Mail merge and bulk e-mail: Advanced

The sample sends multiple e-mails with attachments using single template and database.

Two main differences from Simple version of the sample:

• Supports e-mails which have optional parts such as attachments. E.g., some users will receive attachments while others will not
• Limits number of e-mails sent over the single connection session. Useful when your SMTP server imposes such limitation

The code assumes the database is located in C:\Docs\advanced_merge.mdb file, and "emails" table looks like the following:

Note: Some SMTP servers limit maximum number of sends per second (not per connection). E.g, you can only send 5 e-mails per second from the same IP address. In this case, you can use queuing and background delivery with MailBee Message Queue system. See Queuing sample for details.

' Mailer object
Dim objSMTP

' ADO Connection object
Dim objConn

' ADO Recordset object
Dim rsEmails

' Merge patterns (Body and "To:", all other fields remain
' unchanged for all e-mails in the mailing list)
Dim strBodyPattern, strToPattern

' Counter to limit number of sends per connection
Dim I

' Define body pattern
strBodyPattern = "Hello %%FIRST_NAME%%, " & vbCrLf & _
  "You are welcome to visit our site at:" & vbCrLf & _
  "http://www.site.com" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
  "Sincerely, Site Team"

' Define "To:" pattern (will look like
' "John Doe " in e-mail)
strToPattern = "%%FIRST_NAME%% %%LAST_NAME%% <%%EMAIL%%>"

' Create SMTP mailer component
Set objSMTP  = CreateObject("MailBee.SMTP")

' Enable logging SMTP session into a file. If any
' errors occur, the log can be used to investigate
' the problem.
objSMTP.EnableLogging = True
objSMTP.LogFilePath = "C:\smtp_log.txt"
objSMTP.ClearLog

' Unlock mailer component
objSMTP.LicenseKey = "put your license key here"

' Specify SMTP server name
objSMTP.ServerName = "localhost"

' Comment next 3 lines if your SMTP server does not
' require SMTP authentication
objSMTP.AuthMethod = 2
objSMTP.UserName = "your mail account name"
objSMTP.Password = "your mail account password"

' Create ADO Connection object
Set objConn  = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")

' Connect to Access database
objConn.Open "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; " & _
   "Data Source=C:\Docs\advanced_merge.mdb;"

' Create ADO Recordset object
Set rsEmails = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
  
' Open "emails" table. This table is
' actual data source for the merge
rsEmails.Open "emails", objConn

' Initialize counter to connect to SMTP
' server before sending any e-mails
I = 1

' Loop through the table
Do While Not rsEmails.EOF

  ' Connect to the server. We connect only one time
  ' per 10 sends and reuse existing connection for
  ' subsequent 9 e-mails.
  If I = 1 Then
    If Not objSMTP.Connect Then
      ' Notify user on connection error and exit
      MsgBox "Error #" & objSMTP.ErrCode & ", " & objSMTP.ErrDesc
      Exit Do
    End If
  End If

  ' Set all properties for each e-mail.
  ' This is required because we will reset
  ' the message later to free Attachments
  ' collection.

  ' Plain-text e-mail. Change to 1 to send HTML e-mail
  objSMTP.BodyFormat = 0
  
  ' Specify "From:" and "Subject:". They remain unchanged
  ' for all the e-mails.
  objSMTP.Message.FromAddr = "Site Team "
  objSMTP.Message.Subject = "Invitation"
  
  ' Merge body pattern and actual data
  ' from the database
  objSMTP.Message.BodyText = strBodyPattern
  objSMTP.Message.BodyText = Replace(objSMTP.Message.BodyText, "%%FIRST_NAME%%", rsEmails("first_name"))

  ' Merge body pattern and actual data
  ' from the database
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = strToPattern
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = Replace(objSMTP.Message.ToAddr, "%%FIRST_NAME%%", rsEmails("first_name"))
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = Replace(objSMTP.Message.ToAddr, "%%LAST_NAME%%", rsEmails("last_name"))
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = Replace(objSMTP.Message.ToAddr, "%%EMAIL%%", rsEmails("email"))
    
  ' Add attachment if required
  If rsEmails("filename") <> "" Then
    objSMTP.Message.AddAttachment "C:\Data\" & rsEmails("filename")
  End If

  ' Try to send e-mail
  If Not objSMTP.Send Then
    ' Notify user on sending error
    MsgBox "Error #" & objSMTP.ErrCode & ", " & objSMTP.ErrDesc
  End If
    
  ' Reset all message properties to defaults and
  ' clear Attachments collection. If this method
  ' was not called, subsequent messages would also
  ' hold attachments from previously sent messages.
  objSMTP.ResetMessage
    
  ' Proceed with the next record in the table
  rsEmails.MoveNext

  ' Disconnect once 10-th e-mail is sent or passed
  ' the end of the database.
  '
  ' You may adjust number of 10 to the maximum
  ' "sends per connection" value allowed by your
  ' SMTP server.
  If I = 10 Or rsEmails.EOF Then

    ' Disconnect from SMTP server
    objSMTP.Disconnect

    ' Reinitialize counter to force Connect
    ' before next send
    I = 0
  End If

  ' Proceed with the next e-mail
  I = I + 1
Loop
  
' Close the table and the whole database
rsEmails.Close
objConn.Close

' Free database-related objects
Set rsEmails = Nothing
Set objConn = Nothing

<%
' Mailer object
Dim objSMTP

' ADO Connection object
Dim objConn

' ADO Recordset object
Dim rsEmails

' Merge patterns (Body and "To:", all other fields remain
' unchanged for all e-mails in the mailing list)
Dim strBodyPattern, strToPattern

' Counter to limit number of sends per connection
Dim I

' Define body pattern
strBodyPattern = "Hello %%FIRST_NAME%%, " & vbCrLf & _
  "You are welcome to visit our site at:" & vbCrLf & _
  "http://www.site.com" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
  "Sincerely, Site Team"

' Define "To:" pattern (will look like
' "John Doe " in e-mail)
strToPattern = "%%FIRST_NAME%% %%LAST_NAME%% <%%EMAIL%%>"

' Create SMTP mailer component
Set objSMTP  = Server.CreateObject("MailBee.SMTP")

' Enable logging SMTP session into a file. If any
' errors occur, the log can be used to investigate
' the problem.
objSMTP.EnableLogging = True
objSMTP.LogFilePath = "C:\smtp_log.txt"
objSMTP.ClearLog

' Unlock mailer component
objSMTP.LicenseKey = "put your license key here"

' Specify SMTP server name
objSMTP.ServerName = "localhost"

' Comment next 3 lines if your SMTP server does not
' require SMTP authentication
objSMTP.AuthMethod = 2
objSMTP.UserName = "your mail account name"
objSMTP.Password = "your mail account password"

' Create ADO Connection object
Set objConn  = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")

' Connect to Access database
objConn.Open "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; " & _
   "Data Source=C:\Docs\advanced_merge.mdb;"

' Create ADO Recordset object
Set rsEmails = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
  
' Open "emails" table. This table is
' actual data source for the merge
rsEmails.Open "emails", objConn

' Initialize counter to connect to SMTP
' server before sending any e-mails
I = 1

' Loop through the table
Do While Not rsEmails.EOF

  ' Connect to the server. We connect only one time
  ' per 10 sends and reuse existing connection for
  ' subsequent 9 e-mails.
  If I = 1 Then
    If Not objSMTP.Connect Then
      ' Notify user on connection error and exit
      Response.Write "Error #" & objSMTP.ErrCode & ", " & objSMTP.ErrDesc
      Exit Do
    End If
  End If

  ' Set all properties for each e-mail.
  ' This is required because we will reset
  ' the message later to free Attachments
  ' collection.

  ' Plain-text e-mail. Change to 1 to send HTML e-mail
  objSMTP.BodyFormat = 0
  
  ' Specify "From:" and "Subject:". They remain unchanged
  ' for all the e-mails.
  objSMTP.Message.FromAddr = "Site Team "
  objSMTP.Message.Subject = "Invitation"
  
  ' Merge body pattern and actual data
  ' from the database
  objSMTP.Message.BodyText = strBodyPattern
  objSMTP.Message.BodyText = Replace(objSMTP.Message.BodyText, "%%FIRST_NAME%%", rsEmails("first_name"))

  ' Merge body pattern and actual data
  ' from the database
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = strToPattern
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = Replace(objSMTP.Message.ToAddr, "%%FIRST_NAME%%", rsEmails("first_name"))
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = Replace(objSMTP.Message.ToAddr, "%%LAST_NAME%%", rsEmails("last_name"))
  objSMTP.Message.ToAddr = Replace(objSMTP.Message.ToAddr, "%%EMAIL%%", rsEmails("email"))
    
  ' Add attachment if required
  If rsEmails("filename") <> "" Then
    objSMTP.Message.AddAttachment "C:\Data\" & rsEmails("filename")
  End If

  ' Try to send e-mail
  If Not objSMTP.Send Then
    ' Notify user on sending error
    Response.Write "Error #" & objSMTP.ErrCode & ", " & objSMTP.ErrDesc & "<br>"
  End If
    
  ' Reset all message properties to defaults and
  ' clear Attachments collection. If this method
  ' was not called, subsequent messages would also
  ' hold attachments from previously sent messages.
  objSMTP.ResetMessage
    
  ' Proceed with the next record in the table
  rsEmails.MoveNext

  ' Disconnect once 10-th e-mail is sent or passed
  ' the end of the database.
  '
  ' You may adjust number of 10 to the maximum
  ' "sends per connection" value allowed by your
  ' SMTP server.
  If I = 10 Or rsEmails.EOF Then

    ' Disconnect from SMTP server
    objSMTP.Disconnect

    ' Reinitialize counter to force Connect
    ' before next send
    I = 0
  End If

  ' Proceed with the next e-mail
  I = I + 1
Loop
  
' Close the table and the whole database
rsEmails.Close
objConn.Close

' Free database-related objects
Set rsEmails = Nothing
Set objConn = Nothing
%>

See also: