DA Morgan wrote:
> Lee wrote:
>
>> I've sent email from pl/sql with utl_smtp and with 10g's utl_mail; but
>> now I want to do the inverse, i.e. I want to READ email from pl/sql.
>>
>> The idea is to set up a dedicated email account. Users could send
>> stereotyped messages to that account, and the pl/sql routine would
>> read the mail, parse the messages and do the needful.
>>
>> As far as I can tell, utl_mail will send, but not receive email.
>>
>> I can think of some Rube Golberg workarounds but can anyone point the
>> way to a "no fuss" way to read simple text emails?
>>
>>
>> Thanks in advance
>
>
> If you think it is a good idea to send emails, across the web, from
> some Microsoft Outlook client directly into an Oracle database I am sure
> we can recommend a good 12 step program for you.
>
As you yourself point out, the email winds up as data somwhere; so why
would it be worse to send email to an automated agent than sending email
to a human agent or just reading an input file as data?
Why would reading email to drive a script from inside a stored procedure
be more dangerous than running a static batch script or a script that
takes input from a human or from a data file?
I assume you're concerned about sql injection attacks or maybe some sort
of spam and/or spoofing, or even an attempt to "flood" the system a la
DDOS attacks?
Maybe I'm not being sufficiently imaginative or paranoid, but I cant see
how the sort of scheme I'm thinking of is more dangerous than crossing
the street. Everybody and his uncle has a listserv that runs on commands
sent in by email, so why is that setting off alarm bells?
I can use an http callout to get data from anywhere on the planet. There
are "rest"-full web services, and SOAP interfaces and all sorts of ways
to have all kinds of heaven-knows-what get presented as input. A routine
that parses stereotyped email messages and deliveres canned re****ts in
response seems pretty benign.
Or am I living in a fools paradise?
> Incoming emails are stored somewhere. Find the location. Read them using
> anything from UTL_FILE to whatever.
My Oracle server is running on a different box from my email server, so
the trick is to get the data from the mail server to the oracle box.
If I dont mind having more moving parts, there are plenty of ways to get
from there to here; but I was hoping for something with "no fuss, no
muss and no bother". Reading email seemed to fill the bill until
I realize that I dont seem to have a slick way to make that happen.
Maybe something in Java running in the database?
Of course there is that proverb about the relative velocity of fools and
fearful angels, so tell me more about why I could be stepping off a
cliff here.
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