Sample code for 30+ languages & platforms
Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi)

Using Replace Patterns in Email

See more Email Object Examples

Demonstrates how to use the replace patterns (mail-merge) feature in Chilkat MailMan.

Chilkat Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi) Downloads

Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi)
program ChilkatDemo;

// Demonstrates using the Chilkat Pascal wrapper via the C bridge DLL.
// Builds as a console application under Lazarus (FPC) or Delphi.

{$IFDEF FPC}
  {$MODE DELPHI}
{$ENDIF}
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  {$IFDEF UNIX}
  cthreads,
  {$ENDIF}
  SysUtils,
  CkDllLoader,
  Chilkat.MailMan,
  Chilkat.Email,
  Chilkat.JsonObject;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

procedure RunDemo;
var
  success: Boolean;
  emailTemplate: TEmail;
  mailman: TMailMan;
  mime: string;
  count: Integer;
  i: Integer;
  name: string;
  json: TJsonObject;
  emailAddr: string;
  firstName: string;
  product: string;

begin
  success := False;

  //  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
  //  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

  //  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  //  Create an email template for sending.
  emailTemplate := TEmail.Create;

  //  We're going to replace "FIRST_NAME" with an actual name.
  //  We arbitrarily chose "FIRST_NAME".  We can choose anything, such as "CUSTOMER_NAME" or "THE_RECIPIENT_NAME"...
  emailTemplate.Subject := 'Hello FIRST_NAME,';

  emailTemplate.From := 'john@example.com';
  emailTemplate.AddTo('FIRST_NAME','RECIPIENT_EMAIL');

  emailTemplate.SetHtmlBody('<html><body><h2>Hello FIRST_NAME,</h2><p>Your order for PRODUCT_NAME has been shipped.</p></body></html>');

  //  If the email is saved to a file, we can see what it contains:
  emailTemplate.SaveEml('qa_output/emailTemplate.eml');

  //  For example:

  //  MIME-Version: 1.0
  //  Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2022 07:10:52 -0500
  //  Message-ID: <715CF231A9F07B0B9FDB073518CD94138D791866@XYZ>
  //  Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
  //  Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
  //  X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
  //  Subject: Hello FIRST_NAME,
  //  From: john@example.com
  //  To: FIRST_NAME <RECIPIENT_EMAIL>
  //  
  //  <html><body><h2>Hello FIRST_NAME,</h2><p>Your order for PRODUCT_NAME has been shipped.</p></body></html>

  //  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  //  Demonstrate replace patterns by setting and then rendering to MIME.

  mailman := TMailMan.Create;

  emailTemplate.SetReplacePattern('FIRST_NAME','Elon');
  emailTemplate.SetReplacePattern('RECIPIENT_EMAIL','elon.musk@example.com');
  emailTemplate.SetReplacePattern('PRODUCT_NAME','Twitter Corporation');

  //  Render to MIME to see what we get.
  //  Note: When the MailMan sends an email, it renders the email to MIME and then sends.
  //  The rendering process is to do replacements, or possibly sign, encrypt, etc.
  //  When MailMan.SendEmail is called, internally the email is rendered, and the rendered email is sent.
  //  The equivalent to MailMan.Send email is to call email.RenderToMime followed by MailMan.SendMime.
  mime := mailman.RenderToMime(emailTemplate);
  WriteLn(mime);

  //  This is the rendered MIME:

  //  MIME-Version: 1.0
  //  Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2022 07:25:49 -0500
  //  Message-ID: <750582BCDC891C67B48CEE2293C08B902C3891E9@XYZ>
  //  Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
  //  Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
  //  X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
  //  Subject: Hello Elon,
  //  From: john@example.com
  //  To: Elon <elon.musk@example.com>
  //  
  //  <html><body><h2>Hello Elon,</h2><p>Your order for Twitter Corporation has been shipped.</p></body></html>

  //  Note: When rendering, the Date and Message-ID headers are automatically regenerated.

  //  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  //  An application can see what replacement patterns it previously set by calling SetReplacePattern multiple times.
  count := emailTemplate.NumReplacePatterns;
  WriteLn('Number of replace patterns: ' + count);

  i := 0;
  while i < count do
    begin
      //  Note: The GetReplaceString method was found to not be working correctly.  It was returning the same value as GetReplacePattern.
      //  It is fixed in Chilkat v9.5.0.91
      WriteLn(emailTemplate.GetReplacePattern(i) + ': ' + emailTemplate.GetReplaceString(i));
      i := i + 1;
    end;

  //  Or lookup a replacement pattern by name:
  name := 'FIRST_NAME';
  WriteLn(name + ' = ' + emailTemplate.GetReplaceString2(name));

  //  Sample output:

  //  Number of replace patterns: 3
  //  FIRST_NAME: Elon
  //  RECIPIENT_EMAIL: elon.musk@example.com
  //  PRODUCT_NAME: Twitter Corporation
  //  FIRST_NAME = Elon

  //  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  //  Finally... demonstrate sending emails using the replacement patterns.
  //  

  //  Set our mail server settings..
  mailman.SmtpHost := 'smtp.mail.us-west-2.awsapps.com';
  mailman.SmtpSsl := True;
  mailman.SmtpPort := 465;

  mailman.SmtpUsername := 'john@example.com';
  mailman.SmtpPassword := 'the_password';

  //  Imagine we have data in JSON format, and we wish to send the templated email to each recipient...
  //  

  //  {
  //  	"mail_merge" : [
  //  		{
  //  			"to": "mary@example.com",
  //  			"name": "Mary",
  //  			"product": "Widget 1" 
  //  		},
  //  		{
  //  			"to": "robert@example.com",
  //  			"name": "Robert",
  //  			"product": "Widget 2"
  //  		}	
  //  		...
  //  	]
  //  }

  json := TJsonObject.Create;
  success := json.LoadFile('qa_data/json/mail_merge.json');
  if (success = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(json.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;

  i := 0;
  count := json.SizeOfArray('mail_merge');
  while i < count do
    begin
      json.I := i;
      emailAddr := json.StringOf('mail_merge[i].to');
      firstName := json.StringOf('mail_merge[i].name');
      product := json.StringOf('mail_merge[i].product');

      emailTemplate.SetReplacePattern('FIRST_NAME',firstName);
      emailTemplate.SetReplacePattern('RECIPIENT_EMAIL',emailAddr);
      emailTemplate.SetReplacePattern('PRODUCT_NAME',product);

      success := mailman.SendEmail(emailTemplate);
      if (success = False) then
        begin
          WriteLn(mailman.LastErrorText);
          Exit;
        end;

      WriteLn('Send email to ' + emailAddr);

      i := i + 1;
    end;

  WriteLn('Success.');


  emailTemplate.Free;
  mailman.Free;
  json.Free;

end;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

begin

  try
    RunDemo;
  except
    on E: Exception do
      WriteLn('Unhandled exception: ', E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
  end;

  WriteLn;
  {$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
  WriteLn('Press Enter to exit...');
  ReadLn;
  {$ENDIF}
end.