Programming

Sending E-Mail

To send an e-mail from within MATLAB, use the sendmail function. You can also attach files to an e-mail, which lets you mail files directly from MATLAB. To use sendmail, you must first set up your e-mail address and your SMTP server information with the setpref function.

The setpref function defines two mail-related preferences:

• E-mail address -- This preference sets your e-mail address that will appear on the message. Here is an example of the syntax:

• setpref('Internet','E_mail','youraddress@yourserver.com');
  

• SMTP server -- This preference sets your outgoing SMTP server address, which can be almost any e-mail server that supports the Post Office Protocol (POP) or the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP). Here is an example of the syntax:

• setpref('Internet', 'SMTP_Server', 'mail.server.network');
  

You should be able to find your outgoing SMTP server address in your e-mail account settings in your e-mail client application. You can also contact your system administrator for the information.

Note    The sendmail function does not support e-mail servers that require authentication.

Once you have properly configured MATLAB, you can use the sendmail function. The sendmail function requires at least two arguments: the recipient's e-mail address and the e-mail subject:

• sendmail('recepient@someserver.com', 'Hello From MATLAB!');
  

You can supply multiple e-mail addresses using a cell array of strings, such as:

• sendmail({'recepient@someserver.com', 
  'recepient2@someserver.com'}, 'Hello From MATLAB!');
  

You can also specify a message body with the sendmail function, such as:

• sendmail('recepient@someserver.com', 'Hello From MATLAB!', 
  'Thanks for using sendmail.');
  

In addition, you can also attach files to an e-mail using the sendmail function, such as:

• sendmail('recepient@somesever.com', 'Hello from MATLAB!', 
  'Thanks for using sendmail.', 'C:\yourFileSystem\message.txt');
  

You cannot attach a file without including a message. However, the message can be empty.You can also attach multiple files to an e-mail with the sendmail function, such as:

• sendmail('recepient@somesever.com', 'Hello from MATLAB!', 
  'Thanks for using sendmail.', 'C:\yourFileSystem\message.txt', 
  'C:\yourFileSystem\message2.txt');
  

Example -- Using the sendmail Function

The following example sends e-mail with the retrieved Web page archive attached if it contains any matches for the specified word:

• %The urlread function loads the contents of the Web page into the 
  %MATLAB workspace.
  recentFile = 
  urlread('http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/lo
  adFileList.do?objectType=fileexchange&orderBy=date&srt3=0');
  
  %The findstr function searches for the word "Simulink".
  hits = findstr(recentFile,'Simulink');
  
  %The if statement checks for any hits. 
  if(isempty(hits) == 0)
  
  %If there are hits, the Web page will be saved locally using the    
  %urlwrite function.
  urlwrite('http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/l
  oadFileList.do?objectType=fileexchange&orderBy=date&srt3=0','co
  ntains_simulink.html');
  
  %The zip function creates a zip archive of the retrieved web page.
  zip('simulink_matches.zip','contains_simulink.html');
  
  %The setpref function supplies your e-mail address and SMTP server 
  %address to MATLAB.
  setpref('Internet','SMTP_Server','mail.server.network');
  setpref('Internet', 'E_mail', 'youraddress@yourserver.com');
  
  %The sendmail function sends an e-mail with the zip archive of the
  %retrieved Web page attached.
  sendmail('youraddress@yourserver.com', 'New Simulink Files 
  Founds', 'New Simulink files have been uploaded to MATLAB Central. 
  See the attached zip archive.', 'simulink_matches.zip');
  end;
  

Creating and Uncompressing Zip Archives

Performing FTP File Operations

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