How To: Read data from an email account

Sometimes it is necessary to read data int PhixFlow from an email account. For example if orders are always sent to a specified account in the same format, it can be an easy way to automate their entry into a database or process them.

Example : Polling an inbox using POP3 and  processing data files

Step-by-step guide

1. Click on Admin->Manage Email Accounts and add a new inbound account (The example below show an example setup using POP3 and TLS and will poll the default inbox every 1 minute)
2. Click Test Configuration to ensure the settings are correct and then check the Enabled check-box save any changes.
3. Click on Admin->System Configuration->System Directories and make a note of the location of the import file location e.g C:\opt\phixflow\data\import. Collected email message will appear in folders beneath this directory.
4. Send a test email to the account with a data file attached. (Note: If you want to process the message body then sending plain text rather than HTML messages is easier)

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