Multiple merge fields using FM send email option
Hi
I can insert one merge field into the email I am sending using the "send email" option. When I try to insert another field into the body of the message it just replaces all text that already exists? Can more than one merge field be used in a email message (using the "send email" option within FM11)
thanks for any insight....
Doug
Thanks, yes I did insert a single field and I guess it was a bit of wishfull thinking that I could just continue adding field to the email. I see the "Insert text from file" option for message body of an email. I am bit frightend by the having to build a "plan text calculation" but maybe that is easier than I hope. here is what I am attempting to do.
I have a database (single table) of participants in a high school rowing team. I want to send an email to the rowers asking them to confirm accuracy of contact information we have for thier parents (home phone number, name and email address).
I need a hint/help to get the "text file" set up. Is it as simple as creating a text file that contains the text and fields I want in the body of email message?
Here is what I think that text file would look like using my field names. Rowing is the table name.
Hello "& Rowing::Student_Name &"
My name is Doug Balson and I am a parent volunteer. I need your help confirming the parent contact information. Below is the contact information I have for your parents. Please reply to this email telling me it is correct or edit/add missing information.
Parent1: "& Rowing::Parent1 &"
Parent1 email: "& Rowing::Parent1_email &"
Parent2: "& Rowing::Parent2 &"
Parent2 email: "& Rowing::Parent2_email &"
Home Phone: "& Rowing::Home_Phone&"
Thank you
Doug Balson
Parent Volunteer
YOu have a few quotes out of place and need to use the ¶ to control spacing.
"Hello "& Rowing::Student_Name & "¶¶My name is Doug Balson and I am a parent volunteer. I need your help confirming the parent contact information. Below is the contact information I have for your parents. Please reply to this email telling me it is correct or edit/add missing information.¶¶Parent1: " & Rowing::Parent1 &
"¶Parent1 email: " & Rowing::Parent1_email &
"¶¶Parent2: "& Rowing::Parent2 &
"¶Parent2 email: " & Rowing::Parent2_email &
"¶¶Home Phone: " & Rowing::Home_Phone &
"¶¶Thank you¶Doug Balson¶Parent Volunteer"
Changes are shown in red. The ¶ character forces a line break. The spacing you type in outside of the quotation marks does not affect the spacing produced by the calculation so you can add additional returns before or after an ampersand (&) to make it easier for you to read when composing the calculation.
You might want to first enter this into a regular calculation field and then copy and paste the entire expression into your send Mail dialog once the calculation field displays the message the way you want it to.
There's also a "template" method you can use where you type the entire message into a single text field with <<Placeholders>> for each field. Then you can use the substitute function to replace the placeholder text with values from your database fields.
I am thankful and impressed! Just tested this using the insert text file and it worked for my one test recourd. I will now send to distribution list...
very very greatfull!!
DB
Can't use any merge fields in the email, You can specify a single field (I think that's what you did) or specify a plain text calculation that combines the data from as many fields as you want to produce the message you want to send in the email.
"Dear " & YourTable::Salutation &",¶¶" & "Thank you for purchasing the " & YourTable::Productdescription & "."
Is a very simple example of such a calculation.