Sending a query instruction to the Email Engine

The easiest way to send queries to the Email Engine is to think of email as simply another client of AR System, like the Mid Tier. When performing queries with the Mid Tier, users must perform certain basic actions, for example, logging in, opening a form, and performing a query. Using email as a AR System client is no different. To execute query instructions to the Email Engine, the following information must be included:

• AR System server name
• AR System server login and password to authenticate a user
• Form name on which to execute the instruction
• Query action

The major difference between the Mid Tier and an email client is that the Mid Tier sends its queries directly to the AR System server, while the Email Engine first processes incoming email and then sends it to the server.

See the following procedure to learn how to send a query. Then, see the following topics for more details:

To send a query

1. Create a new email message in your mail tool.
2. Address the email message to the incoming mailbox.

3. To execute a query that returns all fields of all entries in the HD Incident form, enter the following information in your email message to the Email Engine:

   Schema: HD Incident
   Server: polycarp
   Login: Francie Frontline
   Password: <userPassword>
   Action: Query

   Success

   Tip

   Copy and paste these examples into your mail client, and then modify them as needed.

   The following figure shows the minimum information you need to send a query email. Here, the Action label specifies an instruction. To send a query to the Email Engine, the Action label must be set to Query.
   
   

4. Send your email.
5. Optionally, use the AR System Email Messages form to verify that the Email Engine has received your email.
   
    After the Email Engine has parsed the instruction and sent the query to the AR System server, the server returns the query results that the Email Engine sends back to the email client. Otherwise, the Email Engine returns an error message that indicates missing parameters or an error while parsing the qualifier.

6. Open the returned email to see the results of your query.
   

   Success

   Tip

   One benefit of the Email Engine is that outgoing email from the Email Engine can include a formatted header or footer, like the HTML header template shown in the figure above. For more information, see Incoming and outgoing mail templates.

This email message sent from the Email Engine shows that all fields of all entries in the HD Incident form were returned. In effect, your email query was an unqualified search of the HD Incident form, useful for the example, but certainly a performance impact on the server. You should always include a qualification in your email queries.