Re-introduction to NebulaMail

There is some new discussion in the MVDBMS forum about e-mail lately so I thought I’d re-introduce NebulaMail as an option.

NebulaMail enables you to send e-mail from any MV platform, on any OS, using pure Pick BASIC, using the exact same code, without concern for MTAs, MUAs, or anything outside the scope of the DBMS.

To send mail you use normal variables and intuitive names. You don’t need to mess with unusual syntax for utilities like Blat, Mutt, SendMail, or PostFix – and you don’t need to write completely different code depending on the OS your end-user is using.

NebulaMail uses this familiar syntax for sending HTML, attachments with proper MIME support (for over 160 content types), embedded images, multiple To/CC/BCC, custom headers, and for authentication with SMTP, GMail, or QMail servers – and there are SO many other features. All details are controlled by configuration template items which you can maintain. So sending through a different SMTP server, or changing security settings for a single e-mail account, is as easy as reading a different config record. Here is some code from one of the NebulaMail sample programs, with only the data modified for the public:

EMAIL = NMAIL.TRANSPORT.SMTP ; * five options available
EMAIL = "smtp.mydomain.com"
EMAIL = 4646
EMAIL = "moc.niamodymnull@resuym"
EMAIL = "ppaasswwoorrddddddd"
*
* Set headers, To, From, CC, BCC, Subject...
*
EMAIL = "My Company Name"
EMAIL = " X-Mailer-MV: NebulaMail,X-Mailer-MV-Version: 3.1.1"
EMAIL = "Sample01 from MV!"
EMAIL = "moc.niamodymnull@emanym"
EMAIL = "Real Name"
EMAIL = "ten.niamodriehtnull@eman_tneilc"
….
CALL NEBULAMAIL.BUILD

For many of you who are familiar with NebulaXLite to generate complete Excel workbooks from BASIC, you’ll notice that NebulaMail works the exact same way! And I know that means a lot to people who enjoy working with XLite.

I’ll share how NebulaMail works. I start with PHPMailer, which I have found to be very stable and well maintained across platforms. It’s freely downloadable and installs easily. Installing PHP is also required for Windows but this is also as easy as clicking on a setup file. I don’t link with PHPMailer. I create PHP scripts and populate them with data from the MV item above. Anyone here can do this, but I have already done it for you and only ask $200 per server as a gesture of gratitude for the convenience. Have 100 sites? Don’t worry about it. I don’t intend to get rich on utilities like this so we can talk about a reasonably priced bulk license.

Don’t want to buy NebulaMail for more than a couple sites? Here’s a tip (but don’t tell anyone I told you about this, especially me!…) With a simple setting you can tell NebulaMail to save the PHP script, otherwise it purges on send. You can copy that script to any number of sites and write code to modify it from BASIC. Why am I telling you this? Because I think you’ll realize that for the lousy 200 bucks, it will cost you less to just use NebulaMail from BASIC as designed than to take your time to write string manipulation code. So I will encourage you to purchase licenses : You help me, the code helps you, your clients get good solutions at a reasonable price … and everyone can be happy!

Don’t want to pay for anything? OK. Note what I am providing here. It’s something that you can do for yourself, it’s a convenience that will save you a Lot of time and aggravation. It’s something that even your clients can use – and end-users appreciate that! Isn’t “convenience” worth something? How much is your time worth? How much time will it take for you to learn Mutt or Blat or SendMail, and to write different code for different systems? C’mon, spend your time in your apps where you have fun and make more money. I’ll handle the e-mail for you and we’ll have a win-win scenario.

Current status

If you go to the old NebulaMail v2 page, you’re going to see old information. NebulaMail v3 has been completely re-written with PHPMailer, and sports the above new interface which is more intuitive than v2, as well as being consistent with other Nebula R&D products.

NebulaMail v3.1.1 has been running in production in a few sites for over a year, but it was installed as part of service engagements and not as a stand-alone installable package like other Nebula R&D products. If you’d like to purchase NebulaMail today, I’ll be happy to install it and work with you to use it. Otherwise, based on demand I will attempt to devote more time to the product packaging so that you can install it yourself.

For more information about sending e-mail from your MV platform see this PickWiki page.

Comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for your time!