HOWTO: Send Mail from Visual Basic Using OLE Messaging

• Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions of Microsoft Visual Basic, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SUMMARY

This article outlines the steps necessary to programmatically send an e-mail message from Visual Basic using the OLE Messaging Library. This example assumes that the OLE Messaging Library was properly installed on your computer (typically, by installing Exchange).

The sample code can also be used from VBA, allowing Access, Excel, or Project to send e-mail via the OLE Messaging Library.

MORE INFORMATION

With the OLE Messaging Library, you can quickly and easily add e-mail capabilities (that is, sending and receiving e-mail messages, and interacting with folders and address books) to your Visual Basic application. You can create programmable messaging objects, and then use their properties and methods to meet the needs of your application.

The objects and methods exposed by the OLE Messaging Library are much more robust than the MAPI controls that ship with Visual Basic, thus allowing access to many MAPI properties that the MSMAPI OCX controls simply do not address.

"Microsoft OLE Messaging Library Programmers Reference" is available in the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), or the Olemsg.hlp file that installs with Exchange Forms Designer 4.0.

NOTE: If this object library is not available in the References list, click the Browse button and search your Windows\System folder for the file Mdisp32.tlb.

Sample Code

To build a Visual Basic project that sends a simple message, follow these steps:

1. Open a new project in Visual Basic.

2. On the Tools menu, click References. Select "OLE/Messaging 1.0 Object Library."

3. Add a CommandButton to the default form. Accept the default name, Command1.

4. Copy the following code into the General Declarations section of the default form:

        Option Explicit
   

        Private Sub Command1_Click()
          Dim objSession As Object
          Dim objMessage As Object
          Dim objRecipient As Object
   

          'Create the Session Object
          Set objSession = CreateObject("mapi.session")
   

          'Logon using the session object
          'Specify a valid profile name if you want to
          'Avoid the logon dialog box
          objSession.Logon profileName:="MS Exchange Settings"
   

          'Add a new message object to the OutBox
          Set objMessage = objSession.Outbox.Messages.Add
   

          'Set the properties of the message object
          objMessage.subject = "This is a test."
          objMessage.Text = "This is the message text."
   

          'Add a recipient object to the objMessage.Recipients collection
          Set objRecipient = objMessage.Recipients.Add
   

          'Set the properties of the recipient object
          objRecipient.Name = "John Doe"  '<---Replace this with a valid
                                          'display name or e-mail alias
          objRecipient.Type = mapiTo
          objRecipient.Resolve
   
          'Send the message
          objMessage.Send showDialog:=False
          MsgBox "Message sent successfully!"
   
          'Logoff using the session object
          objSession.Logoff
        End Sub
   
   

5. Run the project. Click Command1. You have sent e-mail from Visual Basic.

REFERENCES

Microsoft OLE Messaging Library Programmers Reference

For additional information about Collaboration Data Objects versus Active Messaging, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q176916
   TITLE     : INFO: Active Messaging and Collaboration Data Objects (CDO)

Keywords          : kbprg ActMsg OLEMSG vbwin
Technology        : kbole kbvba
Version           : WINDOWS:4.0
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto