Attaching dynamically-generated files - PHP

As you know, there are cases where it’s necessary to attach a file that has been created dynamically to an email message, usually through a PHP server-side graphic library such as GD or via a custom function or class. Fortunately, Swift Mailer supports this requirement; its “fromPath()” method can take a file generated like this and annex it to an existing message.

To demonstrate this ability, below I modified the script built in the previous section, which simulates the situation described above. Look at it:

// example on sending a basic email message with Swift Mailer (uses the 'addPart()' method and Swift_Attachment class and attaches dynamic content)

// include required files

require_once 'lib/swift_required.php';

// create the mail transport using the 'newInstance()' method

$transport = Swift_SmtpTransport::newInstance('mail.domain.com', 25)

->setUsername('alejandro@domain.com')

->setPassword('password');

// create the mailer using the 'newInstance()' method

$mailer = Swift_Mailer::newInstance($transport);

// create a simple message using the 'newInstance()' method

// $image has been generated previously using for instance the GD library or a similar package

$message = Swift_Message::newInstance()

// specify the subject of the message

->setSubject('Testing Swift Mailer')

// specify the From argument

->setFrom(array('alejandro@domain.com' => 'Alejandro Gervasio'))

// specify the To argument

->setTo(array('john@domain.com' =>' John Doe'))

->setCc(array('mary@domain.com' => 'Mary Jackson'))

->setBcc(array('susan@domain.com' => 'Susan Norton'))

// build the body part of the message

->setBody('Hey, how are you? I am sending you a message with the cool Swift Mailer library. Make sure to check the attached file!')

->addPart('<p>This part of the message has been formatted as HTML to make it look nicer</p>', 'text/html')

->attach(Swift_Attachment::newInstance($image, 'sample_image.png'));

// send the email message

if ($mailer->send($message))

{

echo 'The message was sent successfully!';

}

else

{

echo 'Error sending email message';

}

Even though at first sight the above script looks very similar to the one that you saw in the previous section, it actually performs a different task. It attaches a dynamic PNG file that has been hypothetically created with the GD PHP library.

This file in question is then passed directly to the “newInstance()” method of the pertinent “Swift_Attachment” class, where it’s finally attached to the email message. Not too difficult to understand, right?

Please don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to sound like I’m marketing the Swift Mailer library to you, but it definitely makes handling attachments a no-brainer process. However, I’d like to finish this tutorial by showing you yet another example; it will demonstrate how to change, on the fly, the name of a file being attached.

To see how this last example will be created, read the next section. It’s only one click away.