gistfile1.rb

class Notifier < ActionMailer::Base
  delivers_from '[email protected]'
  
  def welcome(user)
    @user = user # available to the view
    mail(:subject => 'Welcome!', :to => user.email_address)
    # auto renders both welcome.text.erb and welcome.html.erb
  end
  
  def goodbye(user)
    headers["Reply-To"] = '[email protected]'
    mail(:subject => 'Goodbye', :to => user.email_address) do |format|
      format.html { render "shared_template "}
      format.text # goodbye.text.erb
    end
  end
  
  def surprise(user, gift)
    attachments[gift.name] = File.read(gift.path)
    mail(:subject => 'Surprise!', :to => user.email_address) do |format|
      format.html(:charset => "ascii")            # surprise.html.erb
      format.text(:transfer_encoding => "base64") # surprise.text.erb
    end
  end
  
  def special_surprise(user, gift)
    attachments[gift.name] = { :content_type => "application/x-gzip", :content => File.read(gift.path) }
    mail(:to => '[email protected]') # subject not required
    # auto renders both special_surprise.text.erb and special_surprise.html.erb
  end
end

Notifier.welcome(user)         # => returns a Mail object
Notifier.welcome(user).deliver # => creates and sends the Mail in one step