Email and Email Attachments

[texaschick]

I have a situation where we are currently using Filemaker with an Email Plugin. We now would like to access this data via the web. My problem lies in creating new emails. I would like to be able to create, send and save this email in the database. I see how an email can be sent and I know how to create a new record but I am really confused on how to do this together. The other issue that I know is going to cause a major headache is how to send attachments. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Right now I have it creating a new record then redirecting the user to a "confirmation page" then sending the email. I would like to get rid of this second step. Please help.

As for the attachments, will I have to have them upload the file to the server? How will I do that? Also, how will I get FileMaker to attach it the email?

[Steve T.]

Hi, texaschick! One of our databases basically IS a database archive of e-mail messages. We use an FMP Email Plugin to check a mail account and then import any messages as records. We then publish these records on the web as searchable posts. Breaking up the message back into appropriate fields is a pain we skipped for now, though. I don't know if you can use 2 FMP mail plug-ins (1 for sending and 1 for receiving) without conflicts.

Of course, I am not familiar w/your system, but do you need the plug-in for sending? Information for messages can be typed in on a web page you design and entered as a new record in FMP. You can then use FMP mail tags to send info from that record to wherever you want it to go. With the info in your DB, you can then publish it.

Hmm... I have no idea about attachments, sending or receiving. If it were me, I'd look at getting FileMaker to work with Eudora (via scripting if it needed to be automated [mac=applescript]), but I have not done so nor plan on doing so (sorry). I think you'll have better luck getting FMP to work with an e-mail program, though, rather than getting FMP to do attachments unless you can find a super mail plug-in that does everything you need.

There are others on this forum more knowledgeable about mail than I, however. In fact, I'm struggling w/a relatively simple auto-resoponse message right now using inlines, so hopefully someone else will be able to help more.

[Jeff Spall]

Hi, the 'SMTP-IT' plug in will send mail and attachments and you could design the database to do what you wanted. There's also a companion plug-in 'POP3It' for importing. Bad news is that they rely upon scripts to work, so you'd be running quite complex script routines when the page was submitted with all of the potential problems that has for a web interface.

There are cgi's that can send attachments and you could call one of those through an inline action instead of the extra submit stage. By using a cgi, you avoid FileMaker scripts.

regards