How Email Engine enables email-driven business processes
Email Engine provides a service that transforms email into an interface that communicates with the AR System server. The Email Engine service does not require an additional license. The Email Engine enables users to instruct the AR System server to perform queries, submissions, or modifications to entries, all by using email. This feature is particularly useful for users without direct access (a high-speed network link) to an AR System server. The Email Engine also returns the results of such requests in email messages in plain text, HTML, or XML. Additionally, the Email Engine can process notifications by using workflow actions such as filters or escalations. To send notifications from the AR System server, you must install Email Engine.
The Email Engine is a standalone client program that you can install and run on any computer system as an independent service. It provides the following capabilities:
- Receiving mail—The Email Engine receives email messages from an email account on your company mail server. These email messages can include instructions that the Email Engine interprets and translates into API calls to your AR System server. These instructions can involve modifying form entries, submitting entries, or retrieving multiple entries from your AR System server.
- Sending mail—You can use the Email Engine to send email messages, which can include the results of queries, submissions, or modifications to entries contained on your AR System server. You can format these emails by using templates that specify the layout of a message in plain text, HTML, or XML.
- Processing notifications—If you choose email when creating a Notify filter or escalation, you can use the Email Engine to send text messages, contents of select fields, or attachments when workflow is triggered.
You can connect the Email Engine to mail servers by using the following protocols:
Protocols | Used for | Description |
|---|---|---|
Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP4) | Incoming mails | When mail arrives, copies of messages are downloaded from the mail server to your local computer and the copy of each message remains on the server. However, when Email Engine is used, this copy is removed from the server. |
Post Office Protocol (POP3) | Incoming mails | When mail arrives, messages are downloaded to your local computer and removed from the mail server. |
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) | Outgoing mails | Used for outgoing mail transmissions. |
MBOX | Incoming mails | Used for storing mail messages on a UNIX platform. Messages are stored in an mbox file under the user name. |
Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) | Incoming and outgoing mails | Used primarily with the Microsoft Exchange Server (Windows only) as an interface that enables different email applications to work together to distribute email. The MAPI protocol for incoming and outgoing mail is disabled for the 64-bit Oracle Java Virtual Machine (Oracle JVM). |
Exchange Web Service (EWS) | Incoming and outgoing mails | Used for integrating Email Engine with Exchange Server 2016 after you upgrade to Exchange Server 2016. |
All Email Engine settings and logging information (including error messages, incoming emails, and outgoing emails) are stored in forms within the AR System server. The Email Engine stores only the location of the AR System server where the forms are stored.
To configure the logs to be stored in a local text file, specify a handler property on the AR System Configuration Generic UI form. For more information, see Debugging-options-for-the-Email-Engine and Updating-configuration-settings-by-using-the-AR-System-Configuration-Generic-UI-form.
The Email Engine provides additional options, including the ability to create a variety of templates and to include attachments with email messages. It supports Multipurpose Internet Mail Exchange (MIME) types for attachments.