Once NowSMS has been successfully configured to send MMS messages via the web interface, it is possible to use various APIs to sending MMS messages programmatically.
The NowSMS APIs for sending MMS messages are based upon either the HTTP or SMTP protocols. However, before we go into details about these protocols, there may be an easy way to interface with NowSMS without learning the details of these protocols.
If you work with PHP, there is an example PHP script for sending MMS messages that is described in the section Send MMS Message with PHP.
If you work with Java, there is a Java class for sending MMS messages that is described in the section Send MMS Message with Java.
There is also a command-line interface for Windows environments which allows you to send MMS messages by spawning a command line script from your application. This script is described in the section Send MMS Message from Command Line.
.NET examples are available for VB.NET in the section Send MMS Message with VB .NET and C# in Send MMS Message with C# .NET.
Applications can also submit MMS messages directly to the Now SMS & MMS Gateway via any of the following protocols, which are described below:
- Now SMS/MMS Proprietary URL Submission via HTTP GET or POST.
- MM7 – The MMS standard for applications to submit MMS messages to an MMSC. MM7 is an XML/SOAP based API where the MMS message is formatted in a MIME encoded XML document and posted to the server using an HTTP POST. (See page 180)
- MM4 – The MMS standard for connectivity between multiple MMSCs. MM4 is an SMTP based interface where the MMS message is posted to the server as a standard MIME encoded e-mail message. While the interface exists primarily for connectivity between multiple MMSCs, the Now SMS & MMS Gateway also makes this interface available to application developers that are more comfortable with the SMTP protocol. (See page 183)
- MM1 – The MMS standard for phones to send and receive MMS messages from an MMSC. This is an HTTP based protocol where applications can submit binary encoded MMS messages encoding according to the MMS Encapsulation Specification (application/vnd.wap.mms-message MIME type) to the gateway using HTTP POST. (See page 185)
- EAIF – This is a Nokia proprietary variation on the MM1 protocol which was defined as an interface for submitting messages to a Nokia MMSC. The interface is functionally similar to MM1, with additional HTTP headers defined. (See page 186)