About the Mail Client

The primary functions of the Mail Client are e-mail submission and the E-mail Recorder feature:

• E-mail Submission

  The Mail Client accepts incoming e-mail messages and submits data from those messages as primary items. There are three types of e-mail submission:

  • E-mail Submission by Users

    Users with valid SBM accounts can submit primary items by e-mail as long as their account contains at least one e-mail address. You configure how the Mail Client handles HTML and attachments for e-mail submission in SBM Configurator; however, you establish e-mail submission for your SBM projects using the SBM Application Administrator. For details, refer to the SBM Application Administrator Guide.

  • XML E-mail Submission

    You can automate item submission from external tools by sending properly formatted XML via e-mail messages to a specified e-mail address. For details, refer to the SBM Application Administrator Guide.

    Note: Support for development efforts for writing or modifying XML is provided by Professional Services. Questions regarding XML operations as documented will be handled by Serena Customer Support.
  • Cross-database Posting

    Uses the Mail Client, Notification Server, and external post transitions to submit items into external databases. For details, refer to the SBM System Administrator Guide. In general, orchestrations are the preferred method for automating submission of items. For guidance on using orchestrations, refer to the SBM Orchestration Guide.

• E-mail Recorder

  The E-mail Recorder feature automatically attaches e-mail messages sent from external e-mail clients as notes to primary and auxiliary items. E-mail Recorder also attaches replies to these messages, which enables users to record e-mail discussions that pertain to these items. In addition, E-mail Recorder can automatically attach a notification reply to the item that generated the notification.

  Notes that are created by the E-mail Recorder contain the To and CC contents of the incoming e-mail message in the Message Address Details section.

  E-mail Recorder enables users to:

  • Reply to messages sent via E-mail Recorder and have their replies attached to items as notes

    The subject line must contain the [ttid: table ID,record ID] identifier and the To box must contain the name of the mailbox designated for the E-mail Recorder. This information is most easily provided when users select the Reply to All option in their external e-mail client.

  • Reply to notifications and attach those replies to the related items

    By default, the To box contains the name of the mailbox designated for the E-mail Recorder and the subject line contains the [ttid: table ID,record ID] identifier. The reply is only attached to the relevant internal SBM items if the mailbox name and the identifier are left intact.

  • Use the Preferred E-mail Client link when sending an e-mail from an item
    A new message dialog box from the external e-mail client opens, allowing users to send a message to other SBM users and non-users as well. Messages sent from an external mail client are only attached to SBM items if E-mail Recorder is enabled. If E-mail Recorder is not enabled, messages sent using the Preferred E-mail Client option are not attached to items.

    • The new message dialog box contains the name of the mailbox designated for the E-mail Recorder, a subject line specifying the user who sends the message, and the item the message is sent from, and, optionally, a link to the item.
    • The subject line contains the database table and record ID for the item in the following format: [ttid: table ID, record ID]. If this database identifier is removed from the subject line, the e-mail message is sent, but not attached to the item. The message is sent and deleted from the mailbox used by the Mail Client if it cannot identify the ttid in the subject line.
    • The message body that is sent from an external e-mail client is attached by the E-mail Recorder; however, attachments are only added to the item if you have selected the Include Attachments When Using E-mail Recorder option.
    • Non-users can read the information in the e-mail message, but they cannot access the item from which the message was sent. You can, however, specify that replies from users are added as notes by enabling E-mail Recorder.