Guión y contexto

In ProLab Plus there is the possibility to send email merges to the participants of the ring test. The email merge module can be found under Database – Export – Email merge.

This is applicable for sending e.g.

- General information emails, such as announcements of meetings, delays and other ad-ministrative information

- Deadline reminder emails

- Single laboratory files including RingDat

- Downloads

- Analysis results and certificates

An important prerequisite for using the email merge module in ProLab Plus is the entry of email addresses in the basic tables of the database. More than one address can be specified by using spaces or semicolons as delimiters. Additional data fields, such as laboratory name, laboratory description, and the title of the contact person, are relevant as well.

Figure 37: Database – Basic tables – Labs as Table: Enter relevant information

The first tab of the email merge window is called Compose email and this is where the email text can be entered, and the attachments specified. This is also where it is possible to deter-mine which laboratories should receive the email.

Figure 38: Database – Export – Email merge: Compose email

Template files

There is the possibility to import and use templates for a email merge. To do so, specify the path of the file (.txt or .rtf) after clicking Import text file. In this text file, the only requirement is that the first line contains the subject of the email. The main body of the email then starts in the second line, typically beginning with the addressee’s title and name before proceeding with the content of the email.

Figure 39: Import of individual templates from a text file

After selecting a template (see example in Figure 39), the text file is transferred to the edita-ble text window. It is also possiedita-ble to insert macros, that is to say, variaedita-bles that stand for in-formation that changes from laboratory to laboratory and that is then entered in the email au-tomatically for each participant; for example, the addressee’s name and title, or the laborato-ry’s code, In order to insert a macro, mark the section in the email text where the it should appear and select the macro from the box Macro selection.

Attachments

Attachments can be included as static attachments, which are the same for all laboratories, or as dynamic attachments, that is to say, attachments with laboratory-specific information that are only sent to the corresponding laboratories.

In order to include a file as a static attachment, click on the button Add file ( ) below the At-tachments field and select the desired file. This static file is then sent to all laboratories, e.g.

the final report which all laboratories should receive. The selected path appears under At-tachments.

A precondition for the attachment of dynamic files is, of course, that these laboratory files, which differ only in their laboratory name or description, have to be available. These different, laboratory-specific files will also have laboratory-specific names, or laboratory-specific paths.

To start, select one such file via the Add file button ( ). The corresponding path is now shown in the Attachments field. If you click on it, it will appear in the Edit field (orange) below the Attachment field. In the next step, mark the section in the file path where the macro should be inserted. Finally, select the desired macro from the box Macro selection.

Single attachments or all of them can be deleted via the buttons Remove selected file and Clear attachment.

Figure 40: Attaching a dynamic file to the email

Of course, the laboratories which should receive the email need to be selected as well. This

is done in the right part of the tab Compose email. In this box, all laboratories that were sup-posed to participate in the current ring test are shown, i. e. all laboratories that were selected for participation. However, it might be that not all of these laboratories have submitted data.

Thus, it is possible that not all of these laboratories should receive a particular email with at-tachments. For example, a report with individual results will not be available if a laboratory has not submitted any data.

Laboratories to which emails should be sent can be selected manually by marking the re-spective boxes. Alternatively, all laboratories can be selected in one step (Select all labs).

It is also possible to base the selection of laboratories on the existence of PDF files. In order to do this, there must be a folder with PDF files whose names refer to laboratory names. For example, one PDF file could be called “Labmean (Merkmal) L001.pdf” (see Figure 41). Using the button Selection by serial PDF files and choosing the relevant folder will lead to a selec-tion of only those laboratories referred to in a PDF file name in the chosen folder.

Figure 41: Selecting laboratories by PDF files

On the tab Preview, the email merges are displayed. All inserted macros are replaced by the corresponding data. The preview window shows one email after another with the individual attachments.

Figure 42: Preview of email merge

The details regarding the email server are displayed on the last tab Settings. Appropriate set-tings should be carried out by the administrator.

Before the emails are sent, an automatic data consistency check (e.g. the existence of all files to be sent as attachments) is carried out. It is also possible to carry out such a con-sistency check manually in the Compose email tab by using the button with the magnifier.

ProLab Plus will tell you if the check was successful or not.

To send the emails, there are two possibilities: either (1) all emails are first saved in the out-box of the email program (Outlook, Thunderbird etc.) or (2) all emails are directly sent via the mail server of the provider. The first option has the advantage that all mails can be checked again with the email program and are listed in the Sent folder after they have been sent.

Figure 43: Database – Export – Email merge: Settings