Creating E-mail Notifications

To create an E-mail Notification, follow the instructions below:

INFO: For information on E-mail Notifications, see E-mail Notifications.

1. From the Sidebar, navigate to Workflow and Business Logic > [Module] > [Object Class] > Workflow > Components > E-mail Notifications.
2. Click New. The E-mail Notification dialog box opens.
3. By default, the Name field is initialized with ObjectClassEmailSeqNo (for example, ProblemEmail00001). You can customize this name, if needed.
4. Under Notification, specify the notification details as follows:
   1. If you have configured the default sender’s e-mail address, the From field is initialized with that value. Otherwise, the System defaults (Empty) is displayed.

      NOTE: You can specify a system default From address only when using an SMTP Server for sending e-mail for outgoing messages. For details, see Integration with SMTP Server.

   2. If needed, you can modify the sender’s e-mail address. To insert dynamic values, click the ellipsis button.

      NOTE: If you use a Microsoft Exchange Server, you need to enable Alloy Navigator to send notifications on behalf of other users and set up delegate access for the sender you specify here. For details, see Integration with Microsoft Exchange Server.

   3. Enter recipient addresses in the To, CC, or BCC fields. If you want to specify several addresses in one field, separate them with a comma or semicolon. To insert dynamic values, click the ellipsis button and select a value using the Select Placeholder dialog box.

      NOTE: When selecting dynamic values in the Select Placeholder dialog box, use the E-mail Fields category as it contains only e-mail relevant fields. For details, see Inserting Placeholders.

      You can use parameters, which are static or dynamic values you supply to the E-mail Notification on the Parameters tab. Actions and Triggers will utilize those parameters in their E-mail Notification operations.

      NOTE: If you want to see in details a User Macro or a Workflow Parameter referenced by the placeholder, right-click the selected placeholder and choose Placeholder Definition. It opens the Macro (Workflow Parameter) window. If necessary, update details and click OK. The placeholder would be updated with new values.

   4. Enter the message subject in the Subject field. Use the ellipsis button to insert dynamic values.

      NOTE: If you want to reuse the subject line in other notifications, you can save the entered text as a macro by right-clicking anywhere in the Subject field and choosing Create New Macro from the pop-up menu (if you want to reuse only a part of the subject line, select this part before right-clicking). Specify other macro details in the New Macro dialog box and click OK. For details, see Creating User Macros.

5. You can specify the message contents explicitly or use an existing HTML e-mail template.

   INFO: For details on templates, see Creating HTML E-mail Templates.

   • To specify the message contents explicitly:
   1. By default, Alloy Navigator creates messages in the HTML format.

      NOTE: The appearance of E-mail Notifications is controlled with standard cascading style sheet (CSS) rules. For details, see Customizing the style of E-mail Notifications.

      NOTE: If the message contains a placeholder for multiline text (such as the Object Changes All system macro), we recommend that you place this macro in a separate paragraph and then apply the Formatted style to that paragraph. Otherwise, the formatting may be discarded.

   2. Enter the text of the e-mail message. Use the Insert Placeholder button to insert dynamic values. For details, see Inserting Placeholders.

      NOTE: Person Pictures inserted in HTML notifications are automatically resized to 96 pixels wide.

      IMPORTANT:E-mail notifications may appear anywhere in the Programming section of a workflow action. However, Alloy Navigator waits to trigger these notifications until all other statements of the Programming section have been completed. This is necessary to ensure that notifications reflect the most current state of the object in the result of a successfully executed Action. For details, see Inserting Placeholders.

   • To use an HTML e-mail template:
   1. Click HTML template and select a template in the Template list. A grid of section placeholders contained in the template will appear.
   2. For each section that you want to use in your notification, double-click the corresponding row and specify its contents. You can combine static text with placeholders for dynamic data (macros and values of object fields).

      

6. To supply parameters to the E-mail Notification, click the Parameters tab and proceed as follows:
   1. Click New. The Parameter dialog box opens.
   2. Type a parameter name in the Name field.
   3. Select the data type from the Type list. For parameters of the Reference type, in the Reference to field, specify the objects that will be available for selection.
   4. If you want to assign a default parameter value, enter this value under Default Value. In most cases, you will need to insert a dynamically calculated value (an SQL expression or script) using the Expression Builder.

      INFO: For details, see Using the Expression Builder.

   5. Click OK.

   Repeat these steps to assign other parameters as needed.

7. Click OK when done.