Sending an Email from a Program

Introduction

Mail messages are similar to error and warning messages, except that they are sent by internal or external mail to designated recipients and can be accompanied by an attachment. Thus, you need to define one or more users and/or e-mail addresses to which the message is to be sent, as well as the filename (if you are sending an attachment).

Tip: Use Priority groups to define multiple users and/or e-mail addresses.

Examples:

MAILMSG 9 TO USER :NEXTSIGN WHERE :NEXTSIGN <> 0 
AND :NEXTSIGN <> SQL.USER;

:EMAIL = 'johndoe@example.com';
:FILE = '..\tmp\msg.doc';
MAILMSG 5 TO EMAIL :EMAIL DATA :FILE;

See also Form Triggers.

Controlling the Appearance of Line Breaks within a Message

Note: This feature does not support output of bi-directional languages such as Hebrew and Arabic.

In certain cases, the message you want to send will be longer than a single line (i.e., message text continues into the Error/Warning Message (cont.) sub-level form). In such cases, the message text will be broken up into multiple lines.

In order to control the appearance of line breaks within a message, include the following string in the message:

<!--| priority:priform |-->

Priority will treat any text that follows this string as HTML code. This enables you to include HTML tags such as line breaks in your message, affording you a greater degree of control over the appearance of text in the message.

Example: The following e-mail is sent using the command:
MAILMSG 605 TO USER :USER;
Where warning message 605 contains the following:

Service Call request number: <P1> was updated by Customer.

and the Error/Warning Message (cont.) sub-level form contains the following:
<P2><P3> The resulting message is sent without using HTML tags:

Service Call request number: ILSC123456 was
updated by Customer.
Customer: CRR
Holding Company
Date&Time: 18/10/08 14:28

The second e-mail is sent using the identical command:
MAILMSG 605 TO USER :USER;
Where warning message 605 contains the string:

<!--| priority:priform |-->

And the Error/Warning Message (cont.) sub-level form contains the following:
Service Call request number: <P1> was updated by Customer.<br><P2><br><P3>

After line breaks are inserted using HTML tags, the same message appears as follows:

Service Call request number: ILSC123456 was updated by Customer.
Customer: CRR Holding Company
Date&Time: 18/10/08 14:28

Updating the History of Statuses Using MAILMSG

The MAILMSG command can also be used to update the History of Statuses (DOCTODOLISTLOG) form, by including the following syntax in the appropriate POST- trigger:

:PAR1 = statustype; /* the type of document whose assigned user
 and status you want to record in the '''DOCTODOLISTLOG''' form */
:PAR2 = :iv; /* the autounique value of the record whose assigned
 user and status you want to record in the '''DOCTODOLISTLOG''' 
 form */
MAILMSG 1 TO USER -2;

The parameters :PAR1 and :PAR2 are used to indicate a unique form and record from which to retrieve the status and assigned user. The MAILMSG command generates a new line in the History of Statuses form with the user and status currently assigned to the specified record.

Example: To add a new line to the History of Statuses sub-level of the Sales Orders (ORDERS) form for Order No. A00098, use the following syntax:

 :PAR1 = 'O'; /* the Type defined for all records in the ORDERS
form */ 
 :PAR2 = '15982'; /* the internal Document (ID) of Order Number
A00098 */ 
 MAILMSG 1 TO USER -2;

You can also add this syntax to a custom POST- trigger in order to record other changes to a form record.

Examples:

  1. To update the status history for the Tasks form after a change in the Notes (CUSTNOTESTEXT) form, add the above syntax to a new custom POST-FORM trigger.
  2. To do the same after a change in the Start Date of the task, add the above syntax to a new custom POST-UPDATE trigger.

Note: This feature can only be used in a sub-level form, not in the root form. For example, you cannot update the status history of an order from the Sales Orders (ORDERS) form.

You can also use the message parameters to include a link to a document in a message.

Example: Message 1 is defined as: "Here is a link to order <P1.ORDERS.F>."

:PAR1 = 'SO1212888'; 
MAILMSG 1 TO USER :USER;

More on Triggers