Using fields to fill blanks in a few documents to email out

[JTSmith]

Ok, I'm a noob at this but I want to be able to enter customer information into my database then export a few of the fields into documents that can be sent to the customers email. My customers are renters and I want to be able to send a lease agreement, a confirmation, and then a move out info sheet. I have fillable PDFs I use now, but I don't know if using those are possible, or if there is a better way.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Keith LaMarre]

You can definitely use Microsoft Word merge feature for this.

[bruceR]

Ok, I'm a noob at this but I want to be able to enter customer information into my database then export a few of the fields into documents that can be sent to the customers email. My customers are renters and I want to be able to send a lease agreement, a confirmation, and then a move out info sheet. I have fillable PDFs I use now, but I don't know if using those are possible, or if there is a better way.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

There are several ways to do this; including recreating the forms as FileMaker layouts and doing it all within FileMaker.

There are also tools that will populate PDF forms with data.

[comment]

Is there anything left to fill in those PDFs after you are done with them? If not, why not simply produce the PDFs directly from Filemaker?

[JTSmith]

Ok, so I created a second layout, with the picture of my 3 page PDF as the background, then copied over the fields I want to fill the blanks, but how can I put a button on the main layout that essentially says, "save second layout to PDF, make the file name CustomerNamePaperwork.pdf, and then email it to them at the email address on file"?

[Russell Barlow]

Ok, so I created a second layout, with the picture of my 3 page PDF as the background, then copied over the fields I want to fill the blanks, but how can I put a button on the main layout that essentially says, "save second layout to PDF, make the file name CustomerNamePaperwork.pdf, and then email it to them at the email address on file"?

You create a script to handle this for you and attach it the button on your main layout.

Look up the script steps for New Window, Go To Layout, Save Records As PDF, Send Mail, and Set Variable(for setting filepath). Using a combo of these steps should accomplish what your looking for.

[JTSmith]

Russell,

Thanks for the help, but can you give me just a little more guidance? I created a script, I can handle the easy stuff, go to layout, save records as a PDF, but I'm not sure how to save the file name as "Customer Name"Paperwork.PDF, and not sure how to get it to save and send to email. Thanks man.

[Dan_NYHTC]

Russell,

Thanks for the help, but can you give me just a little more guidance? I created a script, I can handle the easy stuff, go to layout, save records as a PDF, but I'm not sure how to save the file name as "Customer Name"Paperwork.PDF, and not sure how to get it to save and send to email. Thanks man.

You need to set a variable to the desired export path to which you save the PDF. For example:

Set Variable [ $exportPath; Value: Get ( DesktopPath ) & Customer::CustomerName & "-Paperwork.PDF" ]

Then, use that variable in your "Save Records as PDF" step instead of typing in a path. You may need to add a "Set Error Capture [on]" script step before that if you want it to write over previous PDFs.

Then, you use the "Send Mail" script step. At the bottom, you can choose "Attach file." Strangely, the dialog box where you put in the attachment's path doesn't indicate that variables work, but they do in my experience (and just tested on FileMaker 11.0v2 for Mac). You can choose to send via Email client or directly to an SMTP server. You can also choose whether to have the user see the message and send it, or send it immediately.