Mail merge component for non-UI application

[Niklas]

I search for a component for sending mails:
- It should be used in a non-UI application.
- The input provided to the mail merge component is a template retrieved dynamically from a data source as string.
- The template contains HTML code and arbitrary placeholders, which should be replaced by values provided e. g. from e.g. a dictionary. The templates are not created yet. Hence, the syntax for the templating language may be dictated by the component. It would be good if the templating language supported advanced concepts like control flow statements or at least alternatives.
- The email should be sent via SMTP as HTML mail.
- Email attachments are needed.
- Email address validation would be nice.

Do you offer sth. like this?

[Anna]

Hi Niklas,

Thank you for considering our controls.

What you are describing can be partially achieved with our WordsProcessing library, which supports import, editing and export of HTML, among other formats. A possible implementation would be as follows: 1) an HTML template is imported in WordsProcessing 2) using the control the placeholders are replaced with fields where appropriate and mail merge is performed 3) The resulting documents are exported to HTML. As for the control flow statements, the field that we support which could be of service to you is the IF field.

However, it should be noted the HTML has its limitations. If it is an option it might be better if the template is prepared in DOCX, including the fields, then imported and exported to HTML.

Regarding the requirements which concern e-mail, I am going to need a bit more time for research and will get back to you soon.

Please, let me know if you have further questions or comments.

Regards,
Anna
Progress Telerik

[Anna]

Hi again,

Unfortunately, we do not offer a product that supports sending e-mail. I am sorry that we could not be of more help in this matter.

Regards,
Anna
Progress Telerik

[Lairger]

The MailMerge component can be used to effortlessly merge MS Word template documents with database content in .NET projects. This component encapsulates the whole merge process, so that you can implement mail merge applications with 2 lines of code.

[Peter]

Any reference to the source code on how to do this?

[Tanya]

Hi Peter,

You can find information about the Mail Merge functionality in our documentation. There is also an SDK example demonstrating how you can use the feature where you can check the API and test the functionality: Mail Merge SDK example. 

Regards,
Tanya
Progress Telerik

[Dan]

when using a mailmerge, and one of the datasource items has a value that is an html string, and i export to a pdf or html, the result displays the string is not rendered as html - am i missing something?

 

 string docList = @"<ul> <li>Treatment Contracts</li>  <li>Evaluation Plans</li>    <li>Progress Reports</li>     <li>Discharge Summary</li></ul> ";

[Yoan]

Hello Dan,

Our WordsProcessing library aims to follow the Microsoft Word standards as closely as possible. This is why, similar to Word, WordsProcessing's Mail Merge functionality does not inherently support parsing or displaying HTML strings as formatted content. When an HTML string is inserted through a mail merge field, it is generally handled as plain text, rather than being rendered as HTML, as it would be in a browser.

As a workaround, to parse the HTML while preserving its formatting, the content must first be imported as a RadFlowDocument using the HtmlFormatProvider. Then you can use the functionality described in the Import Document Element, Insert Documents, and Replace Text with Document Elements articles to insert the parsed HTML content into another already existing RadFlowDocument.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Yoan