SEND Function

This function sends an outbound email message from an application. Although you can use this function to pass in either a VARCHAR2 or a CLOB to p_body and p_body_html, the data types must be the same. In other words, you cannot pass a CLOB to P_BODY and a VARCHAR2 to p_body_html.

This function returns a NUMBER. The NUMBER returned is the unique numeric identifier associated with the mail message.

When using APEX_MAIL.SEND, remember the following:

No single line may exceed 1000 characters. The SMTP/MIME specification dictates that no single line shall exceed 1000 characters. To comply with this restriction, you must add a carriage return or line feed characters to break up your p_body or p_body_html parameters into chunks of 1000 characters or less. Failing to do so results in erroneous email messages, including partial messages or messages with extraneous exclamation points.
Plain text and HTML email content. Passing a value to p_body, but not p_body_html results in a plain text message. Passing a value to p_body and p_body_html yields a multi-part message that includes both plain text and HTML content. The settings and capabilities of the recipient's email client determine what displays. Although most modern email clients can read an HTML formatted email, remember that some users disable this functionality to address security issues.
Avoid images. When referencing images in p_body_html using the <img /> tag, remember that the images must be accessible to the recipient's email client in order for them to see the image.

For example, suppose you reference an image on your network called hello.gif as follows:
```
<img src="http://someserver.com/hello.gif" alt="Hello" />]
```
In this example, the image is not attached to the email, but is referenced by the email. For the recipient to see it, they must be able to access the image using a web browser. If the image is inside a firewall and the recipient is outside of the firewall, the image is not displayed. For this reason, avoid using images. If you must include images, be sure to include the ALT attribute to provide a textual description in the event the image is not accessible.

Syntax

APEX_MAIL.SEND(
    p_to                        IN    VARCHAR2,
    p_from                      IN    VARCHAR2,
    p_body                      IN  [ VARCHAR2 | CLOB ],
    p_body_html                 IN  [ VARCHAR2 | CLOB ] DEFAULT NULL,
    p_subj                      IN    VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
    p_cc                        IN    VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
    p_bcc                       IN    VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL,
    p_replyto                   IN    VARCHAR2)
return NUMBER;

Parameters

Table 24-7 SEND Parameters

Parameter	Description
`p_to`	Valid email address to which the email is sent (required). For multiple email addresses, use a comma-separated list
`p_from`	Email address from which the email is sent (required). This email address must be a valid address. Otherwise, the message is not sent
`p_body`	Body of the email in plain text, not HTML (required). If a value is passed to `p_body_html`, then this is the only text the recipient sees. If a value is not passed to `p_body_html`, then this text only displays for email clients that do not support HTML or have HTML disabled. A carriage return or line feed (CRLF) must be included every 1000 characters.
`p_body_html`	Body of the email in HTML format. This must be a full HTML document including the `<html>` and `<body>` tags. A single line cannot exceed 1000 characters without a carriage return or line feed (CRLF)
`p_subj`	Subject of the email
`p_cc`	Valid email addresses to which the email is copied. For multiple email addresses, use a comma-separated list
`p_bcc`	Valid email addresses to which the email is blind copied. For multiple email addresses, use a comma-separated list
`p_replyto`	Address of the Reply-To mail header. You can use this parameter as follows: If you omit the `p_replyto` parameter, the Reply-To mail header is set to the value specified in the `p_from` parameter If you include the `p_replyto` parameter, but provide a `NULL` value, the Reply-To mail header is set to NULL. This results in the suppression of automatic email replies If you include `p_replyto` parameter, but provide a non-null value (for example, a valid email address), you send these messages, but the automatic replies go to the value specified (for example, the email address)

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to use APEX_MAIL.SEND to send a plain text email message from an application and return the unique message ID.

-- Example One: Plain Text only message
DECLARE
    l_body      CLOB;
    l_id NUMBER;
BEGIN
    l_body := 'Thank you for your interest in the APEX_MAIL 
package.'||utl_tcp.crlf||utl_tcp.crlf;
    l_body := l_body ||'  Sincerely,'||utl_tcp.crlf;
    l_body := l_body ||'  The Application Express Dev Team'||utl_tcp.crlf;
    l_id   := apex_mail.send(
        p_to       => 'some_user@somewhere.com',   -- change to your email address
        p_from     => 'some_sender@somewhere.com', -- change to a real senders email address
        p_body     => l_body,
        p_subj     => 'APEX_MAIL Package - Plain Text message');
END;
/

The following example demonstrates how to use APEX_MAIL.SEND to send an HTML email message from an application. Remember, you must include a carriage return or line feed (CRLF) every 1000 characters. The example that follows uses utl_tcp.crlf.

-- Example Two: Plain Text / HTML message
DECLARE
    l_body      CLOB;
    l_body_html CLOB;
    l_id NUMBER;
BEGIN
    l_body := 'To view the content of this message, please use an HTML enabled mail client.'||utl_tcp.crlf;

    l_body_html := '<html>
        <head>
            <style type="text/css">
                body{font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
                    font-size:10pt;
                    margin:30px;
                    background-color:#ffffff;}

                span.sig{font-style:italic;
                    font-weight:bold;
                    color:#811919;}
             </style>
         </head>
         <body>'||utl_tcp.crlf;
    l_body_html := l_body_html ||'<p>Thank you for your interest in the <strong>APEX_MAIL</strong> package.</p>'||utl_tcp.crlf;
    l_body_html := l_body_html ||'  Sincerely,<br />'||utl_tcp.crlf;
    l_body_html := l_body_html ||'  <span class="sig">The Application Express Dev Team</span><br />'||utl_tcp.crlf;
    l_body_html := l_body_html ||'</body></html>'; 
    l_id        := apex_mail.send(
        p_to        => 'some_user@somewhere.com',   -- change to your email address
        p_from      => 'some_sender@somewhere.com', -- change to a real senders email address
        p_body      => l_body,
        p_body_html => l_body_html,
        p_subj      => 'APEX_MAIL Package - HTML formatted message');
END;
/