Sending a query instruction to the Email Engine

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

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

The major difference between the  and an email client is that the  sends its queries directly to the , while the  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 :

   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 , 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  has parsed the instruction and sent the query to the , the server returns the query results that the  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  is that outgoing email from the  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  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.