How to initialize workflow via email if PDF form contains embedded attachments?

[Former Community Member]

I need to use a email-enabled form to initialize a workflow process(all tasks should be accessible through email). The problem is because it is email enabled process, XDP file is sent via email to workflow server. however if the user embedded attachment into the form, the embedded attachment cannot be passed to the next person...... : (<br /><br />I uploaded a XDP form to the workflow form repository, and the whole workflow is using form variable to pass the data around.<br /><br />The steps are:<br />1. Open the PDF form (email-enabled) in Acrobat Pro.<br />2. Fill in data.<br />3. Attach files into the pdf.<br />4. Click submit button.<br />5. Email client is prompted with prepopulated data:<br />'To: <workflow server>'<br />'Attach: <file-name>.XDP'<br /><br />6. Send the email.<br />7. The next person receives the form in PDF format as email attachment.<br />8. The next person open the PDF form in Acrobat Pro. <br />9. Issue: Embedded attachment(by previous person) is gone. <br /><br />Any idea?

[Former Community Member]

Hi Leia

Adding attachments by embedding them in the PDF is not supported.



If you start a workflow via email, you can add attachments directly to the email and submit. These will appear at the next step in the workflow if you do the following on the Routes & Attachments tab of each User QPAC:

1) Select "Copy all attachments from the previous task"

2) Turn on "Show Attachment Window for this task" (if you want to see these attachments in Form Manager...not necessary if you are only using email)

3) "Send form and data with email" also has to be turned on for email preferences for a user.



One small caveat...when the next user gets those attachments in his email and submits back to continue the workflow, he will have to add those attachments back to the email manually.



Diana@adobe

[Former Community Member]

Thanks!



But I just discovered there is another 2 standard QPAC called Email Receiver and EmailAttachment, and wondering if my requirement can be fulfilled using the two?

[HowardTreisman]

Hi

It depends on the exact details of your requirements.

But in brief:

Yes, EmailAttachment can send an email containing one or more attachments, including PDFs and other types of documents.

Yes, EmailReceiver can wait for an email to be returned, and when it is returned, extract the attachments and save them to variables, including both PDFs and other types of documents.

You may very well have to do some other work to generate the PDFs, or extract data from them, using other QPACs.



Regards,

Howard

http://www.avoka.com

[Former Community Member]

I see....



I just tried to use Email Receiver as first action in my workflow and this workflow is web service enabled.

I went through some posting about invoking web service, but I din't get the idea still.



1. How to invoke the web service? Do I need to write a program?



What I want to achieve is actually to have a workflow process that will be initiazed whenever there is a new incoming email(with attachments). Anybody pls help... thanks!

[HowardTreisman]

This may give you some ideas.

http://www.avoka.com/betaqpacs/The%20Folder%20Watch%20Pattern.pdf

It uses FolderWatch rather than EmailReceiver, but it uses a similar design pattern.

If you're still having problems, please email info@avoka.com.

Regards,

howard

[Former Community Member]

Thanks howard! Actually I have already gone through the solution you suggested.B now I need to scan a mailbox rather than a folder...



I have got this link for my process named Testing4:

http://localhost:8080/services/Testing4?wsdl



And the 1st action in workflow is EmailReceiver.

The user will send a pdfform as mail attachment to the Inbox. But nothing is processed.



Does anybody know how to 'activate' the EmailReceiver from invoking the web service (from the form itself? or a program?), so it will keep scanning the Inbox folder?

[HowardTreisman]

You should put the workflow into a endless loop (see the screenshot in the article) and then invoke it just once from the web-services page.

Howard

[Former Community Member]

hmmm... actually the problem i'm facing now is.. i dunno how to invoke the workflow from the web-services page... is it through a program?

[HowardTreisman]

No, just point your browser at: http://
:8080/servicesYou have to change a configuration setting to enable this.

This has been talked about previously on this forum.

Regards,

Howard

http://www.avoka.com

[Former Community Member]

Leia - if you are seeing the wsdl file, sounds like you have the web services set up properly - so visit http://localhost:8080/services/ and click on Services Directory --> click on your workflow name Testing4 --> click on the invoke link and finally the invoke button.



Hope this helps.



-Jennifer