Python - Recurring Email with Attachment

Question

Using Python, how do I send an recurring email (using outlook) say every Monday, that will include an attachment? Attachment would be located on my desktop.

file_path = r"U:\\t\\Analytics\\Finance\\20 FP&A\\22 Forecast File.xlsx"

import os
import win32com.client as win32

# construct Outlook application instance

olApp = win32.Dispatch('Outlook.Application')
olNS = olApp.GetNameSpace('MAPI')

# construct the email item object

mailItem = olApp.CreateItem(0)
mailItem.Subject = 'memo'
mailItem.BodyFormat = 1
mailItem.Body = "Hello World"
mailItem.To = 'email example'

mailItem.Attachments.Add(file_path)

mailItem.Display()

Why not use the code you have shown? – mkrieger1 Mar 28 '22 at 23:18 — mkrieger1, Mar 28 '22 at 23:18

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 28 '22 at 23:44

1

Unlike recurring appointments, there is no such thing as a recurring email. Your code would have to explicitly create, populate, and send an email every time it needs to be created, populated, and sent.

answered Mar 28 '22 at 23:44

Dmitry Streblechenko

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 29 '22 at 06:47

The Outlook object model doesn't provide anything for sending recurring emails out of the box. You can use timers to run your job at some points of time periodically. See the Timers section in MSDN for Windows APIs available for that.

Also you may find the Outlook VBA - Run a code every half an hour thread which discusses how to run a code periodically. Even it is related to VBA, but the same approach can be used in Python. Windows API is the same for all kind of programming languages.

You may find the Python Timer Functions: Three Ways to Monitor Your Code article helpful.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 30 '22 at 08:51

1

Recurring script execution is much better done using Task Scheduler than using anything Python can provide.

answered Mar 30 '22 at 08:51

Somebody Out There

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Office apps cannot be used from the Task Scheduler since it runs as a service. – Dmitry Streblechenko Apr 01 '22 at 01:34
@Dmitry Streblechenko Python script that imports win32com.client module enables one to send e-mails using MAPI protocol without using any Office apps or background services. – Somebody Out There Apr 01 '22 at 02:04
"MAPi protocol" (assuming you mean Simple MAPI) does not exist in a vacuum, it is implemented by some email client. Most likely Outlook. – Dmitry Streblechenko Apr 01 '22 at 04:13
And `win32com.client` module enables you to use COM objects when running in Windows. The OP uses it to drive Outlook. And that should not be done from a Task Scheduler. – Dmitry Streblechenko Apr 01 '22 at 04:18
Fair enough, I guess stmplib + Task Scheduler would be a more elegant solution for task at hand. – Somebody Out There Apr 01 '22 at 06:20

Python - Recurring Email with Attachment

3 Answers3