Can I send e-mail through MATLAB using Microsoft Outlook?

I want to send e-mail through MATLAB, but the SENDMAIL command does not save the outgoing message for future reference. I would like to send mail through MS Outlook so that I may reference it later.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

NOTE: This method is not compatible with "New Outlook" which no longer supports ActiveX.

The ActiveX/COM interface can be used to control MS Outlook from MATLAB and send e-mails while using all the features available in MS Outlook. The function below is an example of how this can be done. Note that this function works almost the same as SENDMAIL.

function sendolmail(to,subject,body,attachments)
    %Sends email using MS Outlook. The format of the function is 
    %Similar to the SENDMAIL command.
    
    % Create object and set parameters.
    h = actxserver('outlook.Application');
    mail = h.CreateItem('olMailItem');
    mail.Subject = subject;
    
    % multiple recipients
    if length(to) > 1
          to = strjoin(to,';')
    end
    mail.To = to;
    
    mail.BodyFormat = 'olFormatHTML';
    mail.HTMLBody = body;
    
    % Add attachments, if specified.
    if nargin == 4
        for i = 1:length(attachments)
            mail.attachments.Add(attachments{i});
        end
    end
    
    % Send message and release object.
    mail.Send;
    h.release;

Examples of how to use this function would be the following:

The first will example includes a link, the second a picture.

sendolmail('[e-mail]','Test link','Test message including a <A HREF=http://www.mathworks.com>Link</A>', {'C:\attachment1.txt' 'C:\attachment2.txt'});

sendolmail('[e-mail]','Test image',
'Test message including an image <img src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ-g_C_RAP7xbdz_Da-GK20YeycTzN2JkZotcIgx22dH2v4cBULmhVdLnc">', {})

Alternatively, you can use SENDMAIL but BCC the e-mail to yourself so that you may retain a copy.

[Richa Gupta]

Did you upgrade your Windows OS before you started seeing this error? I would suggest contacting MathWorks Technical Support for help.

[Michael]

Will this only work for PC, Mac as well?

[Angelo Yeo]

Hi Michael,

Unfortunately, COM functions are available on Microsoft Windows® systems only.

[Lily Yan]

FYI:

OlItemType enumeration (Outlook) | Microsoft Learn

I used

mail = h.CreateItem('olMailItem');

Instead of

mail = h.CreateItem('olMail');