Displaying HTML-formatted messages (Part 1)

Quickly display e-mail with inline pictures Summary: Discusses displaying HTML-formatted e-mail messages in a WebBrowser control, including handling embedded objects.

Tutorial map:

Part 1 - Quickly display e-mail with inline pictures
Part 2 - Removing temporary files after use
Part 3 - Advanced topics

HTML messages often contain embedded pictures, sounds, scripts, style-sheets, etc. In order correctly render HTML content, these embedded objects must be saved to disk first.

GetBodyWithEmbeddedObjectsEx method of MailBee.Message object saves the message's embedded objects into temporary location and modifies URLs of these objects in HTML source to match their new locations. GetBodyWithEmbeddedObjectsEx returns modified HTML body text, original Message.BodyText property value is not affected.

By default all embedded objects are saved somewhere in the current user's temporary folder.

Note: When the message is received from POP3 server, no temporary files are created (MailBee processes e-mails "in-memory" manner). Only explicit call of GetBodyWithEmbeddedObjectsEx method may cause some files to be saved.

GetBodyWithEmbeddedObjectsEx method supports several parameters but all of them are optional. So, in the simplest case HTML message may be displayed like in the code below:

Code example:

' Assume objWebBrowser is a valid WebBrowser control
' (It's included in Microsoft Internet Controls type library).

' This sample is for VB only, ASP samples are discussed in another tutorial

Dim objPOP3, objMsg

Set objPOP3 = CreateObject("MailBee.POP3")
objPOP3.LicenseKey = "put your license key here"
If objPOP3.Connect("mail.server.com", 110, "user", "pass") Then
  If objPOP3.MessageCount > 0 Then
    Set objMsg = objPOP3.RetrieveSingleMessage(1)

    ' This code is required to create Document object within objWebBrowser
    objWebBrowser.Navigate "about:blank"
    While objWebBrowser.Document Is Nothing
      DoEvents
    Wend

    ' Print prepared body text into WebBrowser control (objWebBrowser object)
    objWebBrowser.Document.Write objMsg.GetBodyWithEmbeddedObjectsEx
  End If
  objPOP3.Disconnect
Else
  MsgBox objPOP3.ErrDesc
End If