Package org.apache.commons.mail

Class HtmlEmail

  • Direct Known Subclasses:
    ImageHtmlEmail
    public class HtmlEmail
extends MultiPartEmail
    An HTML multipart email.

    This class is used to send HTML formatted email. A text message can also be set for HTML unaware email clients, such as text-based email clients.

    This class also inherits from MultiPartEmail, so it is easy to add attachments to the email.

    To send an email in HTML, one should create a HtmlEmail, then use the Email.setFrom(String), Email.addTo(String) etc. methods. The HTML content can be set with the setHtmlMsg(String) method. The alternative text content can be set with setTextMsg(String).

    Either the text or HTML can be omitted, in which case the "main" part of the multipart becomes whichever is supplied rather than a multipart/alternative.

    Embedding Images and Media

    It is also possible to embed URLs, files, or arbitrary DataSources directly into the body of the mail: 

     HtmlEmail he = new HtmlEmail();
 File img = new File("my/image.gif");
 PNGDataSource png = new PNGDataSource(decodedPNGOutputStream); // a custom class
 StringBuffer msg = new StringBuffer();
 msg.append("<html><body>");
 msg.append("<img src=cid:").append(he.embed(img)).append(">");
 msg.append("<img src=cid:").append(he.embed(png)).append(">");
 msg.append("</body></html>");
 he.setHtmlMsg(msg.toString());
 // code to set the other email fields (not shown)

    Embedded entities are tracked by their name, which for Files is the filename itself and for URLs is the canonical path. It is an error to bind the same name to more than one entity, and this class will attempt to validate that for Files and URLs. When embedding a DataSource, the code uses the equals() method defined on the DataSources to make the determination.

    Since:
    1.0

    • Field Detail

      • CID_LENGTH

        public static final int CID_LENGTH
        Definition of the length of generated CID's.
        See Also:
        Constant Field Values

    • Constructor Detail

      • HtmlEmail

        public HtmlEmail()

    • Method Detail

      • setTextMsg

        public HtmlEmail setTextMsg​(java.lang.String aText)
                     throws EmailException
        Set the text content.
        Parameters:
        aText - A String.
        Returns:
        An HtmlEmail.
        Throws:
        EmailException - see javax.mail.internet.MimeBodyPart for definitions
        Since:
        1.0

      • setHtmlMsg

        public HtmlEmail setHtmlMsg​(java.lang.String aHtml)
                     throws EmailException
        Set the HTML content.
        Parameters:
        aHtml - A String.
        Returns:
        An HtmlEmail.
        Throws:
        EmailException - see javax.mail.internet.MimeBodyPart for definitions
        Since:
        1.0

      • setMsg

        public Email setMsg​(java.lang.String msg)
             throws EmailException
        Set the message.

        This method overrides MultiPartEmail.setMsg(String) in order to send an HTML message instead of a plain text message in the mail body. The message is formatted in HTML for the HTML part of the message; it is left as is in the alternate text part.

        Overrides:
        setMsg in class MultiPartEmail
        Parameters:
        msg - the message text to use
        Returns:
        this HtmlEmail
        Throws:
        EmailException - if msg is null or empty; see javax.mail.internet.MimeBodyPart for definitions
        Since:
        1.0

      • embed

        public java.lang.String embed​(java.lang.String urlString,
                              java.lang.String name)
                       throws EmailException
        Attempts to parse the specified String as a URL that will then be embedded in the message.
        Parameters:
        urlString - String representation of the URL.
        name - The name that will be set in the filename header field.
        Returns:
        A String with the Content-ID of the URL.
        Throws:
        EmailException - when URL supplied is invalid or if name is null or empty; also see MimeBodyPart for definitions
        Since:
        1.1
        See Also:
        embed(URL, String)

      • embed

        public java.lang.String embed​(java.net.URL url,
                              java.lang.String name)
                       throws EmailException
        Embeds an URL in the HTML.

        This method embeds a file located by an URL into the mail body. It allows, for instance, to add inline images to the email. Inline files may be referenced with a cid:xxxxxx URL, where xxxxxx is the Content-ID returned by the embed function. It is an error to bind the same name to more than one URL; if the same URL is embedded multiple times, the same Content-ID is guaranteed to be returned.

        While functionally the same as passing URLDataSource to embed(DataSource, String, String), this method attempts to validate the URL before embedding it in the message and will throw EmailException if the validation fails. In this case, the HtmlEmail object will not be changed.

        NOTE: Clients should take care to ensure that different URLs are bound to different names. This implementation tries to detect this and throw EmailException. However, it is not guaranteed to catch all cases, especially when the URL refers to a remote HTTP host that may be part of a virtual host cluster.

        Parameters:
        url - The URL of the file.
        name - The name that will be set in the filename header field.
        Returns:
        A String with the Content-ID of the file.
        Throws:
        EmailException - when URL supplied is invalid or if name is null or empty; also see MimeBodyPart for definitions
        Since:
        1.0

      • embed

        public java.lang.String embed​(java.io.File file)
                       throws EmailException
        Embeds a file in the HTML. This implementation delegates to embed(File, String).
        Parameters:
        file - The File object to embed
        Returns:
        A String with the Content-ID of the file.
        Throws:
        EmailException - when the supplied File cannot be used; also see MimeBodyPart for definitions
        Since:
        1.1
        See Also:
        embed(File, String)

      • embed

        public java.lang.String embed​(java.io.File file,
                              java.lang.String cid)
                       throws EmailException
        Embeds a file in the HTML.

        This method embeds a file located by an URL into the mail body. It allows, for instance, to add inline images to the email. Inline files may be referenced with a cid:xxxxxx URL, where xxxxxx is the Content-ID returned by the embed function. Files are bound to their names, which is the value returned by File.getName(). If the same file is embedded multiple times, the same CID is guaranteed to be returned.

        While functionally the same as passing FileDataSource to embed(DataSource, String, String), this method attempts to validate the file before embedding it in the message and will throw EmailException if the validation fails. In this case, the HtmlEmail object will not be changed.

        Parameters:
        file - The File to embed
        cid - the Content-ID to use for the embedded File
        Returns:
        A String with the Content-ID of the file.
        Throws:
        EmailException - when the supplied File cannot be used or if the file has already been embedded; also see MimeBodyPart for definitions
        Since:
        1.1

      • embed

        public java.lang.String embed​(javax.activation.DataSource dataSource,
                              java.lang.String name)
                       throws EmailException
        Embeds the specified DataSource in the HTML using a randomly generated Content-ID. Returns the generated Content-ID string.
        Parameters:
        dataSource - the DataSource to embed
        name - the name that will be set in the filename header field
        Returns:
        the generated Content-ID for this DataSource
        Throws:
        EmailException - if the embedding fails or if name is null or empty
        Since:
        1.1
        See Also:
        embed(DataSource, String, String)

      • embed

        public java.lang.String embed​(javax.activation.DataSource dataSource,
                              java.lang.String name,
                              java.lang.String cid)
                       throws EmailException
        Embeds the specified DataSource in the HTML using the specified Content-ID. Returns the specified Content-ID string.
        Parameters:
        dataSource - the DataSource to embed
        name - the name that will be set in the filename header field
        cid - the Content-ID to use for this DataSource
        Returns:
        the URL encoded Content-ID for this DataSource
        Throws:
        EmailException - if the embedding fails or if name is null or empty
        Since:
        1.1

      • buildMimeMessage

        public void buildMimeMessage()
                      throws EmailException
        Does the work of actually building the MimeMessage. Please note that a user rarely calls this method directly and only if he/she is interested in the sending the underlying MimeMessage without commons-email.
        Overrides:
        buildMimeMessage in class MultiPartEmail
        Throws:
        EmailException - if there was an error.
        Since:
        1.0