Email Input

The Email Input task retrieves email data through a Microsoft Outlook or POP3 connection.

If Microsoft Outlook connection is used, Microsoft Outlook 2000 or higher must be installed on the computer where PlanetPress Workflow is located.

Input

Email Input captures all emails and their attachments from the selected inbox, when those emails correspond to the rules defined in the General tab. If no rule is defined, all emails in the inbox are retrieved. Emails retrieved using POP3 are deleted from the server, emails retrieved from an Outlook inbox are moved to the Deleted Items folder by default.

Processing

Depending on the options selected below, each email is converted into a text-only data file, and each attachment is separated from the email.

Output

Depending on the options, each email is sent as a data file, followed by each of its attachments sequentially.

If you use Email Input tasks to capture data encoded using a Double-Byte character set (such as those used for Japanese or Chinese, for instance), it is preferable to use attachments rather than the email body to carry the data from its source to the input task, as data corruption is less likely to occur using this method.

Task properties

General Tab
  • Data Location group
    • Message body: Select to use the data found in the body of the email.
    • Attached file: Select to use the data found in the email’s attachment. If both the Message body and Attached files options are selected, the message’s body and the message’s attachment are treated as separate data files and processed one after the other.
    • Unzip attached file: Select to unzip the attached files.
      • Zip password: Enter the password required to unzip the attached files (if any). Note that you can use variables and data selections.
  • Conditions group
    • “Subject” contains: Select to limit those messages used by this task to those with a specific subject. The subject you enter in the box below can include variables.
      Since characters '?' and '*' are considered valid to define the subject of an email, their use as wildcards is not supported .
    • Nothing: Select to limit those messages used by this task to those that do not specify any subject.
    • “From” contains: Select to limit those messages used by this task to those that are sent from a specific address. The address you enter in the box below can include variables.
    • “To” contains: Select to limit those messages used by this task to those that are sent to a specific address. The address you enter in the box below can include variables.
Login Tab
  • Use Microsoft Outlook: Select to use the Microsoft Outlook email account of the current user to receive emails. The current user is the one defined in PlanetPress Workflow Service Logon.
    • Move message after processing to folder: Enter the name of an Outlook Folder to keep copies of the emails taken by this email input task. You should enter only the name of the folder as it appears in Outlook’s Folder List area, regardless of whether it is a child of another folder. For example, if you want to use a folder named Bills that is listed under another folder named PassedDue, only enter Bills in the text box. Make sure no two folders have the same name, even if they are under different parent folders, as this could generate errors. Consider creating a special folder in Outlook (perhaps a child of the Deleted Items folder named Watch) and then using that folder as your backup folder.
  • Use POP3 mail group
    • Select this option to use a POP3 mail server and to activate this group. Note that emails retrieved via POP3 are always deleted from the server.
    • Incoming mail (POP3): Enter the address of the incoming POP3 mail server. This box is only enabled when the Use POP3 mail option is selected.
    • Account name: Enter the email account name on the POP3 mail server. This box is only enabled when the Use POP3 mail option is selected.
    • Password: Enter the password required to unlock the selected account on the POP3 mail server. This box is only enabled when the Use POP3 mail option is selected.
"Other" Tab
  • Job Information group
    • Information elements: Indicates what Job Info variables are automatically created by the input task.
    • Add lines before first data page: Using the arrows keys you can add any job information directly at the beginning of your data file.
  • Backup input files: Check this to save a copy of each data file that is captured by your input. These files are saved in the PlanetPress Workflow Tools working folders under the "Backup" folder.
  • Backup filename: Enter the file name that you wish the input data file backup to be saved under.
  • Delete Existing Metadata: Check to remove any Metadata from memory. This option is disabled on initial input tasks, and is checked by default on secondary input tasks.
Job Information definitions
  • %1 - Date received. Contains the date of the reception of the email (and not the date of retrieval by PlanetPress Workflow). The format is YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS.
  • %2 - Sender's name: Contains the name of the sender as defined by the sender himself (or, if the sender is using Exchange, by the name defined in his Exchange server).
  • %3 - Sender's address: Contains the email address of the sender as defined by the sender himself.
  • %4 - Subject: Contains the subject of the received email (may be blank).
  • %5 - Recipients:Contains a list of the names of all the recipients of the email, separated by a semicolon (;).
  • %6 - Header: Contains the header of the received email.
  • %7 - Attachment Count: Contains the number of attachments of the email. A ZIP file is counted as 1 attachment. Some embedded images may be counted as attachment. The body of the email does not count as an attachment.
Because of the way Microsoft Exchange works, when receiving an email from a user on the same local Exchange server, the email address may not be available. See FAQ-1509 in the Knowledge Base of PlanetPress Workflow.
On Error Tab

For a description of the options on the On Error tab see Using the On Error tab.

Miscellaneous Tab

The Miscellaneous tab is common to all tasks.

It contains a text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button and are displayed in the Task Comments Pane.

Check the option Use as step description to display the text next to the icon of the plugin in the Process area.

The tab also provides an option to highlight the task in The Process area with the default color, set in the Preferences (see General appearance preferences), or the color selected or defined under Highlight color on this tab.
To revert the selected highlight color to the default color, open this tab, turn the Highlight option off and close the dialog with the OK button; then turn highlighting back on.
Highlighting can also be turned on and off via the task's contextual menu and with the Highlight button on the View ribbon.