How to save MailMessage object to disk as *.eml or *.msg file
C#.NetEmailMailmessageEmlC# Problem Overview
How do I save MailMessage object to the disk? The MailMessage object does not expose any Save() methods.
I dont have a problem if it saves in any format, *.eml or *.msg. Any idea how to do this?
C# Solutions
Solution 1 - C#
For simplicity, I'll just quote an explanation from a Connect item:
> You can actually configure the > SmtpClient to send emails to the file > system instead of the network. You can > do this programmatically using the > following code: > > SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient("mysmtphost"); > client.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.SpecifiedPickupDirectory; > client.PickupDirectoryLocation = @"C:\somedirectory"; > client.Send(message); > > You can also set this up in your > application configuration file like > this:
<configuration>
<system.net>
<mailSettings>
<smtp deliveryMethod="SpecifiedPickupDirectory">
<specifiedPickupDirectory pickupDirectoryLocation="C:\somedirectory" />
</smtp>
</mailSettings>
</system.net>
</configuration>
> > After sending the email, you should > see email files get added to the > directory you specified. You can then > have a separate process send out the > email messages in batch mode.
You should be able to use the empty constructor instead of the one listed, as it won't be sending it anyway.
Solution 2 - C#
Here's an extension method to convert a MailMessage to a stream containing the EML data. Its obviously a bit of a hack as it uses the file system, but it works.
public static void SaveMailMessage(this MailMessage msg, string filePath)
{
using (var fs = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Create))
{
msg.ToEMLStream(fs);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Converts a MailMessage to an EML file stream.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="msg"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static void ToEMLStream(this MailMessage msg, Stream str)
{
using (var client = new SmtpClient())
{
var id = Guid.NewGuid();
var tempFolder = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name);
tempFolder = Path.Combine(tempFolder, "MailMessageToEMLTemp");
// create a temp folder to hold just this .eml file so that we can find it easily.
tempFolder = Path.Combine(tempFolder, id.ToString());
if (!Directory.Exists(tempFolder))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(tempFolder);
}
client.UseDefaultCredentials = true;
client.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.SpecifiedPickupDirectory;
client.PickupDirectoryLocation = tempFolder;
client.Send(msg);
// tempFolder should contain 1 eml file
var filePath = Directory.GetFiles(tempFolder).Single();
// stream out the contents
using (var fs = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Open))
{
fs.CopyTo(str);
}
if (Directory.Exists(tempFolder))
{
Directory.Delete(tempFolder, true);
}
}
}
You can then take the stream thats returned and do as you want with it, including saving to another location on disk or storing in a database field, or even emailing as an attachment.
Solution 3 - C#
If you are using Mailkit. Just write below code
string fileName = "your filename full path";
MimeKit.MimeMessage message = CreateMyMessage ();
message.WriteTo(fileName);
Solution 4 - C#
With the help of community I came up with an solution for .NET 5. I have combined this old solution with suggestions in this post and got inspired by Mailkit which resulted in nice extension method without unnecessary dependencies
public static class MailMessageHelper
{
public static void WriteTo(this MailMessage mail, Stream stream)
{
Assembly assembly = typeof(SmtpClient).Assembly;
Type _mailWriterType = assembly.GetType("System.Net.Mail.MailWriter");
// Get reflection info for MailWriter contructor
ConstructorInfo _mailWriterConstructor =
_mailWriterType.GetConstructor(
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic,
null,
new Type[] { typeof(Stream), typeof(bool) },
null);
// Construct MailWriter object with our FileStream
object _mailWriter =
_mailWriterConstructor.Invoke(new object[] { stream, true });
// Get reflection info for Send() method on MailMessage
MethodInfo _sendMethod =
typeof(MailMessage).GetMethod(
"Send",
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
// Call method passing in MailWriter
_sendMethod.Invoke(
mail,
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic,
null,
new object[] { _mailWriter, true, true },
null);
// Finally get reflection info for Close() method on our MailWriter
MethodInfo _closeMethod =
_mailWriter.GetType().GetMethod(
"Close",
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
// Call close method
_closeMethod.Invoke(
_mailWriter,
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic,
null,
Array.Empty<object>(),
null);
}
}
Usage
MailMessage mail = new(mailFrom, mailTo, mailSubject, mailContent);
mail.WriteTo(new FileStream(@"path_to_file\new_mail.eml", FileMode.Create));
Also if you are using MemoryStream
and want to get result in string
, just change the return type of the extension method and at the end write
return Encoding.ASCII.GetString(stream.ToArray());
Enjoy
Solution 5 - C#
For one reason or another the client.send failed (right after an actual send using that method) so I plugged in good 'ole CDO and ADODB stream. I also had to load CDO.message with a template.eml before setting the .Message values. But it works.
Since the above one is C here is one for VB
MyMessage.From = New Net.Mail.MailAddress(mEmailAddress)
MyMessage.To.Add(mToAddress)
MyMessage.Subject = mSubject
MyMessage.Body = mBody
Smtp.Host = "------"
Smtp.Port = "2525"
Smtp.Credentials = New NetworkCredential(------)
Smtp.Send(MyMessage) ' Actual Send
Dim oldCDO As CDO.Message
oldCDO = MyLoadEmlFromFile("template.eml") ' just put from, to, subject blank. leave first line blank
oldCDO.To = mToAddress
oldCDO.From = mEmailAddress
oldCDO.Subject = mSubject
oldCDO.TextBody = mBody
oldCDO.HTMLBody = mBody
oldCDO.GetStream.Flush()
oldCDO.GetStream.SaveToFile(yourPath)
Solution 6 - C#
try this
please use these 2 reference ( using MailBee;) ( using MailBee.Mime;)
public static string load(string to,string from,string cc,string bcc,string subject,string body, List<string> reportList,string path, bool HtmlbodyType)
{
try
{
MailBee.Mime.MailMessage msg = new MailBee.Mime.MailMessage();
msg.From.AsString = from;
msg.Subject = subject;
if (HtmlbodyType == true)
{
msg.BodyHtmlText = body;
}
else
{
msg.BodyPlainText = body;
}
string[] receptionEmail = to.Split(new string[] { ",", ";" }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
string[] ccEmail = cc.Split(new string[] { ",", ";" }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
string[] bccEmail = bcc.Split(new string[] { ",", ";" }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
string message = "";
foreach (string To in receptionEmail)
{
msg.To.Add(To);
}
foreach (string CC in ccEmail)
{
msg.Cc.Add(CC);
}
foreach (string Bcc in bccEmail)
{
msg.Bcc.Add(Bcc);
}
for (int x = 0; x < reportList.Count; x++)
{
string fileName = reportList[x];
msg.Attachments.Add(fileName);
}
msg.SaveMessage(path);
return "Success";
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
return ex.Message;
}
}