Referencing other data types

[LaRetta]

Hi everyone!

I'm designing a NOTES dB to attach to my Clients dB. I receive frequent emails regarding a specific client and I began by using cut & paste to *capture* an emails contents to insert into a note record. YUK!! Is there an easier way to reference the contents of an email? I'm using FM 6 and Outlook Express. Ideally, I would like to be able to select a link (?) from within my notes dB to open an email's contents directly. Am I dreaming? Any suggestions on how to track these types of data sources would be greatly appreciated

LaRetta

[jfmcel]

If you are a mac user, you can use AppleScript to capture the Message ID and store that in FileMaker. You could then have anouther AppleScript to open the message in Outlook. (This would be limited a single user.)

[LaRetta]

Hi jfmcel,

Sorry, I should have said that the solution needs to be cross-platform and multi-user. I know nothing about Apple Script; still haven't even figured out regular scripts but I will certainly keep your suggestion in mind. Maybe there's a way to script selection of an email's contents and pasting it into a Notes text field (?). Or even just adding an email's subject line & date to the Notes dB. I'd settle for anything at this point

LaRetta

[TSilvan]

It depends on your email program. Maybe it saves (or can save) emails as text. Then you could import them into your notes file. If you're using FM6 you can import batches of text files.

Another thing is if your email is pop3 server based, you might like to look at using a plug-in like Mail-it to receive the email directly into your notes file. Then you could set up an email address for notes and just do a FWD to that address any time you want to transfer email to the notes file in FM and it will turn up there automatically.

[LaRetta]

Hi TSilvan!

Thanks so much for the ideas! I'll check into that today. I appreciate your help on this.

LaRetta

[PTKen]

You still didn't say whether you were using Mac or PC, only that the solution needs to be cross platform. If you are serving from a Mac then it is not difficult to use AppleScript to get the contents of an e-mail and put it into a notes field. This can even be triggered by a button in FMP.

I'd suggest if you are new to AppleScript to subscribe to Apple's "AppleScript Users" e-mail list (go to http://lists.apple.com then click on "lists hosted on this site"). It's an excellent resource and full of very smart and helpful people. They will certainly be willing to guide you through the process of achieving this. In fact, there are probably already scripts that do this that someone is willing to share. Just ask.

Ken

[LaRetta]

Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for responding. We will be using a Mac Server but we won't implement the network for another 5 months. Right now, I'm designing on a stand-alone Window system and I know nothing about MACs (our agency is 50/50 Mac/Win). I also know that, being x-plat, it will require my understanding both environments, so thank you so much for the url. I have much to learn.

These emails are standard client contract modifications ... I receive approx. 15 per day. A bit much to cut and paste into notes manually. I want more control and integration of associated files, including Word docs. I've been reviewing plug-ins also, including WindowUtility, xmChart and now MailIt. Maybe I should just use something like FileToolBox (?) to *herd* associated files and eml's into client folders until we network, and use the Notes dB only for notes and things to do right now. I hate designing one way, only to re-design later. It's bad enough that I have to design nav buttons on my layouts when later I'll be using MenuControl.

Any further comments or suggestions would be much appreciated. I dislike designing *on the fly* but that's the current reality I work with. And, NO, I don't get paid for this, so the agency is truly getting their *money's worth* out of me Well, we do the best we can ...

LaRetta