If I create a bunch of mail/merge form letters, I would like to email them to their respective recipients. I currently have a file that contains an eMail address field. How can I create and send the form letters to the email addresses of the selected clients? I have to accomplish this task on both MACs and PCs. I assume I'll need to write a script to do this. Also, we use Microsoft Exchange and MS-Outlook as our mail server and client. Can I use these with FMP or must I use the Claris and Eudora products only?

Thanks,

Jeff (TheMadJammer)

OK, I got the email part working on a PC with a MS Outlook client. I am currently sending a hard coded test message nested in the script options. What I would like to do is send a form letter (with the recipients name in the salutation) to the email address we already have. I don't care if it is sent as an attachment or if it is sent as the text of the email. In either case, how can I do this?

Thanks

Jeff (The Mad Jammer)

And Then ... there was nothing

Create a calculation field that builds up the message you want to send -- it can have conditionals etc to allow the message to be customised.

When sending the e-mail, specify this calc field as the body of the message.

Vaughn,

Thanks for your response.

I don't think that we are on the same page. The form letter I refer to is actually a report layout that merges the names and addresses and other pertinent information into the report. The report is actually a letter with the merge fields placed strategically in the letter. The user would actually type the letter and merge the fields (they are pretty savvy) and then add a button that performs a predfined Send Mail. the contents of the letter (or report) would become the message field. I wish to attach the report to the email or select the entire text of the letter and insert that into teh email as the message field.

Thanks

The Mad Jammer

You can't "email" a FileMaker report using a layout. Email is a text only based media. You can print a FileMaker report to a PDF file using a pdf print driver such as Adobe Acrobat and ATTACH it to an email. You can also create an email with the body part containg html. You cannot "email" the data AND format of a FM layout directly.

Custom emails can be created by "merging" data into the allowed email fields:

address

subject

header

body

etc.

The easiest cross platform way to send emails is to use a FM email plug-in such as SMTPit from Community (www.cnsplugins.com). This plug-in allows you to setup the various fields of an email message using a SetField statement combined with the External functions provided by the plug-in and then send an email. Using this method and looping through a set of records allows you to send completely customized email messages.

-bd

Vaughn and bd,

The lights are on now. I ascribed greater power to the Send Mail script step than it actually has.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I think I'll be learning much more about SMTPit in the near future.

The Mad Jammer

And then...there was nothing