Electronic Outbox Set up and Configuration

Any spool files placed in an AS/400 Output queue defined as an Electronic Outbox ("e-outbox") are automatically emailed to the recipient via ECS/ie. The email address is retrieved from within the spool file text.

ECS/ie retrieves the email address by scanning for a user-defined label in a single line of a spool file. The user defined label can exist anywhere within the spool file. The scanning process is case sensitive.

The spool files can be sent in a number of formats, either as text within the body of the email or as an attachment in PDF (Adobe Acrobat, Portable Document Format), HTML (Hyper text Markup Language/Web Browser) or TXT (Text) formats.

ECS/ie will expect the email address to be placed immediately following the user defined label.

• From the main "ECS/integrated email" panel click on the drop down menu "e-commerce", select "Spool Files" then select "e-outbox maintenance" .

The "e-outbox maintenance" window will now be displayed.

• Click the "Add Outq" button to add a new output queue definition.

Note: ECS/ie will not create the output queue on the AS/400. This must already exist on the AS/400

The "Add e-outbox" window should now be displayed.

• Enter the name and its associated library for the output queue.

• Enter the email subject text for all emails sent from this output queue.

• Select the email Subject Source, possible options are:
  • Fixed Subject Text, where the subject of the emails will contain the value entered in the "email Subject" entry.
  • Spool file User Data, the subject is retrieved from the spool file User Data (USRDTA) for the relevant spool file. If the User Data value is blank then the value in the "email Subject" entry will be used.
  • Extract subject from Spool file using 'Label', The subject text can be associated with a value within the spool file itself, for example an Order Number. The "Label" is the fixed Label preceding the value to be extracted. In the Order number example the Label could be "Order Number:" and the spool file might contain the value "Order Number:  PX12345", the subject in this example would be "PX12345".

• Select how the spool file should be sent, the possible options are;
  • Body of email, Text sent within email body.
  • HTML Attachment, Hyper text Markup Language/Web Browser
  • PDF Attachment, Adobe Acrobat, Portable Document Format.
  • TXT Attachment, Text attachment. 

• The "email Body Text" is only enabled when sending spool files as HTML, PDF or TXT attachments and defines the text that will be sent in the body of the email

• Maximum Number of Blank Lines defines the maximum number of blank lines that may exist in the body of the email or Text attachments (TXT). If a report has been designed for printing then it may contain formatting specific for printing, such as printing footer text. When this data is converted to email you may wish to compress the data by limiting the  maximum number of blank lines. Set this value to '999' to retain the original document formatting. This parameter is only valid when sending spool files within the body of the email and Text attachments (TXT).

• Check the "Delete when sent" check box if you wish to delete the spool files after they have been sent. If the spool files are retained, the User Data for each spool file is automatically changed to "ECS/IE SNT" when sent.

• The "Send Spool file status" options allow you to define the status of the emails to be selected from the output queue. Possible values are:
  • Ready (RDY)
  • Held (HLD)
  • Saved (SAV)

   

• Click the "OK" button to add the new output queue definition.

HTML Header & Footer Graphics

If the option to send the spool file as an HTML attachment is selected then it is possible to link graphics, images or company logos to the Head and foot of the HTML document.

ECS/integrated email does not imbed images within HTML documents but links to graphics held on an internet server. HTML documents with linked graphics can be sent as an attachment to an email or FTP'd to a web server.

HTML documents are normally viewed with a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, for the graphics to view correctly the user must have access to the server where the linked graphic resides. For example: If the linked graphic file is stored on your web server then the user must have internet access to view the graphic. If the user does not have access to the graphic then just the spool file data is displayed.

If the option to end the spool file as an HTML attachment is selected the following panel is displayed: 

When the HTML attachment file type is selected the panel automatically extends to request the details about the Header & Footer graphics.

• Header Graphic URL contains the full location of the graphic file (usually GIF/JPEG format) 
• Header Height contains the Height of the graphic to be displayed in the HTML document. This value varies depending on the graphic displayed.
• Header Width contains the width of the graphic to be displayed in the HTML document. This value varies depending on the graphic displayed.
• Header Border Weight defines the weight (thickness) of the border surrounding the graphic. If no border is required then 0 (Zero) should be entered. 
• Header Hyperlink is the web page that will be displayed when the user clicks on the Header graphic file.
• Footer Graphic URL contains the full location of the graphic file (usually GIF/JPEG format)  
• Footer Height contains the Height of the graphic to be displayed in the HTML document. This value varies depending on the graphic displayed.
• Footer Width contains the width of the graphic to be displayed in the HTML document. This value varies depending on the graphic displayed.
• Footer Border Weight defines the weight (thickness) of the border surrounding the graphic. If no border is required then 0 (Zero) should be entered. 
• Footer Hyperlink is the web page that will be displayed when the user clicks on the Footer graphic file.

To add a label to an e-outbox.

• Select the required electronic output queue with a single left hand mouse click on its name.

• Click the "Add Label" button.

Tip: you can use the right hand mouse button to perform all functions performed by the buttons.

• The "Add e-outbox Label" panel will now be displayed.

• Enter the new label for the selected e-outbox. 
• Select any required selection criteria, relevant to this recipient for the selected output queue. The possible selection criteria options are:

  1. Select All spool files from the specified output queue for transmission to the recipient email address.

  2. Select only where a specific spool File name in the output queue matches the value entered in the text box.

  3. Select only where the User of the spool file in the output queue matches the value entered in the text box.

  4. Select only where the User Data of the spool file in the output queue matches the value entered in the text box. (case sensitive)

  5. Select only where the Status of the spool file in the output queue matches the value entered in the text box. (ie. RDY, SAV, HLD)

  6. Select only where the Form Type of the spool file in the output queue matches the value entered in the text box. (ie. *STD)

  7. Select only where the Job Name of the spool file in the output queue matches the value entered in the text box. (ie, QSECOFR)

   

• Checking Send as ZIP file will result in the selected file being compressed to a ZIP file before sending. Compression is performed using WinZip Version 8 or higher (www.winzip.com). A fully licensed version of WinZip must be installed on the PC running the ECS/ie client. The path to the WinZip executable program will be checked and if invalid then a prompt box will be displayed. The path to the program WINZIP32.EXE must be entered. For Example: C:\Program Files\WinZip\Winzip32.exe.

• Click the "OK" button to add the new Label.

• Repeat the process until you have entered all the labels that you wish to search for in the e-outbox.

There are five reserved email extensions used within ECS/ie that do not result in an email being generated, using the reserved email extensions causes ECS/ie to perform other functions; 

• "SMS" - GSM Mobile Phone Short Messaging Service messages or messages to compatible pagers. The address format should be xxxxx@yyyyy.SMS where xxxxx is the GSM/Pager number, yyyyy is the messaging service centre followed by ".SMS". See the specific section for more information.
• "FTP" - File Transfer Protocol. Using the extension ".FTP" causes any attached spool files to be FTP'd to a local or remote server. Each server must be defined as an FTP Server. See the specific section for more information. 
• "OUTQ" - Spool file Management. Using the extension ".OUTQ" enables the automated transfer of spool files between output queues on the AS/400. The email format for moving spool files is OUTQ@LIBRARY.OUTQ.    
• "MSGQ" - Send AS/400 Message. Using the extension ".MSGQ" causes ECS/ie to send AS/400 text messages up to 512 characters long to an AS/400 based Message queue. The email format for AS/400 messaging is MSGQ@LIBRARY.MSGQ 
•  "BRKM" - Send an AS/400 Break Message using the command SNDBRKMSG. Using the extension ".BRKM" causes ECS/ie to send AS/400 text messages up to 512 characters long to an AS/400 green screen user that will break on their screen. The email format for AS/400 break messaging is;  USER@DELTYPE.BRKM. Where "USER" is the AS/400 User profile name, "DELTYPE" is the delivery type, permissible values are "INF" and "INQ". Setting the value to "INF" will send the message as an Information break message. Setting the value to "INQ" will send the message as an Inquiry break message, forcing the user to enter a reply.

Note:  Extensions  "FTP" and "OUTQ" are reserved for Spool file processing only. Extensions "SMS", "MSGQ" and "BRKM" can process  the body of email text only, not attachments. 

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ECS/integrated email & ECS/ie are trademarks of Electronic Commerce Solutions, Ltd. Other brand names and product names used in this document are the trademarks and trade names of their respective holders and may be registered.