[LINK] ACT vote article

[Gordon Keith]

On Mon, 22 Oct 2001 13:03, Chirgwin, Richard wrote:
> Bob,
>
> Scuze me if this is a "D'oh!" question, but what's the process for
> e-mailing to a database?

Most straightforward is to write a program that handles the SMTP 
protocol and looks like a mail server. When it recieves mail it parses 
the address, subject and body of the message and writes the information 
to the database. Normally you would have very strict rules as to how 
the email should be formatted, so a program which writes and sends the 
email is also a good idea.

Slightly more complicated (but probably easier to implement) is to set 
up a real SMTP server and write a procmail script that passes the mail 
to a program that reads the mail and writes the information to the 
database.

Email is a great protocol for transferring information where a bit of 
latency isn't a problem. I've written programs that can be controlled 
remotely by email, it isn't hard and all you need is some sort of email 
connection for it to work. I was able to reboot a data logging system 
on a ship whose only network connection was to received email once or 
twice a day.

Regards
Gordon