VB6 - Validate email address syntax and test email address¶

Installation¶

EASendMail is a SMTP component which supports all operations of SMTP/ESMTP protocols (RFC 821, RFC 822, RFC 2554). Before you can use the following example codes, you should download the EASendMail Installer and install it on your machine at first.

Add reference in VB6¶

To use EASendMail SMTP ActiveX Object in your project, the first step is “Add reference of EASendMail to your project”. Please select menu -> Project -> References -> and select EASendMailObj ActiveX Object, click OK, the reference will be added to current project, and you can start to use it to send email in your VB6 project.

Add reference in VBA (EXCEL/Access/Outlook)¶

Open VBA IDE by press Alt+F11, Please select menu -> Tools -> References -> and select EASendMailObj ActiveX Object, click OK, the reference will be added to current VBA project, and you can start to use it to send email in your VBA project.

VB6 - Test email address - example¶

The following example codes demonstrate testing email address using MX DNS lookup. In order to run it correctly, please change SMTP server, user, password, sender, recipient value to yours.

Private Sub btnSendMail_Click()

    Dim oSmtp As New EASendMailObjLib.Mail
    oSmtp.LicenseCode = "TryIt"

    ' Set your sender email address
    oSmtp.FromAddr = "test@emailarchitect.net"

    ' Add recipient email address
    oSmtp.AddRecipientEx "support@emailarchitect.net", 0

    ' Do not set SMTP server address
    oSmtp.ServerAddr = ""

    MsgBox "start to test email address..."

    If oSmtp.TestEmailAddr() = 0 Then
        MsgBox "email address was verified!"
    Else
        MsgBox "failed to test email address with the following error:" & oSmtp.GetLastErrDescription()
    End If

End Sub

How does it work?¶

Firstly, SmtpClient performs a DNS MX record query. If it retrieves the recipient’s local SMTP server successfully, SmtpClient will try to connect to this server. SmtpClient then performs “RCPT TO” command to test if this SMTP server accepts this email address.

Why we don’t recommend testing email address?¶

Because it totally depends on your networking connection, if your networking connection to the recipient server is bad or your IP address is blocked by the recipient server, test will be failed, but it doesn’t mean this email address is invalid.

Moreover, to prevent email address testing, many email providers accept the recipient address at first no matter if the address is valid or invalid, only after you sent the email data to the server, then the server rejects it if the recipient address is invalid.

Recommended solution¶

Send the email to the recipient without testing. If you don’t get Transport Error and Failure Report in 24 hours, that means the recipient is valid. If you get Failure Report, you should consider to remove this recipient from your mail listing.

32bit/x64 ActiveX DLL¶

Seperate builds of run-time dll for 32 and x64 platform

Distribution¶

• Standard EXE

  For VB6, C++, Delphi or other standard exe application, you can distribute EASendMailObj.dll with your application to target machine without COM-registration and installer. To learn more detail, please have a look at Registration-free COM with Manifest File.

• Script

  For ASP, VBScript, VBA, MS SQL Stored Procedure, you need to install EASendMail on target machine by EASendMail installer, both 32bit/x64 DLL are installed and registered.