Sample code for 30+ languages & platforms
Java

Add a Related File to an HTML Email

See more Email Object Examples

Demonstrates the Chilkat Email.AddRelatedFile method, which adds the contents of a local file as a related MIME resource and returns the generated Content-ID. The returned value is the bare Content-ID — no angle brackets and no cid: prefix — so if it returns CID-123@example, the HTML reference is cid:CID-123@example. Because the Content-ID is generated by the call, this example adds the image first, then builds the HTML body in a StringBuilder — using a placeholder in the <img> tag that is replaced with the returned Content-ID — and passes the result to SetHtmlBody.

Background: To embed an image so it displays inside an HTML email (rather than being downloaded from a web server), you add it as a "related" part and reference it from the HTML with a cid: URL that matches the part's Content-ID. Since Chilkat assigns that ID when you add the file, the natural order is: add the related file, capture the returned ID, then build the <img src="cid:..."> reference from it. A StringBuilder makes assembling and updating the HTML convenient.

Chilkat Java Downloads

Java
import com.chilkatsoft.*;

public class ChilkatExample {

  static {
    try {
        System.loadLibrary("chilkat");
    } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError e) {
      System.err.println("Native code library failed to load.\n" + e);
      System.exit(1);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String argv[])
  {
    //  Demonstrates the AddRelatedFile method, which adds a local file as a related MIME
    //  resource (such as an image displayed by an HTML body) and returns the generated
    //  Content-ID.  The HTML references the item using cid:<Content-ID>.

    CkEmail email = new CkEmail();
    email.put_Subject("Email with a related image");

    //  Add the image file as a related item first.  The return value is the bare Content-ID
    //  (no angle brackets and no "cid:" prefix).
    String cid = email.addRelatedFile("qa_data/images/logo.png");
    if (email.get_LastMethodSuccess() == false) {
        System.out.println(email.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    //  Build the HTML body in a StringBuilder, using a placeholder where the image's
    //  Content-ID will go.
    CkStringBuilder sbHtml = new CkStringBuilder();
    sbHtml.Append("<html><body><img src=\"cid:PLACEHOLDER_CID\"/></body></html>");

    //  Replace the placeholder with the actual Content-ID returned by AddRelatedFile.
    int numReplaced = sbHtml.Replace("PLACEHOLDER_CID",cid);

    //  Set the HTML body from the StringBuilder result.
    email.SetHtmlBody(sbHtml.getAsString());

    System.out.println("Related Content-ID = " + cid);
    System.out.println("NumRelatedItems = " + email.get_NumRelatedItems());

    //  Note: The path "qa_data/images/logo.png" is a relative local filesystem path,
    //  relative to the current working directory of the running application.
  }
}