A new email type has been added to PDFX: Type 4, enhanced SMTP mail. Type 4 is recommended over type 3.
This is an improved alternate implementation of the direct-to-SMTP mode (Email.Type,3) which didn't work that well in the version built-in to PDFX. A significant enhancement in the new version is that it will display details about failures to connect with the SMTP server. (Previously there was no log and no good way to debug such failures.) Other enhancements and characteristics:
| • | You may now include multiple Email.To and Email.CC directives. (As before, each one may contain multiple addresses, but that still limited you to the number that would fit on one line, or about 1024 characters.) |
| • | Email.BCC is now available. |
| • | Type 4 mail requires AshNet.DLL. |
| • | A-Shell will maintain a log file of Type 4 message sent. The default log file is OPR:SMTP.LOG. You can change that with the above statement. To deactivate the log entirely, set logfile to "". |
| • | Email.Type,4 will override subsequent Email.Type commands, so you can effectively convert existing program-generated files to use Type 4 without modifying the programs. For example, you could create a prefix file, say, ASHCFG:PDFX.PFX which contains: //PDFX,Email.Type,4 and then add PREFIX=ASHCFG:PDFX.PFX to any printer init files that use DEVICE=PDFX... |
Three new commands are implemented for type 4 only; they do not work with the other mail types.
//PDFX, Email.ID, idstring
This just attaches an arbitrary idstring (up to 32 chars) to the message. Currently the only purpose of this is to identify the message in the log (described below). Conceptually, applications that send a lot of messages may want to assign unique identifiers to them for tracking/follow-up purposes.
//PDFX,Email.Header,hdr,hdrvalue
e.g.
//PDFX,Email.Header,Disposition-Notification-To,jack@microsabio.com
This statement allows you to add an arbitrary header to the message. The example given is a particularly useful one, requesting a return receipt from the recipient when she reads the message. Definitions of standard headers can be found on the Internet, but keep in mind that it is up to the particular SMTP server and/or email client to properly interpret them. Also note that contrary the standard //PDFX,Email.xxx,value command, this one effectively takes two arguments - the header name and its value. You can, however, enclose the last two arguments in quotes if you prefer to maintain the single argument syntax.
//PDFX,Email.LogFile,logfile
