JMailSend: Email Sending Utility

By Mitch Stuart
Copyright © 2005 FullSpan Software  -  Usage subject to license
Software Version: 1.0  -  Document Version: $Revision: 1.5 $, $Date: 2005/04/16 07:59:33 $

Introduction

JMailSend was written with two particular purposes in mind:

• Testing. Using JMailSend you can send test messages through an SMTP server. This allows you to confirm that your server settings are correct, for example if you need to enter those settings into an application that sends email for notifications.
• Automation. Using JMailSend you can send email to one or more recipients from a batch or shell script, such as a notification of whether a script completed successfully. For example, I like to use JMailSend as the email notification program for my FSBackup script.

Getting JMailSend

• Download a package including binary JAR files, source code, and documentation:   [jmailsend.zip]   [jmailsend.tar.gz]
• Browse the JavaDoc (generated with the -linksource option which allows you to also browse the source code)

Installing and Running JMailSend

JMailSend provides both a GUI and command line interface. Each interface has a standalone JAR file, so that you can execute the interface of your choice by running java -jar jarfilename.

GUI Interface
To run the GUI interface, open a shell or command window and type the following command:

   java -jar JMAILSEND_DIR/build/lib/jmailsendgui.jar

Command Line Interface
To run the command line interface, open a shell or command window and type the following command:

   java -jar JMAILSEND_DIR/build/lib/jmailsend.jar

Windows GUI Shortcut
On Windows, once you have confirmed that the GUI version of JMailSend runs properly, you might want to create a desktop shortcut to launch the program. For help on this, search for "create shortcut" in Windows Help. In the shortcut, you might want to use javaw instead of java in the command line. This tells the Java environment that you are running a graphical program, so it will not require a text-mode command window.

Using JMailSend GUI

In the To, CC, and BCC fields, specify the recipients of the message. In these fields, you can enter either a single email address, or a comma-separated list of addresses. You can use standard email address formats such as:

   jdoe@sampledomain.not

   "Jane Doe" <jdoe@sampledomain.not>

In the Subject and Text fields, enter the subject and text.

In the Configuration section, the names to the left of the text fields are the actual JavaMail property names that will be set by JMailSend. Refer to the JavaMail documentation for details on the meaning of these parameters. In addition to the parameters that you are likely to need, there is space for up to three additional custom parameters. For these parameters, simply enter their names and values, and they will be passed through unchanged to the JavaMail API. An example is shown of the mail.debug property, which you can set to true or false.

Using JMailSend Command Line

   java -jar jmailsend.jar propfile subject tolist [cclist [bcclist]]

• propfile is the name of a .properties file containing the email configuration (an example is shown below).
• tolist is a comma-separated list of recipients to whom the email will be sent.
• cclist and bcclist are lists of comma-separated cc and bcc recipients.

The text of the email will be read from stdin.

Example (shown on several lines for readability, but should be typed on one line):

   java -jar jmailsend.jar
      c:\mydir\mymail.properties
      "Test mail" 
      jdoe@sampledomain.not
      jsmith@otherdomain.not,cvasquez@testdomain.not
      <msg.txt 

Sample Properties File
There is a sample file, jmailsend.sample.properties, included in the JMailSend distribution. You can copy and edit this file to set the proper values for your environment. The sample file contents are shown here:

   # Sample properties file for JMailSend
   # http://www.fullspan.com/proj/jmailsend/
   
   # ------ SECTION 1
   # Following are standard JavaMail properties.
   # Set these to match your enviroment.
   
   mail.from="Jane Doe" <jdoe@sampledomain.not>
   mail.smtp.host=mail.sampledomain.not
   mail.smtp.user=jdoe
   mail.smtp.auth=false
   
   # ------ SECTION 2
   # Following are JMailSend custom properties (not used by
   # standard JavaMail, but interpreted by the JMailSend program).
   # Set these to match your environment.
   
   # Set the password if you have enabled SMTP authentication
   # (mail.smtp.auth=true).
   # CAUTION: Make sure to secure this file so that others cannot
   # view your password.
   
   password=mypassword

Building JMailSend

JMailSend was programmed using the Eclipse 3.0.1 development environment. To build JMailSend using Eclipse, import the top-level JMailSend directory as an Eclipse project. The JMailSend GUI was developed using Swing Designer, however you do not need to have Swing Designer to build, run, or modify JMailSend.

License and External Libraries

JMailSend is released under the FullSpan license. JMailSend uses the FSJUtil library, which is released under the same license.

In addition, JMailSend uses the following external libraries, which are distributed under license from their copyright holders: