im_scan

Poll the specified mail server for incoming emails with image attachments.

Member of namespace

Imail

Syntax

bool im_scan ()

Parameters

None.

Returns

False If the operation fails, and pauses before it returns. Otherwise, True.

If no selected emails were available, the action returns True and pauses before it returns.

Action returns when timeout is reached, or the requested number of emails are processed.

Level

Batch level Open event only.

Details

Scans emails in the Inbox for specified attachments, imports selected emails with attachments into the batch. Call one time for each batch. A connection to the email server must be previously established by using the im_login action.

Each input email contains the following variables set in the document hierarchy:

TYPE: Always set to "Document".
Subject: The email subject.
Body: The text within the email.
DateSent: The sent date stamp on the email.
From: The email sender.
User: The email user who is specified in the im_login action.
To: The email recipients.
Priority: The state of the email importance flag.

Attachments are ingested as individual pages within the email document, unless im_StoreEML(true) is called before im_scan. With individual attachments, each attachment page has the following variables set.

TYPE: Always set to "Other".
IMAGEFILE: The name of the attachment as saved on disk.

The following batch level variable is created:

EmailCount: The number of emails that are scanned into the batch.

It is recommended that the subject line is no longer than 78 characters because this length is a common subject line length limitation. Some systems might support even shorter lengths, truncating the subject. Testing was successful with lengths up to 255 characters. It is recommended to test your settings and use lengths appropriate for your systems.

Example:

im_wait_time("20")
im_abort_time("40")
im_max_docs("200")
im_types("jpg,tif")
im_scan()