Internet Mail Control Features

The Catalyst Internet Mail product is a single ActiveX control or .NET component which provides a simplified interface for composing, sending and retrieving e-mail messages. Unlike other products which are essentially re-packaged collections of e-mail related components, the Internet Mail control was designed for ease-of-use and flexibility, without the inherent learning curve and additional coding required when using multiple components.

In many cases, e-mail functionality is simply one feature in an already complex project. Instead of setting dozens of properties and writing many lines of code to connect the output of one control to the input of another, the Internet Mail component requires just two method calls to compose and deliver a message. The simple elegance of the component's interface translates directly into fewer lines of source code to write, debug and maintain. In turn, this allows the developer to focus his efforts on the core application without sacrificing features that add value to the end-user.

Comprehensive Interface

The component offers a comprehensive interface, providing the developer with everything that he needs to incorporate e-mail functionality in an application. Many of the component's properties control the contents of a message, such as the list of recipients, the subject of the message and the message body. Methods are used to compose new messages, retrieve messages from a mail server and deliver messages to one or more recipients. Messages can also be managed on the mail server, or downloaded to the local system and stored in a file or a database record. The developer has complete access to all of the headers in the message, and can create custom application-specific header fields if needed. Event notifications enable the developer to provide the user with feedback, such as the progress of sending or retrieving a message. Advanced features such as delivery status notification, support for relay servers and secure encrypted connections are easily implemented by simply setting a few properties.

Security and Reliability

The Catalyst Internet Mail component provides industry standard security using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols. Our components support strong, commercial grade 128-bit encryption over the Internet, and don't rely on WinInet or third-party toolkits which have licensing restrictions or are encumbered by patents. Set a single property or option, and the control automatically handles all of the complex certificate management, protocol negotiation and encryption for you. Even advanced options, such as using client certificates, are handled easily with just a few lines of code.

Internet Standards

The Catalyst Internet Mail ActiveX control and .NET class implements the standard Internet protocols for sending and retrieving e-mail messages, ensuring the highest degree of compatibility possible with mail servers around the world. These standards are defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force and published as standard track Request For Comment (RFC) documents. To send e-mail messages, the control implements RFC 821 and 1869, which defines the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and related extensions. To retrieve messages from a mail server, the component implements RFC 1939, which defines the Post Office Protocol. For composing and parsing the messages themselves, the component implements RFCs 822, 2045, 2046 and 2047 which defines the internal structure of a message and how it should be processed.

Features and Stability

The Catalyst Internet Mail component is built on the solid foundation of the award-winning SocketTools family of products. The same core technologies and features that have been market-tested and proven since 1995 were used to create the Internet Mail control. As a leading developer of Internet component software, tens of thousands of developers around the world trust Catalyst Development to create components with the stability and features needed to build dependable, world-class software.

Flexibility

The Internet Mail ActiveX control has been designed with a great degree of flexibility and can be used with a wide variety of programming languages and different types of development environments. Implemented as a standard ActiveX control, it is fully supported by languages such as Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro, Visual C++, Borland C++Builder, Delphi and PowerBuilder. In addition, the control can also be used as a basic COM object in scripting languages like VBScript, with full support for server-side scripting in Active Server Pages and other similar technologies.

The Internet Mail .NET class is a managed code component specifically designed for the .NET Framework. It can be used with languages such as Visual Basic .NET, C# and Delphi .NET, and includes assemblies that target both version 1.1 and version 2.0 of the Common Language Runtime. You can target either version of the Framework, depending on your application requirements and the development tools you're using, such as Microsoft Visual Studio 2003 .NET, Visual Studio 2005 and Borland Developer Studio 2006. If you are migrating your application which uses the ActiveX to the .NET platform, the .NET class has an interface that is similar to the ActiveX control interface, making the transition as seamless as possible.

Simplified Redistribution

The Internet Mail ActiveX control was created using the ActiveX Template Library, and has no dependency on third-party components or Microsoft support libraries. This means that only the control itself needs to be included with the program that uses it, simplifying the process of redistributing and installing the software while reducing the application's overall size. The Internet Mail .NET class was written in C# and shares the same core code as SocketTools .NET Edition product.

Documentation

As important as functionality, features and stability are, comprehensive documentation is equally as important to the application developer. This is why the Catalyst Internet Mail product includes a Developer's Guide to help the developer get started and ease the learning curve, and a complete Technical Reference which documents every property, method and event supported by the component. A printable version of the documentation is included with the product, as well as context-sensitive online help which can be accessed directly from within the development environment. Example programs in a variety of languages are also included to help the developer become familiar with the features of the control and provide code which they can re-use in their own applications.

Licensing

Catalyst understands today's software development requirements which often require support for multiple operating systems and different programming languages. As with all Catalyst components, the Internet Mail product is licensed to a single developer, and applications built using the control can be redistributed to as many end-users as needed without additional royalties or runtime licensing fees. Developers are also permitted to install the product on different development systems as long as they are the only one using it and there is no chance that it can be used by more than one person at the same time.

Internet Mail Links

Product Overview
An overview of the product design, features and benefits.

Product Features
Additional information about the product features.

.NET Component
Information about the Internet Mail .NET component.

ActiveX Control
Information about the Internet Mail ActiveX control.

Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most common questions about the product.

Release Notes
Release notes for the current version of the product.

License Agreement
The developer license agreement for this product.