Q221495: HOW TO: Create Scheduled E-mail Messages by Using WSH and CDONTS
Article: Q221495
Product(s): Internet Information Server
Version(s): 4.0,5.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbHOWTOmaster
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Internet Information Server version 4.0
- Microsoft Internet Information Services version 5.0
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IN THIS TASK
------------
- SUMMARY
- Verify that the Scheduler Service is Running
- Create the Mail File
- Create the WSH Script
- Create a Task to Schedule the Mail-Out to Be Sent
- REFERENCES
SUMMARY
=======
By default, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with the Windows NT Option Pack (NTOP) and
Microsoft Windows 2000 install a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service
that can be used for a variety of purposes. One of the more common uses is
Active Server Pages (ASP) for e-mail-based HTML form handling.
This step-by-step article describes how to create scheduled mail-outs by using
Windows Script Host (WSH) and the e-mail features of the SMTP service
CDONTS.NewMail object. The example shows how to create a text file that you can
update for the e-mail message contents, a WSH script to send an e-mail message,
and a scheduled task to schedule the e-mail message to be sent.
Verify that the Scheduler Service Is Running
--------------------------------------------
- On a computer that is running Windows NT 4.0 and Internet Information Server
(IIS) 4.0:
1. Click Start, click Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Services.
3. Scroll down to the Task Scheduler service.
4. Verify that Status indicates Started. If Status is not set to Started,
click to select Task Scheduler and then click Start.
5. Verify that Startup indicates Automatic. If Startup is not set to
Automatic, click to select Task Scheduler and then click Startup. Under
Startup Type, click to select Automatic, and then click OK.
6. Click Close.
7. To exit, close Control Panel.
- On a computer that is running Windows 2000 and Internet Information Services
(IIS) 5.0:
1. Click Start, click Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer
Management.
3. In the left pane of the Computer Management window, expand Services and
Applications, and then click to select Services.
4. In the right pane of the Computer Management window, scroll through the
list of services in the Name column.
5. Scroll down to the Task Scheduler service.
6. Verify that Status indicates Started. If the service is not started,
right-click the Task Scheduler service, and then click to select Start.
7. Verify that Startup Type indicates Automatic. If Startup Type is not set
to Automatic, right-click the Task Scheduler service, and then click
Properties. The <service_name> window appears with the General tab
selected. Note that you can click the other tabs at the top of the window
to see other options. Click the drop-down arrow next to Startup type, and
then select Automatic.
8. Click OK.
9. To exit, close the Computer Management window.
Create the E-Mail File
----------------------
1. Open Notepad. To do this, click Start, click Run, type NOTEPAD, and then
click OK.
2. Paste the following lines in Notepad:
<p>This is line 1.</p>
<p>This is line 2.</p>
3. In Notepad, click the File menu, click Save As, type C:\Mailout.txt in the
File name text box, and then click OK.
4. To exit, close Notepad.
Create the WSH Script
---------------------
1. Open Notepad. To do this, click Start, click Run, type NOTEPAD, and then
click OK.
2. Paste the following lines in Notepad:
NOTE: You must specify a valid e-mail address. To do this, customize the sender
and receiver by changing the value of the strFrom and strTo variables in the
following code:
'--------------------------------------------------------------------
'
' Mailout using CDONTS.NewMail
'
'--------------------------------------------------------------------
' Declare all variables.
Option Explicit
Dim objSendMail
Dim strTo, strFrom
Dim strSubject, strBody
' Mail constants (some are for reference).
Const CdoBodyFormatHTML = 0 ' Body property is HTML
Const CdoBodyFormatText = 1 ' Body property is plain text (default)
Const CdoMailFormatMime = 0 ' NewMail object is in MIME format
Const CdoMailFormatText = 1 ' NewMail object is plain text (default)
Const CdoLow = 0 ' Low importance
Const CdoNormal = 1 ' Normal importance (default)
Const CdoHigh = 2 ' High importance
strFrom = "someone@microsoft.com" ' Change to your e-mail address.
strTo = "someone@microsoft.com" ' Change to the recipient address.
strSubject = "Test Message" ' Change to your subject.
' This line calls the ReadFile() function to read the page contents.
strBody = ReadFile("C:\MAILOUT.TXT")
' This line calls the MakePage() function to format the page as HTML.
strBody = MakePage(strSubject,strBody)
' The following section creates the mail object and sends the mail.
Set objSendMail = CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
objSendMail.From = strFrom
objSendMail.To = strTo
objSendMail.Subject = strSubject & " (" & Date() & ")"
objSendMail.Body = strBody
objSendMail.BodyFormat = CdoBodyFormatHTML
objSendMail.MailFormat = CdoMailFormatMime
objSendMail.Importance = CdoNormal
objSendMail.Send
Set objSendMail = Nothing
' This function returns a properly formatted HTML page.
Function MakePage(txtSubject, txtBody)
Dim txtTemp
txtTemp = "<HTML>" & vbCrLf
txtTemp = txtTemp & "<HEAD><TITLE>"
txtTemp = txtTemp & txtSubject
txtTemp = txtTemp & "</TITLE></HEAD>" & vbCrLf
txtTemp = txtTemp & "<BODY>" & vbCrLf
txtTemp = txtTemp & "<H2>" & txtSubject & "</H2>" & vbCrLf
txtTemp = txtTemp & txtBody & vbCrLf
txtTemp = txtTemp & "</BODY>" & vbCrLf
txtTemp = txtTemp & "</HTML>"
MakePage = txtTemp
End Function
' This function opens a file and returns the contents of the file.
Function ReadFile(txtFile)
Dim txtTemp, objFS, objFL
Set objFS = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFL = objFS.OpenTextFile(txtFile)
Do While Not objFL.AtEndOfStream
txtTemp = txtTemp & objFL.ReadLine
txtTemp = txtTemp & vbCrLf
Loop
objFL.Close
Set objFS = Nothing
ReadFile = txtTemp
End Function
3. In Notepad, click the File menu, click Save As, type "C:\mailout.vbs"
(without the quotation marks) in the File name text box, and then click OK.
4. To exit, close Notepad.
Create a Task to Schedule the Mail-Out to Be Sent
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1. Click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK to open a command prompt.
2. At the command prompt window, type something similar to the following
examples:
- The following task runs one time at 9:00 P.M.
AT 9:00pm Cscript.exe C:\Mailout.vbs
- This task runs every Monday at 6:00 A.M.
AT 6:00am /every:M Cscript.exe C:\Mailout.vbs
- This task runs on the first of every month at 1:00 A.M.
AT 1:00am /every:1 Cscript.exe C:\Mailout.vbs
NOTE: Depending on which of these examples you choose, the e-mail message is sent
at the scheduled time.
3. Type "EXIT" (without the quotation marks) to close the command prompt.
REFERENCES
==========
For more information about Microsoft scripting technologies, visit the following
Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting/
Additional query words:
======================================================================
Keywords : kbHOWTOmaster
Technology : kbiisSearch kbiis500 kbiis400
Version : :4.0,5.0
Issue type : kbhowto
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