Outlook Mass Email problem

[Full_Williams]

Hi,

I have code set up to loop add email address to an Outlook email. I populate the bcc. The users are stating that certain emails (about 2-4 emails)aren't getting sent. Out network guys are saying that they're not showing these emails being sent in their logs. They think it has something to do with Outloook.

So my question is are there any limits to the number of emails Outlook will send in a mass email? There are probably 100 - 150 emails in the list.

Also, if anyone has use smtp from access to email. Is there a way the users users view can view the email before being sent?

Any help would be appreciated.

Full Williams

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Please clarify.

When you put these 100-150 recipients in your BCC list, and your network guys say the mail isn't being sent, do you mean...

1. Of the many mail messages you send out per day with your big BCC list, 2-4 messages aren't being sent to ANYONE on that list.

2. For any mail messages, 2-4 of your BCC list recipients aren't getting the message but other members of the list get it OK.

 

[Full_Williams]

Doc,

It's more like #2, but the server log is showing that 2-4 of the emails aren't even being sent from the server and the recipients aren't gettting the emails. The other recipients are recieving the emails OK. Outlook is showing that these emails have been sent.

Does that help clarify.

Thanks for responding.

Full Williams

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Well, I'm not the best possible expert on this, but our site often has problems due to the load on our Exchange server. The next step, to my mind, is to ask your network people if they have any ideas about server load vs. time of day when you send your messages that don't quite get sent correctly.

The fact that ANY transmission makes it for all BCC members - even once - does not point to a particular problem with Outlook or your workstation. I would think that unless someone had done some insane security tinkering on your workstation, you would ALWAYS get an error when you overflowed some internal buffer for the BCC list. And your workstation is probably not doing direct transmission. It sends a packetized message and packetized recipient lists to the Exchange server for execution in a way that "throttles" system load to something bearable. Once your message is in the hands of the Exchange server, you wouldn't necessarily get the failure messages; they aren't YOUR failures.

Another place to look is to find a time when such a message went out with omissions, then ask your network or mail-admin guys to look in the Exchange server's Windows event logs (PROBABLY the system log but maybe the applications log and MAYBE - but least likely - the device logs) for a memory or disk event or a network device failure. If you know the time you initiated the message and the time at least one person received the message, you have a shot at finding event logs if there are any, 'cause you can closely narrow down the time at which such an event would have had to have happened. I.e. from the time you launched the message to the time that the last user on your list got the message.

If they ask where you got the idea, show 'em this note. I am not only a systems administrator myself, but I periodically teach the Windows Security course, level II, for a branch of the Dept. of Defense. But I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

 

[Full_Williams]

Thanks Doc.

I'll bring this up with our network guy when he gets back into town. I'll let you know how it goes.

Are you in the DC area?

My company is in McLean VA.

Full Williams

 

[Kodo]

IMO, outlook should never be used for mass mailing like this. It is easier and more efficient to mass mail from an SMTP server directly.

 

[Full_Williams]

Is it possible for the users to view/edit the email for sending using smtp?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Nope. N'Awlins Loozianer. But you knew that. Look in the header of each reply to your message. It tells you where we are from.

While I don't disagree with Kodo, I understand that sometimes you don't have a handy SMTP server to use, or might be forbidden to use one by company policy. But he's not wrong to say what he did.

Is it possible for the users to view/edit the email for sending using smtp?

I'm going to divide the question because it contains a hidden assumption. By users I am going to assume you mean that individual users can trigger an e-mail burst through your system. Because otherwise, there is no mail to be edited that users IN GENERAL could see.

Now, can you edit the mail message sent by SMTP? Before you send it, a qualified yes. If you intend to use a file as your message, you can edit it forever until you actually send it. Once it is sent, the SMTP server has a copy of the message that will be sent. Probably squirreled away in an obscure system queue somewhere on the SMTP server itself. Probably impossible to find again. So probably not.

 

[Full_Williams]

Thanks!

So smtp seems like a good option for my situation. Does anyone have any instructions on how to set this functionality up?

 

[Kodo]

You'll need a box that support SMTP. For sake of argument, I'll say get a windows server box and install IIS on it with SMTP services. Then you can use CDOSYS to send mail out via code.

Google for CDOSYS to find out more about it. Come back when you get stuck.

 

[Full_Williams]

Okay so I've found some code on how to send the email, but I haven't found anything on how the "User" that sends the email from the Access Database can view the email text before it's sent. I suppose I could create a text box and the user could type the text in there then run the CDO code from a button control but I might run into email text formatting issues as the text will change with each email that is sent. The layout of the email text itself is important.

I'll keep looking, but if anyone has any thoughts on how to do this I'd appreciate it.

Thank you,
Full Williams

 

[Kodo]

You should be able to format the text with HTML and send it out as HTML and you should be fine.

In which case, you may want to poke around for a rich text editor control.