Now we're going to create an e-mail script with a web interface from which you can edit each of the header fields we've examined and send a customized e-mail. The script will make use of seven custom functions and a global variable $action, which when specified tells the script which action should be taken.
1. First we'll make a new text file called simple_mailer.php. Then we'll define the mailer_header(), which simply starts an HTML page:
2. Next, to end an HTML page, we have mailer_footer():
3. We define error_message() to report errors using the JavaScript alert() method:
4. Similarly, we have user_message() to report the result of an action, once again using the JavaScript alert() method:
5. The main web interface for sending e-mail is displayed by mail_form():
6. In send_mail(), we define a wrapper function that calls my_mail() and reports the result:
7. We shall use my_mail() to actually send the user-defined e-mail:
8. Finally, we have a switch block that uses our global variable $action to determine which functions to call. If $action is unspecified, we default to the mail_form() function:
9. Save the finished script as simple_mailer.php and upload it to your server.
10. Here's a sample run of the script. The mail_form() function displays a web-style user interface for sending an e-mail:
Launch this page
Now we're going to work up to adding more functionality to our e-mail script by exploring MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) and content-types in Part 4 >>