email automation addrecord script

[bob9145]

This first part of the addrecord script in the email automation demo.

'cTable & nRecno are defined automatically
tInbox = table.open(cTable, FILE_RO_SHARED)
tInbox.fetch_goto(nRecno)

Can some one explain how cTable & nRecno are automatically defined? I presume they are variables that alpha5 has dimmed behind the curtain. It makes the script confusing.

I am guessing that ctable is the a_email table that logs email content and nRecno is any records in the table that meet the Genie filter criteria, or maybe it could be the last record created in the table. The comments do not explain what they are which makes this part of the script a mystery.



Any insight would be appreciated.
Tks
Bob

[bob9145]

Re: email automation addrecord script

I tried to break this down in the interactive window but didn't have much success.

[bob9145]

Re: email automation addrecord script

This is part of the email demo script. I tried it in the interactive window and had it working briefly. ? body
should return the value of the body field in the last record in the a_email.dbf table. However I am not sure if the problem is nRecno as their is no explanation of how this variable chooses the record from the table. Is their a reason why this script doesn't work in the interactive window?

DIM tInbox AS P

tInbox = table.open(cTable, FILE_RO_SHARED)
tInbox.fetch_goto(nRecno)

DIM body AS C
DIM subject AS C

subject = tInbox.subject
body = tInbox.body
? body

[Garry Flanigan]

Re: email automation addrecord script

Your script will not work as nRecno needs to be set to a value (a valid number).

Emails by default go into the a_email.dbf table in the program directory but you can copy it to the app directory and point your email to it there via the email settings.

If the emails sent and received are html format then the body field will be blank and the body_html field will contain the message.

Look at the default form view of the table and move thru the records - you will then see whether the data is in the body or body_html field for the particular record number of interest.

It is a long time since I looked at the email automation stuff but I seem to recall that the samples make the process look far more complicated than it actually is. I found it much better to just manipulate the data in the a_email table and as emails are processed to modify the record to move the email from the Inbox to the Processed "folder" (this is the field name) or whatever folder name you choose.

[bob9145]

Re: email automation addrecord script

Gary,
Thank you. I will keep at it. There is not much in the wiki or the help on email automation. It seems it was at the time a direction Alpha was headed in but it hasn't changed much since it was added.

The code could be better commented and a little deeper explanation of the process would be helpful. There's not much on the message board either.

There is also an add_record() function in the script that I can not find listed in the help.

*for_each(x, add_record(t, x), body )

One question. Is the inbox an object like a form that is pulling its values from the a_email table? If not what is it? A file?

Tks

[Garry Flanigan]

Re: email automation addrecord script

From memory, add_record() is a custom function contained within that script (down the bottom). As I said, I think the examples are not that helpful.
In reality the steps are:
1. Setup email
2. Have a script fire from time to time that:
- collects email - see email_receive(), which means emails are automatically added so no need for add_record()
- query a_email table for new emails that require processing as yes, in answer to your question as I understand it, the inbox is an object like a form that is pulling its values from the a_email table. To see this, copy a_email into your application folder then open the table in the table editor
- process email and I then modified the record folder (a fieldname) from "Inbox" to "Processed" to prevent re-processing.

I hope this helps.