SMTP Send Adapter

How the SMTP Send Adapter Works

The SMTP Send adapter can mail (send) documents to the back-end mail server of trading partners. The document is then e-mailed to the recipient designated in the To field of the configuration. This adapter picks up the document sent from the primary document in the business process.

The following section describes a business scenario and a sample solution using the SMTP Send adapter.

Business Scenario

A document has been sent to your trading partner for processing and you want to send an email notifying them that the document has been sent and needs action. The message that you are sending is a standard text message telling the recipient that a document has been processed and what action is needed from them.

Business Solution Example

The following example shows a simple solution to this business scenario using the GPM. This example uses a File System adapter to pick up the text document containing the message to be sent. This document becomes the primary document. Since the b2b-raw-message value is set to false, this document is sent as the body of the email.

The message has the following properties:

FROM: sender@company1.com

TO: receiver@company2.com

SUBJECT: Document Notification

The mail host address for the mail server is 000.000.1.103.

The mail port for the mail server is 25.

GPM Example

Business Process Modeling Language (BPML) Example

The following example shows the corresponding business process solution by using BPML.

Implementing the SMTP Send Adapter

Configuring the SMTP Send Adapter

To configure the SMTP Send adapter, you must specify field settings in Sterling B2B Integrator and in the GPM.

Sterling B2B Integrator Configuration

The following table describes the fields used to configure the SMTP Send adapter in Sterling B2B Integrator:

GPM Configuration

The following screen shows the graphical view of the GPM parameters for the SMTP Send adapter. The dimmed values were generated from the SMTP Send adapter configuration. All parameters are set on the Message To Service tab. No entries are required on the Message From Service tab.

All of the parameters beginning with smtp were either set or are defaults from the service configuration. To set the same values in the GPM or the business process, the following relationships exist:

The following example shows the corresponding BPML parameters for the SMTP Send adapter as configured above.

<operation name="SMTP Send Email">
      <participant name="SMTP_SEND_ADAPTER"/>
      <output message="Xout">
       <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-auth">true</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailBCC">Recipient@company1.com</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailCC">Recipient2@company2.com</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailfrom">sender@company1.com</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailhost">000.000.1.103</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailport">25</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailsubject">Document Notification</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailsubjectencoding">ASCII</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-mailto">receiver@company2.com</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-notify-delivery">true</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-notify-read">true</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-retries">3</assign>
       <assign to="xport-smtp-retryinterval">1</assign>
       <assign to="xport-tp-cakeycert-id">server:105e37:f3be012345:-52e9</assign>
       <assign to="xport-tp-cipher">STRONG</assign>
       <assign to="xport-tp-keycert-id">server:218e57:f3bd123456:-733b</assign>
       <assign to="xport-tp-ssloption">SSL_MUST</assign> 
     </output>
     <input message="Xin">
        <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
     </input>
   </operation>

The following table describes the fields used to configure the SMTP Send adapter in the GPM. This lists the fields that are only set in the GPM.

SMTP Send Adapter Business Process Usage

This section contains additional examples using the SMTP Send adapter for sending email. Examples are included both in the GPM and in BPML. The following business process examples illustrate various modes of operation for the SMTP Send adapter.

Non-raw Message Mode with SMTP authentication

The following example demonstrates using the SMTP Send adapter with a primary document that is not in raw message format. This document needs to be either a plain text document or one that is readable as a plain text document. The adapter creates an RFC822 compliant document to send with the primary document as the plain text body of the email.

The following example shows the corresponding business process solution using BPML.

<process name="Test_SMTP_SSL">
  <sequence name="e-mail sequence">
    <operation name="Send with copies">
      <participant name="SMTP_SEND_ADAPTER"/>
      <output message="Xout">
        <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
        <assign to="b2b-raw-message">false</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-auth">true</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-mailBCC">stest4@co.com</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-mailCC">stest3@co.com</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-mailfrom">stest1@co.com</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-mailhost">00.000.00.00</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-mailport">25</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-mailsubject">This is the subject</assign>
        <assign to="xport-smtp-mailto">stest2@co.com</assign>
        <assign to="xport-tp-cakeycert-id">server:105e37:f3be012345:-52e9
        </assign>
        <assign to="xport-tp-keycert-id">server:218e57:f3bd123456:-733b
        </assign>
        <assign to="xport-tp-ssloption">SSL_MUST</assign>
      </output>
      <input message="Xin">
        <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
      </input>
    </operation>
  </sequence> 
</process>

The following example shows a sample text message sent in the non-raw message format. It is the primary document and becomes the body of the message.

This is a simple example of a text message. 
This message is used to test the
SMTP Send adapter configuration with the non raw message format.
This entire text appears in the body of the e-mail.

Raw Message Format

“Raw Message” refers to an Internet RFC822-compliant message as described in the parameter table. This message contains a message envelope and message content. The message envelope contains all the information needed to accomplish transmission and delivery of the message.

When the Raw Message-Format option is selected, the primary document must be in Internet RFC822-compliant format. This message can be passed to or picked up by the business process in this format, or the message can be constructed dynamically by the business process. A common way to construct a simple dynamic message is through the use of XSLT (see XSLT Service page 713). This allows the message as well as the header (envelope) information to change as needed.

The following is an example of raw message format:

From: "John, Doe" <john_doe@e-mailaddress.com> 
To: "Jane, Jones" <jane_jones@e-mailaddress.com> 
Subject: Testing Raw Message 
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:51:44 
MIME-Version: 1.0 
Content-Type: text/plain charset="iso-8859-1";
This is a simple RFC822 compliance message. 
The message envelope consists of the originator 
and recipient fields, and this is the content 
of the message.

The following business process sends email using mail host 00.000.00.00 on port 25. This configuration takes a raw document of the type described above or a multipart MIME document that is Internet RFC822-compliant (see Multiple Documents (email with multiple attachments)).

The following example shows the corresponding business process solution using BPML.

<process name="Test_SMTP_Using_Raw_Message">
 <sequence name="Raw Message">
 <operation name="e-mail Raw Message">
 <participant name="SMTP_SEND_ADAPTER"/>
 <output message="Xout">
 <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
 <assign to="xport-smtp-mailhost">00.000.00.00</assign>
 <assign to="xport-smtp-mailport">25</assign>
 <assign to="b2b-raw-message">true</assign>
 </output>
 <input message="Xin">
 <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
 </input>
 </operation>
 </sequence> 
</process>

Multiple Documents (email with multiple attachments)

To send multiple documents in a single email message, an RFC822-compliant MIME message must be constructed with all the documents included. This MIME message is sent by the SMTP Send adapter using raw message mode. Please refer to MIME Service document, Appendix A, for how to construct an RFC822 compliant MIME message.

In the event that a message of this type is used, the SMTP Send adapter is configured as in Raw Message Format.

B2B Mode

B2B mode is used when trading partner information is required as part of the application. There is a specialized application of the SMTP Send adapter that is available for use when working with B2B applications. See B2B SMTP Client Adapter for information on how to use this application.

For B2B applications and for transmitting EDI data, the required SMTP information can be specified in the trading profiles and accessed in a business process by using the B2B Send service. See B2B Send System Service for more information about the B2B Send service.