Simulating IMAP accounts with SQL Server and .NET

[jfrost10]

Here's my crazy idea, tell me if you've done something similar:

Scenario: An Intranet asp.net application.

- Email gets downloaded from a mail server to my web server
- The web application stores the mail information within
SQL Server
Scenario #1:
- User access their mail through the asp.net, and a web
interface

Scenario #2:
- Users access their mail from Outlook, but the mail is sent
from teh web server (somehow simulating a "mail server&quot.

Has anyone done something similar to this?

I know what you're thinking: If they have a web mail interface, why would they use outlook?! Well, they have to buy Office XP with our software (because we use some Office dll's elsewhere in the system, which isn't all web based), so if they purchase Outlook we can't really tell them not to use it.

However, there must be some way to be able to *fool* outlook into thinking its hitting an email server when its really just hitting a service on the web server that takes the information, makes mail messages, and sends them back.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

D'Arcy

 

[AGIMA]

Boy of boy.... Have you got a shit load of work to do...

What you have to do is simulate a mail server and as mail servers go there could be a lot of work for you.

Here is a very very breif outline.

Outlook connects using TCP.
Your server sends back a +OK command
Outlook send UID and PWD
Your server send back a +OK command (If there details are correct).
Outlook sends a List command
Your server sends back a message ID (Normally 1 - amount of mail), along with the Oct length of the message.
Outlook sends a request to recieve message ID.
Your server sends the message along with all the header information needed.
Outlook Quits
Your server send back a +OK message

The END.

There might be a easier way. If you only have a small amount of users you can down load IMail from

http://www.IPSwitch.com

for Free (You have to go to the Purchase section). This connects into a ODBC DB but the free version is limited.

Hope that helps.

Let me know how you go.

Oh before I go here is the RFC for POP3

http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1939.html

AGIMA.net