intermittent smtp module problems (with sendmail) in python 2.2.1

[Christopher T King]

On 4 Aug 2004, Karl Ehr wrote:

> I have written the following simple program to monitor a single URL,
> and notify me via email whenever this URL changes.    Intermittently,
> I raise the following exception:
> 
> smtplib.SMTPServerDisconnected: Connection unexpectedly closed

This is probably happening because of a timeout on the SMTP server.  Try 
moving this line:

> server = smtplib.SMTP('localhost') # server to relay smtp through for

To right in front of where you use it:

>     server.set_debuglevel(1)
>     server.sendmail(sourceAddress, emailAddress, message)
>     server.quit()

the SMTP() constructor doesn't just set up a connection (and open it on 
.sendmail()); it opens the connection when it's called and leaves it open 
until you call .quit() (or delete the object).