In this article I will explain with an example, how to send email with attachment from Folder (Directory) in ASP.Net MVC.
Attachment File location
The File which will be used as Attachment is located inside the Folder (Directory) named Files.
![ASP.Net MVC: Send Email with attachment from Folder (Directory)]()
Mail Server Settings in Web.Config file
The following Mail Server settings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.
<system.net>
<mailSettings>
<smtp deliveryMethod="Network">
<network
host="smtp.gmail.com"
port="587"
enableSsl="true"
defaultCredentials="true" />
</smtp>
</mailSettings>
</system.net>
Sending Email using Gmail SMTP
MailMessage class properties
Following are the required properties of the MailMessage class.
From – Sender’s email address.
To – Recipient(s) Email Address.
CC – Carbon Copies. (If any)
BCC – Blind Carbon Copies. (If any)
Subject – Subject of the Email.
Body – Body of the Email.
IsBodyHtml – Specify whether body contains text or HTML mark up.
Attachments – Attachments. (If any)
ReplyTo – ReplyTo Email address.
SMTP class properties
Following are the properties of the SMTP class.
Host – SMTP Server URL. (Gmail: smtp.gmail.com)
EnableSsl – Specify whether your host accepts SSL Connections. (Gmail: True)
UseDefaultCredentials – Set to True in order to allow authentication based on the Credentials of the Account used to send emails.
Credentials – Valid login credentials for the SMTP server. (Gmail: email address and password)
Port – Port Number of the SMTP server. (Gmail: 587)
Model
The Model class consists of the following properties.
public class EmailModel
{
public string To { get; set; }
public string Subject { get; set; }
public string Body { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public string Password { get; set; }
}
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Net.Configuration;
Controller
The Controller consists of following Action methods.
Action method for handling GET operation
Inside this Action method, simply the View is returned.
Action method for handling POST operation
Inside this Action method, the posted values are captured through the EmailModel class object. All the fetched values are set into an object of the MailMessage class except Attachment.
Setting Body of Email
The Body of the email is Text (Non HTML) hence the IsBodyHtml property of MailMessage class is set to FALSE.
Attaching File
The BYTE array of the Attachment file kept in a Folder (Directory) named Files (explained earlier) is fetched using ReadAllBytes method of the File class and added as Attachment to the MailMessage class object.
Sending Email
Then, an object of the SmtpClient class is created and the values of Host, Port, EnableSsl and UseDefaultCredentials are fetched from the SMTP section of the Web.Config file and set to the respective properties of SmtpClient class along with the Credentials.
Finally, the
Send method is executed which sends the Email and a success message is set to a
ViewBag object.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
// GET: Home
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View();
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(EmailModel model)
{
//Read SMTP section from Web.Config.
SmtpSection smtpSection = (SmtpSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp");
string host = smtpSection.Network.Host;
int port = smtpSection.Network.Port;
bool enableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl;
bool defaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials;
using (MailMessage mm = new MailMessage(model.Email, model.To))
{
mm.Subject = model.Subject;
mm.Body = model.Body;
mm.IsBodyHtml = false;`
string filePath = Server.MapPath("~/Files/Test.pdf");
if (System.IO.File.Exists(filePath))
{
//Reading file name.
string fileName = Path.GetFileName(filePath);
//Reading the file into byte array.
byte[] bytes = System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(filePath);
//Attaching file from Folder/Directory.
mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(new MemoryStream(bytes), fileName));
}
using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())
{
smtp.Host = host;
smtp.Port = port;
smtp.EnableSsl = enableSsl;
smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = defaultCredentials;
NetworkCredential networkCred = new NetworkCredential(model.Email, model.Password);
smtp.Credentials = networkCred;
smtp.Send(mm);
}
}
ViewBag.Message = "Email sent.";
return View();
}
}
View
HTML Markup
Inside the View, in the very first line the EmailModel class is declared as model for the View.
The View consists of an HTML Form which has been created using the Html.BeginForm method with the following parameters.
ActionName – Name of the Action. In this case the name is Index.
ControllerName – Name of the Controller. In this case the name is Home.
FormMethod – It specifies the Form Method i.e. GET or POST. In this case it will be set to POST.
The Form consists of HTML TextBox, TextArea elements and a Submit Button.
Note: For more details in creating HTML TextBox, TextArea, FileUpload element in ASP.Net MVC, please refer following articles.
When the Submit Button is clicked, the Form gets submitted and the Model object is sent to the Controller.
Finally, the
ViewBag object is checked for NULL and if it is not NULL then the value of the object is displayed using
JavaScript Alert Message Box.
@model Email_Attachment_Folder_MVC.Models.EmailModel
@{
Layout = null;
}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
<title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
@using (Html.BeginForm("Index", "Home", FormMethod.Post, new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))
{
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td style="width: 80px">To:</td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.To)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Subject:</td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Subject)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Body:</td>
<td>@Html.TextAreaFor(model => model.Body, new { @rows = 10, @cols = 50 })</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gmail Email:</td>
<td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Email)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gmail Password:</td>
<td>@Html.PasswordFor(model => model.Password)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><input type="submit" value="Send" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
}
@if (ViewBag.Message != null)
{
<script type="text/javascript">
window.onload = function () {
alert("@ViewBag.Message");
};
</script>
}
</body>
</html>
Possible Error
The following error occurs when you try to send email using Gmail credentials in your application.
The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at
Solution
Screenshot
Email Form
![ASP.Net MVC: Send Email with attachment from Folder (Directory)]()
Received Email
![ASP.Net MVC: Send Email with attachment from Folder (Directory)]()
Downloads
