Python 101: Interactively learn how to program with Python 3/

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Send email using the TO, CC and BCC lines

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import os
import smtplib
import sys
from configparser import ConfigParser
def send_email(subject, body_text, to_emails, cc_emails, bcc_emails):
    """
    Send an email
    """
    base_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
    config_path = os.path.join(base_path, "email.ini")
    if os.path.exists(config_path):
        cfg = ConfigParser()
        cfg.read(config_path)
    else:
        print("Config not found! Exiting!")
        sys.exit(1)
    host = cfg.get("smtp", "server")
    from_addr = cfg.get("smtp", "from_addr")
    BODY = "\r\n".join((
            "From: %s" % from_addr,
            "To: %s" % ', '.join(to_emails),
            "CC: %s" % ', '.join(cc_emails),
            "BCC: %s" % ', '.join(bcc_emails),
            "Subject: %s" % subject ,
            "",
            body_text
            ))
    emails = to_emails + cc_emails + bcc_emails
    server = smtplib.SMTP(host)
    server.sendmail(from_addr, emails, BODY)
    server.quit()
if __name__ == "__main__":
    emails = ["mike@somewhere.org"]
    cc_emails = ["someone@gmail.com"]
    bcc_emails = ["schmuck@newtel.net"]
    subject = "Test email from Python"
    body_text = "Python rules them all!"
    send_email(subject, body_text, emails, cc_emails, bcc_emails)

In this code, we pass in 3 lists, each with one email address a piece. We create the CC and BCC fields exactly the same as before, but we also need to combine the 3 lists into one so we can pass the combined list to the sendmail() method. There is some talk on forums like StackOverflow that some email clients may handle the BCC field in odd ways that allow the recipient to see the BCC list via the email headers. I am unable to confirm this behavior, but I do know that Gmail successfully strips the BCC information from the email header.

Now we’re ready to move on to using Python’s email module!