mail header in php not working

Question

Please help me, I am having problems with sending an html formatted mail message using php mail() I think the problem lies in the header. I have included two headers with a slight difference only in single quotes or double quotes:

header 1:

$headers = 'From: [email protected]\r\n Reply-To: [email protected]';
$headers .= '\r\nContent-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="'.$random_hash.'"';

When I use single quotes like above, all my html code is printed in the mail as simple text without th proper html formatting. Also my header is shown all messed up with everything after \r\n missing.

header 2:

$headers = "From: [email protected]\r\nReply-To: [email protected]";
$headers .= "\r\nContent-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=\"".$random_hash."\"";

Using this one, I get a perfect header but now my mail is sent empty with an empty attachment. I don't where that comes from as I don't attach anything to my mail.

Please suggest what to do

jocull · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-19 20:34:51Z

5

If you use single quotes on your PHP strings escape characters like \r\n will stop working.

I'm not sure how to help with your attachment without more context.

answered Nov 19, 2010 at 20:34

jocull

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Luis G. Costantini R. · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-19 20:38:51Z

4

I don't like php mail. I recommend use XpertMailer: http://www.xpertmailer.com/ do an excellent work.

answered Nov 19, 2010 at 20:38

Luis G. Costantini R.

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1 Comment

Byron Whitlock Over a year ago

+1 nice library, haven't seen that one yet. Looks pretty good!

Byron Whitlock · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-19 20:39:50Z

3

Use a library
Don't reinvent the wheel if you can't make it round.
Use a library!

answered Nov 19, 2010 at 20:39

Byron Whitlock

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1 Comment

ircmaxell Over a year ago

I can't stand the phrase Don't reinvent the wheel, since it requires the assumption that the wheel is inherently perfect (and since when are any of the frameworks/libraries perfect)... But you're extension I think pushes the correct point home... +1

michalzuber · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-19 20:40:55Z

This is what I used before switching to phpmailer. As mentioned use a library.

// Make email headers
$separator = '--==Multipart_Boundary_'.md5(time());
$eol = PHP_EOL;

$filepath = "filename.pdf";
// open pdf file
$handle = fopen($filepath, "r");
// read pdf file
$f_contents=fread($handle,filesize($filepath));
// encode read pdf file
$attachment = chunk_split(base64_encode($f_contents));
// close pdf file
fclose($handle);
$message = "Text goes here";

// main header (multipart mandatory)
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0".$eol;
$headers .= "Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=\"".$separator."\"".$eol;
$headers .= "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit".$eol;
$headers .= "X-Priority: 1 (Highest)".$eol;
$headers .= "X-MSMail-Priority: High".$eol;
$headers .= "Importance: High".$eol;

// message
$headers .= "--".$separator.$eol;
$headers .= "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8".$eol;
$headers .= "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit".$eol.$eol;
$headers .= $message.$eol;

// attachment
$headers .= "--".$separator.$eol;
$headers .= "Content-Type: application/pdf; name=".$filename.$eol;
$headers .= "Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64".$eol;
$headers .= "Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=".$filename.$eol.$eol;
$headers .= $attachment.$eol.$eol;
$headers .= "--".$separator."--";

Paul Kehrer · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-19 20:41:03Z

0

If you're not actually defining two versions (plaintext/HTML) with multipart boundaries then you should change the Content-type: multipart/alternative to the proper content-type for your mail body.

Additionally, libraries like PHPMailer, et cetera are generally preferred over PHP's native mail() function because they offer a great deal more flexibility while not requiring you to manually construct complex headers.

answered Nov 19, 2010 at 20:41

Paul Kehrer

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