C# MailMessage string format

Question

I'm trying to get strings to line up in an email. Everything looks fine when I set the Body of the MailMessage but things aren't lined up when I get the email.

        MailMessage email = new MailMessage();
        //...setup from/to/host/port etc
        StringBuilder data = new StringBuilder();

        data.AppendLine(string.Format("{0, -20} {1, -20}", "Id:", "26"));
        data.AppendLine(string.Format("{0, -20} {1, -20}", "Name:", "Jeff"));
        // this looks fine in console
        Console.WriteLine(data.ToString());

        email.Body = data.ToString();

        // this looks fine in console
        Console.WriteLine(email.Body);

When I get this email it's format is not lined up like email.Body text has it.

Let me guess: The font is non-proportional (e.g. Arial). Set your mail program to use a monospace font (e.g. Courier New) — Thomas Weller, Feb 08 '18 at 17:58
Either use monospace as @ThomasWeller suggested, or use HTML to line things up. — , Feb 08 '18 at 18:02

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 08 '18 at 18:09

0

By default body uses us-ascii encoding

try using

email.BodyEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;

MSDN Reference for BodyEncoding

NOTE: I haven't tested this is just speculation.

answered Feb 08 '18 at 18:09

JoJo Brandon Coffman

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Didn't seem to change anything. – user441521 Feb 08 '18 at 18:13
What about adding `email.IsBodyHtml = true;` Maybe your email provider is treating plain text the way it desires? – JoJo Brandon Coffman Feb 08 '18 at 18:19
Also make sure to use a monoscaped font. – JoJo Brandon Coffman Feb 08 '18 at 18:23
It seems if a user can use whatever font they want on their client, then there is nothing I can do around that. I guess HTML but then they have to enable that as well. :/ – user441521 Feb 08 '18 at 18:48
Most email viewers support basic HTML by default. – Feb 08 '18 at 20:08

C# MailMessage string format

1 Answers1