Send an email from an automation

Configure an automation bot to send an email to one or more recipients based on an event by using the Send an email task.

For example, if an employee sends a request for a new chair (the event), you can configure the bot to send an email to their manager requesting approval before fulfilling the request.

To send an email from a bot, add and configure the Send an email task based on the email type, as described in the following sections:

• Email types
• Add and configure the Send an email task
• Add email recipients
• Examples of sending an email from an automation
• Prevent app creators from adding email attachments in automations

See also Tasks: The Essentials.

Email types

There are currently two types of emails that you can configure:

Email type	Description
Embedded app view (dynamic)	Embedded app view emails enable you to embed supported app views within an email and allow Gmail recipients to interact directly with your app from within the email, without leaving their inbox. To configure an embedded app view email, see Send embedded app view emails from an automation.
Custom template	Custom template emails allow you to configure emails with text, HTML, or variables from app data. Configuration details are provided below.

Add and configure the Send an email task

Add and configure the Send an email task by performing the following steps:

1. Add the Send an email task to a bot, as described in Add a task to a bot.

2. Configure the Send an email task by using the settings described in the tables below.

3. When you are done, save the app by selecting one of the following:

   • Save - Save the app.
   • Save & verify data - Save the app and verify that it is runnable based on external dependencies.
4. To preview the email, click Preview email.
   The first record in the table is displayed, by default. You need to save the app to preview the latest changes.

After you save the app, you can reuse the task in other bots.

Configure the Send an email task by using the settings described in the following tables.

Setting	Description
Linking	Enable or disable reuse of this component by expanding the Linking panel and toggling the Linking setting. See Reuse automation components.
Task name	Name of the task. It must be unique within your app.
Email Type	Email type. Click Custom template. Note: To configure an Embedded app view email,  see Send embedded app view emails from an automation.
Table name	Table referenced by the task. Select an existing table in the list. You can also select a table slice but note that if the selected slice contains a row filter, you may see failures in the task. This is because the user that triggered the automation may not have access to the row because of the slice row filter. Click  to show the selected table in a dialog. See Tables: The Essentials for more information about adding tables.
To	List of email recipients. Enter an email address or an expression using the Expression Assistant. Click Add to add additional email recipients. See Add email recipients for more information.
Email Subject	Subject of the email. Specify text, variables, and expressions. For example: Thank you for your order! Thanks <<[CustomerName]>> for your order! Thanks <<[CustomerName]>> for your order on <<TODAY()>> which will arrive on <<TODAY() + 7>> By default, a meaningful email subject is suggested.
Email Body	Body of the email. To define the email body, do one of the following: Enter the email body, including text, images, variables, and expressions. Leave this setting blank and specify an Email Body Template (see below). Leave this setting and Email Body Template blank to use the default content. Note: The Email Body Template setting (if specified) takes precedence over this setting. By default, the Email Body includes data values from the added or updated row, excluding Hidden or Show type columns.

Other email parameters

Expand and customize the Advanced settings, as described below.

Setting	Description
CC	List of email recipients to carbon copy (CC). Click Add to add an email address or an expression using the Expression Assistant. Repeat to add additional email recipients. See Add email recipients for more information.
BCC	List of email recipients to blind carbon copy (BCC). Click Add to add an email address or an expression using the Expression Assistant. Repeat to add additional email recipients. See Add email recipients for more information.
Reply To	Email address that will receive replies to the email. Enter an email address or an expression using the Expression Assistant. See Add email recipients for more information. Defaults to [e-mail]
Customize "From" name	Customize the email address displayed in the From field of the email. By default, the app creator is used (for example, [e-mail]).
PreHeader	Email preheader summary text that follows the subject line when viewed in an inbox. Specify text, variables, and expressions. For example: Your Order Order for <<[FirstName]>> <<[LastName]>> Order for <<[FirstName]>> <<[LastName]>> on <<TODAY()>> To suppress the PreHeader, enter a single space character. Defaults to: <<_UPDATEMODE>> to application '<<_APPNAME>>' table '<<_TABLENAME>>' by '<<_USEREMAIL>>' at <<_NOW>> For example: Update to application 'Workflow' by 'Julie Morgan' at 8/26/2021 6:12:28 PM Note: <<USEREMAIL>> is omitted if your app does not require authentication. See also Built-in variables.
Email Body Template	Template to use for more precise control of the email body. See Use templates in a bot and the Email Body description (above).

Attachment settings

Expand and customize the Attachment settings, as described below.

Setting	Description
Attachment Content Type	Content type of the email attachment file. Valid content type values include: CSV HTML ICS_Calendar JSON PDF XLSX (Microsoft Excel) XML Defaults to PDF which is the most often used content type for email attachments.
Attachment Template	Template to use for more precise control of the email attachment. See Use templates in a bot and Archive email attachments for more information.
Attachment Name	Name of attachment. Specify text, variables, and expressions. For example: My Attachment My Attachment for <<CustomerName>> My Attachment for <<CustomerName>> from <<_APPNAME>> on <<TODAY()>> See Archive email attachments and How the archive attachment filename if formed for more information.
Attachment Archive	Attachment file archive configuration. Valid values include: AttachAndDoNotArchive - Attach file to email without archiving it. AttachAndArchive - Attach file to email and archive it. ArchiveAndDoNotAttach - Archive the file but do not attach it to the email. This option is useful if the attachment file is too large to include as an attachment. Instead, the email body can include the URL or Weblink to the archived attachment file. See Archive email attachments for more information.
Attachment File Store	File system where attachments are stored. When set to Default (the default setting), the attachment file is archived to the authentication provider file system. For example, if your authentication provider is Google, the attachment file is archived to Google Drive. If your authentication provider is Dropbox, the attachment file is archived to Dropbox. Notes: If Smartsheet is your authentication provider, AppSheet archives the attachment file to Google Drive as Smartsheet does not have a file system. If you use Smartsheet and wish to archive attachment files, you must include Google as a data source, as described in Use multiple data sources. Enterprise pricing plan customers can archive attachment files to a Cloud Object Store. See Archive email attachments for more information.
Attachment Folder Path	Folder path where attachments are saved relative to the default app folder. Specify text and expressions. For example: MyAttachments/MyPurchaseOrders <<CONCATENATE("MyAttachments/PurchaseOrdersByMonth_", YEAR(NOW()), "_", MONTH(NOW()))>>: In the second example, email attachment files would be stored in a separate folder, based on the month. For example: MyAttachments/PurchaseOrdersByMonth_2019_02 Defaults to Attachments. See Archive email attachments and How the archive attachment folder name if formed for more information.
Disable Timestamp?	Toggle to indicate whether to append a timestamp to attachment filenames. Appending the timestamp will ensure the filenames are unique. The timestamp contains the date and time at which the attachment file was created, formatted as follows: yyyyMMdd_HHmmss_fff indicating year, month, day, hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. For example: MyAttachmentName20190207_133355_804.pdf If you disable the timestamp, you must ensure that every attachment filename is unique. Otherwise, the attachment files may be overwritten. For example, if you are archiving your attachment files to Google Drive and you disable the timestamp, only the most recent attachment file will be available. Older attachment files with the same name will have been overwritten. Disabled (timestamp is appended) by default. See Archive email attachments for more information.
Attachment Page Orientation	Page orientation of the attachment. Valid values include: Portrait and Landscape Note: This setting is available only if you set Attachment Content Type to PDF.
Attachment Page Size	Page size. Select a standard size or select Custom and enter the Attachment Page Width and Attachment Page Height in millimeters. Note: This setting is available only if you set Attachment Content Type to PDF.
Use Custom Margins	Toggle to indicate whether you want to specify custom margins for the attachment. If disabled, the task uses default margins. If enabled, customize the margins using the additional settings displayed, as described below. Note: This setting is available only if you set Attachment Content Type to PDF. Disabled by default.
Other Attachments	Other attachment files such as drawings, images, signatures, thumbnails, or files. Click Add to add other attachments to the email. Specify text or expressions. Repeat to add additional attachment files. See Add other attachments to an email for more information.

If you enable Use Custom Margins, customize the attachment page margins using the additional settings displayed, as described below.

Setting	Description	Default (if applicable)
Attachment Page Margin Top	Top margin for the attachment in points.	0
Attachment Page Margin Right	Right margin for the attachment in points.	0
Attachment Page Margin Bottom	Bottom margin for the attachment in points.	0
Attachment Page Margin Left	Left margin for the attachment in points.	0

Advanced

Expand and customize the Advanced settings, as described below.

Setting

Description

Inputs

Add inputs to dynamically configure a task. For details, see Set input values dynamically in tasks.  Expand the Advanced section. Click Add under Inputs. Enter the name of the input value in the Name field. Select the data type from the Type drop-down. Only a subset of data types are supported for inputs. To add an initial value or edit any fields: Click  to open the Input dialog. Add a value or expression in the Initial value field. If you don't specify an initial value, then the input value will be required. If an initial value is specified, then the input value is optional. Use of [_THIS] or [_INPUT] are not supported in the Initial value field. Edit other fields, as required. Click Done. Repeat to add additional input values. Then, use the following expressions to access the input values from the current step: [_INPUT].[inputname]

Add email recipients

If you receive an OutgoingEmailAllowListViolations error in Audit History, then either your team admin has restricted the recipient list for outgoing mail or sending email to external recipients is not allowed by policy, as described in Set the AppSheet Core security setting. To address this issue, contact your team administrator to adjust the restricted recipient list or contact your Workspace administrator for assistance with turning off the AppSheet Core Security setting.

The following provides guidelines for adding the email recipients in To, CC, and BCC when configuring the email (described above):

• Enter a specific email address, such as [e-mail].
  If an email address contains special characters such as hyphen or plus, you must enclose the email address in quotes. For example: "[e-mail]"

• Use a field in a record that is being modified.
  For example, when a new order is received, you can send an email to the customer who created the order. In this scenario, enter the name of the field that contains the customer's email address. For example, if the CustomerEmail field in the order record contains the customer's email address, enter the following expression: [CustomerEmail]

• Use a field in a record that is referenced by the record being modified.
  For example, when a new order is received, you can send an email to the customer who created the order. Each order record might contain a reference to a customer record that contains the customer's email address. In this scenario, enter the name of the order record field that references the customer record followed by the name of the customer record field that contains the customer's email address. For example, if the order record field that references the customer record is CustRef and the name of the customer record field containing the customer's email address is CustEmail, specify the customer's email address by entering the expression: [CustRef].[CustEmail]

• Use an entire column in another table.
  For example, each time a new order is added, you can send an email to all of the people defined in another table. In this scenario, enter the name of the table followed by the field that contains the email address. For example, if you create a table called PeopleToInform that contains two columns, Name and EmailAddress, each time a new order is added, you can send email to all of the people in the PeopleToInform table by entering the expression: PeopleToInform[EmailAddress]

• Use selected rows in another table.
  For example, each time a new order is added, you can send an email to all of the people in the sales department. In this scenario, enter the name of the table followed by the field that contains the email address, and set the department field to Sales. For example, if you create a table called PeopleToInform that contains three columns, Name, EmailAddress, and Department, each time a new order is added, you can send an email to all of the people in the PeopleToInform table who are in the Sales department by entering the expression: SELECT(PeopleToInform[EmailAddress], ([Department] = "Sales"), TRUE)

Note: While the app is in test mode (that is, you have not run a deployment check and deployed the app), any messages sent will be sent to the app creator only. To confirm the list of email recipients that will be included in To, CC, and BCC, check the Audit History, as described in How do I determine whether an email was delivered?

Examples of sending an email from an automation

The following provide examples of sending an email from an automation.

Send email when a row is updated to have a specific column value

You can create a workflow rule that sends an email when a row is updated to have a specific column value. For example, you might send an email when the Status column in the ServiceRequests row is updated to contain the value Active.

AND(
  ("Active" = [_THISROW_AFTER].[Status]),
  ([_THISROW_AFTER].[Status] <> [_THISROW_BEFORE].[Status])
)

In this expression, note the use of [_THISROW_BEFORE] and [_THISROW_AFTER]. These are system-provided references that refer to the state of the row before and after the change was made, respectively. This is really useful in order to check if the value of a field changed from one value to another.

Because [_THISROW_BEFORE] and [_THISROW_AFTER] are references, you use a dereference expression to access the value of a specific column in the referenced row.

Send an email only after adding a parent record and all of its child records

When you add a parent record along with one or more child records, AppSheet first adds the parent record, then each of the child records. This can make it difficult to trigger an automation event only after all of the child records have been added. 

You can can use the following technique to ensure that all parent and child records are added before the event is triggered. This technique uses the Form Saved event to trigger a data-change action which triggers the event only after the child records have been added.

Do this as follows:

1. The child table must contain a Ref field to the parent table. Enable the Is a part of? property of the Ref field. This makes it possible to add child records when the parent record is added.

2. Add a Text field to the parent table. Call the field Status and set its Initial value property to "" (blank). The Status column controls whether the data change event triggers.

3. Create a data-change action for the parent table which sets the Status column's value to "Run".

4. Create a second data-change action for the parent table which sets the Status column's value to "" (blank).

5. Create a composite action for the parent table that invokes the two data-change actions above. This composite action invokes the first data-change action to set the Status column's value to "Run", and the second data-change action to set the Status column's value to blank. These two data changes will be sent to the server as separate updates. The first update triggers the automation event, while the second update prevents further updates from triggering the automation event.

6. Go to the UX > Views tab. Click Show system views. Select the form for the parent table. Expand Behavior. Find Event Actions and set its Form Saved property to the compositive action created in the previous step.

7. Set your data change event to Updates only. Set its Condition property to: [Status] = "Run"

Prevent app creators from adding email attachments in automations

Prevent app creators from adding email attachments in automations by using the "Restrict Automation Email Attachments" policy, as described below. For more information, see Define governance policies.

To app creators from adding attachments to emails sent from automations:

1. Select My account > Policies.
2. Click + Account Policy or + Team Policy to add an account or team policy, respectively.
3. Select Restrict Automation Email Attachments from the Policy Template drop-down.
4. Click Next.
5. The policy is preconfigured for you. You can modify any of the field values. See Add a predefined policy for a description of each field. 
   Important: If you modify the Condition field, ensure that you retain the functionality defined below:
   AND(ISBLANK([AttachmentTemplate]), ISBLANK([OtherAttachmentList]))
6. Click Save.