1 Introduction

1.1 Features
1.2 Documentation Set
1.3 Example Program
1.4 Installation
1.5 Uninstalling
1.6 Pricing
1.7 Updates

2 Library Overview

2.1 Dynamic Link Libraries
2.2 Keycode
2.3 Win32 STDCALL and DECLSPEC
2.4 Using Threads
2.5 Dynamic Strings
2.6 Using VB.Net
2.7 Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
2.8 SEE Class
2.9 PowerBuilder
2.10 Adding SEE4VB To Your Project
2.11 Error Display

3 Compiler Issues

3.1 Visual Basic Makefiles
3.2 Compiling Programs

4 Example Programs

4.1 Connectionless Example Programs
4.2 SMTP Example Programs
4.3 POP3/IMAP Example Programs
4.4 IMAP-Only Example Programs

5 Revision History

1 Introduction

The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine for Visual Basic (SEE4VB) library is a powerful toolkit that allows software developers to quickly develop SMTP and POP3/IMAP email applications in VB or VB .NET.

The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine (SEE) is a component library of functions that uses the Windows API to provide direct and simple control of the SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol), POP3 (Post Office 3), and IMAP 4 (Internet Message Access Protocol) protocols.

A straightforward interface allows sending and receiving email, including multiple MIME base64 and quoted-printable encoded attachments. Knowledge of Winsock and TCP/IP is not needed.

The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Programmer's Manual provides information need to compile and run programs in a Visual Basic programming environment. The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine for Visual Basic component library supports and has been tested with all versions of Microsoft Visual Studio Visual Basic including VB.NET. SEE4VB can also be used with any VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) language such as Excel, Access, MS Office, etc. as well as with PowerBuilder.

SEE4VB includes numerous example programs that demonstrate SMTP and POP3/IMAP functions to help software developers easily build software applications using the SEE4VB library. All programs will compile using VB-3.0 through VB-6.0. There are also Microsoft VB.NET example programs.

SEE4VB runs under all versions of Windows (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows NT, Windows XP and Windows Vista). The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine SDK DLL (SEE32.DLL) can also be used from any language (C/C++, .NET, Delphi, Visual FoxPro, COBOL, Xbase++, dBase, PowerBASIC, etc.) capable of calling the Windows API.

When comparing the SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email component library against our competition, note that:

• SEE4VB is a standard Windows DLL (NOT an OCX or ActiveX control) and is much smaller than a comparable OCX or ActiveX control.
• SEE4VB does NOT depend on ActiveX or similar "support" libraries.
• The WIN32 version of SEE is fully thread-safe.
• The SEE4VB functions can be called from applications not capable of using controls.

MarshallSoft also has versions of the SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine library for C/C++ (SEE4C), Delphi (SEE4D), PowerBASIC (SEE4PB), Visual FoxPro (SEE4FP), Visual dBASE (SEE4DB), Xbase++ (SEE4XB) and Cobol (SEE4CB). All versions of the SEE library use the same DLL (SEE32.DLL). However, the examples provided for each version are written for the specified computer language.

The latest versions of SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine (SEE) can be downloaded from our web site at

    http://www.marshallsoft.com/email-component-library.htm

Our goal is to provide a robust SMTP/POP3/IMAP email component library that you and your customers can depend upon. A fully functional evaluation version is available. Contact us if you have any questions.

1.1 Features

Some of the many features of the SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine component library are as follows:

• SMTP client for sending email.
• POP3/IMAP client for receiving email.
• Send email with optional MIME or Quoted Printable attachments.
• Send email with inline embedded HTML, GIF, TIF, JPG, BMP and Rich Text attachments.
• Get the number of messages on the POP3 email server.
• Get the header lines from any email on the POP3 email server, without reading the entire email.
• Delete any email on the POP3 server without reading it first.
• Copy any email on the POP3 server without deleting it.
• Check for the number of emails on the POP3 server.
• Receive any email on the POP3 server including MIME attachments.
• Forward Email.
• Decoding email from a File
• Run up to 128 independent WIN32 threads concurrently.
• Can send email to mail addresses on a distribution list.
• Supports SMTP (ESMTP) and POP3 authentication.
• Set return receipt; add TO, CC, BCC recipients
• Set minimum and maximum wait times for server response.
• Supports ISO-8859 (European character sets) and UTF-8 (16 bit character sets) messages.
• Can specify custom Content-Types; add custom header fields
• Includes over 34 functions for SMTP and POP3 control.
• Dozens of switches provided to control how email is sent or received.
• Supports setting priority via X-Priority header field.
• Use with GMAIL servers with (free) STUNNEL proxy server.
• Can be used from GUI mode or console mode programs.
• Is fully thread-safe.
• Implemented as a standard Windows DLL, which will work with all versions of Windows.
• Supports all versions of Visual Basic, from V3.0 through VB.NET & Visual Studio.
• Works with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) such as Excel, Access, and Microsoft Office
• Can be used with Microsoft VB.NET and Visual C# (Managed Code)
• Can be used with PowerBuilder
• Does not depend on support libraries. Makes calls to core Windows API functions only.
• Can be used with any program (in any language) capable of calling Windows API functions such as Visual C++, Visual C++ NET, Visual FoxPro, Delphi, Xbase++, dBASE, COBOL, Microsoft Office, PowerBuilder, Access and Excel.
• Is compatible with "Managed Code".
• Supports Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista.
• Free updates and technical support for one year.
• The evaluation version is fully functional (60 day evaluation period).
• Royalty free distribution (no run-time fees) with your compiled application
• Online documentation as well as in printable format
  
  
  

1.2 Documentation Set

The complete set of documentation consists of three manuals in two formats. This is the first manual (SEE_4VB) in the set.

• SEE4VB Programmer's Manual (SEE_4VB.PDF and SEE_4VB.HTM)
• SEE User's Manual (SEE_USR.PDF and SEE_USR.HTM)
• SEE Reference Manual (SEE_REF.PDF and SEE_REF.HTM)

Each manual comes in two formats:

• Adobe PDF (files ending in .PDF). The best format for printing manuals.
• Hyper Text (files ending in .HTM). Use any web browser to read.

The SEE_4VB Programmer's Manual is the language specific (Visual Basic) manual. All language dependent programming issues such as compiling, compilers and example programs are discussed in this manual.

The SEE User's Manual (SEE_USR) discusses email processing as well as language independent programming issues. Purchasing and licensing details are also provided.

The SEE Reference Manual (SEE_REF) contains details on each individual SEE function as well as error codes.

Use Microsoft Word or Microsoft WordPad to print the document files. The online documentation can be accessed on the SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine for Visual Basic product page at:

    http://www.marshallsoft.com/vb-email-component.htm

1.3 Example Program

The following example demonstrates the use of some of the SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email for Visual Basic component library functions:

     Dim Code As Integer
     Dim Server, From As String
     Dim ToList, CClist, BCClist As String
     Dim Subject, Message, Attachments As String
     IsNull  = Chr$(0)
     Server  = "mail.yourisp.com
     From = "my name<me@myisp.com>"
     ToList   = "<support@marshallsoft.com>"
     CClist = Chr$(0)
     BCClist = Chr$(0)
     Subject = "Visual Basic Test"
     Message = "Emailed from SEE4VB!"
     Code = seeAttach(1, SEE_KEY_CODE)              ' keycode is 0 '
     If Code < 0 Then
       ' error calling seeAttach !
       '. . .
     End If
       ' connect to SMTP mail server
     Code = seeSmtpConnect(0, Server, From, From)   ' chan, server, From & Reply-To addr
     If Code < 0 Then
       ' error calling seeSmtpConnect !
       '. . .
     End If
     Code = seeSendEmail(0, ToList, CClist, BCClist, Subject, Message, Attachments)
     If Code < 0 Then
       ' error calling seeSendEmail !
       '. . .
     End If
     Code = seeClose(0)
     Code = seeRelease()

In the example program above, seeAttach is called to initialize SEE and then seeSmtpConnect is called to connect to the SMTP mail host. The SMTP server host name and your email address are required, while the "Reply-To" entry is optional.

seeSendEmail is then called, passing the addressee lists. The primary addressee is provided in the "To List". The CC ("Carbon Copy") lists additional recipients, as does the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) list. The subject contains the email subject line. The message text is next. If it starts with the '@' symbol, it is considered the name of the file containing the email message. Lastly, the filename of any ASCII or binary attachment is specified. All fields, except the first, in seeSendEmail are optional.

After returning from seeSendEmail, the seeClose function is called to close the connection to the SMTP server. Lastly, seeRelease is called to perform SEE termination processing and release the Winsock.

1.4 Installation

1. Before installation of SEE4VB, your Visual Basic compiler (any version) should already be installed on your system and tested.
   
   
2. Unzip SEE4VB50.ZIP (or SEExxxxx.ZIP where xxxxx is your Customer ID) using any Windows unzip program.
   
   
3. Run the installation program, SETUP.EXE, which will install all SEE4VB files, including copying SEE32.DLL to the Windows directory. No Windows system files are modified.

VB 4.0, VB5.0, and VB 6.0 project filenames end with "32.vbp", and VB.NET and Visual Studio project filenames end with "vbproj". For example,

   
     SEEVER32.VBP  --- Project file for 32-bit Visual Basic (VB_4.0,5.0,6.0)
     SEEVER.VBPROJ --- Project file for VB.NET / Visual Studio

Note that the Windows registry is not modified.

1.5 Uninstalling

Uninstalling SEE4VB is very easy. SEE does not modify the registry or any Windows system files.

First, run UINSTALL.BAT, which will delete SEE32.DLL from your Windows directory, typically C:\WINDOWS for Windows 95/98/Me/XP/Vista or C:\WINNT for Windows NT/2000.

Second, delete the SEE project directory created when installing SEE4VB.

1.6 Pricing

A developer license for SEE4VB can be purchased for $115. Purchasing details can be found in Section_1.4 "How to Purchase" in the SMTP/POP3/IMAP User's Manual (SEE_USR.HTM). Also see INVOICE.TXT provided with the evaluation version or order directly on our web site at

   
     http://www.marshallsoft.com/order.htm
   
Registration includes one year of free updates.

1.7 Updates

When a developer license is purchased, the developer will be sent a set of registered DLLs plus a license file (SEExxxx.LIC). The license file can be used to update the registered DLL's for a period of one year from purchase. Updates can be downloaded from

   
     http://www.marshallsoft.com/oem.htm
   

After one year, your license must be updated if you want to be able to download updates. Your license can be updated for $30 if ordered within one year of the original purchase (or previous update). Between one year and three years, licenses can be updated for $55. After three years, updates are $75.

Note that the registered DLL's do not expire

Also see file UPDATES.TXT.

2 Library Overview

2.1 Dynamic Link Libraries

The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email library SKK a Win32 [SEE32.DLL] dynamic link library (DLL). A DLL is characterized by the fact that it need not be loaded until required by an application program and that only one copy of the DLL is necessary regardless of the number of application programs that use it. Contrast this to the traditional static library that is bound to each and every application that uses it at link time.

An important advantage that DLL's have over other "popular" library formats such as VBX or OCX is that DLL's are callable by all Windows applications. Since DLL's are the building blocks of the Windows Operating System, they will not be replaced by a "newer technology".

2.2 Keycode

SEE32.DLL has a keycode encoded within it. The keycode is a 9 or 10 digit decimal number (unless it is 0), and will be found in the file KEYCODE.BAS (and KEYCODE.VB). The keycode for the evaluation (shareware) version is 0. The developer will receive a new keycode and SEE32.DLL after registering. The KEYCODE is passed to seeAttach.

If you get an error message (value -74) when calling seeAttach, it means that the keycode in your application does not match the keycode in the DLL. After registering, it is best to remove the evaluation version of the SEE32.DLL from the Windows search path or delete them.

2.3 Win32 STDCALL and DECLSPEC

SEE32 is written in ANSI C and is compiled using the _stdcall and _declspec keywords. This means that SEE4VB uses the same calling conventions and file naming conventions as the Win32 API. In particular, function names are NOT decorated. There are neither leading underscores nor trailing "@size" strings added to function names.

The SEE32.DLL functions may be called by any Windows application program capable of calling the Windows API provided the proper declaration file is used.

2.4 Using Threads

SEE4VB is thread safe (although VB itself is not always thread safe), and can be used from any Windows application capable of using threads.

The "AddressOf" operator, which was added to Visual Basic beginning in Version 5.0, is required in order to create and run Win32 threads in Visual Basic.

The necessary Win32 thread functions are declared in the file SYSTEM32.BAS.

2.5 Dynamic Strings

2.5.1 Passing VB Strings to DLL Functions

When passing a string to a DLL function, the DLL looks for a null character to terminate the string. This null character CHR$(0) is normally present in Visual Basic strings, but can be lost if the string is modified by Visual Basic at runtime. This problem can be overcome by appending CHR$(0) to the end of strings passed to SEE functions.

2.5.2 Passing VB String Buffers to DLL Functions.

The Visual Basic language uses a technique known as "garbage collection" to manage string space at runtime, and may be called internally at any time by the Visual Basic runtime, asynchronous to what you may be doing in your code.

When passing a string buffer to a DLL function into which text will be copied, it is strongly recommended that the local string be allocated immediately before use. For example, a string buffer is passed to the dllGetMessage function, which copies a text message into it. Note that SPACE$(80) is called immediately before dllGetMessage.

     Dim Code As Integer
     Dim Buffer As String * 80
     ' allocate buffer just before call to dllGetMessage
     Buffer = SPACE$(80)
     ' copy message into 'Buffer'
     Code = dllGetMessage(Buffer, 80)
     ' message text is now in 'Buffer'

This technique is not necessary for passing a string to a DLL function, only when passing a buffer to a DLL into which data is to be placed by the DLL function.

2.6 VB.NET

There are a few differences between VB 4/5/6 and VB.NET (and VS2005-VS2008) that affect writing programs that the SEE library.

1. Variables that are declared "As Long" in VB 4/5/6 are declared "As Integer" in VB.NET.
   
   
2. Fixed length strings are not supported in VB.NET. When calling any SEE function that can return a string, memory for the string variable must be allocated first. For example:

   
     Buffer = Space(128)
     Length = seeErrorText(0, ErrCode, Buffer, 128)
   

3. Some Visual Basic functions must be fully qualified. For example, instead of LEFT, use Microsoft.VisualBasic.Left
   
   
4. The module SEE32.VB (not SEE32.BAS) must be included in all VB.NET programs.

Example VB.NET programs include:

     SEEVER.VB     (SEE Version Program)
     STATUS.VB     (Gets # emails waiting on POP3 server)
     HTML.VB       (Sends HTML encoded email)

2.7 Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email component library can be used with Microsoft VBA applications such as EXCEL, ACCESS, and Microsoft Office.

Start EXCEL (or other 32-bit Office VBA program such as WORD or ACCESS), then enter design mode. Enable the "Controls Toolbox": choose "Tools" on the menu bar, then "Customize", and then check "Control Toolbox". From the control toolbox, choose and position a "Command Button". This will create code that looks like

     Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
   
     End Sub

Replace the generated code with MODULE32.BAS. The easiest way to do this is to paste from the clipboard. Edit the 'HostName' in this code, using the name of the computer (or IP address in dotted decimal notation) where the server application (see SERVER.VBP) is running.

Exit design mode and then press the command button to start this example program.

2.8 SEE4VB Class

The SEE class "seeClass" (seeClass.cls) is a Visual Basic class wrapper for making calls to SEE32.DLL. The class name for each function is the same as the DLL function, except the leading "see" is replaced by "f".

Those functions that return strings do so by use of the "String Result" property. Instantiate seeClass as any other class in Visual Basic:

     Dim X As New seeClass

Also refer to the SEE4VB Reference Manual (SEE_REF), the example project "StatProj" and the file seeClass.txt.

The use of seeClass is limited to Visual Basic 5.0 and above since previous versions of Visual Basic do not support classes.

2.9 Power Builder

SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine can also be used with Power Builder applications. Refer to PBUILDER.TXT for more information.

     SEE.PBI : Power Builder declaration file.

2.10 Adding SEE4VB To Your Project

Copy SEE32.BAS (if running VB_4.0 /5/6) or SEE32.VB (if running VB.NET) to the same directory (folder) as the application program to which you want to add SEE code. You will find these files in the APPS sub-directory (folder) created when you ran SETUP, usually C:\SEE4VB\APPS.

After the project settings are modified (see Sections 2.10.1 and 2.10.2 below), the first SEE function that must be called is seeAttach. Often, this is best done when the Visual Basic form is first loaded. For example,

     Private Sub Form_Load()
     Dim Code As Integer
     Code = seeAttach(1, SEE_KEY_CODE)
     If Code < 0 Then
       MsgBox "ERROR: Cannot attach. Check SEE_KEY_CODE."
       End
     End If
     End Sub

The last SEE function that must be called is seeRelease. This is often best done just before the application terminates. If there is an EXIT button on the form, "Code = seeRelease()" can be added. For example,

     Private Sub Exit_Click()
     Dim Code As Integer
     Code = seeRelease()
     End
     End Sub

2.10.1 Adding SEE4VB to your VB_4.0 , 5.0, or 6.0 Project

Open the existing project with "File", "Open Project". Then choose "Insert", "Module", then add SEE32.BAS (SEE16.BAS for VB_3.0) and KEYCODE.BAS to your project. If prompted to add "DAO 2.50 Object Library", choose "no".

SEE functions can now be called from your Visual Basic program.

2.10.2 Adding SEE4VB to your VB.NET Project

Open the existing project with "File", "Open Project". Then choose "Project", "Add Module", then add SEE32.VB and KEYCODE.VB to your project.

SEE functions can now be called from your VB.NET program.

2.10.3 Adding SEE4VB to your VS2005 or VS 2008 Project

Open the existing project with "File", "Open Project". Then choose "Project", "Add Module", then add modules SEE32.VB and KEYCODE.VB to your project. If empty modules are created, replace the contents of these modules with the contents of the modules of the same name provided by us.

SEE functions can now be called from your Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008 VB program.

2.11 Error Display

The error message text associated with SEE error codes can be displayed by calling SeeErrorText. Each sample program contains examples of error processing.

Also refer to the file seeErrors.txt for a list of all Winsock and SEE error codes.

3 Compiler Issues

The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine for Visual Basic component library supports and has been tested with all versions of Microsoft Visual Basic (VB 4, VB 5, VB 6, VB.NET, and Visual Studio). The SETUP installation program will copy the Lib's and DLL to the Windows directory. Refer to Section 1.4 "Installation".

3.1 Visual Basic Makefiles

The first Visual Basic for Windows (VB Version 3.0) uses a text file known as a "Visual Basic makefile" (.MAK) to list all the file components necessary to compile a program. Beginning with Visual Basic Version 4.0, the "Visual Basic Project file" (.VBP) was added. Both formats are "project files".

3.2 Compiling Programs

Project files are provided for all examples. Project files for VB 4/5/6 end with the extension ".vbp" and end with ".vbproj" for Visual Studio (and VB.NET).

The example programs can be compiled from the Visual Basic development environment using the provided Visual Basic project files. Choose "File", then "Open Project" from the main VB menu.

After opening a project, VB 5.0 (and VB 6.0) users can save the project files in the VB 5.0 (or VB 6.0) format. When saving the example programs in VB version 5.0 or VB 6.0 format, answer "no" if asked to add the "Microsoft DAO v2.5 library".

Compile and run SEEVER32 as the first example to check your installation. SEEVER does not require a TCP/IP connection.

4 Example Programs

Multiple Visual Basic example programs are included in SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine for Visual Basic (SEE4VB). Examples for both Visual Basic 4/5/6 as and Visual Studio (and VB.NET) are included. There is also an example program (StatProj) that uses the VB class "seeClass".

Each example program comes with a VB project file.

• WIN32 project files end with "32. VBP " (e.g.: SEEVER32. VBP)
• Visual Studio / VB.Net project files end with ".VBPROJ".

Before writing your own programs, compile and run several of the example programs.

4.1 Connectionless Example Programs

Several example programs do not require a connection to a server.

4.1.1 SEEVER

The SEEVER example program displays the SEE library version number and registration string. . Its purpose is to display the SEE version, build, and registration string as well as to verify that SEE32.DLL is being found and loaded by Windows.

Open project SEEVER32.VBP or SEEVER.VBPROJ (Visual Studio or VB.NET).

4.1.2 CODETEST

The CODETEST example program demonstrates how to use seeEncodeBuffer and seeDecodeBuffer, which encodes and decodes several test strings using BASE64. The CODETEST example program also demonstrates the use of seeEncodeUTF8 and seeDecodeUTF8.

Open project CODETEST.VBP.

4.2 SMTP Email Example Programs

There are eleven SMTP email example programs. SMTP programs send email using an SMTP server.

4.2.1 AUTHEN

AUTHEN is an example program that connects to an SMTP (ESMTP) server using SMTP Authentication. You must connect to an SMTP server that allows authentication.

Open project AUTHEN32.VBP.

4.2.2 AUTO

AUTO ("auto-responder") uses two channels to read email on the POP3 server and at the same time automatically responds to all new email using the SMTP server. Edit your TCP/IP parameters in AUTO32.FRM (line 73) before compiling.

Open project AUTO32.VBP.

4.2.3 BCAST

BCAST (Broadcast) emails the same message to each recipient from a file of email addresses. Along with your SMTP server and your email address, you must create the file containing the email message to send, and create another file containing the list of recipients. See BCAST.EML for an example.

Open project BCAST32.VBP.

4.2.4 HELLO

HELLO emails a short message. You must edit HELLO32.FRM with your server and email address before compiling.

Open project HELLO32.VBP.

4.2.5 HTML

The HTML example program connects to an SMTP server and emails an HTML file containing inline embedded graphics. The graphics files are attached to the HTML email message.

Open project HTML32.VBP or HTML.VBPROJ (VB.NET).

4.2.6 MAILER

MAILER emails a message, including optional MIME attachments. All required parameters are input using a dialog box at runtime. Open project MAILER32.VBP.

Note that <> brackets are required around the email address.

4.2.7 VERUSR

VERUSR (Verify User) connects to a specified SMTP server and requests verification of the user.

Due to security concerns, some SMTP servers will not honor a "verify user" request. A user that does not verify does NOT necessarily mean that the email address is not good.

Open VERUSR32.VBP.

4.2.8 ISO8859

The ISO8859 example program sends a text message and subject line that is ISO-8859 encoded. The recipient's email client will be able to display the email message using the specified ISO character set provided that it is capable of identifying ISO-8859 MIME parts (such as Microsoft OutLook).

Open project ISO8859.VBP.

4.2.9 Mparts

The MParts example program sends a multipart MIME email in which the Content-Type headers for each attachment are specified by the programmer.

The two attachment types specified in this example are a sound file (.wav) and a PDF file (.pdf).

Open project MPARTS.VBP.

4.2.10 GB2312

The GB2312 example program sends a text message that is GB2312 (simplified Chinese) encoded. The recipient's email client will be able to display the email message using the specified GB2312 character set provided that it is capable of identifying GB2312 MIME parts (such as Microsoft OutLook).

Open project GB2312.VBP.

4.2.11 Forward

The FORWARD example program forwards an email message to a new recipient. Only undecoded email messages can be forwarded.

Open project FORWARD.VBP.

4.3 POP3/IMAP Email Example Programs

There are six POP3/IMAP email example programs. These examples read email using the POP3 (or IMAP) server.

4.3.1 AUTO

AUTO ("auto-responder") uses two channels concurrently to read email on the POP3 server and at the same time automatically respond to all new email using the SMTP server. Edit your TCP/IP parameters in AUTO32.FRM (line 73) before compiling.

Open project AUTO32.VBP.

4.3.2 GETRAW

GETRAW is a Win32 program that downloads a specified email message without decoding it. This is used to see what the email looks like on the server. Also see the READER example program, which can also download email without decoding it.

All required parameters are coded inside GETRAW32.FRM (line 67) and must be edited before compiling.

Open GETRAW32.VBP.

4.3.3 READER

READER can read email, including multiple MIME attachments, from your POP3 server, optionally deleting each email after being read. READER can also download email without decoding. All required parameters are input at runtime.

Open READER32.VBP.

4.3.4 StatProj

STATPROJ gets the number of email messages waiting on your POP3 server.

The "StatProj" example uses the Visual Basic class seeClass.cls. For more details on the seeClass, refer to Section 2.8 "SEE4VB Class".

All required parameters are input at runtime. Open STATPROJ.VBP from Visual Basic 5.0 (or above).

4.3.5 STATUS

STATUS reads the number of email messages waiting on your POP3 server, and displays the "DATE:", "FROM:", and "SUBJECT:" header fields from each email. All required parameters are input at runtime.

Open project STATUS32. VBP, or STATUS.VBPROJ.

4.3.6 Pop3Read

The Pop3Read example program uses the seePop3Source function to specify an (undecoded) email message file to be read and decoded.

Open project POP3READ.VBP.

4.4 POP3/IMAP Email Example Programs

There are three IMAP-only email example programs. These examples access the IMAP server.

4.4.1 ImapFlagsT

The ImapFlagsT example program tests the manipulation of flags on the IMAP server. It reads, sets, and deletes certain flags for the specified email message on the IMAP server.

IMAP flags are:

     \Seen      Message has been read
     \Answered  Message has been answered
     \Flagged   Message is "flagged" for urgent/special attention
     \Deleted   Message is "deleted" for removal by later EXPUNGE
     \Draft     Message has not completed composition (marked as a draft).
     \Recent    Message has arrived since the previous time this mailbox was                 selected. ["\Recent" may be fetched but not stored]

Open project ImapFlagsT.vbp (VB 4/5/6)
Open project ImapFlagsT.vbproc (Visual Studio or VB.NET)

4.4.2 ImapSearch

The ImapSearch example program tests IMAP search capability.

See ImapSearch.txt or http://www.marshallsoft.com/ImapSearch.htm for a complete list of all IMAP search strings.

Example search strings as passed to seeImapSearch():

     SEEN
     SEEN NOT ANSWERED
     FLAGGED SINCE 1-Feb-2008 NOT FROM "Smith"
     LARGER 10000 NOT SEEN

Open project ImapSearch.vbp (VB 4/5/6)
Open project ImapSearch.vbproc (Visual Studio or VB.NET)

4.4.3 ImapMBtest

The ImapMBtest example program tests IMAP functions seeImapConnect, seeImapListMB, seeImapDeleteMB, seeImapCreateMB, and seeImapSelectMB.

Open project ImapMBtest.vbp (VB 4/5/6)
Open project ImapMBtest.vbproc (Visual Studio or VB.NET)

5 Revision History

The SMTP/POP3/IMAP Email Engine DLLs (SEE16.DLL and SEE32.DLL) are written in ANSI C. All language versions of SEE (C/C++, Delphi, Visual Basic, PowerBASIC, FoxPro, Delphi, Xbase++, COBOL, and Fortran) use the same identical DLLs.

Version 1.0: June 22, 1998.

• Initial release.

Version 2.0: September 28, 1998.

• A major update adding POP3 capability.
• Another SMTP example program (BCAST).

Version 2.1: November 28, 1998.

• Time zone calculated automatically.
• Fixed bug in seeClose.
• Corrected POP3 problem when boundary definition on 2nd line.
• Added support for alternate MIME boundaries.
• Added seeVerifyUser function.
• Added SEE_GET_REGISTRATION, SEE_GET_CONNECT_STATUS,
• SEE_GET_ATTACH_COUNT, and SEE_GET_LAST_RESPONSE.
• Added GETDOC, SEEVER, and VERUSR example programs.
• SMTP performance improved.
• Added seeEncodeBuffer and seeDecodeBuffer functions.
• Added SEE_FILE_PREFIX and SEE_SET_REPLY parameters.

Version 3.0: April 12, 1999.

• Modified SEE to be fully threadable (adding seeAttach and seeRelease).
• Added seeGetEmailUID function.
• Handles "inline" email text properly.
• Optionally decodes unnamed attachments.
• Added ability to add header lines (SEE_SET_HEADER).
• Can use alternate ports for SMTP or POP3.
• Win16 version can get time zone from TZ environment variable.
• Quoted-printable messages can handle soft line breaks.
• Quoted-printable message can handle embedded HTML text.
• VB Class "seeClass" added.

Version 3.1: July 16, 1999.

• Support ISO-8859-1 (Q or B) encoded attachment filenames.
• Support ISO-8859-1 (Q only) on subject line
• SEE_SAVED_TO_MSG added.
• "+OK" line not written to email message file.
• Added seeExtractLine function.
• Added REGME example program.

Version 3.2: January 17, 2000.

• Added QUOTED_8859 processing (QUOTED_8859).
• Can decode printed quotable attachments!
• seeGetEmailLines can use internal memory.
• Added SEE_WRITE_TO_LOG to seeStringParam.
• Added SEE_GET_ATTACH_NAMES to seeDebug to get attachment filename list.
• Ability to reset the SEE_SET_HEADER header string to "nothing".
• Improvements in dynamic memory usage.
• Added GETRAW and CODETEST examples.
• Added support for Lcc-Win32.
• Added seeCommand function.

Version 3.3: October 3, 2000

• seeGetEmailLines can use internal memory.
• Added SEE_COPY_BUFFER [seeDebug] to copy internal buffer.
• Added SEE_WRITE_TO_LOG [seeStringParam] to allow user to write to LOG file.
• Added SEE_GET_ATTACH_NAMES [seeDebug] to get attachment filename list.
• Ability to reset the SEE_SET_HEADER [seeStringParam] to "nothing".
• Added seeCommand function.
• Allow TIC marks (0x27) in VerifyAddressChars().
• Added SEE_GET_LAST_RECIPIENT to seeDebug.
• Added seconds to date string on outgoing email.
• Attachment name is saved when attachment file is closed.
• Added SEE_PATH_DELIMITER to seeIntegerParam().
• Added seeAbort function.
• VerifyFormat rejects "@domain" and "name@" addresses.
• Added "SEE_SET_FROM" so can change "From:" header at runtime.
• Delimiters (CR/LF) sent with command in one network transmission [seeWriteLine].
• Added QUOTED_USER, SEE_SET_CONTENT_TYPE, and SEE_SET_TRANSFER_ENCODING.
• Added SEE_ATTACH_DELIMITER and ability to specify different attachment filename in email.
• Added SEE_ADD_HEADER to seeStringParam.
• Added SEE_WRITE_BUFFER to seeDebug (see seeGetEmailLines)
• Added SEE_ENABLE_IMAGE to send GIF/TIF/BMP/JPG images inside email.

Version 3.4: July 17, 2001

• Supports "AUTH LOGIN" and "AUTH CRAM-MD5" (SMTP) authentication.
• SmtpResponse accepts response line without message.
• Supports ISO-8859-1 (base-64) encoding on subject line.
• Supports "APOP" authentication (POP3 servers).

Version 3.5: March 12, 2002

• Added support for "AUTH PLAIN".
• Recognize multiple AUTH methods on one line, such as "AUTH PLAIN LOGIN CRAM-MD5".
• Added SEE_FORCE_INLINE -- attachments are inline text rather than base64 encoded.
• Added SEE_SET_ATTACH_CONTENT_TYPE -- user can specify content type for attachments.
• Added SEE_ATTACH_BASE_NUMBER -- attachments named "1.att", "2.att", etc.
• Don't close socket (seeClose) if socket is already closed.
• NBR_CHANS set to 128 for Win32.
• SEE_RAW_MODE reads complete lines rather than buffers.
• Added seeQuoteBuffer() -- used to prepare ISO-8859 headers.
• Will continue with sending DATA (rather than return error) if have at least one recipient.
• Call seeStatistics(Chan, SEE_GET_LAST_RECIPIENT) to get # recipients accepted by server.
• Added SEE_IGNORE_REJECTED to ignore error returned if recipient is rejected.

Version 3.6: April 1, 2003

• Added seeSendHTML() function.
• Looks for multipart/related as well as multipart/alternative message parts.
• Added SEE_HTML_CHARSET (CHARSET_US and CHARSET_8859)
• Generic multipart boundary definitions handled (not just alternate, related, ...)
• CR/LFs preserved in multiline "Subjects:" headers.
• Handle case where "MIME-Version: 1.0" statement does not proceed all other MIME statements
• MAX_BUF increased from 2048 to 8192 for WIN32
• Virtual socket # written to log file when created (vsGetSocket) & released (vsCloseSocket).
• Write to email file if "MIME-Version" was not seen.
• vSock released properly in seeClose.
• Terminating ALT boundary not written if HTML file is passed from memory (not a file)
• Alternate text in seeSendHTML can be file (if prefixed with '@')
• Added seeEncodeUTF8 and seeDecodeUTF8 functions.
• Delimiters separating email addresses and pathnames changed to a semicolon.
• Added ISO_8859, WIN_1252, and WIN_1255 character set types.
  
  
  

Version 3.7: January 21, 2005.

• Terminating ALT boundary not written if HTML file is passed from memory (not a file).
• Alternate text in seeSendHTML can be file (if prefixed with '@')
• Added seeEncodeUTF8 and seeDecodeUTF8 functions
• AddrDelimiter and PathDelimiter changed to ';' (semicolon)
• Added QUOTED_WIN_1252 and QUOTED_WIN_1255.
• User headers written even if no subject
• Corrected problem: User Content-Type wasn't being sent if no quoting
• Added SEE_HIDE_HEADERS -- overrides any conflicting flags
• Fixed problem with "Filename=" extraction.
• Replaced OF_READ|OF_SHARE_DENY_WRITE with OF_SHARE_DENY_WRITE in _lopen
• Filename added to SEE_CANNOT_CREATE & SEE_CANNOT_OPEN error messages.
• Multi-line subject headers supported in seeGetEmailFile.
• ReadMsgLine uses Allow8Bits to decide if it should quote or not
• Added SEE_SET_DEFAULT_ZONE
• Increased buffer size for challenge string in authenticated SMTP connections.
• Added WriteToLog(), WriteClientTempToLog(), and WriteToLastLog() to centralize log writing.
• Nulls are replaced by spaces in all incoming data.
• Added support for "=?US-ASCII?B?" encoded filenames
• Fixed problem quoting line starting with '.' and having non-ASCII characters.
• Fixed SMTP problem when attaching large number of files (seeWriteSocket,seeWriteLine, seeWriteString).
• Added IgnoreErrorStatus (default TRUE) that skips socket error check in STATE_CONNECT
• Fixed problem with Content-Type prefix (set by SEE_WRITE_CONTENT_TYPE).
• Scan subjects & filenames for "big5" encoding like iso-8859
• Only one of TO, CC, and BCC must contain a recipient.
• Maximum text line length default increased to 1000.
• Added SEE_REPLACE_WITH_COMMAS to override replacement of delimiters with commas.
• SEE_FILE_PREFIX parameters set base for attachment file prefixes.
• Added seeAttachmentParams function.
• Added ISO8859, GB2312, and MParts example programs.

Version 4.0: July 3, 2006.

• Always an error if "relay", "gateway", or "not local" is in the text of the server's response, regardless of SEE_IGNORE_REJECTED.
• Forwarded header lines written to message/rfc822 (attachment) file.
• Each POP3 message optionally saved to disk in raw (undecoded) format in seeGetEmailFile.
• Added function seeForwardEmail().
• Added function seePop3Source().
• Maximum internal buffer size increased from 8 KB to 16 KB.
• Alternate boundaries w/o enclosing quotes are supported.
• FORWARD and Pop3Read example programs added.
• Added function seeByteToShort
• Added function seeShortToByte

Version 5.0: May 1, 2008 (Win32 Version only)

• Added seeSetErrorText.c example program
• Added LoadLib.c example program.
• Added IMAP capability. IMAP-only functions are:

1. seeImapConnect : Connect to IMAP server.
2. seeImapFlags : Get, set, or delete message flags.
3. seeImapSearch : Search for messages with specified flags.
4. seeImapMsgNumber : Gets message numbers from buffer filled by seeImapSearch.
5. seeImapSelectMB : Selects IMAP mailbox.
6. seeImapDeleteMB : Delete a mailbox.
7. seeImapCreateMB : Create a new mailbox.
8. seeImapRenameMB : Rename mailboxes.
9. seeImapCopyMBmail : Copy messages from selected mailbox to specified mailbox.
10. seeImapListMB : List all available mailboxes.

• Added ImapFlagsT, ImapSearch, and ImapMBtest example programs.
• Pass NULL for filename to seePop3Source / seeImapSource to revert back to server processing.