ASP.NET Send email using GMAIL

In this article you will learn how to use ASP.NET - Code snippet to send email using GMAIL.

Introduction

Several days ago someone in the forum has asked "how to send email using GMAIL". I have the code in my computer but it took me a while to locate it and put it in certain format. So, I decided to post this code snippet on the web so that I can access it anytime and share it with other user. Shown below is the code.  

If you decide to store the mail server information in the web.config file, refer to listing 1.

Listing 1 

    <system.web>
      <system.net>

        <mailSettings>
          <smtp from="YourGMAIL ">

            <network host="smtp.gmail.com" defaultCredentials="false"
            port="587" userName ="YourGMAIL" password="YourGmailPassword" />
          </smtp>
        </mailSettings>
      </system.net>
    </system.web>

Shown in listing 2 is the code snippet to send email. 

Listing 2 

    public string SendEmail(bool readWebConfig)
    {
        string emailStatus = string.Empty;

        string from = "YourGmail"; //Replace this with your own correct Gmail Address

        string to = "[e-mail]"; 

        string cc = "[e-mail]; [e-mail]; [e-mail]";

        string bcc = "";

        string fromName = "bryian";

        string userName = "YourGMAIL";

        string password = "YourGMAILPassword";

        Attachment attachment = null;

        //if you want to send attachment, include the file location
       // Attachment attachment = new Attachment("file location");

        SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient();
        client.EnableSsl = true; //Gmail works on Server Secured Layer

        if (!readWebConfig)
        {
            client.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(userName, password);
            client.Port = 587; // Gmail works on this port
            client.Host = "smtp.gmail.com"; //hotmail: smtp.live.com
        }

        try
        {
            using (MailMessage mail = new MailMessage())
            {
                mail.From = new MailAddress(from, fromName);
                mail.ReplyTo = new MailAddress(from, fromName);
                mail.Sender = mail.ReplyTo;

                if (to.Contains(";"))
                {
                    string[] _EmailsTO = to.Split(";".ToCharArray());

                    for (int i = 0; i < _EmailsTO.Length; i++)
                    {
                        mail.To.Add(new MailAddress(_EmailsTO[i]));
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if (!to.Equals(string.Empty))
                    {
                        mail.To.Add(new MailAddress(to));
                    }
                }

                //CC
                if (cc.Contains(";"))
                {
                    string[] _EmailsCC = cc.Split(";".ToCharArray());

                    for (int i = 0; i < _EmailsCC.Length; i++)
                    {
                        mail.CC.Add(new MailAddress(_EmailsCC[i]));
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if (!cc.Equals(string.Empty))
                    {
                        mail.CC.Add(new MailAddress(cc));
                    }
                }

                //BCC
                if (bcc.Contains(";"))
                {
                    string[] _EmailsBCC = bcc.Split(";".ToCharArray());
                    for (int i = 0; i < _EmailsBCC.Length; i++)
                    {
                        mail.Bcc.Add(new MailAddress(_EmailsBCC[i]));
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if (!bcc.Equals(string.Empty))
                    {
                        mail.Bcc.Add(new MailAddress(cc));
                    }
                }

                string message = "this is a test message";
                mail.Subject = "test subject";
                mail.Body = "<div style=\"font: 11px verdana, arial\">";
                mail.Body += message.Replace("\n", "<br />") + "<br /><br />";
                mail.Body += "<hr /><br />";
                mail.Body += "<h3>Sender information</h3>";
                mail.Body += "<div style=\"font-size:10px;line-height:16px\">";
                mail.Body += "<strong>Name:</strong> " + fromName + "<br />";
                mail.Body += "<strong>E-mail:</strong> " + from + "<br />";
                mail.IsBodyHtml = true;
 
                if (HttpContext.Current != null)
 
                {
 
                    mail.Body += "<strong>IP 
address:</strong> " + HttpContext.Current.Request.UserHostAddress +
"<br />";
                    mail.Body += "<strong>User-agent:</strong> " + HttpContext.Current.Request.UserAgent;
                }
 
                //attachment
                if (attachment != null)
                {
                    mail.Attachments.Add(attachment);
                }

                client.Send(mail);
                emailStatus = "success";
            }
        }

        catch (Exception ex)

        {
            emailStatus = ex.Message;

        } // end try 

        return emailStatus;
    }

Explanation

The sample code is very straight forward and comments are included in it. 

To send email using the mail server information in the web.config file. 

     string status = SendEmail(true); 

If you want to send attachment, include the file location. For instance. 

     Attachment attachment = new Attachment("c:\xyz.pdf");