MailMessage.Headers Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Net.Mail

Assembly:

System.Net.Mail.dll

Source:

MailMessage.cs

Gets the email headers that are transmitted with this email message.

public:
 property System::Collections::Specialized::NameValueCollection ^ Headers { System::Collections::Specialized::NameValueCollection ^ get(); };

public System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection Headers { get; }

member this.Headers : System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection

Public ReadOnly Property Headers As NameValueCollection

Property Value

NameValueCollection

A NameValueCollection that contains the email headers.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates displaying the headers for a mail message.

static void CreateMessageWithAttachment4( String^ server, String^ to )
{
   
   // Specify the file to be attached and sent.
   // This example uses a file on a UNC share.
   String^ file = L"\\\\share3\\c$\\reports\\data.xls";
   
   // Create a message and set up the recipients.
   MailMessage^ message = gcnew MailMessage( L"ReportMailer@contoso.com",to,L"Quarterly data report",L"See the attached spreadsheet." );
   
   // Create  the file attachment for this email message.
   Attachment^ data = gcnew Attachment("qtr3.xls", MediaTypeNames::Application::Octet);
   
   // Add time stamp information for the file.
   ContentDisposition^ disposition = data->ContentDisposition;
   disposition->CreationDate = System::IO::File::GetCreationTime( file );
   disposition->ModificationDate = System::IO::File::GetLastWriteTime( file );
   disposition->ReadDate = System::IO::File::GetLastAccessTime( file );
   disposition->DispositionType = DispositionTypeNames::Attachment;
   
   // Add the file attachment to this email message.
   message->Attachments->Add( data );
   
   //Send the message.
   SmtpClient^ client = gcnew SmtpClient( server );
   
   // Add credentials if the SMTP server requires them.
   client->Credentials = dynamic_cast<ICredentialsByHost^>(CredentialCache::DefaultNetworkCredentials);
   client->Send( message );
   
   // Display the message headers.
   array<String^>^keys = message->Headers->AllKeys;
   Console::WriteLine( L"Headers" );
   IEnumerator^ myEnum3 = keys->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum3->MoveNext() )
   {
      String^ s = safe_cast<String^>(myEnum3->Current);
      Console::WriteLine( L"{0}:", s );
      Console::WriteLine( L"    {0}", message->Headers[ s ] );
   }

   data->~Attachment();
   client->~SmtpClient();
}

public static void CreateMessageWithAttachment4(string server, string to)
{
    // Specify the file to be attached and sent.
    // This example uses a file on a UNC share.
    string file = @"\\share3\c$\reports\data.xls";
    // Create a message and set up the recipients.
    MailMessage message = new MailMessage(
       "ReportMailer@contoso.com",
       to,
       "Quarterly data report",
       "See the attached spreadsheet.");

    // Create  the file attachment for this email message.
    Attachment data = new Attachment("qtr3.xls", MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet);
    // Add time stamp information for the file.
    ContentDisposition disposition = data.ContentDisposition;
    disposition.CreationDate = System.IO.File.GetCreationTime(file);
    disposition.ModificationDate = System.IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(file);
    disposition.ReadDate = System.IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(file);
    disposition.DispositionType = DispositionTypeNames.Attachment;
    // Add the file attachment to this email message.
    message.Attachments.Add(data);
    //Send the message.
    SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient(server);
    // Add credentials if the SMTP server requires them.
    client.Credentials = (ICredentialsByHost)CredentialCache.DefaultNetworkCredentials;
    client.Send(message);
    // Display the message headers.
    string[] keys = message.Headers.AllKeys;
    Console.WriteLine("Headers");
    foreach (string s in keys)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("{0}:", s);
        Console.WriteLine("    {0}", message.Headers[s]);
    }
    data.Dispose();
}

Public Shared Sub CreateMessageWithAttachment4(ByVal server As String, ByVal [to] As String)
    ' Specify the file to be attached And sent.
    ' This example uses a file on a UNC share.
    Dim file As String = "\\share3\c$\reports\data.xls"
    Dim message As MailMessage = New MailMessage("ReportMailer@contoso.com", [to], "Quarterly data report", "See the attached spreadsheet.")
    ' Create  the file attachment for this email message.
    Dim data As Attachment = New Attachment("qtr3.xls", MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet)
    ' Add time stamp information for the file.
    Dim disposition As ContentDisposition = data.ContentDisposition
    disposition.CreationDate = System.IO.File.GetCreationTime(file)
    disposition.ModificationDate = System.IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(file)
    disposition.ReadDate = System.IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(file)
    disposition.DispositionType = DispositionTypeNames.Attachment
    ' Add the file attachment to this email message.
    message.Attachments.Add(data)
    'Send the message.
    Dim client As SmtpClient = New SmtpClient(server)
    ' Add credentials if the SMTP server requires them.
    client.Credentials = CType(CredentialCache.DefaultNetworkCredentials, ICredentialsByHost)
    client.Send(message)
    ' Display the message headers.
    Dim keys As String() = message.Headers.AllKeys
    Console.WriteLine("Headers")

    For Each s As String In keys
        Console.WriteLine("{0}:", s)
        Console.WriteLine("    {0}", message.Headers(s))
    Next

    data.Dispose()
End Sub

Remarks

The Headers property allows an application to access the headers collection for the message. While this collection is read-only (a new collection can not be set), custom headers can be added to or deleted from this collection. Any custom headers added will be included when the MailMessage instance is sent. Before a message is sent, only headers specifically added to this collection in the Headers property are included in the collection. After the MailMessage instance is sent, the Headers property will also include headers that are set using the associated properties of the MailMessage class or parameters passed when a MailMessage is used to initialize a MailMessage object.

If some mail headers are malformed, they could cause the email message to become corrupted. So any mail header in the headers collection that can be set using a property on the MailMessage class should only be set using the MailMessage class property or as a parameter passed when a MailMessage initializes a MailMessage object. The following list of mail headers should not be added using the Headers property and any values set for these headers using the Headers property will be discarded or overwritten when the message is sent:

• Bcc

• Cc

• Content-ID

• Content-Location

• Content-Transfer-Encoding

• Content-Type

• Date

• From

• Importance

• MIME-Version

• Priority

• Reply-To

• Sender

• To

• X-Priority

If the application does not specify an X-Sender header using the Headers property, the MailMessage class will create one when the message is sent.

The sender, recipient, subject, and body of an email message may be specified as parameters when a MailMessage is used to initialize a MailMessage object. These parameters may also be set or accessed using properties on the MailMessage object.

The primary mail message headers and elements for the message may be set using the following properties of the MailMessage class.

Mail header or part	Property
Attachments	Attachments
Blind carbon copies (BCC)	Bcc
Carbon copies (CC)	CC
Content-Type	BodyEncoding
Encoding for custom headers	HeadersEncoding
Message body	Body
Priority	Priority
Recipient	To
Reply-To	ReplyToList
Sender	From
Subject	Subject