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Messaging Server Plug-in API Guide


About This Guide

The Messaging Server Plug-in API Guide explains how to use the Messaging Server plug-in application programming interface (API) to write SMTP plug-ins that extend Netscape Messaging Server 4.1.

This guide assumes that you are using the Messaging Server Plug-in API 4.1, which is available on the Solaris, HP-UX 11.00, DEC Unix, SGI IRIX, AIX, and Windows NT platforms.

This chapter has the following sections:

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What You Should Already Know

The Messaging Server Plug-in API Guide is intended for developers who want to extend the functionality of the Netscape Messaging Server for site-specific reasons. This guide assumes that you are a programmer with this background:

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Where to Find the SMTP Plug-in Header File

The Messaging Server Plug-in API is defined in the msg4plugins.h header file. You can see this file in HTML format or download the file.

You can also find msg4plugins.h in the Messaging Server directory serverroot\plugins\include; the version in this directory may be more up-to-date than the one you can download through this guide.

Where to Find Messaging Server Information

For Netscape developer information, see the Netscape DevEdge site.

Netscape provides a number of sources for information about Messaging Server:

For information about Netscape server APIs, see these Netscape documents:

For details about the messaging elements referenced in this guide, see the following RFCs (Requests for Comments):

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New in This Release

Read this sections to find out what's new in this release of the Messaging Server Plug-in API.

For information about using new and changed API elements, see Chapter 2, "Using the Messaging Server Plug-in API" and the individual reference entry for each element in Chapter 3, "Messaging Server Plug-in API Reference."

For information about upgrading existing Messaging Server Plug-in API 3.0 and 4.0 plug-ins to 4.1, see Appendix A, "Converting Messaging Server Plug-in Files to 4.1."

Changes from 4.0 to 4.1

Messaging Server Plug-in API 4.1 has one new function and makes a change to the Message structure.

Changes from 3.0 to 4.0

With version 4.0, the Messaging Server Plug-in API gained several new functions that help in handling messages.

The 4.0 Messaging Server Plug-in API changed some existing structures and definitions and added new structures. These changes should not affect Messaging Server Plug-in API 3.0 files. See Appendix A, "Converting Messaging Server Plug-in Files to 4.1."

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Where to Find Information in This Guide

If you want to find a particular task, look for it in Table 1 and find the chapter or section that describes it.

Table 1 Finding information in this guide 
If you want to do this: See this chapter:

Get basic information about the Messaging Server Plug-in API.

Chapter 1, "Introducing the Messaging Server Plug-in API"

Find out about using this API to add site-specific functionality to Messaging Server 4.1.

Chapter 2, "Using the Messaging Server Plug-in API"

Find reference information about functions, data structures, and result codes.

Chapter 3, "Messaging Server Plug-in API Reference"

Go step-by-step through the process of constructing a plug-in.

Chapter 4, "Sample SMTP Plug-in"

Run a test plug-in with code provided for you in this guide.

Chapter 4, "Sample SMTP Plug-in"

Find out what you need to know to convert 3.0 Messaging Server Plug-in API files to 4.1.

Appendix A, "Converting Messaging Server Plug-in Files to 4.1"

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Document Conventions

Path name conventions. The Netscape Messaging Server runs on Windows and Unix platforms. The information in this guide applies to all versions. Windows format, in which backslashes separate directory names, is used to represent file and directory paths. In Unix format, slashes take the place of backslashes.

URLs. This book uses Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) with this format:

http://server.domain/path/file.html
Where the parts of the URL have these values:

server

Name of the server on which your application is running, for example, www

domain

Internet domain name, for example, netscape.com

path

Directory structure on the server

filename.html

Name of a file

Fonts. All program code listings, URLs, and other program names appear in Courier, a monospace font. Placeholders in code or URL formats, which you replace with your own value, are in italicized Courier font.

Note Formats. This guide emphasizes information with several types of note formats:

NOTE: Information of interest to the developer but not essential to understanding the surrounding topic. §

WARNING: Information that can affect the development decisions you make or the development environment you choose. Don't miss these notes. §
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Sample Code

The sample code in this guide was tested running Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 on the Windows NT Workstation or Server and Unix platform.


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Last Updated: 05/13/99 11:41:54

Copyright © 1999 Netscape Communications Corporation.