# Mail handling in egroupware **URL:** \ **Category:** eGW-developers\ **Created:** [June 21, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694 "2009-06-21T23:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1

**Author:** ![Raphael\_Alla-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ebca7d/32.png) [@Raphael\_Alla-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Raphael_Alla-2)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/1 "2009-06-21T23:19:41Z")

Hi, I realise mail handling in egroupware is just all over the place: - some code uses the mail function, some code uses the smtp configuration provided during the setup - errors in sending emails are in most cases just ignored and the user is left to wonder why emails are not sent or not read by the tracker, mydms etc. I think we need to clean that a little bit. Shouldn’t we just focus on ONE way to send emails, and have a consistent behaviour to log errors (such as the egroupware log and not the apache log). I am happy to work on this once we can agree on what should be the behaviour. ## Raphael Raphael Alla Alphalog Calédonie Mitija Australia +61 4 15 678 576 +687 78 86 86 [http://www.mitija.com](http://www.mitija.com) [http://www.alphalog.nc](http://www.alphalog.nc) ---

**Author:** ![Ralf\_Becker\_6](http://discourse.egroupware.org/user_avatar/discourse.egroupware.org/ralf_becker_6/32/1306_2.png) [@Ralf\_Becker\_6](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Ralf_Becker_6)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/2 "2009-06-22T19:46:52Z")

Hi Raphael, Raphael Alla schrieb: > Hi, > > I realise mail handling in egroupware is just all over the place: > > - some code uses the mail function, some code uses the smtp > configuration provided during the setup The mail config in setup and a default mail profile in emailadmin are kept in sync. If you have no default profile, you always have a problem, as we not always have a user context to find the correct personal email profile. > - errors in sending emails are in most cases just ignored and the user > is left to wonder why emails are not sent or not read by the tracker, > mydms etc. Not send mail should be logged via error\_log(). > I think we need to clean that a little bit. Shouldn’t we just focus on > ONE way to send emails, and have a consistent behaviour to log errors > (such as the egroupware log and not the apache log). I think everything should be logged to Apache error\_log, that’s the most easy way and it even works if there’s no working database. Ralf > I am happy to work on this once we can agree on what should be the > behaviour. > > ## Raphael > > Raphael Alla > Alphalog Calédonie > Mitija Australia > +61 4 15 678 576 > +687 78 86 86 > [http://www.mitija.com](http://www.mitija.com) > [http://www.alphalog.nc](http://www.alphalog.nc) > > * * * > > * * * > > Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge conference! > Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: $250. > Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! > [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) > > * * * > > * * * > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) – Ralf Becker Director Software Development Stylite GmbH [open style of IT] Morschheimer Strasse 15 67292 Kirchheimbolanden fon +49 (0) 6352 70629-0 fax +49 (0) 6352 70629-30 mailto: [rb@stylite.de](mailto:rb@stylite.de) [www.stylite.de](http://www.stylite.de) [www.egroupware.org](http://www.egroupware.org) * * * Geschäftsführer Andre Keller, Gudrun Müller, Nigel Vickers und Ralf Becker Registergericht Kaiserslautern HRB 30575 Umsatzsteuer-Id / VAT-Id: DE214280951 * * * Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge conference! Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: $250. Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) * * * eGroupWare-developers mailing list [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) ---

**Author:** ![Raphael\_Alla-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ebca7d/32.png) [@Raphael\_Alla-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Raphael_Alla-2)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/3 "2009-06-24T23:24:24Z")

> Hi Raphael, > > Raphael Alla schrieb: > > > Hi, > > > > I realise mail handling in egroupware is just all over the place: > > > > - some code uses the mail function, some code uses the smtp > > configuration provided during the setup > > The mail config in setup and a default mail profile in emailadmin are > kept in sync. If you have no default profile, you always have a problem, > as we not always have a user context to find the correct personal email > profile. this is not true. Some code, such as the tracker or mydms code, does not even attempt to know what is the mail config. It only uses the mail function. > > - errors in sending emails are in most cases just ignored and the user > > is left to wonder why emails are not sent or not read by the tracker, > > mydms etc. > > Not send mail should be logged via error\_log(). I have seend that calls to error\_log have been added to the code now. > > * * * > > * * * > > > Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge > > conference! > > Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: > > $250. > > Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! > > [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) > > > * * * > > > > * * * > > > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) > > – > Ralf Becker > Director Software Development > > Stylite GmbH > [open style of IT] > > Morschheimer Strasse 15 > 67292 Kirchheimbolanden > > fon +49 (0) 6352 70629-0 > fax +49 (0) 6352 70629-30 > mailto: [rb@stylite.de](mailto:rb@stylite.de) > > [www.stylite.de](http://www.stylite.de) > [www.egroupware.org](http://www.egroupware.org) > > * * * > > Geschäftsführer Andre Keller, Gudrun Müller, > Nigel Vickers und Ralf Becker > Registergericht Kaiserslautern HRB 30575 > Umsatzsteuer-Id / VAT-Id: DE214280951 > > * * * > > Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge > conference! > Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: > $250. > Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! > > [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) > > * * * > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) – Raphael Alla Alphalog Calédonie Mitija Australia +61 4 15 678 576 +687 78 86 86 [http://www.mitija.com](http://www.mitija.com) [http://www.alphalog.nc](http://www.alphalog.nc) ---

**Author:** ![Leithoff\_Klaus](http://discourse.egroupware.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@Leithoff\_Klaus](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Leithoff_Klaus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 10:32am UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/4 "2009-06-25T10:32:52Z")

To true about tracker and mydms. Its on the agenda to be changed, but not tackled yet. ## [egroupware-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:egroupware-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) Hi Raphael, Raphael Alla schrieb: > Hi, > > I realise mail handling in egroupware is just all over the place: > > - some code uses the mail function, some code uses the smtp > configuration provided during the setup > The mail config in setup and a default mail profile in emailadmin are > kept in sync. If you have no default profile, you always have a problem, > as we not always have a user context to find the correct personal email > profile. > this is not true. Some code, such as the tracker or mydms code, does not > even attempt to know what is the mail config. It only uses the mail > function. > - errors in sending emails are in most cases just ignored and the user > is left to wonder why emails are not sent or not read by the tracker, > mydms etc. > Not send mail should be logged via error\_log(). > I have seend that calls to error\_log have been added to the code now. > > * * * * * * > Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge > conference! > Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: > $250. > Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) > * * * > > * * * > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) – Ralf Becker Director Software Development Stylite GmbH [open style of IT] Morschheimer Strasse 15 67292 Kirchheimbolanden fon +49 (0) 6352 70629-0 fax +49 (0) 6352 70629-30 mailto: [rb@stylite.de](mailto:rb@stylite.de) [www.stylite.de](http://www.stylite.de) [www.egroupware.org](http://www.egroupware.org) * * * Geschäftsführer Andre Keller, Gudrun Müller, Nigel Vickers und Ralf Becker Registergericht Kaiserslautern HRB 30575 Umsatzsteuer-Id / VAT-Id: DE214280951 * * * Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge conference! Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: $250. Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) * * * eGroupWare-developers mailing list [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) – Raphael Alla Alphalog Calédonie Mitija Australia +61 4 15 678 576 +687 78 86 86 [http://www.mitija.com](http://www.mitija.com) [http://www.alphalog.nc](http://www.alphalog.nc) -\> [mailto:rb@stylite.de](mailto:rb@stylite.de)] * * * * * * * * * * * * eGroupWare-developers mailing list [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) – Stylite GmbH [open style of IT] Morschheimer Strasse 15 67292 Kirchheimbolanden fon 06352 . 70629-0 fax 06352 . 70629-30 [www.stylite.de](http://www.stylite.de) Handelsregister Kaiserslautern HRB 30575 Geschäftsführer: Andre Keller, Gudrun Müller, Nigel Vickers, Ralf Becker * * * * * * eGroupWare-developers mailing list [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) ---

**Author:** ![Nathan\_Gray-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Nathan\_Gray-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Nathan_Gray-2)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/5 "2009-06-25T21:09:30Z")

> I think everything should be logged to Apache error\_log, that’s the > most > easy way and it even works if there’s no working database. Slightly O.T. What is “the” (or the best) way to do logging in eGW? I’ve been using $GLOBALS[‘egw’]-\>log-\>error() because it allows different log levels (info, warning), but it has shortcomings. Would it be better to use trigger\_error() instead? Nathan Gray nathan at goarctic dot com * * * * * * eGroupWare-developers mailing list [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) ---

**Author:** ![Ralf\_Becker\_6](http://discourse.egroupware.org/user_avatar/discourse.egroupware.org/ralf_becker_6/32/1306_2.png) [@Ralf\_Becker\_6](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Ralf_Becker_6)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:22am UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/6 "2009-06-26T07:22:52Z")

Hi Nathan, Nathan Gray schrieb: > > I think everything should be logged to Apache error\_log, that’s the > > most > > easy way and it even works if there’s no working database. > > Slightly O.T. > > What is “the” (or the best) way to do logging in eGW? > I’ve been using $GLOBALS[‘egw’]-\>log-\>error() because it allows > different log levels (info, warning), but it has shortcomings. I see a few major shortcomings: - the UI seems to be broken currently - it (obviously) only works, if we have a database connection - it’s on a per instance basis –\> That’s why I always use error\_log(…) > Would it be better to use trigger\_error() instead? Question is for what? trigger\_error() is in my opinion something a lot better implemented now (PHP5) with exceptions. ## Ralf Ralf Becker Director Software Development Stylite GmbH [open style of IT] Morschheimer Strasse 15 67292 Kirchheimbolanden fon +49 (0) 6352 70629-0 fax +49 (0) 6352 70629-30 mailto: [rb@stylite.de](mailto:rb@stylite.de) [www.stylite.de](http://www.stylite.de) [www.egroupware.org](http://www.egroupware.org) * * * Geschäftsführer Andre Keller, Gudrun Müller, Nigel Vickers und Ralf Becker Registergericht Kaiserslautern HRB 30575 Umsatzsteuer-Id / VAT-Id: DE214280951 * * * * * * eGroupWare-developers mailing list [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) ---

**Author:** ![Nathan\_Gray-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Nathan\_Gray-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Nathan_Gray-2)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/7 "2009-06-26T14:14:44Z")

> > Would it be better to use trigger\_error() instead? > > Question is for what? trigger\_error() is in my opinion something a lot > better implemented now (PHP5) with exceptions. Good point. I have a few levels of logging I’m concerned about: info, warning and error. Exceptions are awesome in that you can throw something that says exactly what the problem is, and you can catch and handle them exactly how you want. They all have the same severity though, so are really only useful for exceptions to normal flow. A quick review of what I actually log to the egw log reveals I mostly use it for things that happen asynchronously, but not always “errors”, per se. It seems strange to me that PHP has \>10 different error levels, but error\_log() doesn’t take a level parameter. Nathan Gray nathan at goarctic dot com * * * * * * eGroupWare-developers mailing list [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) ---

**Author:** ![Raphael\_Alla-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ebca7d/32.png) [@Raphael\_Alla-2](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Raphael_Alla-2)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 5:10am UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/8 "2009-07-09T05:10:40Z")

Another issue for asynchroneous services is that by default, when php is run from the command line, the error log is redirected to stdout. That means it is not stored anywhere and no error message can be found by the admin > To true about tracker and mydms. > Its on the agenda to be changed, but not tackled yet. > > ## Von: “Raphael Alla” [raphael.alla@gmail.com](mailto:raphael.alla@gmail.com) An: "development of eGroupWare,for active developers" [egroupware-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:egroupware-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) Datum: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:24:24 +1100 > > Hi Raphael, > > Raphael Alla schrieb: > > > Hi, > > > > I realise mail handling in egroupware is just all over the place: > > > > - some code uses the mail function, some code uses the smtp > > configuration provided during the setup > > The mail config in setup and a default mail profile in emailadmin are > > kept in sync. If you have no default profile, you always have a problem, > > as we not always have a user context to find the correct personal email > > profile. > > this is not true. Some code, such as the tracker or mydms code, does not > > even attempt to know what is the mail config. It only uses the mail > > function. > > > - errors in sending emails are in most cases just ignored and the user > > is left to wonder why emails are not sent or not read by the tracker, > > mydms etc. > > Not send mail should be logged via error\_log(). > > I have seend that calls to error\_log have been added to the code now. > > > > > > * * * > > > > > * * * > > > Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge > > conference! > > Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: > > $250. > > Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! > > [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) > > > * * * > > > > * * * > > > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > > > > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) > > – > Ralf Becker > Director Software Development > > Stylite GmbH > [open style of IT] > > Morschheimer Strasse 15 > 67292 Kirchheimbolanden > > fon +49 (0) 6352 70629-0 > fax +49 (0) 6352 70629-30 > mailto: [rb@stylite.de](mailto:rb@stylite.de) > > [www.stylite.de](http://www.stylite.de) > [www.egroupware.org](http://www.egroupware.org) > > * * * > > Geschäftsführer Andre Keller, Gudrun Müller, > Nigel Vickers und Ralf Becker > Registergericht Kaiserslautern HRB 30575 > Umsatzsteuer-Id / VAT-Id: DE214280951 > > * * * > > Are you an open source citizen? Join us for the Open Source Bridge > conference! > Portland, OR, June 17-19. Two days of sessions, one day of unconference: > $250. > Need another reason to go? 24-hour hacker lounge. Register today! > > [http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org](http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;215844324;13503038;v?http://opensourcebridge.org) > > * * * > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) > > – > Raphael Alla > Alphalog Calédonie > Mitija Australia > +61 4 15 678 576 > +687 78 86 86 > [http://www.mitija.com](http://www.mitija.com) > [http://www.alphalog.nc](http://www.alphalog.nc) -\> [mailto:rb@stylite.de](mailto:rb@stylite.de)] > > * * * > > * * * > > * * * > > * * * > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) > > – > Stylite GmbH > [open style of IT] > Morschheimer Strasse 15 > 67292 Kirchheimbolanden > > fon 06352 . 70629-0 > fax 06352 . 70629-30 > [www.stylite.de](http://www.stylite.de) > > Handelsregister Kaiserslautern HRB 30575 > Geschäftsführer: Andre Keller, Gudrun Müller, Nigel Vickers, Ralf Becker > > * * * > > * * * > > eGroupWare-developers mailing list > [eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net](mailto:eGroupWare-developers@lists.sourceforge.net) > [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers](https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/egroupware-developers) – Raphael Alla Alphalog Calédonie Mitija Australia +61 4 15 678 576 +687 78 86 86 [http://www.mitija.com](http://www.mitija.com) [http://www.alphalog.nc](http://www.alphalog.nc) ---

**Author:** ![Ralf\_Becker\_6](http://discourse.egroupware.org/user_avatar/discourse.egroupware.org/ralf_becker_6/32/1306_2.png) [@Ralf\_Becker\_6](http://discourse.egroupware.org/u/Ralf_Becker_6)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 7:04am UTC](http://discourse.egroupware.org/t/mail-handling-in-egroupware/32694/9 "2009-07-09T07:04:32Z")