[Tutor] Mail? What's that?

[Ricardo Aráoz]

Luke Paireepinart wrote:
> Ricardo Aráoz wrote:
>> So I eventually got to sending mail with python.
>> Some articles, trying and google led me to this script:
>>
>> import smtplib
>> import time
>>
>> date = time.ctime(time.time( ))
>> >From = 'mymail at gmail.com'
>> To = ['othermail at hotmail.com', 'YetOtherMail at yahoo.com']
>> Subj = 'Hi'
>> text = ('From: %s\nTo: %s\nDate: %s\nSubject: %s\n\n'
>>                          % (From, ';'.join(To), date, Subj))
>>
>> s = smtplib.SMTP('smtp.gmail.com')
>> s.set_debuglevel(1)
>> s.ehlo()
>> s.starttls()
>> s.ehlo()
>> s.login('foo', 'bar')
>> s.sendmail(From, To, text)
>> s.close()
>>
>>
>> So, if there's someone who really knows this stuff in the neighborhood
>> I'd like to ask a couple of questions.
>> What is ehlo and why do I have to call it twice? And set_debuglevel?
>> If I where to connect through other smtp server the sequence would be
>> the exactly the same, say yahoo or hotmail?
>> Are From: To: Date: and Subject: mandatory in the contents of the
>> email(text)?  Do I have to put "real" address in  From when calling
>> sendmail()? And in the contents?
>> Ok, if someone can answer these I'll be grateful.
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Ricardo
>>   
> Ricardo -
> I say this in the nicest way possible, but did you RTFM? :)

LOL, my apologies Luke. You see, I was bloody tired last night, had just
found out how to do it and didn´t have it in me to google for it or
RTFM, so I said "let's ask the guys". Sorry, and thanks a lot for taking
the time to answer me. I'm just rushing out to work so I'll take a look
tonight and see if I get it, I'm net impaired you see, and when they
start with all those acronyms my brain stops :-)
Thanks again.

Ricardo

> Python has built-in help support on modules.
> You should start there, do some Googling, and if you're stumped, get
> some help.  Not for any other reason than it'll probably get you 1) more
> experience at navigating the docs, and 2) a quicker, probably more
> detailed response.
> 
> So using Help, we get:
> 
> 
>>>> import smtplib
>>>> help(smtplib)
> Help on module smtplib:
> 
> NAME
>    smtplib - SMTP/ESMTP client class.
> 
> FILE
>    c:\python24\lib\smtplib.py
> 
> [snip 10 pages of documentation]
> 
> 
>>>> help(smtplib.SMTP.set_debuglevel)
> Help on method set_debuglevel in module smtplib:
> 
> set_debuglevel(self, debuglevel) unbound smtplib.SMTP method
>    Set the debug output level.
>      A non-false value results in debug messages for connection and for all
>    messages sent to and received from the server.
> 
>>>> help(smtplib.SMTP.ehlo)
> Help on method ehlo in module smtplib:
> 
> ehlo(self, name='') unbound smtplib.SMTP method
>    SMTP 'ehlo' command.
>    Hostname to send for this command defaults to the FQDN of the local
>    host.
> 
>>>> help(smtplib.SMTP.sendmail)
> Help on method sendmail in module smtplib:
> 
> sendmail(self, from_addr, to_addrs, msg, mail_options=[],
> rcpt_options=[]) unbound smtplib.SMTP method
>    This command performs an entire mail transaction.
>      The arguments are:
>        - from_addr    : The address sending this mail.
>        - to_addrs     : A list of addresses to send this mail to.  A bare
>                         string will be treated as a list with 1 address.
>        - msg          : The message to send.
>        - mail_options : List of ESMTP options (such as 8bitmime) for the
>                         mail command.
>        - rcpt_options : List of ESMTP options (such as DSN commands) for
>                         all the rcpt commands.
>      If there has been no previous EHLO or HELO command this session, this
>    method tries ESMTP EHLO first.  If the server does ESMTP, message size
>    and each of the specified options will be passed to it.  If EHLO
>    fails, HELO will be tried and ESMTP options suppressed.
>      This method will return normally if the mail is accepted for at least
>    one recipient.  It returns a dictionary, with one entry for each
>    recipient that was refused.  Each entry contains a tuple of the SMTP
>    error code and the accompanying error message sent by the server.
>      This method may raise the following exceptions:
>       SMTPHeloError          The server didn't reply properly to
>                            the helo greeting.
>     SMTPRecipientsRefused  The server rejected ALL recipients
>                            (no mail was sent).
>     SMTPSenderRefused      The server didn't accept the from_addr.
>     SMTPDataError          The server replied with an unexpected
>                            error code (other than a refusal of
>                            a recipient).
>      Note: the connection will be open even after an exception is raised.
>      Example:
>       >>> import smtplib
>     >>> s=smtplib.SMTP("localhost")
>     >>>
> tolist=["one at one.org","two at two.org","three at three.org","four at four.org"]
>     >>> msg = '''\
>     ... From: Me at my.org
>     ... Subject: testin'...
>     ...
>     ... This is a test '''
>     >>> s.sendmail("me at my.org",tolist,msg)
>     { "three at three.org" : ( 550 ,"User unknown" ) }
>     >>> s.quit()
>      In the above example, the message was accepted for delivery to three
>    of the four addresses, and one was rejected, with the error code
>    550.  If all addresses are accepted, then the method will return an
>    empty dictionary.
> 
>>>>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So mess around in the built-in docs, then check python.org's docs, and
> let us know what you find :)
> Also, try experimenting! pass it stuff that you don't think will work
> just to see if maybe it does :D
> -Luke
>