Network Deployment (Distributed operating systems), v8.0 > Develop and deploying applications > Develop Mail, URLs, and other Java EE resources > Develop applications that use the JavaMail API
JavaMail API
The JavaMail APIs provide a framework that is platform and protocol independent for building mail client applications that are based on Java. The JavaMail APIs are generic for sending and reading mail. They require service providers, known in the application server as protocol providers, to interact with mail servers that run on pertaining protocols. For example, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a popular transport protocol for sending mail. Mail applications can connect to an SMTP server and send mail through it by using this SMTP protocol provider.
WAS v8 supports the JavaMail API, v1.4. In the application server, the JavaMail API is supported in all web application components, namely:
- servlets
- JSP files
- enterprise beans
- application clients
In addition to service providers, the JavaMail API requires the JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF) to handle mail content that is not plain text, including MIME, URL pages, and file attachments.
The JavaMail APIs, the JAF, the service providers, and the protocols are shipped as part of the application server. The API and related specifications are repackaged from materials that are licensed to Sun Microsystems. If you are using Java 5 to run your code, you will need the JAF 1.1 package. For Java 6 and later, the JAF package is part of the run time environment.