How to send html email notification in bpel

Question

hi gurus,
i want to send html email notification from bpel.
before, i already successful send html email with attachment, but when i send an email without attachment, then the body message will turn into a plain text.
as i check from the email accepted, email with attachment will have a mime type "text/html" but if no attachment then it will be "text/plain"
from the bpel configuration, by default the mime type already set to "text/html; charset=UTF-8", below is the sample configuration in my bpel process
[quote]
<copy>
                                <from>string('text/html; charset=UTF-8')</from>
                                <to variable="varNotificationReq"
                                    part="EmailPayload">
                                    <query>ns10:Content/ns10:MimeType</query>
                                </to>
                            </copy>
[/quote]
i think this suppose to be a easy configuration, but i'm not sure whether i miss something in configuration the email process or this is a bugs in bpel.
environment:
linux
jdev 11.1.1.6
do u guys ever facing a same problem or have a solution to this ? please throw some light.
thanks
===
update, i found a temporary solutions.
so i add a attachment from the process design, and then i change it from the source.
[quote]
<copy>
                                <from>
                                    <literal>
                                        <Content xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService">
                                            <MimeType xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService">multipart/alternative</MimeType>
                                            <ContentBody xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService">
                                                <MultiPart xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService">
                                                    <BodyPart xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService">
                                                        <MimeType xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService"/>
                                                        <ContentBody xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService"/>
                                                        <BodyPartName xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/ias/pcbpel/NotificationService"/>
                                                    </BodyPart>                                            
                                                </MultiPart>
                                            </ContentBody>
                                        </Content>
                                    </literal>
                                </from>
                                <to variable="varNotificationReq"
                                    part="EmailPayload">
                                    <query>ns10:Content</query>
                                </to>
                            </copy>
<copy>
                                <from>string('text/html; charset=UTF-8')</from>
                                <to variable="varNotificationReq"
                                    part="EmailPayload">
                                    <query>ns10:Content/ns10:ContentBody/ns10:MultiPart/ns10:BodyPart[1]/ns10:MimeType</query>
                                </to>
                            </copy>
                            <copy>
                                <from>string('your message')</from>
                                <to variable="varNotificationReq"
                                    part="EmailPayload">
                                    <query>ns10:Content/ns10:ContentBody/ns10:MultiPart/ns10:BodyPart[1]/ns10:ContentBody</query>
                                </to>
                            </copy>
[/quote]
make sure you put the mime type multipart/alternative into the email payload content. by default, when you add attachment, it will generate mime type multipart mixed automatically.
if you don't change it to multipart/alternative, your email will show a attachment, but actually your email doesn't contain any attachment.
and then for the message and mimetype make sure you have that ns10:bodypart, because this email already been set as a multipart email.
when you add attachment, by default it will generate 2 body part, first one is for the body message and the second one is for the attachment. since i only want to use the body message only, then i have to erase the second bodypart
with this workaround, i can send a html email without attachment perfectly.
but i have to take note, when i updating the email process from process design, then the source will be generated again automatically, and the edited one will be replaced.
thanks.

Answer 1

Make sure you upload all of the images used in your email to a server you control. Then, change your image paths to point to those uploaded images with absolute links.
You will get marked as spam if you attempt to send images as attachments to a large list of recipients and most email clients won't download images to begin with, so make sure your html email makes sense with broken pictures.
CSS support is spotty across email clients, if you use css, make sure it's inline, not embedded in the <head> or externally linked in the <head>. Some email clients strip out the <head> section entirely.
Basically, you need to design your html email as if you haven't moved out of the 90's yet, as far as web design is concerned, in order to get maximum cross client compatibility.
Then, when you're ready, I would suggest using a service like www.icontact.com or www.constantcontact.com if your subscriber list is anywhere over 100 or so recipients.