Email Notify
If needed, you can throttle Workflow Engine outgoing emails to send one at a time with a gap of one to five seconds. Refer to Registry Settings for configuration details.
Activity Properties
The Who section must be initially filled in with a value, even if the recipient is overridden in the Settings dialog box.
Email Settings
On the Workflow Activity dialog, in the Action control, click Settings to display the Email Settings dialog.
Content
Use the Content tab to define the subject and body of the email.
Subject
Use the subject section to define the subject that will be generated for the email. Two options are available:
Use Default Subject: The first option allows the user to use the default subject line generated by the Workflow Engine when executing the E- Mail Notify Activity.
Custom Subject: The second option allows the user to override the default subject generated by the Workflow Engine when executing the E-Mail Notify Activity. When the Custom Subject option is selected, the text field to the right is enabled for input of the overridden subject matter. Whatever text is entered in the field is used as the subject text instead of the default value when generating the email.
Body
Use Default E-Mail Body: This option allows the user to use the default body generated by the Workflow Engine when executing the E-Mail Notify Activity. This includes a variety of information regarding the Workflow model instance, including Instance Information, Table or List information, and an Approval History for the Model Instance.
Custom E-Mail Body: This option allows the user to define their own content in the email body generated by the Workflow Engine when executing the E-Mail Notify Activity. When the Custom E-Mail option is selected, the text field below the option is enabled and the user can enter whatever text is required. A custom style sheet can be referenced in the Custom E-mail Body text field by entering <<Include.StyleSheet>>.
Use Html Format: Users need the ability to use HTML formatting in Workflow notification emails in order to highlight the requirements for other users. The HTML tags have been updated in the email client for Workflow and now users have the ability to use HTML formatting in order to deliver and highlight special notifications.
Include In E-Mail: Users have the ability to include additional items in a Custom E-Mail Body in addition to the text being entered in the body text area. Click Include in E-Mail to include these additional items. From the Include Options page, select one or more of the following options to be included in the Custom E-Mail Body:
Include Style Sheet: If a style sheet is included in the email body, when the email is generated the model information is translated through the style sheet and included in the Custom E-Mail Body.
Include Screen Link: The user can include a BusinessPlus screen link to the appropriate BusinessPlus page or Web Form in a custom email body if it has been defined in the Model Properties (refer to Model Properties Section) dialog box. When the email is generated, the link appears in the Custom E-Mail Body of the email. When the link is clicked in the email, it opens either the BusinessPlus page for the table trigger or the appropriate Web Form and populates it with the record that the Workflow Instance represents.
Include Document Link: The user can include any document links that exist for the Model Instance in the Custom E-Mail Body. The link that is included links to the document viewer for Documents Online. When the email is generated, the links appear in the Custom E-Mail Body of the email. When a link is clicked, it opens document viewer and loads it with the document.
Include Repeating Section: When the user is including information from the Model Data for which multiple occurrences exist, it is necessary to include a repeating section. This occurs when the user is including table record information for which multiple records occur. This can also occur when the user is including list information (SQL Activities) for which multiple rows occur. This feature also recognizes the nesting of information. Therefore, when dealing with multiple detail records for table-triggered models, nested account information for each nested detail record will appear in its proper context. If the user does not use a repeating section to wrap a record or row for which there are multiple occurrences, the first (and only the first) instance is used.
Include Histories: When this tag is inserted into a custom email body, history information on task list assignments, email notifications and email responses activities executed to date for the Workflow Instance are included at the point of the tag.
Import Model Data: Select Import Model Data, and then select an option from the list, to include model information in a custom email body. Select items from one or more categories including value data, variable data, list data, and table data. The dialog to import model data is generic in nature and is utilized by several other activities.
The source option for Value data is not valid for the E-Mail Notify activity and should be ignored since the user can enter any value into the body text area directly. Other options depend on certain conditions already being defined in a Workflow model. For example, the user cannot select a Table source when a Workflow model is not defined as a table-triggered model.
The List option pulls in the data from the SQL Query (Activity Type). You must create a custom column email_subject in the SQL Query Settings to make it available in the list.
For example, if the following SQL Query is used with a Query Title of Users, then a user selects Import Model Data before the custom subject field for Email Settings, selects the List radio button, selects email_subject, and then selects OK, it inserts the following to the Custom Subject Line: <<List.Users.email_subject>>.
This populates the subject line defined in the SQL Query:
select id, name, e_mail, convert(datetime, bdt) as bdt, ('Birthday List for ' + DATENAME(month,getdate())) as email_subject
from hr_empmstr where month(bdt) = month(getdate()) and stat='A' and hr_status='A'
Recipients
Use the Recipients tab to define the To:, CC:, and BCC: fields of the email. The resulting email will be sent to each valid email address that is included in the fields.
None: This option should only be used for the Cc and Bcc fields.
Use Default: The user can select to use the default ID that the activity was assigned to or customize the recipients by importing the email addresses from Imported Model Data. This can include information from variables, lists or tables.
Text/Lists: Used to enter a valid email address or use imported model data to populate the field.
Notify All: When the Notify All box is selected, all recipients in the Workflow group are notified.
Import Model Data: When using imported data, it is important to ensure that the imported data actually represents valid email addresses. Email addresses can be imported from table data (for example, PENameMaster table), list data (for example. hr_empmstr.email) or variable data (for example, EMailAddress). In all cases it is critical that the user ensures that the data being imported is valid or the email activity will fail.
Map List Item Addresses to List Items in E-Mail Body: Capability exists in the E-Mail Activity to utilize a list item that represents an email address and map that list item to its corresponding row of list information for use in a Custom E-Mail Body. This allows the E-Mail Notify Activity to generate a unique email (including body) for each email address found in the list. When defining a one-to-one mapping in an E-Mail Notify Activity, the To: field can only be used and only the list item representing the email address can be defined in it. Likewise, the Cc: and Bcc: cannot be used at all.
When the E-Mail Notify Activity is executed, each unique email address is matched up with the list row and an individual email is generated for each row of information. This allows the user to perform SQL activities in which ID-specific information is gathered and then generate ID-specific email notifications for each of the unique IDs.
Attachments
Use this tab to define attachments for the email message from various sources, both internally and externally. The user can attach output from a CDD Report activity, attach documents associated with the Workflow information, output from a process-triggered Workflow model or an external file located on the Web server.
An external file can be a file that is sent to email addresses periodically when the need arises. An example would be a file containing company policy on certification requirements that is sent out to employees whose certifications are due to expire.
The attachment capability allows the Workflow model to send information outside of an organization without a link back to the BusinessPlus Document Viewer, which is required for document links.
When utilizing the Attachment capability, the client must have Documents Online installed for the CDD report attached. In addition, the documents and Process Output options output must be stored in Documents Online before it can be retrieved as a PDF file.
External File: The user can define any external files that exist on the Web Server to be attached to an email notification by entering a value in this field. The user must enter the full directory path and name of the file being attached to the email message. Since this is an external file, there are no restrictions on when this option can be selected. When Workflow Services are partitioned across multiple Web servers, the file must exist on the server that is running the Workflow model that references the external file. External files are cut from the location path, not copied. If the user wants to use a standard file over and over, they will need to create a script to copy and paste the file into a folder so it can be picked up each time. This is due to Chilkat cutting the file; it is not related to a BusinessPlus feature.
Import Variable: Clicking this button displays the Workflow Import Data dialog. The user can select any defined variable in the Workflow model, using the drop-down list on the Variables option.
CDD Report: When a CDD Report activity is defined in a Workflow model and the output routed to Documents Online, the output can be attached to an email notification as an attachment. The user can select the CDD report ID from the drop-down list. This list includes the ID of every report activity defined in the Workflow model. At run time, the CDD report is retrieved from Documents Online as a PDF file and attached to the email notification. Documents Online is required for this capability.
Attachment Definition: Attached documents that have been included in Workflow instances (table or Web Form-triggered) using the Include Document Links capability can be attached to an email notification. The user can enter one or more document definitions (separated by semi-colons) that have been selected in the Select Attachments dialog box of the Tasklist tab of the Model Properties dialog. At run time, the documents are retrieved from Documents Online as a PDF file and attached to the email notification as an attachment. Documents Online is required for this capability.
Process Output: The resulting output from a Process-Triggered Workflow model can be attached to an email notification if it has been routed into Documents Online in the Workflow model. At run time, the document is retrieved from Documents Online as a PDF file and attached to the email notification as an attachment. Documents Online is required for this capability.
Email Notify for the approver:
The Workflow engine is updated to include the user name along with the user ID in the email subject when the engine is sending the approval emails