CDO & MAPI Programming with Visual Basic:

Summary

In this appendix you learned the basic techniques for sending and receiving plain text email using the SMTP and POP3 Internet email protocols. By programming these protocols directly, a Visual Basic application can dispense with MAPI and CDO dll s. However, Internet protocols are more difficult to program than is CDO, and doing so inextricably ties the Visual Basic application to the underlying email transport mechanism. Therefore, don’t give up MAPI unless you have a compelling reason to do so.

If you have a need to delve deeper into Internet email programming, I recommend the O’Reilly book Programming Internet Email, by David Wood. It doesn’t discuss Visual Basic at all. Rather, it explains Internet email protocols completely and profoundly. With the information in this appendix and David’s book, you’ll be all set to tackle complex Internet email programming tasks using Visual Basic.