code steps:

  • Create an instance of the MailMessage class.
  • Specify To, From, Cc, Bcc, ReplyTo, Subject, Date & XMailer using an instance of the MailMessage.
  • Create an instance of the MimeHeader class and specify the custom header.
  • Add the custom header to the MailMessage instance.

The following code snippet shows you how to set email headers.

var eml = new MailMessage
{
    ReplyToList = "reply@reply.com",
    From = "sender@sender.com",
    To = "receiver1@receiver.com",
    CC = "receiver2@receiver.com",
    Bcc = "receiver3@receiver.com",
    Subject = "test mail",
    Date = new System.DateTime(2006, 3, 6),
    XMailer = "Aspose.Email"
};

The above code snippet produces an email header in the following format:

Reply-To: reply@reply.com
From: sender@sender.com
To: receiver1@receiver.com
CC: receiver2@receiver.com
BCC: receiver3@receiver.com
Subject: test mail
Date: 6 Mar 2006 8:2:2 +0800
X-Mailer: Aspose.Email

Insert a Header at a Specific Location

The Add method of the HeaderCollection class inserts a header at the end of the collection. However, it may sometimes be necessary to insert a header at a specific location. In such a case, the Add method won’t be of help. To achieve this, use the Insert method of the HeaderCollection. If the collection contains headers with the same name, this header will be inserted before other headers with the same name. The following code snippet shows you how to insert a header at a specific location.

eml.Headers.Insert("Received", "Value");

Add Custom Headers

An email header can be specified using the MailMessage class. To specify a custom header in an email message, consider the following code sample:

eml.Headers.Add("secret-header", "mystery");

The above code snippet produces an email header in the following format:

secret-header: mystery

Create Signed Messages

Aspose.Email API provides the capability to create signed messages using certificates. The AttachSignature method of the MailMessage class can be used to sign a message for saving or even sending it using the SmtpClient.

Sign a Message

The following code snippet shows you how to Sign a Message.

// For complete examples and data files, please go to https://github.com/aspose-email/Aspose.Email-for-.NET
// The path to the File directory.
string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_SMTP();
string publicCertFile = dataDir + "MartinCertificate.cer";
string privateCertFile = dataDir + "MartinCertificate.pfx";
X509Certificate2 publicCert = new X509Certificate2(publicCertFile);
X509Certificate2 privateCert = new X509Certificate2(privateCertFile, "password");
MailMessage msg = new MailMessage("userfrom@gmail.com", "userto@gmail.com", "Signed message only", "Test Body of signed message");
MailMessage signed = msg.AttachSignature(privateCert);
MailMessage encrypted = signed.Encrypt(publicCert);
MailMessage decrypted = encrypted.Decrypt(privateCert);
MailMessage unsigned = decrypted.RemoveSignature();//The original message with proper body
MapiMessage mapi = MapiMessage.FromMailMessage(unsigned);
view raw Examples-CSharp-SMTP-SignAMessage-SignAMessage.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Using Detached Certificate Option

Web-based email clients may not be able to display body contents of a Signed message. This can be taken care of by detaching the certificate before sending it to web-based email clients. The detached flag in the overloaded method of AttachSignature can be used to achieve this. If set to true, the certificate is detached from the email and vice versa. To see Signed Message body in Web-based clients, you need to create MailMessage with detached signature. The following code snippet shows you how to use detached certificate option.

// For complete examples and data files, please go to https://github.com/aspose-email/Aspose.Email-for-.NET
string privateCertFile = dataDir + "MartinCertificate.pfx";
X509Certificate2 privateCert = new X509Certificate2(privateCertFile, "anothertestaccount");
MailMessage msg = new MailMessage("user@domain.com", "receiver@domain.com", "subject:Signed message only by AE", "body:Test Body of signed message by AE");
MailMessage signed = msg.AttachSignature(privateCert, true);
SmtpClient smtp = GetSmtpClient();
try
{
smtp.Send(signed);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
view raw Examples-CSharp-SMTP-UsingDetachedCertificate-UsingDetachedCertificate.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub
Manage Email Attachments and Embedded Objects in C#