Sending a query instruction to the Email Engine

Similar to Mid Tier , Email Engine is a client of AR System that required you to log in, open a form, and run a query. To execute query instructions to the Email Engine, the following information must be included in the email:

• 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 the incoming email and then sends it to the server.

To send a query

The following procedure uses an example where the email query is a search without a qualification criteria for the HD Incident form. The email message sent from the Email Engine shows all fields of all entries in the HD Incident form are returned. However, we recommend you always include a qualification in your email queries to avoid a performance impact on the server.

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 helpdesk incident form HD Incident, enter the following information in your email message to the Email Engine:

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

   Tip

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

   The following image shows the minimum information you need to send query instructions by using an 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. (Optional) 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.
   

   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 preceding image. For more information, see Incoming and outgoing mail templates.

Perform the actions listed in the following table to limit search results by using qualifications, labels, or shorthand syntax: