A Sample Optional Email Process

One topic for which CorasWorks Support receives a number of calls is the Optional Email Process. As described in the List Item Emailer Wizard Properties, this allows you to define different emails to be sent based upon the value in a particular column of the email-enabled list. It directs the List Item Emailer web part to look at the value in the identified column and, based on that value, send the appropriate email message to the identified recipients.

NOTE: With the Optional Email Process, emails will be sent only when the individual list item is opened and then closed. Emails will not be sent based on a filter (e.g., Due Date) if the item has not been opened, or if the item is opened and closed in Datasheet mode.

This topic provides the code for a series of messages to be sent based upon the values within the Status column of a task list. A different message will be sent to the appropriate audience for each possible value. The messages will be formatted using HTML, including code for using a table to format the data. Of course, you can customize this example to fit your needs and the steps in your processes.

There will be a total of five steps to the process, one for each Status type, as defined in the table below. This table shows the values and title of each message to be defined.

Status Value	Message Sent To	Title of Notification
Not Started	To: Assigned To CC: Person Creating Task	Task has been Assigned
In Progress	To: Assigned To CC: manager@abc.com	Task has been Started
Completed	To: Assigned To CC: Person Creating Task	Task has been Completed
Deferred	To: Person Creating Task CC: manager@abc.com	Warning – Task has been Deferred
Waiting on Someone Else	To: Person Creating Task CC: Assigned To	Warning – Task is Waiting on Someone Else

Start with the First Column Value

You can start with the code for the Not Started message:

Look at this code before you go any further to make sure you understand what it is doing. As is stated in the List Item Emailer Wizard Properties topic, the format for each entry in the Optional Email Process is:

Field#;Value#;Email To#;CC#;Email From#;Subject#;Body

So, if you look at the sample code above, it can be broken down as described here:

Parameter	Usage	Value in Process
Field	Column name referenced by the process	Status
Value	Value within column	Not Started
Email To	Destination of the notification	Assigned To
CC	Another address	Created By
Email From	Source of email	Created By
Subject	Title of email message	Task has been Assigned
Body	Format of email body	HTML-encoded body with column values

This process looks at the Status column. When the Status is set to “Not Started,” a notification message will be sent with the following settings:

· It will be sent to the value within the Assigned To column

· A copy will be sent to the address found within the Created By column

· The “Created By” person will also be listed as the originator of the message

· The title of the message is “Task has been Assigned”

The body of the email is HTML-encoded, using a table with rows and cells. Within the cells are text and the values from the identified columns. So the body of the message includes:

· Line of Greeting: The following task has been assigned to you.

· Starting of an HTML table: <table border=”1” width=”100%”>

· Creating of Rows and Cells: <tr> <td width=”111”>…</td> </tr>

· Value Identifiers: Task Title

· Column Values: <*=Description*>

The message that is sent has the formatting of a table that includes the values of the columns. It is not required that the notification be formatted using HTML code, but the resulting notification is placed within a table and is easy to read.

Add the Remaining Steps in the Process

Now, you can easily add the code for the remaining steps in the process (the other possible status values) by copying, pasting, and modifying the sample code above.

If you want to start with the sample code provided above for the Not Started, you can copy and paste it for each step in the process. If you have your own code, copy and paste that. Make sure you type <NEW> at the end of each process. So you would copy the first set of code, type <NEW>, and then paste and make the necessary modifications to the status, destinations, title, and body. Then repeat.

For the example described above, the final code looks like this. As the task moves along through each status, a different message is sent.

Status#;Not Started#;Assigned To#;Created By#;Created By#;Task has been Assigned#;The following task has been assigned to you. 
<table border=”1” width=”100%”>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Title</td><td><*=Title*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Assigned To</td><td><*=Assigned To*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Description</td><td><*=Description*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Due Date</td><td><*=Due Date*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Link</td><td><a href=<*=ItemURL*>>Click Here</a></td> </tr>
</table>
<NEW>
Status#;In Progress#;Assigned To#;manager@abc.com#;Created By#;Task has been Started#;The following task has been started. 
<table border=”1” width=”100%”>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Title</td><td><*=Title*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Assigned To</td><td><*=Assigned To*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Description</td><td><*=Description*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Due Date</td><td><*=Due Date*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Link</td><td><a href=<*=ItemURL*>>Click Here</a></td> </tr>
</table>
<NEW>
Status#;Completed#;Assigned To#;Created By#;Created By#;Task has been Completed#;The following task has been completed. 
<table border=”1” width=”100%”>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Title</td><td><*=Title*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Assigned To</td><td><*=Assigned To*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Description</td><td><*=Description*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Due Date</td><td><*=Due Date*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Link</td><td><a href=<*=ItemURL*>>Click Here</a></td> </tr>
</table>
<NEW>
Status#;Deferred#;Created By#;manager@abc.com#;Created By#;Warning - Task has been Deferred#;The following task has been deferred. 
<table border=”1” width=”100%”>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Title</td><td><*=Title*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Assigned To</td><td><*=Assigned To*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Description</td><td><*=Description*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Due Date</td><td><*=Due Date*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Link</td><td><a href=<*=ItemURL*>>Click Here</a></td> </tr>
</table>
<NEW>
Status#;Waiting on Someone Else#;Created By#;Assigned To#;Created By#;Warning - Task is Waiting on Someone Else#;The following task is waiting on someone else. 
<table border=”1” width=”100%”>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Title</td><td><*=Title*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Assigned To</td><td><*=Assigned To*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Description</td><td><*=Description*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Due Date</td><td><*=Due Date*></td> </tr>
<tr> <td width=”111”>Task Link</td><td><a href=<*=ItemURL*>>Click Here</a></td> </tr>
</table>