Configuring Email

Email is used to notify the selected identities that an item has either entered a specific life cycle state, or that it is in transition between states. So, for both the state and the transition, the configuration dialog is the same.

The top part of the dialog allows for the message itself to be specified. Users can have more than one message specified, if users want a different message to be sent to different identities. In the bottom part of the dialog, specify which identities will receive the message currently selected in the top pane.

Selecting a configured e-mail:

1. Click the Configure E-Mail link in the Life Cycle map selected. The Configure E-Mail dialog box appears.

Click the Add E-Mail message button



. The Email Message search dialog appears.

Click the Run Search button



to see a list of previously configured emails.



Select a message type and click



. The pre-configured email is added to the list.

A new line is created in the top pane. The following table describes the properties:

Property	Description
Name	The name of the e-mail message itself
From User	The identity from whom the message will be sent. If none is specified, the identity configuring the e-mail notification will be used. Hit F2 to bring up a search dialog with all available identities. The chosen identity must have a valid e-mail address.
Subject	The subject line of the e-mail.
Body Plain	Plain text version of the message to be sent (for recipients who do not accept HTML)
Body HTML	HTML version of the message to be sent
Query String	If a user wants to write complex notifications, that require data from various items in Innovator, a query can be written to request this data from the database. The retrieved data can then be referenced in the body of the e-mail message. For example, to show values of a related item in the e-mail message, a query will be writtento retrieve it. To learn how to write these queries, please refer to the Advanced Programming course, or contact an Aras Consultant.

2. Click the Add Identities button in the Identities section of the dialog to specify existing identities that will receive the e-mail (make certain that those identities have a valid e-mail address). Click the New Identity to add an identity. The Identity search dialog appears.



Select the identities to receive the email and click



to add them.

Use the following procedure to create an email:

1. Click on the Configure Email link in the LifeCycle Map that have been created/selected. The Configure E-Mail dalog appears.

Click the New Email button



to create an email. A row is added to the dialog box.



2. Enter a name for the email in the Name field.

Double-click the From User cell and click the ellipses button



to select the users to associate with the email. The User search dialog appears.



Select usernames to associate with the email and click



.

Users can use variables in the e-mail text to identify the exact item and its property values, making the e-mail message more specific. Users can insert any item property using the syntax ${property name}, including system properties. There are also the following runtime variables supported in Innovator:

Here is an example. We have an item with the following properties: name, part_number, and color. It also has the usual system properties, and we will use the property state to indicate which life cycle state the item is entering. An e-mail message could be configured as shown below. If a user right clicks on the e-mail row and select View “Email Message” from the pop-up menu, an email message in a separate window, as shown here.

Notice the use of two variables in the subject line - ${name} and ${state}. Please make sure to use the property names, not labels. The Body of the message is using the additional property ${part_number}.