The Internet Mail control provides a single interface for composing, sending and retrieving e-mail messages. Instead of using separate controls to format, retrieve and send messages, the developer can use a single Internet Mail control for much of the same functionality without the inherent complexity and coding. For most applications, this is the only control that will be needed to process e-mail messages. However, in some cases a program may require the advanced features of a specific SocketTools control, such as sending extended authentication commands or server-specific options. In this situation, the Internet Mail control can be seamlessly integrated with the other SocketTools controls to build a more complex solution that requires a greater degree of customization.

The control is implemented as a standard COM object and is designed to be used in visual development tools as well as various scripting environments. Any programming language which can host ActiveX controls or create instances of a COM object should be capable of using the Internet Mail control, such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual FoxPro and Delphi. Server and client-side scripting is also supported using languages such as VBScript and JScript. The control is completely self-contained and does not require developers to redistribute the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) or Visual C runtime libraries, nor any other third-party library.

Catalyst Internet Mail Features

Comprehensive Interface
The control offers a comprehensive interface, providing the developer with everything that he needs to incorporate e-mail functionality in an application. Many of the control's properties control the contents of a message, such as the list of recipients, the subject of the message and the message body. Methods are used to compose new messages, retrieve messages from a mail server and deliver messages to one or more recipients. Messages can also be managed on the mail server, or downloaded to the local system and stored in a file or a database record. The developer has complete access to all of the headers in the message, and can create custom application-specific header fields if needed. Event notifications enable the developer to provide the user with feedback, such as the progress of sending or retrieving a message. Advanced features such as delivery status notification, support for relay servers and secure encrypted connections are easily implemented by simply setting a few properties.

Internet Standards
The Catalyst Internet Mail control implements the standard Internet protocols for sending and retrieving e-mail messages, ensuring the highest degree of compatibility possible with mail servers around the world. These standards are defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force and published as standard track Request For Comment (RFC) documents. To send e-mail messages, the control implements RFC 821 and 1869, which defines the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and related extensions. To retrieve messages from a mail server, the control implements RFC 1939, which defines the Post Office Protocol. For composing and parsing the messages themselves, the control implements RFCs 822, 2045, 2046 and 2047 which defines the internal structure of a message and how it should be processed.

Features and Stability
The Catalyst Internet Mail control is built on the solid foundation of the award-winning SocketTools family of products. The same core technologies and features that have been market-tested and proven since 1995 were used to create the Internet Mail control. As a leading developer of Internet component software, tens of thousands of developers around the world trust Catalyst Development to create components with the stability and features needed to build dependable, world-class software.

Flexibility
The Internet Mail control has been designed with a great degree of flexibility and can be used with a wide variety of programming languages and different types of development environments. Implemented as a standard ActiveX control, it is fully supported by languages such as Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro, Visual C++, Borland C++Builder, Delphi and PowerBuilder. In addition, the control can also be used as a basic COM object in scripting languages like VBScript, with full support for server-side scripting in Active Server Pages and other similar technologies.

Simplified Redistribution
Created using the ActiveX Template Library, the Catalyst Internet Mail control has no dependency on third-party components or Microsoft support libraries. This means that only the control itself needs to be included with the program that uses it, simplifying the process of redistributing and installing the software while reducing the application's overall size.

Documentation
As important as functionality, features and stability are, comprehensive documentation is equally as important to the application developer. This is why the Catalyst Internet Mail product includes a Developer's Guide which provides an overview of the product, a QuickStart Guide to help the developer get started and ease the learning curve, and a complete Technical Reference which documents every property, method and event supported by the control. A printable version of the documentation is included with the product, as well as context-sensitive online help which can be accessed directly from within the development environment. Example programs in a variety of languages are also included to help the developer become familiar with the features of the control and provide code which they can re-use in their own applications.

Licensing
Catalyst understands today's software development requirements which often require support for multiple operating systems and different programming languages. As with all Catalyst components, the Internet Mail control is licensed to a single developer, and applications built using the control can be redistributed to as many end-users as needed without additional royalties or runtime licensing fees. Developers are also permitted to install the product on different development systems as long as they are the only one using it and there is no chance that it can be used by more than one person at the same time.

System Requirements

The minimum processor, memory and disk requirements are for Catalyst Internet Mail only.

Although not required, it is recommended that the Windows 98 SE update be installed for Windows 98. For Windows 2000, it is recommended that at least Service Pack 2 (SP2) be installed.

Note: that while the Windows 95 platform is no longer officially supported, the control will work provided that the OSR2 and TCP/IP stack updates have been installed. Operating system updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft website or ordered from Microsoft on CD-ROM.

Developers can use the control in any language which fully supports the ActiveX control specification and/or COM objects. Visual Basic 5.0, Visual FoxPro 5.0 and Visual C++ 6.0 are the minimum versions of the Microsoft Visual Studio languages which are supported.