Hi all,
I'm having difficulties creating a simple mail merge application for a
non-profit org. The concept is very simple:
- Send an e-mail message from my mail client of choice
- Receive message at ColdFusion server (e.g., CFPOP)
- Query subscriber database for merge field data
- Search-and-replace merge strings (e.g., "<FirstName>") in message
- Re-send merged message to subscribers
The point of all this is to permit mail merges without regard for message
format. Anyone of any skill level -- it's a non-profit org, remember -- can
generate a mail merge by simply addressing the message to the proper address.
No need for special mail merge apps or importing and exporting subscriber data
from the ColdFusion server.
This SHOULD be simple, being that all I want to do is read in the raw message
data, search-and-replace, and re-send the entire raw message on its way.
Unfortunately, CFPOP and CFMAIL (CFMX7) don't work with raw message data -- the
message is broken into components ("header," "body," "attachments," etc.) --
and don't fully support CIDs (i.e., inline image data). Hence, any formatted
messages incorporating inline images will lose their image data. That's a deal
killer.
I've investigated several workarounds: I can retrieve the raw message data
from the mail server (CFFILE or CFX_POP3), but then again, have no means for
delivery. I can neither send the raw message data with CFMAIL nor drop it into
ColdFusion's spool folder (CFFILE), nor drop it back into the mail server's
spool folder (CFFILE), being that each employs special formatting for spooled
mail. If only CFX_POP3 had an SMTP equivalent (CFX_SMTP3?) that could send raw
message data....
Raw in. Merge. Raw out. SIMPLE!
Any ideas?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Dave
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