Sending emails with the external component and Blat

[JavierM-Xerox]

The LogOn property can be defined to use any account. It can be a local windows account or a domain account.

THere's no "FreeFlow Core" account as FFCore runs as the computer (aka NT_AUTHORITY) by default.

[barwapk]

OK everything works. There is no need to change logon property.

PS: IT must be:
-attach "$FFwfJob.preflightReportUri$"

[barwapk]

OK, I have found the installation guide but the logon property doesnt work, login and password are the same as in the FFCore?

[barwapk]

I cant find install guide for Windows 7 (for setting LogOn property). Cant send email with attachment (returns exit code 1)

[JavierM-Xerox]

I would write a small batch file to do the following:

• store the preflight PDF to a known location
• buld a small manifest with the path to the preflight PDF and the email of the person to whom the report should be sent (you can pass the email address as a parameter to the script)

One other thing I would do... make sure the second workflow has an external node to delete the preflight report. 

[Erick]

(note - if needed you can also pass the prefight report to another workflow before emailing it)

How would you go about doing this?

Erick

[JavierM-Xerox]

To attach the job's preflight report add the following to the parameters: 

-attach $FFwfJob.preflightReportUri$

[JavierM-Xerox]

FFCore's notification subsystem will email selected administrators when relevant system events occur. However, it does not provide the same functionality as the email node in FFProM.

However, the External workflow component and the Blat CLI email client can enable building of workflows that send email notifications when jobs each a given point in the workflow.

In order to get this to work I had to change the LogOn property for the FFCore server to an administrator account. Instructions for making that change are in the install guide.

Note: In theory this should work with an account with fewer privileges but I did not attempt that. 

I downloaded Blat and dropped it in the Program Files directory. After that, the configuration is pretty simple:

The string used for the parameters:

 -to javier.morales@xerox.com -subject "blat test" -body "this is my message" -server xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -f javier.morales@xerox.com
  

Most switches are self-explanatory.

The -f switch requires an email address that the SMTP server will recognize. 

You can use $FF...$ variables for any of all of the above content which opens up a number of possibilities:

• emailing proofs to end users (copy the job in the workflow, lower the resolution and email)
• emailing preflight reports to end users (note - if needed you can also pass the prefight report to another workflow before emailing it)
• adding detailed job information to email notifications

Additional information about supported switches can be found in the Blat Documentation.