22.2 Just Sending a Message

You don't have to be using a CGI script to use Mail::Sender. For example, you can write a normal Perl program to send a message. The following program is a sample program that does exactly that.

use Mail::Sender;
use strict;
use warnings;

my $m = new Mail::Sender{smtp=>'localhost', from=>'me@myserver.net'};
$m->Open({
  to=>'you@yourserver.net', 
  cc=>'theothers@somewhere.net',
  subject=>'important issue', 
  replyto=>'myotheraccount@myserver.net'});
$m->Send(<<'END');
Whatever message I want to send.
END
$m->Close();

Now, let me explain what each line does.

• use Mail::Header
  this is the usual use statement to include a Perl module.
• my $m = new Mail::Sender
  We are creating a new sender object. See the following for its parameters.
  • This can either be a hash of parameters or a list (order dependent). I think it is best to us a hash so the code is more self documenting. All parameters are optional.
  • {
    to open a hash
  • from=>'myaddr'
    specifies the from address
  • fake_from=>'shownmyaddr'
    what is actually shown as my address
  • replyto=>'reply-to-addr'
    the address to reply to, can be different from the from address.
  • to=>'destaddr'
    the destination email address. Use a comma separated list for multiple recipients. You can also use a reference to a list of addresses.
  • fake_to=>'faked-to-addr'
    this is what is shown from the recipient's point of view. Useful if you want to hide the actual list of recipients.
  • cc=>'cc-addr'
    sort of like to, but for carbon-copy.
  • fake_cc=>'fake-cc-addr'
    sort of like fake_to, but for copy-copy.
  • bcc=>'bcc-addr'
    sort of like cc, but for blind carbon copy (not shown in the mail).
  • smtp=>'smtp-server'
    specifies the simple mail transport protocol server. localhost works for your Power account. localhost should work on most web hosting setups.
  • subject=>'A subject line'
    specifies the subject.
  • priority=>'3'
    specifies a number from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest) priority.
  • confirm=>...
    specifies whether a confirmation is requested. Specify delivery for just delivery confirmation, reading for read (click) confirmation, or 'delivery, reading' for both.
  • other options: refer to the Mail::Sender documentation at CPAN for more discussions!
  • }
    to close a hash
• m->Send(<<'END');
  Specifies the body of the message. Whatever follows is the actual body of the message, up to way up to a single line with just END on it.
• END
  Marks the end of the body of the message.
• $m->Close();
  Closes the connection. Normally, the message is sent at this point.