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Email Attachments

Email Attachments

Sept 06, 2022

Table of contents

Although directmail is a host-based e-mail system, you also have the comfort you know from common PC applications. Besides sending texts, attachments to e-mails are a widespread and common way to attach any PC documents to an e-mail.

directmail supports you here with the Attachments function, with which you can send any PC documents such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, EXE files, to name just a few examples. In addition to PC files, you can also use directmail to attach IBM i spool files in various formats, or IBM i objects such as programs, files, folders, or complete libraries:

The Attachments function is available from the creation of an e-mail by pressing function key 10, or from the mailbox by entering selection 10 before an e-mail.

Depending on whether you have already entered attachments, pressing F10 from within an e-mail will display an overview of the attachments, otherwise it will be displayed immediately below.

Note: If options are displayed in blue, this is because access to these types is not allowed in the mail account definition, page 3.

0089 - Select attachment file type

Description of the selection options

1=PC documents - Use this option to attach PC documents from the IFS. See chapter PC-Dokumente anhängen (Auswahl 1)

2=spool file - Use this to attach IBM i spool files to an e-mail. See chapter Spooldateien anhängen (Auswahl 2)

3=SAVOBJ backup file - Use this to attach IBM i objects. See chapter IBM i-Objekte anhängen (Auswahl 3)

4=SAVLIB backup file - Attach an IBM i library. See chapter IBM i-Bibliotheken anhängen (Auswahl 4)

5=IBM i database - Attach an IBM i database file or table. See chapter IBM i-Bibliotheken anhängen (Auswahl 5)

 

Not all selections available?

Selections that are displayed in blue color are not available. This can have two reasons:

  • The selections are not enabled in the mailbox configuration

    • Please use selection 2 for the mailbox (WRKMBX, selection 2) and scroll to the end. On the last page you can configure the permissions to send IFS files, objects and databases. For more information on editing mailboxes, click here: Mailbox Modify

  • the required own license options on your system

 

Attach PC documents (selection 1)

PC documents come from a variety of sources. Either you have PCs in your company with which you create documents that are later to be sent via directmail, or you receive PC files as attachments to received e-mails that are also to be distributed.

Common to all sources is the storage space of the PC documents that are to be further processed with directmail. All PC documents are temporarily stored in the IBM i Integrated File System (IFS). In addition to being accessible from directmail, this also has the advantage that if you include the IFS in your daily backup, all PC documents from this area will be stored in your daily backup.

You can attach PC documents with selection 1 from the "Select file type" display.

0090 - Select IFS file

Here you have the possibility to branch into the desired directory with selection 3.

0091 - Select file

With selection 1 you take over one, or several files at the same time as an attachment into the e-mail.

After selecting the PC files, the overview of the attachments is displayed:

0092 - Attachments overview

Description of the selection options

1=Export

Allows you to detach attachments from the e-mail and convert them to the appropriate source format. See chapter Attach IBM i database file

If an e-mail contains an e-mail mime file as an attachment, it can be displayed and exported to the inbox.

0093 - Working with attachments

Select export type

If an attachment is exported, the corresponding export type must be selected.

0303 - Select export type

Description of the selection options

1 PC file system *IFS

2 Spool file *SPL

3 Backup file *SAVF

4 Certificate *CERT

E-mail (inbox) *EML

Selection

Input of the export type.

Export to PC file format IFS

0383 - Save IFS file

4=Delete

For deleting attachments from an e-mail. See chapter Deleting attachments (selection 4).

5=Display

To display the text part of an attachment. See Chapter Displaying attachments (selection 5).

7=Rename

Allows you to assign a new name for the attachment See Chapter Rename attachment (selection 7).

8=Attributes

Displays the attributes of the attachment. See Chapter Attachment attributes (selection 8).

9=Compress

You can compress an attached file. See Chapter 8.11 Compress attachments

10=Decompress

You can decompress an attached compressed file. See Chapter 8.11.1.1 Decompressing attachments

Attach spool files (selection 2)

Often IBM i printouts have to be forwarded to software houses, sales representatives or customers/suppliers. Often these spool files are printed and faxed manually. You can also email these spool files using directmail.

0094 - Select spool files

User - User who created the spool file.

Print unit - Print unit on which the spool file is located.