JavaMail

The JavaMail API provides a set of abstract classes that models an electronic (e-mail) system. The API provides general mail functions for reading and sending mail, and requires service providers to implement the protocols.

Service providers implement specific protocols. For example, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a transport protocol for sending e-mail. Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) is the standard protocol for receiving e-mail. Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is an alternative protocol to POP3.

In addition to service providers, JavaMail requires the JavaBeans™ Activation Framework (JAF) to handle mail content that is not plain text. This includes Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), Uniform Resource Locator (URL) pages, and file attachments.

All the JavaMail components are shipped as part of the IBM^® Developer Kit for Java™. These components include the following:

• mail.jar This JAR file contains JavaMail APIs, the SMTP service provider, the POP3 service provider, and the IMAP service provider.
• activation.jar This JAR file contains the JavaBeans Activation Framework.

Refer to Sun Microsystems, Inc. JavaMail documentation for more information.