Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

[MikeC]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Dave,
Definitely another route to take, but I kept my answer to Terry's question as it can get confusing when offering all the possibilities and such.....but great that you now suggested it as it appears that the current method which gives a solution to the original question might not be what is wanted.....

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Dave, your approach is the reason I asked Terry to clarify. There's an important difference between one email transmission that has 87 recipients, and 87 email transmissionis to one recipient each.

[Mike Wilson]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

The attached example follows Dave's strategy of emails to one recipient after another and Tom's second premise of one email individually to each of 87 recipients, although the example only has three recipients of five table records. It is the follow up of above adding a UDF to run all emails without stopping for user review prior to send.

[CALocklin]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

>>>
Seems to me you would have to create that list before you ever get to filling in the email parameters.
<<<

Seems that would defeat the purpose of the database. [Not at all - see below.] The reason I used the database in the first place was to avoid having information in multiple locations (database/spreadsheet file, e-mail address book, etc.) and having to build a separate mailing list in the e-mail client for each area. The help implies this is possible:

"Enter an address into the To field. Optionally, enter an expression that defines the content of this field. If you opened the email client from a form or browse, you may click the to display the Expression Builder to help you define an expression. Separate multiple addressees with a comma or semicolon."

This implies you can do something you clearly cannot. The expression will only work if you want to send one e-mail to one person? (or three at most).

Why is this so hard? I am clearly not the only one who has the need to send an e-mail to a database mailing list. Do I have to spend $200 on Netmailer to do what I want to do, or will that not do it either?

Building a list before sending the e-mail does NOT mean that you build it by hand as a separate table or some such thing. It just means that your script would pull the info from the existing table and create a list of values (comma delimited or 'crlf' delimited - I'm not sure which) that would be used by the e-mail command.

I know you can send to multiple e-mail addresses at once. I'm sure 100 is possible. And, I'm not sure but I think you will run into a "spam" limit with your ISP before you run into a limit with A5.

Regarding the purchase of Netmailer - it is never necessary to buy Netmailer. Since Netmailer just uses the various e-mail commands in A5 that are available to all of us and "packages" them to perform some actions in a simpler way, you can do anything in A5 that Netmailer does. It's just a matter of whether or not you want to spend the time to do it yourself.

[DaveM]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

from Cal

And, I'm not sure but I think you will run into a "spam" limit with your ISP before you run into a limit with A5.

This is true.

In my mailer program(which I cannot find), it sent so many emails at a time(under isp radar), waited a period of time and sent more. I callled the ISP and a kind ladey gave me the numbers and break time to use. I was lucky to get her. Other ISP's may be different.

If I can find that mailer app i did, I will post it here.

[scuba728]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Terry I was having the same problem but I believe I have found a simple solution.

Create a browse and filter the information based on the group you want to email (make sure you include your email address field in the browse).

Then open the browse and click tools and then email

Now type in "=email" in the address field and that will only email the people in the browse you created.

It seems too simple to me but it worked I just tested it by making a browse with only office staff emails and they all received my email. Hope this helps.

[scuba728]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Ok only one problem with my theory. It only sent to one of the people. I thought it sent it to all of the people in the browse. Anyone know how to make it include everyone in the browse? Al I have now in the To: line is =Email_address

[Mike Wilson]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Ok only one problem with my theory. It only sent to one of the people. I thought it sent it to all of the people in the browse. Anyone know how to make it include everyone in the browse? Al I have now in the To: line is =Email_address

Generate the email addresses into a global variable with:

dim global vgEmail_adds as C
vgEmail_adds = table.external_record_content_get("your_table_name","your_email_field","","your_filter")
vgEmail_adds = crlf_to_comma(vgEmail_adds)

and place this in your TO: line
= vgEmail_adds

[RobPolley]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Terry,

I'll add my 2 cents worth.

I'm not sure if you are using Netmailer, but if you were, this problem would be simple. You'd just do a standard query to determine the area you want to send to. The groups in that area(s) for which you have an email address in your data would receive the email, and the groups for which you do not have an email address would not.

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you are trying to do, Netmailer makes this job easy. I use it all the time. I just learned (today) how to put the code on a button to do all this with one click.

Good luck.

--Rob

[jdoyle]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Rob
Can you share this code?
how to put the code on a button to do all this with one click.
Jim

[RobPolley]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Jim,

Here's the code that ended up on on the button:

'Date Created: 04-May-2009 06:26:23 PM
'Last Updated: 04-May-2009 06:26:23 PM
'Created By : rpolley
'Updated By : rpolley
query.filter = ""
query.order = ""

a5_run_netmailer_job("SwimNum@\program files\a5v9\a5data\swimamericanorwalk\swimamer.ddd",query.filter,query.order)

...but the "how to" of your question is more important. If you know how to set up a Netmailer job already, you're 99% of the way there.

When you go to run the Netmailer job you set up (without putting it all in a button), as you click through the process, you'll see a button called "Show Xbasic". CLICK IT. It shows you the code, and tells you that you can copy it to the clip board and attach it to the "on click" event in a button. It will duplicate the job, including queries, etc, with one click from then on. A Godsend, I think. And I'll tell you that I can't follow much of what is discussed on this message board, especially when they say, "it's easy". But I'll cautiously say, "This is easy." Note - this is the soultion for the Alpha Desktop only - not the web. That's much different, and I have not found out how to duplicate it, yet.

Good luck!

--Rob

[jdoyle]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Thanks Rob
That is the code that I have on a button now.

Can you tell me the difference between Netmailer and Netmailer Pro?
Jim

[gaby_h]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

FWIW:
Pretty sure this not the best most effective script, but it worked. This is what I came up with my limited experience and when asked to do it at the 11h hour. Intend to improve on it as soon as time allows.
The problem I found with this approach when the process is initiated you can't do anything with the computer, the slightest click freezes A5. Best to leave it alone until the Finish dialog box appears.

Our case: we need to email attachments (reading material that were handed out at the last seminar) to subscribers who could not/did not attend the seminar (20 to 30 absentees).
My subscribers table has among other fields: Attended (logical), Handouts (Logical, handouts were emailed to subscriber or not), MM (value is either X or blank)
This steps through the selected records sending 1 email at a time, sets Handouts to T, pauses for 20sec, goes to the next record, etc...

step1: to clear the field MM
Step2: wait for idle
Step3: Filter the table for people where Attended=F and Received=F and isnotblank("EmailAddr") and sets "X" in the the field MM
Step4: Runs a 2nd query for MM=X which is the same group of records as previous step
Step5: wait for idle
Step6: Gives the user a choice if he wants to proceed or not.
Step7: Ends if user clicks No
step8: Goes to 1st record
Step9: Label (beginning of loop)
step10: sends the message using A5 email client where in send to: field containing email addresses, Attachments: the field containing the files to attach. In next window I composed a standard text; the last option: don't open the email client, just send the message without confirmation
step 11: set field Handouts to T
Step12: saves the record
Step13: sleep(20) (reduced to 20sec from 30sec - seems to work at 20sec in our case)
steps14: displays a message box (Finish) after the last email is sent
step15: Stops the looping after the last record has been processed
step 16: waits for idle
step17: Goes to next record
step18: Goes back to beginning of script (step9)

In my first attempt I gathered all the emails in a crlf variable put the variable the BCC. It worked for the 1st 23 recipients and got cut off by our ISP; so had to use 1 email at a time approach as above with a 20 sec pause.

[gagsoft]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

Hi all
Mike I am using the code that you submitted in the zip file.
I modified it a bit and it work fine.
How would I change the code for when the outgoing server requires authentication



Thanks
Peter Gagiano

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Sending E-mail to Multiple Recipients

I suppose you would set up the email client to supply the authentication.