What is an Email Action?

The Email action can be used to send one or multiple emails. If 100 records are pushed into the Actionflow then 100 emails will be sent, unless a phase is used to send a single email. 

Creating Email Actions

1. Click and drag the 

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    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
2. Enter a name for the Email action, then select Create Action
3. In the Email action  Properties on the right, populate the following details:

Verifying Emails

It is possible to check an email has successfully been sent using the Email tab at the top of the system console. System Console → Email Tab. See System Console

Attachments

Currently unsupported Sending emails with attachments is possible in PhixFlow but not yet supported in Actionflows. To send an email with an attachment, see Sending Emails.

Built-in Error Handling

Basic validation is performed to ensure that email addresses are well-formed. If they are not this will cause the Actionflow to fail immediately. Other errors, such as email addresses for accounts that don’t exist, won’t cause a failure of the Actionflow but they will result in an unsuccessful email send.

Opening an Email Client

The 

Worked Examples

Here are worked examples using the Shop the Retail Data (available from the Learning Centre).

In this example, we are using:  

• A Shop Staff Form screen containing blank input fields, set up to create a new staff member  - this screen was created using the Edit Form template
• A Shop Orders screen containing a grid of the Shop Orders data, Order Status filters buttons and a card container of the Shop Order Lines data  - this screen was created using the Multi-Tile template

GIF/SCREENSHOT OF FINISHED RESULT   

Example Example 1: Send One Email For One Record

In this example, we'll modify the Actionflow on the Save button for when a new staff member is createdof the Shop Staff Form. We'll configure this Actionflow to send an email to the Team Leader (i.e. you) with a reminder to complete a full induction.

1. On the Shop New Staff Form screen, open the Actionflow on the Save button

2. Create a new 

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    action to ensure an email is only sent when a new employee is saved but not when an existing employee is saved, and insert this between the 

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    node and 

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    action

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   Ensure that staffID is mapped into the Gateway action from the input

3. Create an additional Save action, with the same setup as the existing Save action
4. Map the Gateway action to both Save actions 
   1. You should now have a Gateway action, followed by two Save actions
5. Hover over the Save action on the canvas that you will use for new employees (i.e. that will save and send an email) and select, out

6. 
   

7. Click onto any blank canvas space and choose the 

   Insert excerpt_action_email_action_emailnameiconnopaneltrue iconEnter a suitable name for the node and select Create ActionClick on the Save action on the canvas and rename this to: Save NEW Staff
   1. Ensure Auto Save Attributes is toggled on and change the Type to Insert
8. Create an additional Save action and name it: Save EXISTING Staff
   1. Ensure Auto Save Attributes is toggled on and change the Type to Update
9. Hover over the Gateway action
   1. Map the SaveOnly connector to the Save EXISTING Staff action
   2. Map the SaveAndEmail connector to the Save NEW Staff action 
   3. You should now have a Gateway action, followed by two Save actions, with the attribute staffID mapped to both
10. Hover over the Save NEW Staff action on the canvas and select, out

11. Click onto any blank canvas space and choose the 

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     icon
    1. Enter a suitable name for the node and select Create Action
12. Map across the staffID attribute from the table to the Email action
13. Click on the input connection point, under Connections, and map in the following attributes:
    1. departmentID
    2. departmentName
    3. employmentType
    4. first_name
    5. last_name
    6. startDate

14. Then map these attributes into the Email action

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Email Action Setup

1. Click on the Email Action to open its Properties and pin the tab
2. For the From field, we need to use the email address specified as the login email in your Outbound Emailer; to find this, in the 

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   , expand 

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   1. Double-click on 

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       Outbound emailer and copy the login email 
3. Paste this into the From field on your pinned 

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    properties, and enter the following:
   1. To: enter your email address
      1. This way you can see if the Actionflow is working

   2. Subject:

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      New Employee: ${in.firstNamefirst_name} ${in.lastNamelast_name}

      
      

   3. is HTML: Toggle on 

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   4. Message:

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      Hello ${_user.name}, You have a new team member! Here are ${in.firstNamefirst_name} ${in.lastNamelast_name}'s details: ID Number: ${in.staffID} Start Date: ${in.startDate}  toString(_fromDate, ${toString(in.startDate, "dd MMMM yyyy")} Department: ${in.departmentIDdepartmentNamedepartmentID} ${in.departmentName} Contract Type: ${in.employmentType} Please ensure ${in.firstNamefirst_name} ${in.lastNamelast_name} completes their full induction training and all training sign offs are completed by dateAdd(${in.startDate},_WEEK_OF_YEAR, 2).

      1. Leave all other fields blank
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      by ${toString(dateAdd(in.startDate,_WEEK_OF_YEAR, 2), "dd MM yyyy")}.

      
      

      1. Leave all other fields blank

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Testing

1. To test the Actionflow:
   1. Create a new staff member using the Staff Form and if you provided your own email in the To field, you will receive the email you set up above
   2.  Update an existing staff member and after saving, you should not receive an email 

Example 2: Send One Email For Multiple Records

In this example, we'll configure a button to run a processing check of all order lines for all incomplete orders. This will check for any incomplete orders where all order lines are marked as 'Closed'. Where an order's order lines are all closed, the order will be updated to Completed and an email will be sent detailing how many orders have been updated to completed Completed that day.To

In an Actionflow, to send one email for multiple records, an additional phase will

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Setup the Views and Calculate Action

1. On the Shop Orders screen, use the palette to create a button that will initiate the Actionflow
2. Right-click on the button and 

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3. On the Actionflow canvas, configure an Input of On Click

4. Add a

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    Action and set the Primary Table to the Orders data

5. Filter on the View Action to only retrieve the incomplete orders

   1. 
      

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      Add a Filter with the filter conditions: Status not equals Completed  Add Output Attributes: OrderID Status the filter conditions: Status not equals Completed  Add Output Attributes: orderID status For more help on using View actions, see 1.15 View Action Configuration.

      
      

   2. Remember to save the View Action properties which will display with a * if unsaved
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6. Connect the input to this View Action

7. Add a

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    Action from the toolbar

   1. This Calculate Action will be to used in a lookupto change the order status

8. Connect the View Action

   to the Calculate Action

   to the Calculate Action

9. Map across the attributes orderID and status

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10. Add another

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     Action from the toolbar to the canvas and set the Primary Table to the Order Lines datathe toolbar to the canvas and set the Primary Table to the Order Lines data

11. Hover over the Calculate Action and choose Add Lookup, and give the lookup a suitable name, e.g. ORD, then click on the View action you just created
12. Click on the View action node and set the Output Attributes:
    1. lineStatus
    2. orderID
    3. orderLineID
    4. orderLineNumber
13. Filter on the View Action to only retrieve Open order lines, and where the orderID from the Orders data equals the orderID from the Order Lines dataConfigure

    1. 
       

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       Add a Filter with two filter conditions: Where ALL of the following are true: LineStatus not equals Closed OrderID equals OrderID

14. Hover over the Calculate Action and choose Add Lookup, then click on the lookup connector

15. 1. lineStatus not equals Closed The field should be interpreted as an Literal value orderID equals orderID The field should be interpreted as an Expression

       
       

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16. Click on the lookup connector to configure the Incoming Mappings:
    1. OrderIDMap across orderID
17. Configure the Outgoing Mappings:
    1. LineStatuslineStatus
    2. OrderIDorderID
    3. OrderLineID
    4. OrderLineNumber
18. Click on the Calculate Action and  and using the function countElements, add two Output Attributes:add an Output Attribute that counts :
    1. add an Output Attribute that will be used to modify the order's Status. The expression should count the records coming from the lookup and where . Where this is more than zero, returns the Order Status that is currently set but where return the order's status. Where this is zero, returns  return the string, "Completed"
       1. zero records means that all Order Lines are Closed
       2. the "Completed" string will be mapped to the Order Status

    2. add an Output Attribute that counts will be used to modify the order's Completion Date. The expression should count the records coming from the lookup and where this is more than zero, returns return NULL but where this is zero, returns return today's date 

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       Add an Output Attribute for the status: Code Block theme Emacs title StatusOutputAttribute if( countElements(luORD) > 0, in.status, //flag record as Completed if all order lines Closed "Completed" )  Add an Output Attribute for the completion date: Code Block theme Emacs title CompletionDateOutputAttribute if( countElements(luORD) > 0, _NULL, //return today's date for complete orders now() )

       
       

19. Add a

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     Action to the canvas that saves data back to the Orders dataset
20. Connect the Calculate action to this Save action, and map across:
    1. The Completion Date Output Attribute StatusOutputAttribute onto the CompletionDate status in the data
    2. The Status Output Attribute CompletionDateOutputAttribute onto the Status completionDate in the data
    3. The OrderID orderID from the Orders View onto the OrderID orderID in the data
    4. Toggle on Auto Save Attributes in the

       Change the Type to Update in the Save Action Properties

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Setup the Email Phase

Create an additional phase in the Actionflow to send an email in. This is required to ensure only one email is sent regardless of the amount of records passing through the Actionflow.

As data cannot be passed between phases, this Actionflow the emailing phase will include a lookup to the Orders data, specifically to the data that was saved as part of the first phase of the Actionflow.

1. Add a 

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    to the canvas and create an additional phase to send the email in
2. Connect the Save action to the Start Phase action
3. Open the Emailing Phase and configure an Input of On Phase Start
4. Add a 

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    Action that will be used for to count records coming from a lookup
5. Connect the input to the Calculate Action
6. Add a

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    Action with the Orders data as the Primary Table
   1. Filter on the View Action to only retrieve Orders with a Completion Date of today 

      1. 
         

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         Add a Filter with the filter condition: CompletionDate equals today()

         
         

7. Hover over the Calculate Action and choose Add Lookup, then click on the View action you made above
8. On the Output Attributes section of the View action, drag and drop the attributes completionDate and orderID
9. Click on the lookup connector Configure to map the Outgoing Mappings:
   1. CompletionDatecompletionDate
   2. OrderIDorderID

10. Click on the Calculate Action and using the function countElements, add an Output Attribute that simply counts the records coming from the lookup connector 

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    Add an Output Attribute: Type: Integer Expression:  Code Block theme Emacs countElements(lu)

    
    

11. Add a

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     Action to the canvas and connect the Calculate Action to this
    1. Map across the above Output Attribute from the Calculate Action action to the Email action
12. Click on the Email Action to open its Properties, and enter the following:
    1. From: use the email address you used in Example 1
    2. To: enter your email address
       1. This way you can see if the Actionflow is working

    3. Subject:

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       Order Completion Check

       
       

    4. is HTML: Toggle off 

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    5. Message:

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       Overnight order processing run finished at ${toString(now(),"dd MM yyyy, HH:mm:ss")}. ${in.CountCompletedTodayYourOutputAttribute} order(s) now completed.

       
       

       1. Ensure you modify the above code with the name of your Output Attribute
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Test the Actionflow

To test the Actionflow we need an Open or Processing order that has all of its order lines set to Status of Closed. 

1. On the Shop Orders screen, use the filers filters to find an Open or Processing order
2. Change Choose an Order and change all of its Order Lines to Closed and Save each change
3. ZB THIS IS A ROUGH GIF, NOT FINAL 
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4. Click on the button you created on the screen to initiate the Actionflow

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