Open default email client (outlook, thunderbird, gmail, etc.) with attachment

Question

I looked at a bunch of tutorials using ActionMailer, but they all seem to just automatically send emails without opening up a default email app. I want the user to be able to click a button that opens up their default email client with the to and subject fields filled in, and be able to have a file attached. Ideally, I want it to work just like:

<a href='mailto:someperson@example.com'>

but have it able to attach a file. I would post code, but I have no idea what to post. I guess the main question is if there's a way to get ActionMailer to open up outlook instead of just sending emails?

There is very similar question, Rails actionmailer open host email app but the solutions didn't work.

update

My app is for a small workplace where every computer has access to whatever files are needed which would be located on the server. I am trying to make it so that the user of the app can click an email button which grabs a pdf file from a folder on the server and opens up outlook on their machine with the file automatically attached.

Rails ActionMailer runs on a server, where the Mail program is on a users computer. — dre-hh, Jun 23 '14 at 22:16
@dre-hh so what does that mean for my question? please see my edit for more information about what i'm trying to accomplish. — notblakeshelton, Jun 23 '14 at 22:22
Checked the edit. Still different machines, right? So - Impossibru! — dre-hh, Jun 23 '14 at 22:28

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

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Okay, it seems you can't use the mailto shell to add attachments from what google has told me BUT:

The way I'd approach it is through a client side script or executable and the serverside trigger (the button on a website).

I'd personally use a compiled autohotkey script but here is the link to a vbs/vba script (only works with outlook).

Hope this points you in the right direction :)

edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

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answered Jun 23 '14 at 22:15

h4k4s4m

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score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

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Unfortunately this is not possible. You'll have to write a native app or a browser extension for that.

See Attaching a file in email in html5 web page

edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

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answered Jun 23 '14 at 22:47

dre-hh

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Hiya, looks like you've linked to another stack overflow question. Is this a duplicate of that question? If so - you can always flag a question as a duplicate - which tends to give a nicer linking between the two than just adding it as an "answer". – Taryn East Jun 24 '14 at 05:08

Open default email client (outlook, thunderbird, gmail, etc.) with attachment

2 Answers2