Shell Programming and Scripting

Hi,

I have read the related posts by perleo and those who assisted. I wish to do a similar thing, in that I wish to use the Net:smtp module.

I have downloaded it and followed the instructions for the install.

When I check the perldoc net::smtp, the information returns (thus showing it has installed correctly? sorry no idea where it lives on Windows XP)

I then tried the following code

#!/bin/perl

sub send_mail {
my($to, $from, $subject, @body)=@_;

use Net::SMTP;


my $relay="smtp.ntlworld.com";
my $smtp = Net::SMTP->new($relay);
die "Could not open connection: $!" if (! defined $smtp);

$smtp->mail ($from);
$smtp->to ($to);

$smtp->data();
$smtp->datasend("To:$to\n");
$smtp->datasend("From: $from\n");
$smtp->datasend("Subject: $subject\n");
$smtp->datasend("\n");
foreach(@body) {
$smtp->datasend("$_\n");
}
$smtp->dataend();
$smtp->quit;
}

@body=("This is perl, does it work.Does anything work?");
send_mail('cheng_alchemy@hotmail.com', 'cheng_alchemy\@hotmail', 'Subject of Perl',@body);

I know nothing about perl (kornshell background and unix so I know nothing about windows either - sorry) and have blatently copied it from a book I am reading.

I am running version 5.6.1 on windows XP.

When I execute the script , it doesn't report any errors and I am assuming it hasn't worked as I haven't had any emails (waited a couple of hours). Does anyone have any ideas?

No tight deadline to work to, just my own education.

Cheers,

Cheng

Hi,

having investigated this further. It would appear that the recipient e.g. my hotmail address bounces the email as the header is blank. Consequently the mail server believes it to be either spam or undesirable. It therefore kills the email so it doesn't just bounce back and forth.

The reason why mail servers now do this is principally for the sake of spammers. So, if I alter my email to include a header and therefore become traceable, they will in all likelihood forward on the mail.

Cheers,

Cheng