VB.NET

Zip an Email's Attachments into One File

Demonstrates the Chilkat Email.ZipAttachments method, which replaces all of an email's attachments with a single Zip file attachment having the specified filename. The original attachments are removed and packed into the Zip. This example adds two attachments and zips them into one.

Background: Bundling multiple attachments into a single .zip keeps a message tidy, compresses the payload, and works around recipients or gateways that limit the number of attachments. Note that the filename here (files.zip) names the attachment inside the message — it is not a path on disk. The reverse operation is UnzipAttachments.

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Dim success As Boolean = False

'  Demonstrates the ZipAttachments method, which replaces all of an email's attachments
'  with a single Zip file attachment having the specified filename.  The original
'  attachments are removed and packed into the Zip.

Dim email As New Chilkat.Email
email.Subject = "Zip the attachments"

email.AddStringAttachment("a.txt","first attachment")
email.AddStringAttachment("b.txt","second attachment")
Debug.WriteLine("NumAttachments before = " & email.NumAttachments)

'  Replace all attachments with a single Zip attachment named "files.zip".
success = email.ZipAttachments("files.zip")
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(email.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


Debug.WriteLine("NumAttachments after = " & email.NumAttachments)