ActiveXperts SMS and MMS Toolkit Add SMS and MMS capabilities to any Windows or .NET application

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Using SMS and MMS Toolkit with ASP.NET Visual Basic (MM1 Connection)

The SMS and MMS Toolkit is a software development kit (SDK) to enhance an application or script with SMS, MMS and Pager functionality. SMS messages can be sent using a GSM/GPRS modem, an SMPP provider, an HTTP compliant SMS provider or using a standard dialup or fixed-line SMS modem. MMS messages can be sent via a GSM/GPRS modem (MM1), an SMTP server (MM4) or an XML/SOAP compliant provider (MM7).

SMS features:

  • Send and receive numeric- and alphanumeric text SMS messages
  • Verify delivery of outgoing SMS messages
  • Support for multimedia SMS messages, including ringtones, pictures and logo's
  • Support for WAP Push, WAP Bookmarks, vCards, voicemail/e-mail/fax/MMS indications
  • Support for Unicode, to support foreign languages like Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, etc.
  • Support for multi-part messages, to allow messages longer than 160 characters
  • Support for GSM modems, GSM phones, SMS/HTTP providers, SMPP (Short Message Peer to Peer) providers, TAP/XIO and UCP dial-in SMSC providers
  • Support Multi-threading environments. The component is thread-safe, which means it can be used in a multi-threaded environment
  • Samples included for various development platforms: MS Visual Basic, MS Visual Basic .NET, MS Visual C++, MS Visual Studio C# .NET, ASP, ASP .NET, Borland Delphi, Borland C++ Builder, Windows Powershell ColdFusion and more

MMS features:

  • Support for many multimedia formats incl.: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, WBMP, TIF, WAV, MP3, MIDI, AC3, GP3, AVI, MPG, MP4, VCARD, VCALENDAR, JAR and more
  • Support for MM1 (MMS over WAP), MM4 (MMS over SMTP) and MM7 (MMS over HTML/SOAP)

Pager features:

  • Send alpha-numeric Pager messages through SNPP

This document describes how the SMS and MMS Toolkit can be integrated into ASP.NET projects.

Prerequisites

You must install and configre Internet Information Services (IIS) before using the SMS and MMS Toolkit with ASP .NET If you don't have IIS installed, use the following steps:

  • From the Control Panel, click 'Add/Remove Programs'. Select the 'Add/Remove Windows Components' icon from the left pane, then select 'Application Server' and click on 'Details'. You can now select both 'ASP .NET' and 'Internet Information Services (IIS)'. Click 'OK' to continue installation;

  • Make sure that ASP .NET is allowed on the web server:

    ASP.NET Visual Basic

    (Click on the picture to enlarge)

    • Step 1: Download and install the SMS and MMS Toolkit

    Download the the SMS and MMS Toolkit from the ActiveXperts Download Site and start the installation. The installation guides you through the installation process.

    Step 2: Create a new ASP .NET VB Project

    Launch Microsoft Visual Studio (for instance 'Microsoft Visual Studio 2005') from the Start menu. Choose 'New' from the 'File' menu and click on 'Web Site'. In the 'Web Site' dialog, select ASP .NET Web Site. Select a name for the application (for instance: 'DemoApp') and a name for the solution (for instance: 'DemoSolution'). Also, select the directory where you want to store the project (for instance: 'C:\MyProjects):

    ASP.NET Visual Basic

    (Click on the picture to enlarge)

    Step 3: Refer to the SMS and MMS Toolkit Library

    Now that a new project has been created, you must add a reference to the SMS and MMS Toolkit in the project to be able to use the SMS and MMS Toolkit objects. To do so, choose 'Add Reference...' from the 'Project' menu. In the 'Add Reference' dialog that pops up, select the 'COM' tab and select the 'ActiveXperts SMS and MMS Toolkit Type Library' as shown in the following picture:

    ASP.NET Visual Basic

    (Click on the picture to enlarge)

    Click 'OK' to close the 'Add Reference' dialog.

    On top of your code, type the following line to use the SMS and MMS Toolkit namespace:

    Imports AXmsCtrl

    Step 4: Declare and create the MMS objects

    In your Main function, declare and create the following objects:

    Dim objMmsProtocolMm1 As MmsProtocolMm1
Dim objMmsMessage     As MmsMessage
Dim objMmsSlide       As MmsSlide
Dim objMmsConstants   As MmsConstants
      
objMmsProtocolMm1   = New MmsProtocolMm1 ()
objMmsConstants     = new MmsConstants ()

    There is no need to create the 'MmsSlide' and 'MmsMessage' objects, because they are returned by the 'MmsProtocolMm1' object while receiving messages.

    Step 5: Receive MMS messages

    You can now receive MMS messages.

    The following code shows how to receive MMS messages:

    Imports AXmsCtrl
Imports System.Collections.Generic

Partial Public Class SmsRecieve
  Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

  Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    If IsPostBack = False Then
      ' Initialize instance of XMS Toolkit
      Dim objGsmProtocol As SmsProtocolGsm
      objGsmProtocol = New SmsProtocolGsm

      ' Clear the list
      ddlDevices.Items.Clear()
      ddlDevices.Items.Add(New ListItem("- - Select a device - -", ""))

      ' Display all devices connected to the computer
      Dim intDeviceCount = objGsmProtocol.GetDeviceCount()
      Dim i As Integer
      
      For i = 0 To (intDeviceCount - 1)
        Dim objDevice = objGsmProtocol.GetDevice(i)
        ddlDevices.Items.Add(objDevice)
      Next

      ' Set information
      litVersion.Text = "Build: " & objGsmProtocol.Build & "; Module: " & objGsmProtocol.Module
    End If
  End Sub

  Protected Sub btnGetMessages_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnGetMessages.Click
    
    If Page.IsValid Then
	
      ' Initialize instance of XMS Toolkit
      Dim objGsmProtocol As SmsProtocolGsm
      objGsmProtocol = New SmsProtocolGsm

      ' Set properties
      If (String.IsNullOrEmpty(txtLogfile.Text) = False) Then
        objGsmProtocol.LogFile = txtLogfile.Text
      End If
            
      objGsmProtocol.Device = ddlDevices.SelectedValue
      objGsmProtocol.DeviceSpeed = Integer.Parse(ddlDeviceSpeed.SelectedValue)

      If (String.IsNullOrEmpty(txtPin.Text) = False) Then
        objGsmProtocol.EnterPin(txtPin.Text)
        
        If (HandleError(objGsmProtocol) = False) Then
          Return
        End If
      End If

      ' Recieve messages and display them
      Dim intMessageCount As Integer
      intMessageCount = objGsmProtocol.Receive()
      
      If (HandleError(objGsmProtocol) = False) Then
        Return
      End If

      Dim messages As IList(Of SmsMessage)
      messages = New List(Of SmsMessage)

      Dim i As Integer
      For i = 0 To (intMessageCount - 1)
        messages.Add(objGsmProtocol.GetMessage(i))
      Next

      gridMessages.DataSource = messages
      gridMessages.DataBind()

      litHR.Visible = True
    End If
  End Sub

  Private Function HandleError(ByRef objComport As SmsProtocolGsm)
    litResult.Text = objComport.LastError & " : " & objComport.GetErrorDescription(objComport.LastError)
    Return (objComport.LastError = 0)
  End Function
End Class

    There are many working samples included with the product. You can also find them on the ActiveXperts FTP site: ftp.activexperts-labs.com/samples/mobile-messaging-component.

    NOTE: Demo Projects are created with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

    The MMS Toolkit project ships with a set of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET samples, including samples for ASP.NET. The projects are created with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.

    Users with a later version of Microsoft Visual Studio can open such a project. The Visual Studio Conversion Wizard will guide you through the process of converting the project to the version used.