Updated MailNotification class – Now with HTML email support and web links

I have updated my MailNotification class with some additional functionality I needed at work. Since our mail system now is Outlook/Exchange, and therefore the Notes doc links don’t work anymore, I am in the process of converting all my email notifications into HTML email. The doc links are now made into HTML links, pointing to a notes:// or http:// address.

I simply added a new class, HTMLmail. It is based on the old NotesMail class, but I override a few functions that are different. This makes it very easy to update the emails I am generating in my Lotusscript agents, in most cases I only have to replace NotesMail with HTMLmail in the declaration and instantiation:

Dim maildoc As HTMLMail
Set maildoc = New HTMLMail()

When I had doc links in the email I also had to modify the code where I generate it. The method takes three arguments: the NotesDocument to link to, the Alt/Title attribute for the link (to be displayed when hovering over the link) and the text of the link:

Call maildoc.AppendDocLink(doc,"Click to open",doc.ClaimNumber(0))

In order to generate the links I created a Link class, where you can set what protocol you want to use (“notes” or “http”) you want the link to use, you can change the port from the default of 80, and you can even force the link to point to a different server. I use this class in the AppendDocLink method in the HTMLmail class.

Here is a short code sample, it is just a function to create a mail notification for an insurance claim. The claim document is passed to the function and a mail is sent to the adjuster and his/her manager.

Sub SendNotification(doc as NotesDocument)
	'*** Create a new object and set the sender, recipients and subject
	Set maildoc = New HTMLMail()
	maildoc.Principal = |"System Notification" <noreply@example.com>|
	Call maildoc.AddMailTo(doc.GetItemvalue("Adjuster")(0))
	Call maildoc.AddMailCC(GetManagerName(doc.GetItemValue("Adjuster")(0)))
	maildoc.Subject = "30 DAY ALERT - " & doc.GetItemValue("ClaimNumber")(0)
	'*** Build body content, including a link to the document
	Call maildoc.AppendText("Claim number ")
	Call maildoc.AppendDocLink(doc,"Click to open",doc.GetItemValue("ClaimNumber")(0))
	Call maildoc.AppendText(" was received on ")
	Call maildoc.AppendText(Format$(doc.GetItemValue("Received_Date")(0),"mm/dd/yyyy") & ". ")
	Call maildoc.AppendText("This claim has been opened for 30 days. ")
	Call maildoc.AppendText("Please confirm all appropriate actions has been performed.")
	Call maildoc.AddNewLine(2)
	'*** Add no-reply notification to the end and send the email
	maildoc.NoReply = True   
	Call maildoc.Send()
	'*** Flag the NotesDocument as processed and save it to avoid duplicate notifications
	doc.Warning30daySent = "Yes"
	Call doc.Save(True,True)
End Sub

That’s pretty much it.  Enjoy the code, and as usual I do not guarantee anything. Use on your own risk, as always. If you like this code and use it, let me know.

Option Public
Option Declare

Class NotesMail
	Public maildoc As NotesDocument 
	Public body As NotesRichTextItem
	Private p_subject As String
	Private p_sendto List As String
	Private p_copyto List As String
	Private p_blindcopyto List As String
	Private p_principal As String
	Public NoReply As Boolean 
	Public mailbox As NotesDatabase
	
	Public Sub New()
		Dim session As New NotesSession
		Dim mailservername As String
		' We must use mail.box on current server.
		mailservername = session.Currentdatabase.Server
		' Using mail.box directly is unsupported, but is the
		' only way to make the mail look like it is actually
		' sent from another address, in our case the principal.
		Set mailbox = New NotesDatabase(mailservername,"mail.box")
		If mailbox.Isopen = False Then
			Print "mail.box on " & mailservername & " could not be opened"
			Exit Sub
		End If
		Set me.maildoc = New NotesDocument(mailbox)
		Call me.maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("Form","Memo")
		'Set me.body = New NotesRichTextItem(maildoc,"Body")
		Call CreateBody()
		me.p_subject = ""
		me.p_principal = ""
		' Empty lists for addresses
		Erase me.p_sendto
		Erase me.p_copyto
		Erase me.p_blindcopyto
		me.NoReply = False	' Default is not to add a disclaimer to the end
	End Sub
	
	Private Sub CreateBody()
		Set me.body = New NotesRichTextItem(maildoc,"Body")
	End Sub
	
	Public Property Set Subject As String
		me.p_subject = FullTrim(Subject)
	End Property
	
	Public Property Get Subject As String
		Subject = me.p_subject
	End Property
	
	Public Property Set Principal As String
		me.p_principal = FullTrim(Principal)
	End Property
	
	Public Property Get Principal As String
		Principal = me.p_principal
	End Property

	'*** Recipient address (mailto) functions
	Public Property Set MailTo As String
		me.p_sendto(FullTrim(MailTo)) = FullTrim(MailTo)
	End Property
	
	Public Property Get MailTo As String	' Get the first address only
		ForAll mto In me.p_sendto
			MailTo = mto	
			Exit ForAll
		End ForAll
	End Property
	
	Public Property Set SendTo As String	' Alias for MailTo
		MailTo = SendTo
	End Property
	
	Public Property Get SendTo As String	' Alias for MailTo
		SendTo = MailTo	
	End Property
	
	Public Sub AddMailTo(address As String)	' Additional address
		me.p_sendto(address) = address
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub RemoveMailTo(address As String)	' Remove address from list
		Erase me.p_sendto(address)
	End Sub

	' *** Functions for CC address
	Public Property Set MailCC As String
		me.p_copyto(FullTrim(MailCC)) = FullTrim(MailCC)
	End Property
	
	Public Property Get MailCC As String	' Get the first address only
		ForAll mcc In me.p_copyto
			MailCC = mcc	
			Exit ForAll
		End ForAll
	End Property
	
	Public Sub AddMailCC(address As String)
		me.p_copyto(address) = address
	End Sub

	Public Sub RemoveMailCC(address As String)
		Erase me.p_copyto(address)
	End Sub
	
	' *** Functions for BCC address 
	Public Sub AddMailBCC(address As String)
		me.p_blindcopyto(address) = address
	End Sub
	
	Public Property Set MailBCC As String
		me.p_blindcopyto(FullTrim(MailBCC)) = FullTrim(MailBCC)
	End Property
	
	Public Property Get MailBCC As String	' Get the first address only
		ForAll bcc In me.p_blindcopyto
			MailBCC = bcc	
			Exit ForAll
		End ForAll
	End Property
	
	Public Sub RemoveMailBCC(address As String)
		Erase me.p_blindcopyto(address)
	End Sub
	
	' *** Functions for email body 
	Public Sub AppendText(bodytext As String)
		Call me.body.AppendText(bodytext)	
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub AppendDocLink(doc As NotesDocument, comment As String, linktext As String)
		If FullTrim(linktext) = "" Then
			Call me.body.AppendDocLink(doc, comment)	
		Else
			Call me.body.AppendDocLink(doc, comment, linktext)	
		End If
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub AppendNewLine(cnt As Integer)
		Call me.body.AddNewline(cnt)	
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub AddNewLine(cnt As Integer)
		Call me.body.AddNewline(cnt)	
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub AttachFile(filename As String)
		Call me.body.EmbedObject(1454,"",filename)	
	End Sub
	
	' *** Send the mail
	Public Sub Send()
		Dim session As New NotesSession 
		Dim richStyle As NotesRichTextStyle 
		Dim recipients As String 
		If me.subject<,>,"" Then
			maildoc.Subject = me.subject
		End If
		recipients = ""
		If ListItemCount(me.p_sendto)>,0 Then
			maildoc.SendTo = ListToArray(me.p_sendto)
			recipients = recipients + Join(ListToArray(me.p_sendto),"~") + "~"
		End If
		If ListItemCount(me.p_copyto)>,0 Then
			maildoc.CopyTo = ListToArray(me.p_copyto)
			recipients = recipients + Join(ListToArray(me.p_copyto),"~") + "~"
		End If
		If ListItemCount(me.p_blindcopyto)>,0 Then
			maildoc.BlindCopyTo = ListToArray(me.p_blindcopyto)
			recipients = recipients + Join(ListToArray(me.p_blindcopyto),"~") + "~"
		End If
		maildoc.Recipients = FullTrim(Split(recipients,"~")) 
		If me.p_principal<,>,"" Then
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("Principal", me.p_principal)
			' If principal is set, we want to fix so mail looks like
			' it is coming from that address, need to set these fields
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("From", me.p_principal)
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("Sender", me.p_principal)
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("ReplyTo", me.p_principal)
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("SMTPOriginator", me.p_principal)
		End If
		' If NoReply is set, append some red text... 
		If NoReply = True Then
			Set richStyle = session.CreateRichTextStyle
			richStyle.NotesFont = 4
			richStyle.NotesColor = 2
			richStyle.Bold = True	
			Call me.body.AppendStyle(richStyle)
			Call me.body.AddNewLine(1)	
			Call me.body.AppendText("*** DO NOT REPLY TO THE SENDER OF THIS MESSAGE! ***")	
			Call me.body.AddNewLine(1)	
			Call me.body.AppendText("*** IT IS AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM MAIL ***")	
		End If
		On Error Resume Next
		'Call maildoc.CopyItem(body, "Body")
		If me.p_principal<,>,"" Then
			Call maildoc.Save(True,False)	' Save in mail.box
		Else
			Call maildoc.Send(False)			' Send mail normally
		End If
	End Sub
	
	
	' *** Private functions called from within the class ***
	
	' *** Convert list to array
	Private Function ListToArray(textlist As Variant) As Variant
		Dim i As Integer 
		Dim temparray() As String
		ReDim temparray(0) As String 
		ForAll t In textlist
			temparray(UBound(temparray)) = t
			ReDim Preserve temparray(UBound(temparray)+1) As String
		End ForAll
		ListToArray = FullTrim(temparray)
	End Function
	
	' *** Count items in a list
	Private Function ListItemCount(textlist As Variant) As Integer
		Dim cnt As Integer
		cnt = 0
		ForAll t In textlist
			cnt = cnt + 1
		End ForAll
		ListItemCount = cnt
	End Function

End Class


%REM
	Class HTMLMail
	Description: Inherits from NotesMail class, implements additional functions
%END REM
Class HTMLMail As NotesMail
	Private session As NotesSession 
	Private mimebody As NotesMIMEEntity 
	Private header As NotesMIMEHeader 
	Private stream As NotesStream
	Private p_server As String
	Private p_protocol As String
	Private p_port As Integer
	Public LinkServerOnly As Boolean
		
	%REM
		Sub CreateBody
		Description: Override body creation with HTML body
	%END REM
	Private Sub CreateBody()
		Dim db As NotesDatabase 
		Set session = New NotesSession()
		Set db = session.CurrentDatabase 
		Set stream = session.CreateStream 
		session.ConvertMIME = False ' Do not convert MIME to rich text 
		Set me.mimebody = maildoc.CreateMIMEEntity
		Call stream.writetext(|<,HTML>,|)
		Call stream.writetext(|<,head>,|)
		Call stream.writetext(|<,/head>,|)
		Call stream.writetext(|<,body>,|)
		Call stream.writetext(|<,div style="font-family: Calibri,Arial; font-size:12pt;">,|)
		me.p_protocol = "notes"
		me.p_port = 80
		LinkServerOnly = False
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub AppendText(bodytext As String)
		Call me.stream.writetext(bodytext)	
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub AddNewLine(cnt As Integer)
		Dim i As Integer
		For i = 1 To cnt
			Call me.stream.writetext("<,br>,")
		Next 
	End Sub

	Public Sub AppendNewLine(cnt As Integer)
		Dim i As Integer
		For i = 1 To cnt
			Call me.stream.writetext("<,br>,")
		Next 
	End Sub

	Public Sub SetLinkServer(server As String)
		Me.p_server = server
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub SetLinkProtocol(protocol As String)
		Me.p_protocol = protocol
	End Sub

	Public Sub SetLinkPort(port As Integer)
		Me.p_port = port
	End Sub
	
	Public Sub AppendDocLink(doc As NotesDocument, comment As String, linktext As String)
		Dim html As String
		Dim link As Link
		Set link = New Link(doc)
		Call link.SetProtocol(Me.p_protocol)
		Call link.SetPort(Me.p_port)
		If Me.p_server<,>,"" Then
			Call link.SetServer(p_server)
		End If
		link.ServerOnly = LinkServerOnly
		html = |<,a href="| & link.URL() + |"|
		If FullTrim(linktext)<,>,"" Then
			html = html + | title="| + comment + |" alt="| + comment + |"|					
		End If
		html = html + ">," + linktext + "<,/a>,"
		Call AppendText(html)
	End Sub
	
	Sub AddNoReplyNotification()
		Call me.stream.writetext(|<,div style="font-family: consolas, courier; font-size: 10pt; color:#FF0000; margin-top: 25px; margin-bottom: 25px;">,|)
		Call me.stream.writetext("***************************************************<,br>,")	
		Call me.stream.writetext("*** DO NOT REPLY TO THE SENDER OF THIS MESSAGE! ***<,br>,")	
		Call me.stream.writetext("***   IT IS AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM MAIL FROM LNP   ***<,br>,")	
		Call me.stream.writetext("***************************************************<,br>,")
		Call me.stream.writetext("<,/div>,")
		If me.p_principal = "" Then
			me.p_principal = |"Do Not Reply" <,noreply@deep-south.com>,|
		End If
	End Sub
	
	' *** Send the mail
	Public Sub Send()
		Dim doc As NotesDocument 
		Dim recipients As String

		maildoc.Form = "Memo" 
		'*** If NoReply is set, append some red text... 
		If NoReply = True Then
		'	Call stream.writetext(|<,p>,<,font color="red">,|)
		'	Call stream.writetext("*** DO NOT REPLY TO THE SENDER OF THIS MESSAGE! ***<,br>,")	
		'	Call stream.writetext("*** IT IS AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM MAIL ***")
		'	Call stream.writetext("<,/font>,<,/p>,")
			Call AddNoReplyNotification()	
		End If
	 	'*** Add HTML for end of email
		Call stream.writetext(|<,/div>,|) 
		Call stream.writetext(|<,/body>,|) 
		Call stream.writetext(|<,/html>,|) 
		Call mimebody.SetContentFromText(stream, "text/HTML;charset=UTF-8", ENC_IDENTITY_7BIT) 
 
		If me.subject<,>,"" Then
			maildoc.Subject = me.subject
		End If
		recipients = ""
		If ListItemCount(me.p_sendto)>,0 Then
			maildoc.SendTo = ListToArray(me.p_sendto)
			recipients = recipients + Join(ListToArray(me.p_sendto),"~") + "~"
		End If
		If ListItemCount(me.p_copyto)>,0 Then
			maildoc.CopyTo = ListToArray(me.p_copyto)
			recipients = recipients + Join(ListToArray(me.p_copyto),"~") + "~"
		End If
		If ListItemCount(me.p_blindcopyto)>,0 Then
			maildoc.BlindCopyTo = ListToArray(me.p_blindcopyto)
			recipients = recipients + Join(ListToArray(me.p_blindcopyto),"~") + "~"
		End If
		maildoc.Recipients = FullTrim(Split(recipients,"~")) 
		If me.p_principal<,>,"" Then
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("Principal", me.p_principal)
			' If principal is set, we want to fix so mail looks like
			' it is coming from that address, need to set these fields
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("From", me.p_principal)
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("Sender", me.p_principal)
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("ReplyTo", me.p_principal)
			Call maildoc.ReplaceItemValue("SMTPOriginator", me.p_principal)
		End If
		On Error Resume Next
		If me.p_principal<,>,"" Then
			Call maildoc.Save(True,False)	' Save in mail.box
		Else
			Call maildoc.Send(False)			' Send mail normally
		End If
		session.ConvertMIME = True ' Restore conversion - very important 
	End Sub

End Class


%REM
	Class Link
	Description: Class for Doc Link functionality
%END REM
Class Link
	Private p_protocol As String
	Private p_server As String
	Private p_domain As String
	Private p_port As Integer
	Private p_dbpath As String
	Private p_docunid As String
	Private p_Action As String 
	Private p_doc As NotesDocument
	Private p_db As NotesDataBase
	Public ServerOnly As Boolean
	
	%REM
		Sub New
		Description: Constructor
	%END REM
	Public Sub New(doc As NotesDocument) 
		Dim server As NotesName
		Set p_doc = doc
		Set p_db = doc.Parentdatabase
		Set server = New NotesName(p_db.Server)
		Call SetServer(server.Common)
		Call SetPort(80)
		Call SetProtocol("notes") 	'Set as default
		ServerOnly = False
		p_domain = GetDomain()
		p_dbpath = doc.Parentdatabase.Filepath
		p_docunid = doc.UniversalID
		p_action = "OpenDocument"
	End Sub
	
	%REM
		Sub SetProtocol
		Description: Set the protocol to use (notes:, http:, https:)
	%END REM
	Public Sub SetProtocol(protocol As String)
		Dim tmp As String
		'*** Remove any : or /
		tmp = Replace(protocol,":","")
		tmp = Replace(tmp,"/","")
		p_protocol = LCase(tmp) + ":"
		If Not p_db Is Nothing Then
			tmp = GetDomain()
			Call SetDomain(tmp)
		End if
	End Sub
	
	%REM
		Sub SetAction
		Description: Set the action, e.g. ?OpenDocument
	%END REM
	Public Sub SetAction(action As String)
		Dim tmp As String
		'*** Remove any ? if already there
		tmp = Replace(action,"?","")
		p_action = "?" + tmp
	End Sub
	
	%REM
		Sub SetServer
		Description: Override server name if we want another server
		Do not specify the Notes domain or Internet domain name!
	%END REM
	Public Sub SetServer(servername)
		p_server = servername
	End Sub

	Public Function GetDomain() As String 
		Dim tmp As String
		Dim startpos As Integer
		Dim endpos As Integer  
		If p_protocol = "notes:" Then
			tmp = p_db.NotesURL
		Else
			tmp = p_db.HttpURL
		End If
		startpos = InStr(tmp,"://")+3
		endpos = InStr(startpos,tmp,"/")
		If endpos>,startpos Then
			tmp = Mid$(tmp,startpos, endpos-startpos)
		Else
			tmp = "deep-south.com"
		End If
		GetDomain = tmp
	End Function
	
	%REM
		Sub SetDomain
		Description:Set the domain part of the URL, e.g. @Deep-South or .deep-south.com 
	%END REM
	Public Sub SetDomain(domain As String)
		p_domain = domain
	End Sub
	
	%REM
		Sub SetPort
		Description: Set the port number, e.g. 80 or 3000
	%END REM
	Public Sub SetPort(portnumber As Integer)
		p_port = portnumber
	End Sub
	
	%REM
		Function URL
		Description: Get the URL for the document
	%END REM
	Public Function URL() As String
		Dim tmp As String 
		tmp = p_protocol & "//" 
		If p_protocol<,>,"notes:" Then
			tmp = tmp & p_server 
			If ServerOnly = False Then
				tmp = tmp & "."
			End if 
		End If
		If ServerOnly = False Then
			tmp = tmp & p_domain
		End If
		If p_protocol<,>,"notes:" Then
			If p_port <,>, 80 Then
				tmp = tmp & ":" & p_port  
			End If
		End If
		tmp = tmp & "/" & p_dbpath & "/0/" & p_docunid & "?" & p_action
		tmp = Replace(tmp,Chr$(92),"/")	'Replace \ with / for URL
		URL = tmp
	End Function
	
End Class