Use the SMTP Email VIs to send email, including attached data and files, using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). You cannot use the SMTP Email VIs to receive information. The SMTP Email VIs use the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) format to encode the message. In this format, you can send multiple files, including binary data files, within an email.

In addition to the recipient(s) email address, you must know the Web address of the SMTP server. If you use the Send Email Express VI, you specify a mail server by entering an SMTP server address in the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) textbox. The server address must be the host name or IP address of an external server computer that can service requests from the computer running the SMTP Email VIs. If you do not know which mail server to use, contact your network administrator for the name of a valid server. After you specify a valid mail server, the SMTP Email VIs open a connection to the server and send the server commands that describe the recipients and the contents of the email. The server sends the message to the individual recipients or forwards it to other SMTP servers.

Alternatively, you also can specify a mail server by wiring a server address to the Open Handle VI. The Open Handle VI creates an SMTP client handle that you wire to other SMTP Email VIs to configure the email specifications. Use the Close Handle VI to dispose of the handle and to free system resources. Refer to the labview\examples\Data Communication\Protocols\SMTP\Send Email using SMTP Client.vi for an example of using the SMTP Email VIs.

Character Sets and UTF-8 Encoding

LabVIEW supports 8-bit Unicode Transmission Format (UTF-8) character encoding in email messages. UTF-8 is a lossless, variable-length character encoding scheme that uses groups of bytes to represent characters from many languages worldwide. If the system character set is not already encoded in UTF-8 format, the SMTP Email VIs convert input strings encoded in the system character set to UTF-8 format before sending the email. This conversion allows you to send email messages that a wide variety of operating systems can read.