JavaMail resources
The JavaMai APIs provide a platform and protocol-independent framework for building Java-based mail client applications. The JavaMail APIs are generic for sending and receiving mail. They require service providers, known in WebSphere as protocol providers, to interact with mail servers that run the protocols.
A JavaMail provider encapsulates a collection of protocol providers. WAS has a Built-in Mail Provider that encompasses three protocol providers: SMTP, IMAP, and POP3. These protocol providers are installed as the default and should be sufficient for most applications.
| Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) | Transport protocol for sending mail. JavaMail applications can connect to an SMTP server and send mail through it by using this SMTP protocol provider. |
| Post Office Protocol (POP3) | Standard protocol for receiving mail. |
| Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) | Alternative protocol to POP3 for receiving mail. |
In this section, the terms JavaMail provider and mail provider are used interchangeably.
To use other protocols, install the appropriate service provider for those protocols.
In addition to service providers, JavaMail requires the Java Activation Framework (JAF) as the underlying framework to deal with complex data types that are not plain text, like...
- Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
- Uniform Resource Locator (URL) pages
- file attachments
The JavaMail APIs, the JAF, the service providers and the protocols are shipped as part of WAS using the following Sun licensed packages:
| mail.jar | Contains the JavaMail APIs, and the SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 service providers. |
| activation.jar | Contains the JavaBeans Activation Framework. |
WAS supports JavaMail V1.3 and the JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF) V1.0. All Web components of WebSphere, including servlets, JSPs, EJBs, and application clients, support JavaMail.