SMTP via GMAIL

[mmm]

On Aug 5, 12:18 am, Tim Roberts <t... at probo.com> wrote:

> >But when using smtp.gmail.com as the server I learned that any
> >@gmail.com address in the  Cc: text block would
> >receive mail even if I changed the code to have the RECEIVERS list to
> >ignore the CC addresses or not include the gmail address in the CC
> >list as below
>
> Interesting.  If true, that is incorrect behavior.

I ran some more tests and now I am pretty sure

  session.sendmail(SENDER, RECEIVERS, BODY)

is only sending to the RECEIVERS list, ignoring the Cc: field in the
body (as it should)

What fooled me is that I was using my own gmail account (i.e.,
me at gmail.com) as a Cc: field and not putting it in the RECEIVERS
list.  It seems Gmail creates two links (or copies?) to the message:
(1) as it is stored in the SENT box (as it should since the message
was sent by my gmail account) and (2) another in my INBOX because the
mail reading software reads the Cc: field.

Other smtp servers such as comcast do not create the stored SENT mail
and hence behave different in terms of how they treat Cc: fields of
the same account (me at comcast.net in this case).

Most important, using another gmail account (not me at gmail.com) as a
Cc: field does not create another sent message (outside of what is in
the RECEIVERS field).

Sorry for confusion, and I do appreciate the tips as I now see how
almost anything To:, Cc:, Bcc: combination can be handled by a proper
RECEIVERS list.


Below is python code that can be used by anyone that wants to test
what I did  (just fill in the SMTPuser and password variables) and
then check you gmail inbox


import sys, os, glob, datetime, time
import smtplib
## Parameters for SMTP session
port=587
SMTPserver=  'smtp.gmail.com'
SMTPuser= 'you at gmail.com'
pw= 'fill in here'
SENDER= SMTPuser

## Message details
FROM=  SENDER
TO= 'notgmail at a.com'
CC=FROM
##RECEIVERS= (TO, CC)  ##proper way to send to both TO and CC
RECEIVERS= (TO,)  ## ignore the CC address

subject= 'Test 1a'
message='*** Email test  *** '

print 'Starting SMTP mail session on %s as  %s ' %
(SMTPserver,SMTPuser)
session = smtplib.SMTP(SMTPserver,port)
session.set_debuglevel(0)  # set debug level to 1 to see details
session.ehlo(SMTPuser)  # say hello
session.starttls()  # TLS needed
session.ehlo(SMTPuser)  # say hello again, not sure why
session.login(SMTPuser, pw)

##Create HEADER + MESSAGE
HEADER= 'From: %s\r\n' % FROM
HEADER= HEADER + 'To: %s\r\n' % TO
HEADER= HEADER + 'Cc: %s\r\n' % CC
HEADER= HEADER + 'Subject: %s\r\n' % subject
BODY= HEADER + '\r\n' + message
print BODY

SMTPresult = session.sendmail(SENDER, RECEIVERS, BODY)  ## send email

session.close()