user_guide_src/source/libraries/email.rst
###########
Email Class
###########
CodeIgniter's robust Email Class supports the following features:
- Multiple Protocols: Mail, Sendmail, and SMTP
- TLS and SSL Encryption for SMTP
- Multiple recipients
- CC and BCCs
- HTML or Plaintext email
- Attachments
- Word wrapping
- Priorities
- BCC Batch Mode, enabling large email lists to be broken into small
BCC batches.
- Email Debugging tools
.. contents::
:local:
.. raw:: html
<div class="custom-index container"></div>
***********************
Using the Email Library
***********************
Sending Email
=============
Sending email is not only simple, but you can configure it on the fly or
set your preferences in a config file.
Here is a basic example demonstrating how you might send email. Note:
This example assumes you are sending the email from one of your
:doc:`controllers <../general/controllers>`.
::
$this->load->library('email');
$this->email->from('your@example.com', 'Your Name');
$this->email->to('someone@example.com');
$this->email->cc('another@another-example.com');
$this->email->bcc('them@their-example.com');
$this->email->subject('Email Test');
$this->email->message('Testing the email class.');
$this->email->send();
Setting Email Preferences
=========================
There are 21 different preferences available to tailor how your email
messages are sent. You can either set them manually as described here,
or automatically via preferences stored in your config file, described
below:
Preferences are set by passing an array of preference values to the
email initialize method. Here is an example of how you might set some
preferences::
$config['protocol'] = 'sendmail';
$config['mailpath'] = '/usr/sbin/sendmail';
$config['charset'] = 'iso-8859-1';
$config['wordwrap'] = TRUE;
$this->email->initialize($config);
.. note:: Most of the preferences have default values that will be used
if you do not set them.
Setting Email Preferences in a Config File
------------------------------------------
If you prefer not to set preferences using the above method, you can
instead put them into a config file. Simply create a new file called the
email.php, add the $config array in that file. Then save the file at
config/email.php and it will be used automatically. You will NOT need to
use the ``$this->email->initialize()`` method if you save your
preferences in a config file.
Email Preferences
=================
The following is a list of all the preferences that can be set when
sending email.
=================== ====================== ============================ =======================================================================
Preference Default Value Options Description
=================== ====================== ============================ =======================================================================
**useragent** CodeIgniter None The "user agent".
**protocol** mail mail, sendmail, or smtp The mail sending protocol.
**mailpath** /usr/sbin/sendmail None The server path to Sendmail.
**smtp_host** No Default None SMTP Server Address.
**smtp_user** No Default None SMTP Username.
**smtp_pass** No Default None SMTP Password.
**smtp_port** 25 None SMTP Port.
**smtp_timeout** 5 None SMTP Timeout (in seconds).
**smtp_keepalive** FALSE TRUE or FALSE (boolean) Enable persistent SMTP connections.
**smtp_crypto** No Default tls or ssl SMTP Encryption
**wordwrap** TRUE TRUE or FALSE (boolean) Enable word-wrap.
**wrapchars** 76 Character count to wrap at.
**mailtype** text text or html Type of mail. If you send HTML email you must send it as a complete web
page. Make sure you don't have any relative links or relative image
paths otherwise they will not work.
**charset** ``$config['charset']`` Character set (utf-8, iso-8859-1, etc.).
**validate** TRUE TRUE or FALSE (boolean) Whether to validate the email address.
**priority** 3 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Email Priority. 1 = highest. 5 = lowest. 3 = normal.
**crlf** \\n "\\r\\n" or "\\n" or "\\r" Newline character. (Use "\\r\\n" to comply with RFC 822).
**newline** \\n "\\r\\n" or "\\n" or "\\r" Newline character. (Use "\\r\\n" to comply with RFC 822).
**bcc_batch_mode** FALSE TRUE or FALSE (boolean) Enable BCC Batch Mode.
**bcc_batch_size** 200 None Number of emails in each BCC batch.
**dsn** FALSE TRUE or FALSE (boolean) Enable notify message from server
=================== ====================== ============================ =======================================================================
Overriding Word Wrapping
========================
If you have word wrapping enabled (recommended to comply with RFC 822)
and you have a very long link in your email it can get wrapped too,
causing it to become un-clickable by the person receiving it.
CodeIgniter lets you manually override word wrapping within part of your
message like this::
The text of your email that
gets wrapped normally.
{unwrap}http://example.com/a_long_link_that_should_not_be_wrapped.html{/unwrap}
More text that will be
wrapped normally.
Place the item you do not want word-wrapped between: {unwrap} {/unwrap}
***************
Class Reference
***************
.. php:class:: CI_Email
.. php:method:: from($from[, $name = ''[, $return_path = NULL]])
:param string $from: "From" e-mail address
:param string $name: "From" display name
:param string $return_path: Optional email address to redirect undelivered e-mail to
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the email address and name of the person sending the email::
$this->email->from('you@example.com', 'Your Name');
You can also set a Return-Path, to help redirect undelivered mail::
$this->email->from('you@example.com', 'Your Name', 'returned_emails@example.com');
.. note:: Return-Path can't be used if you've configured 'smtp' as
your protocol.
.. php:method:: reply_to($replyto[, $name = ''])
:param string $replyto: E-mail address for replies
:param string $name: Display name for the reply-to e-mail address
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the reply-to address. If the information is not provided the
information in the :meth:from method is used. Example::
$this->email->reply_to('you@example.com', 'Your Name');
.. php:method:: to($to)
:param mixed $to: Comma-delimited string or an array of e-mail addresses
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the email address(s) of the recipient(s). Can be a single e-mail,
a comma-delimited list or an array::
$this->email->to('someone@example.com');
::
$this->email->to('one@example.com, two@example.com, three@example.com');
::
$this->email->to(
array('one@example.com', 'two@example.com', 'three@example.com')
);
.. php:method:: cc($cc)
:param mixed $cc: Comma-delimited string or an array of e-mail addresses
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the CC email address(s). Just like the "to", can be a single e-mail,
a comma-delimited list or an array.
.. php:method:: bcc($bcc[, $limit = ''])
:param mixed $bcc: Comma-delimited string or an array of e-mail addresses
:param int $limit: Maximum number of e-mails to send per batch
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the BCC email address(s). Just like the ``to()`` method, can be a single
e-mail, a comma-delimited list or an array.
If ``$limit`` is set, "batch mode" will be enabled, which will send
the emails to batches, with each batch not exceeding the specified
``$limit``.
.. php:method:: subject($subject)
:param string $subject: E-mail subject line
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the email subject::
$this->email->subject('This is my subject');
.. php:method:: message($body)
:param string $body: E-mail message body
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the e-mail message body::
$this->email->message('This is my message');
.. php:method:: set_alt_message($str)
:param string $str: Alternative e-mail message body
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Sets the alternative e-mail message body::
$this->email->set_alt_message('This is the alternative message');
This is an optional message string which can be used if you send
HTML formatted email. It lets you specify an alternative message
with no HTML formatting which is added to the header string for
people who do not accept HTML email. If you do not set your own
message CodeIgniter will extract the message from your HTML email
and strip the tags.
.. php:method:: set_header($header, $value)
:param string $header: Header name
:param string $value: Header value
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Appends additional headers to the e-mail::
$this->email->set_header('Header1', 'Value1');
$this->email->set_header('Header2', 'Value2');
.. php:method:: clear([$clear_attachments = FALSE])
:param bool $clear_attachments: Whether or not to clear attachments
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Initializes all the email variables to an empty state. This method
is intended for use if you run the email sending method in a loop,
permitting the data to be reset between cycles.
::
foreach ($list as $name => $address)
{
$this->email->clear();
$this->email->to($address);
$this->email->from('your@example.com');
$this->email->subject('Here is your info '.$name);
$this->email->message('Hi '.$name.' Here is the info you requested.');
$this->email->send();
}
If you set the parameter to TRUE any attachments will be cleared as
well::
$this->email->clear(TRUE);
.. php:method:: send([$auto_clear = TRUE])
:param bool $auto_clear: Whether to clear message data automatically
:returns: TRUE on success, FALSE on failure
:rtype: bool
The e-mail sending method. Returns boolean TRUE or FALSE based on
success or failure, enabling it to be used conditionally::
if ( ! $this->email->send())
{
// Generate error
}
This method will automatically clear all parameters if the request was
successful. To stop this behaviour pass FALSE::
if ($this->email->send(FALSE))
{
// Parameters won't be cleared
}
.. note:: In order to use the ``print_debugger()`` method, you need
to avoid clearing the email parameters.
.. note:: If ``batch_bcc_mode`` is enabled, and there are more than
``batch_bcc_size`` recipients, this method will always return
boolean ``TRUE``.
.. php:method:: attach($filename[, $disposition = ''[, $newname = NULL[, $mime = '']]])
:param string $filename: File name
:param string $disposition: 'disposition' of the attachment. Most
email clients make their own decision regardless of the MIME
specification used here. https://www.iana.org/assignments/cont-disp/cont-disp.xhtml
:param string $newname: Custom file name to use in the e-mail
:param string $mime: MIME type to use (useful for buffered data)
:returns: CI_Email instance (method chaining)
:rtype: CI_Email
Enables you to send an attachment. Put the file path/name in the first
parameter. For multiple attachments use the method multiple times.
For example::
$this->email->attach('/path/to/photo1.jpg');
$this->email->attach('/path/to/photo2.jpg');
$this->email->attach('/path/to/photo3.jpg');
To use the default disposition (attachment), leave the second parameter blank,
otherwise use a custom disposition::
$this->email->attach('image.jpg', 'inline');
You can also use a URL::
$this->email->attach('http://example.com/filename.pdf');
If you'd like to use a custom file name, you can use the third parameter::
$this->email->attach('filename.pdf', 'attachment', 'report.pdf');
If you need to use a buffer string instead of a real - physical - file you can
use the first parameter as buffer, the third parameter as file name and the fourth
parameter as mime-type::
$this->email->attach($buffer, 'attachment', 'report.pdf', 'application/pdf');
.. php:method:: attachment_cid($filename)
:param string $filename: Existing attachment filename
:returns: Attachment Content-ID or FALSE if not found
:rtype: string
Sets and returns an attachment's Content-ID, which enables your to embed an inline
(picture) attachment into HTML. First parameter must be the already attached file name.
::
$filename = '/img/photo1.jpg';
$this->email->attach($filename);
foreach ($list as $address)
{
$this->email->to($address);
$cid = $this->email->attachment_cid($filename);
$this->email->message('<img src="cid:'. $cid .'" alt="photo1" />');
$this->email->send();
}
.. note:: Content-ID for each e-mail must be re-created for it to be unique.
.. php:method:: print_debugger([$include = array('headers', 'subject', 'body')])
:param array $include: Which parts of the message to print out
:returns: Formatted debug data
:rtype: string
Returns a string containing any server messages, the email headers, and
the email message. Useful for debugging.
You can optionally specify which parts of the message should be printed.
Valid options are: **headers**, **subject**, **body**.
Example::
// You need to pass FALSE while sending in order for the email data
// to not be cleared - if that happens, print_debugger() would have
// nothing to output.
$this->email->send(FALSE);
// Will only print the email headers, excluding the message subject and body
$this->email->print_debugger(array('headers'));
.. note:: By default, all of the raw data will be printed.