How to import SuperOffice Documents from email attachments

Overview

Documents can be sent by email to an Outlook, Microsoft 365 and IMAP inbox. DataBridge can be setup to be able to import these documents.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are required before you follow the steps below.

1. A (demo) subscription of DataBridge. To sign up, follow this URL: https://my-databridge.infobridgeuniverse.com/Account/SignUp

2. SuperOffice CRM login credentials (with administrator rights)

3. Microsoft 365/Outlook or IMAP inbox credentials - to be used to send the documents to

4. One or more documents to import

5. A Manifest file. This is the file that contains the metadata (i.e. file names) needed to import other attachments as documents into SuperOffice.

All the details and possible working and non working scenarios

The manifest file

This is the file that contains the metadata (i.e. file names) needed to import other attachments as documents into SuperOffice. This is set up in exactly the same way as a normal email import using “Subject Contains” and “Attachment Name”.

Wildcards can be used in the attachment name - * for multiple characters and ? for single characters.

The manifest file may be contained in a zip file. This can be specified with *.zip/MyManifest.xlsx or MyZip.zip/MyManifest.xlsx or similar.

Important: when Databridge is looking for the manifest file it may look through multiple emails that match the subject to find a file that matches the file name (or zip file name). Up to 5 messages will be checked in Microsoft 365, unlimited messages will be checked for Imap. However, Databridge will not look through multiple zip files to find the correct attachment name. If the first matching zip file does not contain an attachment of the correct name then the job will fail.

MyManifest.xlsx is just an example name, any file name and type supported by Databridge can be used.

Files to be imported

File names are listed in the manifest file. If these names do not include a zip part then Databridge will look for attachments on the same email that match the names and these will be imported. If a matching file cannot be found on this message then no document will be imported for this row. 

These attachments can also be contained in zip files and this can be specified in the manifest file in the same way that the location of the manifest file is specified. Similarly, Databridge will not search through multiple zip files to find the correct content so if you are using multiple zip files they must be uniquely named and you should be careful with your use of wild cards. 

It should also be noted that Databridge cannot keep track of which attachments have already been imported. If multiple rows can point to the same file name, very possible when using wildcards, then each row will try to import the same file. It will not work through the list of matching files. 

Note: Source files can also be retrieved from a nested folder in a zip attachment.

Possible working scenarios

Here are some possible examples of how this functionality might be used. The options provided in the middle two columns are not exhaustive, with wildcards there are many ways of ensuring you get just what you need.

‘Non-working’ scenarios 

Below are some examples of scenarios which may not work the way the user expects. All can be fixed by being more specific with file locations. 

How to

Start by creating a new import profile in DataBridge.

As a location choose Email (Microsoft 365 or IMAP), the destination is SuperOffice CRM
Note: Next to Microsoft 365 accounts a free outlook.com account can also be used. IMAP enabled inboxes can also be used.

IMAP

Open

In the next step you have to connect to your email inbox and specify the Data location.

Open

Subject contains: Fill in the subject of the email containing the document(s). This setting is case sensitive!

Attachment name: For every import, you must send one email with the documents to import and a file that contains the metadata of each document. The name of the manifest file attachment to import including the file extension needs to be filled in in the Attachment name field. Below an example of such a file.

Skip job if email is missing: Skip the job without error if the email is not found in the inbox

Go through the Profile wizard, add transformations if need be, map the fields and next go to the Destination settings to add document import settings

Field: Select the field from your manifest file

File Path Format: Leave empty if the selected field already contains the file name. In the example we have already filled in the filenames including the extension.

Document unavailable action: Select what to do when the document is unavailable.

Options for sending the documents

You can send an email to the mailbox connected in the DataBridge profile.

Option 1 The email should contain the document(s) and the manifest file.

Option 2 You can also add the documents in a zip file and send it together with the manifest file. In that case you must specify the zip file also in the filename in the manifest file

Note: Source files can also be retrieved from a nested folder in a zip attachment.

So file name will now like like this:

Option 3 Send all files (documents and manifestfile) in a zip file. In this case you must change the Attachment name in the profile - configure profile setting