Like SMS messaging, Android also supports e-mail. The Gmail/Email application on Android enables you to configure an e-mail account using POP3 or IMAP. Besides sending and receiving e-mails using the Gmail/Email application, you can also send e-mail messages programmatically from within your Android application. The following Try It Out shows you how.
TRY IT OUT: Sending E-Mail Programmatically
codefile Emails.zip available for download at Wrox.com
1. Using Eclipse, create a new Android project and name it Emails.
2. Add the following statements in bold to the main.xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
<Button
android:id="@+id/btnSendEmail"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Send Email" />
</LinearLayout>
3. Add the following statements in bold to the MainActivity.java file:
package net.learn2develop.Email;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
Button btnSendEmail;
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
btnSendEmail = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btnSendEmail);
btnSendEmail.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View v)
{
String[] to = {"[email protected]",
"[email protected]"};
String[] cc = {"[email protected]"};
sendEmail(to, cc, "Hello", "Hello my friends!");
}
});
}
//---sends an SMS message to another device---
private void sendEmail(String[] emailAddresses, String[] carbonCopies,
String subject, String message)
{
Intent emailIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
emailIntent.setData(Uri.parse("mailto:"));
String[] to = emailAddresses;
String[] cc = carbonCopies;
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL, to);
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_CC, cc);
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, subject);
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, message);
emailIntent.setType("message/rfc822");
startActivity(Intent.createChooser(emailIntent, "Email"));
}
}
4. Press F11 to test the application on a real Android device. Click the Send Email button and you should see the Email application launched in your device. Note that if you test this application on the Android emulator (both 2.2 and 3.0), it will display a “No applications can perform this action” message.
How It Works
In this example, you launched the built-in Email application to send an e-mail message. To do so, you used an Intent object, setting the various parameters using the setData(), putExtra(), and setType() methods:
Intent emailIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
emailIntent.setData(Uri.parse("mailto:"));
String[] to = emailAddresses;
String[] cc = carbonCopies;
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL, to);
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_CC, cc);
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, subject);
emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, message);
emailIntent.setType("message/rfc822");
startActivity(Intent.createChooser(emailIntent, "Email"));