Welcome To ThinkAutomation

ThinkAutomation is a business process automation (BPA) solution designed to automate on-premises and cloud-based business processes that are triggered from incoming messages. Messages can be received by email, database updates, webhooks, web forms, SMS messages, Twitter, Teams messages, documents, local files and other messages sources. ThinkAutomation can run on-premises or in the cloud, reducing overall costs compared to hosted automation solutions.

When a message is received ThinkAutomation executes one or more Automations. Automations are created using an easy to use drag-and-drop, low-code interface to automate simple or complex processes. Automations can perform many Actions that use data parsed and extracted from the incoming message. Actions include updating databases, CRM systems and cloud services, sending outgoing emails, Teams & SMS messages, document processing, custom scripting, integration and much more. Over 100 built-in actions are included, plus ThinkAutomation is extensible with Custom Actions. Download Custom Actions from our on-line library or create your own.

ThinkAutomation stores each processed message in the Message Store. The Message Store contains a copy of each message processed along with a log of Automation actions. You can view the Message Store using the ThinkAutomation Studio.

The ThinkAutomation Studio is used to setup your Message Sources and design your Automations. Multiple Message Sources and Automations can be grouped into a Solution. Any number of Solutions can be created. Once you have configured your Message Sources and Automations the ThinkAutomation Studio can be closed. Messages are processed in the background by the ThinkAutomation Services.

Visit: www.ThinkAutomation.com for more information.

Editions

ThinkAutomation is available in the following editions: Basic, Standard and Professional

** Can be increased at additional cost if required. * Can be increased at additional cost or you can use your own self-hosted instance of the ThinkAutomation Gateway Server which has no limits or additional costs.

The Evaluation Edition includes all features of the Professional Edition. The Evaluation Edition is free and will operate for 30 days. You can register an existing Evaluation Edition with a purchased serial number and retain your configuration settings.

Professional Services

Parker Software provides professional services to assist with configuring your Automations, creating Custom Actions and for product training. Please see: www.ThinkAutomation.com/Automation-Consultation/ for more information.

Product Support

All ThinkAutomation subscriptions include access to support resources, free product updates and access to the Custom Action Library for the life of your subscription.

Support is available via our online forum at https://community.thinkautomation.com. We also offer premium support with direct access to support technicians via email, live chat and telephone.

Partners

Parker Software offers reseller pricing, training & support for partners who want to provide ThinkAutomation based business process automation solutions to their customers. Please contact us for details.

Installation

ThinkAutomation requires Windows 10/11 (64bit) or Windows Server (2016 or higher) with 1GB of free disk space and 2GB minimum ram (8GB or higher is recommended). It can run on on-premises or on a cloud hosted virtual machine.

Run the ThinkAutomation.exe setup to install. Once installed, use the ThinkAutomation Studio to complete the setup.

Message Store

ThinkAutomation stores each processed message in the Message Store. The Message Store contains a copy of each message processed along with a log of Automation actions. You can view the Message Store using the ThinkAutomation Studio. The Message Store Database will be created when ThinkAutomation is run for the first time.

You can use the built-in SQLite database for the Message Store, or an external Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL or MongoDB database.

The built-in SQLite database provides the simplest configuration and will work on any computer without any additional software. Using an external database may provide better performance.

Message Store Database Types

Architecture

ThinkAutomation consists of three Windows services along with the ThinkAutomation Studio.

Each ThinkAutomation Service can run on the same computer, or separate computers in a distributed configuration (Professional Edition). All communication between the services are secure.

ThinkAutomation Studio

The ThinkAutomation Studio is used to configure your Message Sources and to build and test your Automations. It can also be used to view the Message Store of processed messages and to configure Custom Actions. The ThinkAutomation Studio can be run on the same computer running the ThinkAutomation Server or on any remote computer that can connect to it.

The ThinkAutomation Studio does not need to be left running for messages to be processed.

When you run the ThinkAutomation Studio for the first time you will be asked to register your license (or start an evaluation), setup your System Administrator login password and configure the Message Store database.

A default user with username 'Admin' will be created with your specified password. Use the 'Admin' user to login. You can create additional users if required using the Server Settings.

A default Solution will be created using the company name used during registration. You can create a new Solution using the New Solution button.

ThinkAutomation Desktop Connector

The ThinkAutomation Desktop Connector is a stand-alone application that you can optionally install on multiple computers on your network.

Users can use the ThinkAutomation Desktop Connector to manually execute Automations by sending messages or by dragging and dropping files, attachments and Outlook Messages. For example, you may have an Automation that generates a quotation PDF, sends the quotation to the customer and records it in your CRM system. The ThinkAutomation Desktop Connector could be installed on all the sales team computers. Sales team members can then simply drag and drop quote request emails on to the relevant Automation. Automations are executed immediately by the ThinkAutomation server and the results displayed.

The ThinkAutomation Desktop Connector cannot be used to edit Automations or make any other configuration changes.

See: The ThinkAutomation Desktop Connector Application for more information.

Message Sources

A Message Source defines how ThinkAutomation will receive messages to process. You can create multiple Message Sources to read messages from various sources. Each Message Source is connected to an Automation. When a message is received the message content is passed to the assigned Automation for processing. Individual Message Sources can be enabled/disabled or paused.

To create a Message Source click the New Message Source button on the ThinkAutomation Studio ribbon. A Solution must have at least one Message Source.

You can also manually execute any Automation by sending it a message via the Studio or Desktop Connector.

Message Source Types

ThinkAutomation can receive messages from the following Message Source Types:

Email - Office 365 or Outlook

Reads emails from an Office 365 or an online Outlook mailbox folder. Click the Sign In button to sign in to an Office 365 or Outlook account.

Select the Folder to read emails from.

Enable the Delete Processed Messages option to remove emails from the Office 365 folder once they have been processed by ThinkAutomation (optional).

You can also select the Move To Folder option to move processed items to a different folder (optional). You can conditionally move processed messages to a different folder inside an Automation. See: Move Incoming Message action.

The Only Messages Since date entry allows you to specify a date. Any messages with a received date prior to this date will be ignored. The Only Messages From Address entry allows you to specify one or more from addresses. Leave this entry blank to include emails from all senders. You can specify multiple addresses separated by semi-colons. You can also use wildcards (eg: *@somedomain.com).

Access Shared Mailbox

You can optionally read messages from a shared mailbox. Enter the shared mailbox username in the Access Shared Mailbox entry. Click the Get Folders button to read the folders for the shared mailbox. If the Shared Mailbox entry is blank then folders will be displayed for the signed-in user.

Re-Sign In

Depending on your security configuration you may need to re-sign in periodically. In these cases ThinkAutomation will pause the Message Source and send a notification to the ThinkAutomation Studio informing you to sign in again. Open the Message Source using the ThinkAutomation Studio and click the Sign In button again and then Resume the Message Source.

Email - Exchange

Reads emails using Microsoft Exchange Server Web Services (EWS). This works with any on-premises or hosted Exchange Server. Enter your Exchange User Name and Password and the URL and click Connect. If you do not know your Exchange URL, enter the User Name & Password and click Discover. This will attempt to find the URL from the user credentials.

Select the Folder to read emails from. Enable the Delete Processed Messages option to remove emails from the Office 365 folder once they have been processed by ThinkAutomation (optional).

You can also select the Move To Folder option to move processed items to a different folder (optional).

The Only Messages Since date entry allows you to specify a date. Any messages with a received date prior to this date will be ignored. The Only Messages From Address entry allows you to specify one or more from addresses. Leave this entry blank to include emails from all senders. You can specify multiple addresses separated by semi-colons. You can also use wildcards (eg: *@somedomain.com).

This Message Source type is designed for legacy on-premises or hosted Exchange Servers that still support basic auth. If you use Office 365 you should use the Office 365 Message Source which uses modern authentication.

Email - Gmail

Reads emails from any Gmail mailbox. Click the Sign In button to sign in to Gmail. Select the Folder to download messages from.

Enable the Move Processed Messages To Folder option if you want to move emails to a different Gmail folder (optional). You can conditionally move processed messages to a different folder inside an Automation. See: Move Incoming Message action.

Enable the Delete Processed Messages option to delete emails once they have been processed by ThinkAutomation (optional). If the Permanently Delete option is enabled then emails will deleted permanently, otherwise they will be moved to the Trash folder.

The Only Messages Since date entry allows you to specify a date. Any messages with a received date prior to this date will be ignored. The Only Messages From Address entry allows you to specify one or more from addresses. Leave this entry blank to include emails from all senders. You can specify multiple addresses separated by semi-colons. You can also use wildcards (eg: *@somedomain.com).

Email - IMAP

Reads emails from a mail server using the IMAP protocol. Enter the IMAP Server address, port, user name & password. Click the Connect button to connect and then select the Folder to read messages from.

You can select to Move or Delete processed messages (optional). You can conditionally move processed messages to a different folder inside an Automation. See: Move Incoming Message action.

The Only Messages Since date entry allows you to specify a date. Any messages with a received date prior to this date will be ignored. The Only Messages From Address entry allows you to specify one or more from addresses. Leave this entry blank to include emails from all senders. You can specify multiple addresses separated by semi-colons. You can also use wildcards (eg: *@somedomain.com).

Email - POP3

Reads emails from a mail server using the POP3 protocol. Enter the POP3 Server address, port, user name & password. Click the Test Connection button to verify the connection. You should only use POP3 if IMAP is not available.

POP3 is an older and slower protocol than IMAP and does not provide an option to only download new messages since the last download. To ensure fast access you should enable the Delete Processed Messages option so that messages are removed from the POP3 account once they have been processed by ThinkAutomation.

Email - SendGrid

The SendGrid message source type receives email messages sent to any of your SendGrid domains.

SendGrid is a cloud based message delivery platform. When used with ThinkAutomation it enables ThinkAutomation to receive email messages sent to any recipients for any of your SendGrid email domains. SendGrid is a worldwide platform and the cost is based on usage. See: https://www.sendgrid.com

You need to create a SendGrid Account if you want to be able to process SendGrid received email messages using ThinkAutomation.

You then need to login to your SendGrid account and setup the Inbound Parse feature. See: https://sendgrid.com/docs/for-developers/parsing-email/setting-up-the-inbound-parse-webhook/

Set the Inbound Parse Webhook URL in your SendGrid account to the SendGrid Inbound Parse URL shown in the ThinkAutomation Message Source. As emails are received by SendGrid they will then be forwarded to ThinkAutomation for processing. This does not affect your regular SendGrid email flow - it simply sends a copy to ThinkAutomation as emails are received.

Email - SMTP

The SMTP message source type receives email messages via the built-in SMTP mail server. The ThinkAutomation server can be configured as a mail server to receive email directly.

In the Accept Incoming SMTP Emails For Addresses entry, enter one or more email addresses for this message source. Any incoming SMTP emails with a To, CC or BCC address matching one of these emails will be received and processed.

You can add multiple email addresses separated by semi-colons (;). Wild cards can be used (eg: sales*).

Multiple message sources can be configured to process different Automations depending on the To, CC or BCC addresses. If no Message Source is found for an incoming email then the email will be ignored.

Any email client, script or PowerShell can then be used to send email to ThinkAutomation for processing.

The SMTP Server option must be enabled in the Server settings. See: Server Settings - SMTP Server API

Web Form

The Web Form message source type enables you to create a local and publicly accessible web form with multiple input fields. Web forms are responsive and mobile friendly. Each web form has a unique secure public URL hosted on Azure as part of the ThinkAutomation Web API and a local URL served directly from your ThinkAutomation Server. You can embed the public web form inside your own website or send a link to the form in outgoing emails. When a web user completes the form, the results are sent to your ThinkAutomation Server for immediate processing. The Web Form can optionally display the Automation return value after the form is submitted.

Click here to view a sample webform.

Form Text

Title

Enter an optional title. This will appear in bold above the header.

Header Text

This is the text that is displayed above the form itself. You can use Markdown if required. The Markdown will be converted to HTML when the form is rendered. The Title & Header are optional. You can also adjust the text for the Submit Button.

Footer Text

The footer text defaults to 'Processed By ThinkAutomation'. If you have the ThinkAutomation Professional Edition you can change the Footer text. Set this to blank to remove the footer.

Confirmation Message

Enter the Confirmation Message. This is the text that is displayed after the form is submitted. If the Display In Modal Popup option is enabled then instead of the form content being replaced with the confirmation message, a popup window will show. When the user closes the popup window the form resets ready for new values.

Using HTML

The Header, Footer & Confirmation message can use plain text, Markdown or HTML. Markdown will be converted to HTML. You can also use HTML directly. Web forms use Bootstrap 5, so any of the standard Bootstrap 5 classes can be used.

Form Input Fields

You can create any number of Form Fields. Click Add to add a field.

Enter a Name and Label Text. You can also optionally specify Help Text that will display in a smaller font below the input field.

The Field Type can be:

• Text
• Number (numeric only)
• Date
• Boolean (check box)
• HTML Editor (a full featured HTML editor - returns HTML)
• Email (only a valid email address allowed)
• URL (only a valid URL allowed)
• Telephone
• Password
• Decimal
• Currency
• Time
• Range
• Label (displays the label text only - does not return a value)
• Rating (user can select a rating by clicking Star icons)

For text field types you can specify the Max Length. The Max Lines option allows you to define the maximum lines.

You can arrange the order of fields on the form using the Up & Down buttons.

Field Attributes

The Attributes tab allows you to specify a default value, change case & validation rules. Enable the Validate option. When the web user completes the form they will not be able to submit it until all of the fields pass validation.

If you want the user to select possible values from a list, select the Must Be In List option and then enter the Choices. For example to show a list box showing 'Yes', 'No' & 'Not Sure', set the Field Type to 'Text', enable the Validate option, select the Must Be In List option and add Choices of 'Yes', 'No' and 'Not Sure'. The default value of the select list will be set to the Default Value entry. The list can be displayed as a select list, a button group or a radio button group. Select the display type from the Of Type entry.

Visibility

The Visibility tab allows you to define visibility rules for the current field. Disable the Visible On Form Load option if you do not want this field visible by default.

In the Change Visibility Of This Field grid you define a condition to show or hide this field. The condition can be based on values of other input fields.

Then from the If Condition Is True Make This Field entry select Visible or Hidden.

As a user completes the form all of the visibility conditions will be evaluated when any input value is changed.

Scheme

The web form uses Bootstrap for its responsive layout. Select the Bordered option to show the form inside a bordered card. Use the Scheme list to select a color scheme for the card. You can also change the Background & Foreground colors. The Foreground color can only be changed if not using a bordered card. Specify a Header Image URL to display an image above the title.

You can also specify a Custom Style Sheet Link URL. You can use this to override the default Bootstrap styles. If a custom style sheet is used then the Background/Foreground colors are ignored.

Click the Preview button to display a local preview of how the form will look.

Redirect

You can optionally specify a Redirect URL. This is a URL the web user will be redirected to on completion of the form. If a redirect URL is specified then the Confirmation Message will not be displayed to the user. If you want to conditionally redirect after the confirmation message is show use the Create Web Form Redirect action.

WhosOn Live Chat

WhosOn is Parker Software's live chat and visitor tracking solution. See: https://www.whoson.com. If you are a WhosOn user you can add the WhosOn page tag to your form so that visitors to the form show in real time in your WhosOn Client. You can optionally Show Chat Button on your form. Your WhosOn Server & Domain details are specified in the ThinkAutomation Server Settings.

Captcha

You can add a Google reCAPTCHA box to your forms to ensure human only responses. Go to reCAPTCHA (google.com). Use the Admin Console to create a reCAPTCHA. Set the type to reCAPTCHA v2. In the domain enter api.thinkautomation.com. Select the reCAPTCHA keys section and enter your Site Key and Secret Key.

Public Form URL

This entry shows the unique public URL for the web form. You can link to this from your website, send it in outgoing emails or embed it into your web site pages using an iframe tag. Whenever a web visitor completes the form the Automation assigned to the Message Source will be executed with the form contents.

Local Form URL

This entry shows the unique local URL for the web form. This URL connects directly to your ThinkAutomation Server and can be used on your local network. The local web form looks and operates the same as the Public web form except that the form contents are posted directly to your ThinkAutomation Server - bypassing the Public API.

Returning The Automation Return Value

Enable the Wait For & Include Automation Return Value With The Confirmation Message option if you want the Automation Return Value included in the confirmation message. If this option is enabled then the form response will wait for the Automation to complete. You should then configure your Automation to return the text, markdown, html or a file that you want displayed in the form confirmation. The max wait time is 60 seconds, so if your Automation may be long running then the Wait For option may not be applicable.

You can also include a redirect in the Return value if you want another Web Form or URL shown after the form is submitted. See the Create Web Form Redirect action.

Returning Files

If the Wait For & Include Automation Return Value With The Confirmation Message option is enabled and the Automation Return value is a single local file path (or a variable containing a file path) then the file content will be read and returned. You can return whole html pages, images, PDF files etc. The response Content-Type will be set according to the file extension. The web form will redirect to a new page showing the file content.

Returning Files From The Embedded Files Store

If you are using the Embedded Files Store action to save files to the Embedded Files Store database, you can return file content directly from the Embedded File Store. Use the Embedded Files Store action with the Get Info operation. Assign the results of the Get Info operation to your Automation Return value. The ThinkAutomation Server will then read the file content directly from the database and return the content.

The Web API has a limit of 5mb for the content returned from an Automation.

Providing A Link To The Automation Results

If your Automation is long running, or you want to provide a static link to the Automation results that a user can access later, you can use the %Msg_ResultsUrl% variable. Your Automation could include this variable in an outgoing email. A user can click the link to view the Automation results at a later date. The %Msg_ResultsUrl% URL is unique for each processed message and contains a secure hash. The link will work for as long as the Message is stored in the Message Store. You do not need to enable the Wait For & Include Automation Return Value In The Confirmation Message option to use the %Msg_ResultsUrl%.

How it Works

When you save the Message Source the ThinkAutomation Server uploads the form details to the ThinkAutomation Web API Gateway server. The Web API Gateway acts as a secure bridge between the public web form and your on-premises ThinkAutomation instance. Once saved, the web form can be used immediately. Any changes you make will be updated.

When a web user completes the form, the ThinkAutomation Web API sends the results to your ThinkAutomation Server. The message body will be Json containing the form fields. For example:

{
    "fname": "Alice",
    "lname": "Bamber"
}

You can then use Extract Field actions to extract the data from the message and perform any other Automation actions. If your ThinkAutomation Server is not active when a web form is submitted it will be queued by the ThinkAutomation Web API for up to 48 hours.

Additional Headers

The following headers will be added to the ThinkAutomation message headers:

You can access these values in your Automations (using the Set Variable action with the Extract Header Value operation). The RemoteHost is available using the built-in variable %Msg_FromIp%. For example, you could use the GeoIP Lookup action to lookup the country for the user's IP address, or use the Get Browser Info action to get the browser name.

Security

Each web form URL is unique to your ThinkAutomation instance and Message Source and contains a secure hash. The web form is hosted on Microsoft Azure and is served via HTTPS only - meaning all form submissions are encrypted. The ThinkAutomation Web API sends completed forms to your ThinkAutomation Server over a secure WebSocket connection. The Web API gateway server does not keep copies of submitted forms. If your ThinkAutomation Server is not active then any form data is stored in a queue for up to 48 hours and sent when your ThinkAutomation Server becomes active. This storage queue is encrypted.

Embedding The Form In Your Website

You can add the form to any of your web pages using an iframe tag. For example:

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<div class="container-sm pt-4">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-7 mx-auto">
            <div class="card">
                <iframe style="height:900px;border:0;padding:0;margin:0;" title="Reseller Form" src="https://api.thinkautomation.com/form?taid=5033f425cf79df15d03275fa6220954590ca1c720cc0959dAIXShPj1fv5f0Vnr9dFg2Zlc%2bQgXEi%2fS"></iframe>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Once the form is embedded any changes you make to Message Source Web Form properties will be updated on the form on your site. If you delete the Message Source from your ThinkAutomation settings you will need to remove the embedded link from your site.

You can also post your own existing web forms to ThinkAutomation for processing. See: Web Forms-Custom.

Microsoft Teams

The Teams message source type receives outgoing webhook requests from Microsoft Teams. Users of Teams can use @mentions to trigger a request. Your Automation return value is then sent back to the conversation as a response.

For each Teams Message source you supply a Name. This is the text that users will type in Teams (preceded by an @ sign). For example: You could have a Teams Message Source with the name 'FindCustomer'. In Teams users would type @FindCustomer followed by some more text. When the user hits enter the text will be sent to ThinkAutomation and your Automation will execute. The Return value of the Automation will then be sent back to Teams and show as a response in the conversation.

You can create any number of Teams Message Sources with different 'names' and then attach these to any of your Teams.

Setup In Microsoft Teams

In Microsoft Teams select the appropriate team and choose Manage team from the (•••) drop-down menu.

Select Manage Team

Choose the Apps tab from the navigation bar.

Select Create an outgoing webhook.

Specify the Name - users can then enter @{name} to send to ThinkAutomation.

Paste the Microsoft Teams Outgoing Webhook Callback URL into the Callback URL entry.

Paste the Security Token shown after the Teams webhook is created into the Security Token entry in ThinkAutomation.

See: Add custom bots to Microsoft Teams with outgoing webhooks - Teams | Microsoft Docs for more information.

When you create a new Teams message source, ThinkAutomation will automatically add Extract Field actions to the Automation to extract the message text.

Returning A Response

Use the Return action to send back the text you want to respond with. The response text can be plain text, HTML or Markdown.

An Example: You could create a Teams outgoing webhook with the name "GetAccount". Whenever a Teams user types '@GetAccount Test Customer' - your Automation will execute. The %MessagePlainText% Extracted field will be set to 'GetAccount Test Customer'. The %MessageTextAfterName% Extracted Field will be set to 'Test Customer'. You could then lookup customer details from a database or perform other actions and return a response - which will be returned back to the Teams conversation.

Returning An Adaptive Card

You can also return an Adaptive Card. This is Json text that will be rendered in Teams. You can design Adaptive Cards here: https://adaptivecards.io . Once you have designed your Adaptive card click the Copy card payload button to copy the Json text. Use this as the Automation Return value. You can adjust the Json to include Automation %variables% before returning it using the Create Json action.

The Automation you execute should not be long running. Microsoft Teams will wait for up to 5 seconds for a response.

The Microsoft Teams message source type uses the ThinkAutomation Web API to forward messages from Teams to your ThinkAutomation Server. The ThinkAutomation Web API sends messages to your ThinkAutomation Server over a secure WebSocket connection. The Web API server does not keep copies of forwarded messages.

Database

The Database message source type monitors a database for new or updated records. Rows returned from a database query will be passed to an Automation for processing. Select the Database Type (Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, SQLite, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DB2, Firebird or OLDBC/OLEDB). Enter the Connection String or click the ... button to build and test the connection. See: Database Connection Notes for more details about supported databases.

Enter the SQL Statement to query against the database to retrieve rows. For example:

xxxxxxxxxx
SELECT * FROM Person WHERE PersonId > @Id ORDER BY PersonId

The SQL Statement can contain Parameters. You should then complete the Parameters table to provide each parameter type and value.

The query should include at least one column that provides a unique value. Enter this column name in the Unique Id Column box. ThinkAutomation will ensure that the same record is not processed more than once based on the Unique Id Column value. If no Unique Id Column is used then the same records could be processed multiple times if they are not filtered out using the WHERE clause (or deleted).

ThinkAutomation automatically caches the last Unique Id Column value each time it requests data from the database. You can use this cached value as a Parameter value by setting a parameter value to %LastDatabaseId%.

In the above example the Unique Column Name is PersonId. We set the @Id parameter value to %LastDatabaseId%. This means that each time ThinkAutomation requests data from the database it only requests records with a higher PersonId since the last request (making the query much faster).

Test & Create Automation

You should test your query before saving the Message Source. Click the Test button. When you use the Test option on a new Message Source, ThinkAutomation will ask if you want to create a new Automation to process the records. It will then create a new Automation with Extract Field actions that match the columns returned by the query.

Creating The ThinkAutomation Message

Each row returned from the database query will be passed to the Automation for processing. You can choose to pass all columns to the Automation or a single column. Set the Assign All Columns To Message Body to send all columns returned by the query.

The database row will be passed to the Automation in the following format:

xxxxxxxxxx
{
  "PersonId": 1,
  "PersonType": "EM",
  "NameStyle": false,
  "Title": "",
  "FirstName": "Ken",
  "MiddleName": "J",
  "LastName": "Sánchez",
  "Suffix": "",
  "EmailPromotion": 0,
  "AdditionalContactInfo": "",
  "ModifiedDate": "2009-01-07 09:00:00"
}

If you used the Test option then Extract Field actions will have been created automatically to extract each column value.

You can optionally set the message Subject, From Address and Date. The Subject will default to '%TableName% (%LastDatabaseId%)' - where %TableName% will be the table name extracted from the SQL statement used for the query. You can change this and include text and column values for the current row. To use column values, use %ColumnName% replacements. For example:

Record Id %LastDatabaseId% For %FirstName% %LastName% would set the subject to 'Record Id 1 For Ken Sánchez'.

The Message Date will default to the current date & time. You can optionally set it to a column value. For example, %ModifiedDate%.

MongoDB

The MongoDB message source type monitors a MongoDB database collection for new or updated documents. Each document found will then be passed to an Automation for processing. You can connect to a local MongoDB or a cloud based MongoDB compatible document database such as MongoDB Atlas, Amazon DocumentDB or Azure Cosmos DB.

Enter the MongoDB Connection String, Database Name and Collection Name. Enter the Query json and optionally the Projection and Sort json. Click the Test button to test the connection and query.

ThinkAutomation automatically caches the last document _id value between requests in the %LastDatabaseId% variable. This can be used in the Query json. For example:

xxxxxxxxxx
{ "_id": { "$gt": "%LastDatabaseId%" } }

This Query will retrieve all documents where the _id value is greater than then last requested _id.

Each document returned from the query will be passed to the Automation for processing in its Json format. You can then create Extracted Fields on your Automation to extract each value that you need in your Automation. Extracted Fields have an Extract Json option for easy extraction of Json data.

File Pickup

The File Pickup message source type will monitor a local folder on the ThinkAutomation computer. Each new or updated file found in the folder will be passed to the Automation for processing. The Subject of the message will be set to the file path.

Select the From Folder and File Name or Mask.

Add File Contents

Enable the Add File Contents option if you want ThinkAutomation to add the file contents to the message passed to ThinkAutomation for processing. Text based files will be added as the plain text body. HTML files will be added as the HTML body. Any other files will be passed as an Attachment - which you can then process in the Automation. The Add File Contents option applies only to files less than 50MB in size. For files greater than 50MB the file details will be passed (see below).

Add File Contents - Email Messages

Files with extensions .eml and .msg (Outlook Messages) will be added as regular email messages (with Body, Subject, From, To, Headers etc set.).

No File Contents

If Add File Contents is not enabled (or the file size > 50MB) then only the file details will be passed to the Automation. The file details are passed as Json in the Message Body, in the following format:

xxxxxxxxxx
{
  "Path": "D:\\Setup Files\\ThinkAutomation.exe",
  "Name": "ThinkAutomation.exe",
  "Extension": "exe",
  "Size": 167815264,
  "Created": "2020-11-20 14:58:02",
  "Modified": "2020-11-20 14:58:05",
  "Description": "ThinkAutomation Installer",
  "CompanyName": "Parker Software",
  "Version": "5.0.261.2",
  "Product": "ThinkAutomation"
}

The Subject will be set to the file path.

In an Automation you can then access the file path using %Msg.Subject% and extract other file information using Extract Field actions. The default Automation created when you create the Message Source will automatically contain Extract Field actions to extract the above fields. You can then use the %Path% variable on Automation actions (such as Convert Document, Print etc).

Delete After Pickup

Enable the Delete After Pickup option if you want ThinkAutomation to delete files once they have been processed.

Enable Folder Monitoring

If the Enable Folder Monitoring option is enabled then ThinkAutomation will monitor the selected Folder for new or changed files (after the initial scan). New and changed files will be processed immediately. If this option is not enabled then you can set a Schedule (for example: Every 2 minutes). The folder will scanned depending on the schedule - and any new files will be processed. Folder monitoring is enabled by default - you can disable it if you only want to scan a folder at pre-set times.

CSV and Excel Files

When using the File Pickup message source type, CSV and Excel files can be treated differently. Instead of the complete file, ThinkAutomation can select any new Rows added to the CSV or Excel file and send these as single messages to the Automation for processing.

For Example, consider the following CSV file:

When ThinkAutomation reads this CSV file (or Excel file) it will create 2 messages in the following format:

Message 1:

xxxxxxxxxx
{
  "xName": "items.csv",
  "xRow": 1,
  "Product": "Item 1",
  "Name": "Item 1 description",
  "Quantity": 100,
  "Value": 1.20
}

Message 2:

xxxxxxxxxx
{
  "xName": "items.csv",
  "xRow": 2,
  "Product": "Item 2",
  "Name": "Item 2 description",
  "Quantity": 200,
  "Value": 1.30
}

The subject of the message will be: [filename] Row x

Enable the For CSV & Excel Files Create Single Messages For Each New Row option to enable single row message processing. For Excel files you can also optionally specify the Worksheet name to use and the Headers Row number containing header values.

For CSV files, if the CSV file has now header row, enable the CSV Has No Header Row option.

By default all columns in the CSV or Excel file will be passed to the Automation. If you only need certain column values enable the Read Values From Specific Columns option and then specify a list of Column Headers or Column Numbers.

Creating Extracted Fields For CSV & Excel Files

When using single row processing ThinkAutomation can create the Extract Field actions for you. Click the Create Extracted Fields button. ThinkAutomation will then read the CSV or Excel file specified in the File Name entry and create an Extract Field action for each column.

Resetting The Last Row Pointer

Each time ThinkAutomation reads the CSV or Excel file for new rows, it stores the last row number in the Message Store database, so only new rows since the last scan are processed. During testing you may need to reset this to allow a new full scan. To reset the pointer, click the Reset Last Rows button.

Monitor Web Resource

The HTTP Get message source type reads the response from any URL. If the response content has changed the content will be passed to an Automation for processing.

Specify the Get URL

If the web page requires a login specify the credentials in the Authentication section.

If the URL returns HTML the HTML content can be converted to plaintext or XML. The converted text will then become the message body of the message passed to the Automation. Json responses will be passed unchanged.

Any other content-types will be passed as an Attachment.

If the HTTP Get fails you have the option to:

1. No Action.
2. Set the Message content passed to the Automation to the HTTP status (eg: 404 File Not Found).
3. Pause the Message Source

Each time the HTTP content is read ThinkAutomation will compare the response to the last received response. If the response has changed a new message will be added for processing.

Some websites prevent automated tools from reading web content, so this Message Source type may not work in all cases. Its primary use is for monitoring HTTP API's or web resources that allow automated access.

Monitor Azure Queue

The Azure Queue message source type monitors a Microsoft Azure queue for new messages.

Enter your Azure Queue Account Name & Access Key.

Enter the Queue Name.

Click the Verify button to verify that ThinkAutomation can read from the queue.

ThinkAutomation will read each message from the queue and use the message contents as the message body. You can then parse the contents and perform Automation actions. The message will be removed from the Azure Queue once read.

Twilio

The Twilio message source type receives SMS text messages sent from any mobile phone to any of your Twilio phone numbers.

Twilio is a cloud communications platform. It enables developers to programmatically make phone calls and to send & receive text messages using its web API's. When used with ThinkAutomation, it enables ThinkAutomation to receive SMS messages. Twilio is a worldwide platform and the cost is based on usage.

See: https://www.twilio.com

You need to create a Twilio Account if you want to be able to process received SMS text messages using ThinkAutomation. In Twilio, create a Twilio Phone Number to receive messages. In the Twilio Phone Number Properties set the Messaging - A Message Comes In - Webhook URL to the Set Your Twilio Messaging 'A Message Comes In' Webhook URL To shown in the ThinkAutomation Message Source properties.

Once assigned, any SMS messages sent to your Twilio number will be sent to ThinkAutomation for processing. You can create different ThinkAutomation Message Sources and assign each Webhook URL to each of your Twilio Phone numbers, or you can use a single ThinkAutomation Message Source and assign the same URL to all of your Twilio Phone Numbers and then parse the 'To' number out of the received message.

When a SMS message is received ThinkAutomation will create a new message that can be processed by your Automations. The message will be in the following format:

xxxxxxxxxx
{ 
  "from": "+447799123456",
  "fromCountry": "GB",
  "fromCity": "",
  "fromState": "",
  "fromZip": "",
  "to": "+447779678901",
  "toCountry": "GB",
  "toCity": "",
  "toState": "",
  "toZip": "",
  "smsStatus": "received",
  "body": "Test SMS Message Received",
  "numMedia": "0",
  "numSegments": "1",
  "messageSid": "SMe0000000000000000000000000000000",
  "accountSid": "AC00000000000000000000000000000000",
  "apiVersion": "2010-04-01"
}

You can then parse this message and perform Automation Actions, such as sending an outgoing SMS replies or recording the message details in a database.

When you create a Twilio Message Source using the New Message Source Wizard an Automation will be automatically created with Extract Field Actions setup to extract the above data.

You can reply to the incoming SMS using the Twilio Send SMS Message action and setting the To value to the %from% extracted field value. The %body% extracted field value will contain the incoming message text.

Twitter

The Twitter message source type reads tweets from a Timeline, @mentions feed or for any search term. This Message Source is useful for monitoring your own (or another business) Twitter feed and performing actions if certain words appear in Tweets.

From the Read Tweets For list select one of:

For Search Term queries you can select to Exclude Replies and/or Retweets.

When a new Tweet message is received ThinkAutomation will create a new message that can be processed by your Automations. The message will be in the following format:

xxxxxxxxxx
{
  "author_id": "1629799226",
  "created_at": "2021-11-24T09:21:05+00:00",
  "id": "1463437507513798656",
  "text": "Test tweet",
  "lang": "en",
  "name": "Parker Software",
  "username": "ParkerSoftware"
}

You can then parse this message and perform Automation Actions.

When you create a Twitter Message Source using the New Message Source Wizard an Automation will be automatically created with Extract Field Actions setup to extract the above data.

When a new Twitter Message Source is created, ThinkAutomation will read the most recent 200 Tweets. From then on it will read new Tweets as they are added. You can reset the Sync status by clicking the Reset Sync State button. The most recent 200 tweets will then be processed again (provided they have been removed from the Message Store).

API

Local API

Messages can be posted to ThinkAutomation via a local HTTP API. Each Message Source has a unique local API URL. You can view/copy the local URL on the Message Source properties page.

See: Using The Local API

Web API

Messages can also be posted to ThinkAutomation via the Web API. The Web API provides a secure web public endpoint allowing messages to be posted to ThinkAutomation from your own or 3rd party webhooks. Each Message Source has a unique public Web API URL. You can view/copy the URL on the Message Source properties page.

For the Web API you have the option of specifying Allowed Origins (Properties tab). Specify a comma separated list of allowed URL's that can post to the Web API endpoint. If this entry is blank then the endpoint can be posted to from anywhere. Full URL's should be specified, eg: https://www.mysite.com - without any path or page name.

See: Using The Web API

Web Forms - Custom

The ThinkAutomation Web API can accept HTTP POST requests from your own web forms. Simply set the form action to the Web API URL. For example:

xxxxxxxxxx
<html>
  <body>
   <form action="https://api.thinkautomation.com/addmessage?taid=5f7b421a6e1f408c38488397179ab14c6e1f405c7cbf955cd9%2fwxO9qltjQwt0pU7d4GRErBl5njQP%2f" method="post">
     <label for="fname">First name:</label>
     <input type="text" id="fname" name="fname"><br><br>
     <label for="lname">Last name:</label>
     <input type="text" id="lname" name="lname"><br><br>
     <input type="submit" value="Submit">
   </form>
  </body>
</html>

You can add a &redirect={URL} parameter to the API URL query string if you want the server to respond with a 303 Redirect once the message has been accepted.

When the form is posted to ThinkAutomation a new message will be sent to your Automation in Json format. For example:

xxxxxxxxxx
{
    "fname": "Alice",
    "lname": "Bamber"
}

The RemoteHost, User-Agent & Origin headers will also be added to the ThinkAutomation message headers. The RemoteHost can be accessed using the built-in variable %Msg_FromIp%. You can access these values in your Automation using the Set Variable action with the Extract Header Value operation.

You can then use Extract Field actions to extract the data from the message and perform any other Automation actions. If your ThinkAutomation Server is not active when a web form is submitted it will be queued by the ThinkAutomation API for up to 48 hours.

Returning Automation Results

By default Web API POST requests will respond with a 202 Accepted status as soon as the message has been queued (unless a &redirect parameter is specified). You can optionally wait for the Automation results by adding &wait=true or &results=true query string parameter to the URL.

If &wait=true is used the Web API will return the results of the Automation in the MessageResultDetail object of the Json response along with a 200 OK status. The response will include the Automation return value.

If the &results=true parameter is used then only the Automation Return Value content (or an error message) will be returned along with a 200 OK status. Depending on the content of the Automation Return value, the result will be served as plain text (text/plain), HTML (text/html) or Json (application/json). If the Return Value contains Markdown text it will be converted to HTML first. If the Return Value is already HTML it will be returned as HTML. If the Return Value is Json it will be returned as Json.

Providing A Link To The Automation Results

If your Automation is long running, or you want to provide a static link to the Automation results that a user can access later, you can use the %Msg_ResultsUrl% variable. Your Automation could include this variable in an outgoing email. A user can click the link to view the Automation results at a later date. The %Msg_ResultsUrl% URL is unique for each processed message and contains a secure hash. The link will work for as long as the Message is stored in the Message Store.

For additional security, ensure the Allowed Origins entry on the Message Source API properties contains the URL for the site containing the forms you will be posting to ThinkAutomation. This will ensure that form posts will only be accepted from your own website.

Web Get Requests

The ThinkAutomation Web API also accepts HTTP GET requests. You can specify the message content as part of the URL. Whenever the URL is requested a new ThinkAutomation message will be created and processed.

The body, subject, from & to addresses can be specified on the query string:

xxxxxxxxxx
https://api.thinkautomation.com/addmessage?taid=5f7b421a6e1f408c38488397179ab14c6e1f405c7cbf955cd9%2fwxO9qltjQwt0pU7d4GRErBl5njQP%2f
&from=alice%40test.com
&subject=unsubscribe
&body=testmessage

The body, subject, from and to query string parameters are optional.

You can add a &redirect={URL} parameter to the API URL query string if you want the server to respond with a 303 Redirect once the message has been accepted.

Passing Field/Value Pairs

You can also pass specific field values using x-fieldname=value. In this case the message passed to ThinkAutomation will be in Json format with each field value (excluding the 'x-').

For example:

xxxxxxxxxx
https://api.thinkautomation.com/addmessage?taid=5f7b421a6e1f408c38488397179ab14c6e1f405c7cbf955cd9%2fwxO9qltjQwt0pU7d4GRErBl5njQP%2f
&from=alice%40test.com
&subject=unsubscribe
&x-name=Alice+Bamber
&x-email=alice%40test.com

The message body which would be sent to ThinkAutomation as:

xxxxxxxxxx
{
    "name": "Alice Bamber",
    "email": "alice@test.com"
}

If you do not want to use field=value pairs you can pass the raw body text using the &body= query string parameter. The ThinkAutomation message body will be set to the contents of the body parameter with no conversion.

The RemoteHost, User-Agent & Origin headers will also be added to the ThinkAutomation message headers. You can access these values in your Automation using the Set Variable action with the Extract Header Value operation.

You can then use Extract Field actions to extract the data from the message and perform any other Automation actions. If your ThinkAutomation Server is not active when a web request is made it will be queued by the ThinkAutomation API for up to 48 hours.

Returning Automation Results

By default Web API GET requests will respond with a 202 Accepted status as soon as the message has been queued (unless a &redirect parameter is specified). You can optionally wait for the Automation results by adding &wait=true or &results=true query string parameter to the URL.

If &wait=true is used the Web API will return the results of the Automation in the MessageResultDetail object of the Json response along with a 200 OK status. The response will include the Automation return value.

If the &results=true parameter is used then only the Automation Return Value content (or an error message) will be returned along with a 200 OK status. Depending on the content of the Automation Return value, the result will be served as plain text (text/plain), HTML (text/html) or Json (application/json). If the Return Value contains Markdown text it will be converted to HTML first. If the Return Value is already HTML it will be returned as HTML. If the Return Value is Json it will be returned as Json.

Providing A Link To The Automation Results

If your Automation is long running, or you want to provide a static link to the Automation results that a user can access later, you can use the %Msg_ResultsUrl% variable. Your Automation could include this variable in an outgoing email. A user can click the link to view the Automation results at a later date. The %Msg_ResultsUrl% URL is unique for each processed message and contains a secure hash. The link will work for as long as the Message is stored in the Message Store.

See: Using The Web API

Microsoft Graph Change

This message source type synchronizes changes to various entity types in Microsoft Graph (Office 365/Azure Active Directory). A new message will be processed whenever an entity is created, updated or deleted.

Currently the following entity types can be tracked:

• Calendar Events : For the logged in user or another username.
• Organization Contacts : Contacts managed by administrators.
• Users : Organization users.
• Teams Channel Chat Messages : For monitoring a Microsoft Teams channel.

More entity types will be added in the future.

Select the Entity Type. Then click the Sign In button to sign in with your Office 365/Microsoft Azure account.

For each entity type ThinkAutomation synchronizes changes. For new message sources all existing entities will be read - from then on only new/updated or deleted entities will be read. A new message will be created for each entity returned.

The message passed to ThinkAutomation for processing will be in JSON format representing the entity. When a new Message Source is created a new Automation will be created with extracted fields to extract the most common properties.

Static Scheduled

This message source type is useful if you simply want to run an Automation at a preset schedule without a specific incoming message. It enables you to execute an Automation based on the Schedule (for example, every 10 minutes). It uses a static default message (that can be blank).

At the scheduled time a new message is added to the process queue. The Automation assigned to the Message Source will be executed.

Message Source Schedules

Message Sources can be assigned a Schedule. This defines how often the Message Source should be checked for new messages. Schedules can be every x seconds, minutes or hours, or at specific times. You can also select the days of the week that the Message Source should be active (and active from and to times for each day). Select the Schedule tab on the Message Source properties page to edit the schedule. A default schedule will be created for new Message Sources if required.

If a Message Source has a schedule then new messages will be checked based on the schedule settings. You can force a Message Source to check for new messages, regardless of its schedule. Right-click a Message Source and select 'Run Now'. The Message Source will check for new messages immediately and then revert back to the schedule.

Web Form, File Pickup, SendGrid, Twilio, Teams, SMTP and API message source types do not need a schedule. Any new messages for these Message Source types will be processed immediately.

Message Source General Properties

A number of additional properties can be set for each Message Source. Open a Message Source form (select a Message Source and click Edit on the ribbon) and select the Properties tab.

Unzip Zipped Attachments

If this option is enabled then any incoming message containing zip file attachments will be automatically decompressed and the contents added as attachments and the zip attachment removed.

Append PDF, Word & Text Attachments To Body For Parsing

If this option is enabled then ThinkAutomation will automatically add text, Microsoft Word & PDF attachments to the plain text body of the message for parsing. You can then parse and extract data from the body text as normal. Rich text, Word and PDF attachments will first be converted to plain text before being added to the body.

In addition to PDF, Word and Richtext documents, ThinkAutomation will also append the text for any attachments with the following file extensions: txt, xml, ini, log, csv, vcf, vcard, md and any attachment with a content-type of: text/plain, text/vcard, text/calendar, application/json.

Append PDF Form Data To Body For Parsing

If this option is enabled then ThinkAutomation will extract form data from PDF attachments and add it to the plain text body of the message for parsing. Form data is added in the format: 'FieldName: value'. Each form value will be on a separate line.

The Append options are global for all messages received by the Message Source. You can also read PDF text and form data within an Automation using the Convert Document To Text action.

Drop Attachments

If this option is enabled then all attachments will be dropped from incoming messages. This option is useful if your Automation does not require access to attachments as it will improve performance and reduce the size of the Message Store database.

If the Append PDF, Word & Text Attachments To Body For Parsing option is enabled then the text content of the attachments will be added to the body text before the attachments themselves are dropped.

The Unzip Zipped Attachments, Append and Drop Attachments options do not affect the original incoming message. They only affect the message that is processed and stored by ThinkAutomation.

Send Notification On Message Source Errors

If this option is enabled then any errors that occur on the Message Source (for example an Office 365 login needs re-authenticating) will send a notification. The notification will appear in the Studio and an email will be sent to the default email address for the Solution.

Pause Message Source On Message Source Errors

If this option is enabled then any errors that occur on the Message Source will automatically pause the Message Source. This prevents the Message Source from trying to read more messages until the error is resolved.

Pause Message Source On Automation Errors

If this option is enabled then any errors that occur during Automation execution will automatically pause the Message Source. This prevents further messages from being processed until the error is resolved. A notification will appear in the ThinkAutomation Studio (and optionally an email will be sent) whenever a Message Source is auto-paused.

Automations

An Automation is executed for each incoming message from the configured Message Source. Automations can contain any number of Actions. Automations themselves can Call other Automations and the returned value from the called Automation can be assigned to a variable in the parent.

Variable Replacements

All Actions that have parameters allow you to use %variable% replacements.

This means you can specify a ThinkAutomation variable, extracted field, built-in variable, solution constant or global constant as the parameter (or part of) that will be replaced at execution time with the value of the variable. Variable names must be enclosed with % symbols.

For example, outgoing emails can contain values extracted from the incoming message by simply inserting %variablename% (where 'variablename' is the name of your variable) into the email text (or any other setting):

Dear %Name%,

We have received your enquiry %Msg_Subject%. This has been assigned ticket number %TicketNumber%.

Another example: The Process Attachments action allows you save attachments from the incoming message to folders on your system. If you had created a variable called OrderNumber you could save the attachment as:

C:\Orders\order%OrderNumber%.pdf

If %OrderNumber% contained '1234' then the file would be saved as C:\Orders\order1234.pdf.

Built-In Message Variables

In addition to extracted fields and variables that you create in your Automation, you can also use any of the following built-in message variables. These automatically contain values related to the current message:

You can extract other email headers using the Set Variable action with the Extract Header operation or the Extract Field action with the Extract From set to %Msg_Headers%.

Bounce/Automatic Reply Processing

ThinkAutomation can recognize a variety of bounced email, automatic replies and unsubscribe replies. If the incoming message is detected as a bounce, automatic reply or unsubscribe the %Msg_BounceType% built-in variable will contain the reason. The %Msg_BounceAddress% will contain the bounced email address.

The %Msg_BounceType% will contain one of the following:

The &Msg_BounceType% variable will be blank if the message is not a bounce/auto-reply.

Solution Constants

You can also create Solution Constants. These are solution-wide constants that can be used as %variable% replacements on any Automation within a Solution. To create Solution Constants click the Edit Solution button on the ThinkAutomation Studio Explorer ribbon.

You can then specify any number of Constant Name and Constant Value pairs.

For example: If you create a solution constant with name 'VatNumber' and value 'GB12345678'. If you use %VatNumber% on any Action property on any Automation within the Solution, the value 'GB12345678' will be replaced when messages are processed.

Global Constants

Global Constants are global to all Automations on all Solutions. To create Global Constants use the Server Settings - Global Constants.

System Variables

A number of built-in system variables can also be used:

You can also create your own constants for each Solution. See the Constants grid on the Solution Properties page. These Constants can be used on any Automation within the Solution.

The Root Folder

The %Root% system variable will contain a folder path to:

\ProgramData\Parker Software\ThinkAutomation.NET\%SolutionName%\

For example, if your solution name is 'Orders' and your system drive is 'C:\' then %Root% will contain:

C:\Program Data\Parker Software\ThinkAutomation.NET\Orders\

The %Root% variable replacement is useful for any Actions that need to save files locally. ThinkAutomation ensures that the folder exists and the ThinkAutomation Message Processor service will always have access to it.

For example: If using the Create Document action to create a PDF document you can set the Save To property of this action to %Root%.

InLine Functions

The variable replacement %func% can be used to execute a number of inline functions. Inline functions provide shortcuts to some common operations. The function will be executed and the returned value replaced. InLine functions can be used inside any action entry as with regular %variable% replacements.

The format of inline functions is: %func%:FunctionName(Value[,parameter][,parameter])

The value & parameters can be any fixed text or a %variable% replacement. If a parameter value contains brackets () or commas then it should be enclosed in quotes.

For example, in the text:

Dear %func%:ToProperCase(%fullname%),

If the fullname variable was set to 'alice bob' - when replaced the text would be:

Dear Alice Bob,

The following functions can be used:

Format Examples:

Order Date: %func%:Format(%Msg_Date%,U) :

replaced the text would be:

Order Date: 09 November 2020 09:00:00 :

If a parameter includes a comma you need to enclose it in quotes. Eg:

Order Date: %func%:Format(%Msg_Date%,"hh:mm tt, ddd-MM-MMM yyyy gg") :

Would be:

09:00 AM, Mon-11-Nov 2020 A.D.

Numeric Format

The Price Is: %func%:Format(%Price%,C)

replaced text would be:

The Price Is: £1234.56

Json Extract Example

You can use the %func%:JsonValue inline function to extract a specific Json path value. For example, if you have a variable called 'AddressJson' set to:

xxxxxxxxxx
{ 
  "employee": { 
    "name":    "John",  
    "salary":   56000,  
    "married":  true 
   } 
} 

You could use the inline function such as:

Dear %func%:JsonValue(%AddressJson%,employee.name),

At runtime the replaced text would be:

Dear John,

Note: JsonValue uses JsonPath notation. Eg: object.subobject.array[0].Name

CSV Extract Example

You can use the %func%:CSVValue inline function to extract a specific row/column value from CSV data. For example, if you have a variable called 'LineItem' set to:

xxxxxxxxxx
1,ABC,Product 1,100.12
2.DEF,Product 2,200.13

You could use the inline funcion:

The price is %func%:CSVValue(%LineItem%,2,4)

At runtime the replaced text would be:

The price is 200.13

Row and column numbers start at 1. If your CSV data contained column headers you would use the CSVWithHeadersValue() function.

Automation Actions

An Automation can contain any number of Actions. Each of the actions are optional. You can run one or more of the actions depending on your requirements. You can add multiple instances of each action type - so for example, you can send multiple Outgoing emails by adding multiple Send Email actions.

To add an Action double-click an action in the Toolbox, or press ENTER on the selected action. You can also drag and drop an action to the Actions List.

You can also quickly add actions by typing the action name and selecting from the list. Press the TAB key to select the first action in the list based on the letters you have typed. The new action will be inserted below the currently selected action in the Actions List.

When you add an action the corresponding property page for the action type will be displayed. To edit an existing action double-click it or press ENTER. When editing an action property page, each action property that accepts text data can include %variable% replacements. Drag a %variable% from the variables list on to the property or type the %variable% name. These %variable% holders will be replaced with the Extracted Field, Variable, Built-In Variable or Constant value when the Automation executes. See: Variable Replacements.

When a Message is processed the actions will be executed in the order they appear in the Actions list. You can re-order actions using Move Up/Move Down buttons.

You can create If [else] End If or Select Case blocks to conditionally execute blocks of Actions and you can assign a Condition to each action.

ThinkAutomation includes a default set of built-in actions (shown below). You can also add additional Custom Actions from our on-line library or create your own using the Custom Action Designer

When designing your Automation you should disable the Message Source. This will prevent messages being retrieved until you have completed and tested your Automation. You can still process test messages using the Send Message option even if the Message Source is disabled.

Favorite Actions

If you right-click an action in the Toolbox and select Add To Favorites, the selected action will be added to the Favorites group at the top of the Toolbox. You can remove actions from the favorites group by right-clicking the action again.

Available Built-In Actions

ThinkAutomation includes a collection of built-in Actions for common tasks. You can also download more Actions from the Custom Action On-Line Library and you can create your own custom actions using the Custom Action Designer.

Not all actions may be listed here. Parker Software regularly adds new Actions.

Common

• Extract Field : Parse and extract data from the incoming message and assign the result to a field name.
• Set Variable : Assign a value to a variable with various Set Operations.
• Execute Script : Execute custom C# or Visual Basic .NET code.
• Process Attachments : Automate saving attachments to specific folders on your file system.
• Set Message Store Folder : Assign the message to a folder in the Message Store.
• Move Incoming Message : Move the incoming email message to a different folder on the source email account.
• Comment : Add a comment line to an Automation and optionally save the comment value to the log.

Data

• Lookup From A Database : Execute a SQL database query and assign column values to variables.
• Open Database Reader : Open a database reader for use with a For..Each block.
• Execute A Database Command : Execute a database command or stored procedure.
• Update A Database Using Custom SQL : Execute custom Update or Insert commands.
• Update A Database Using Extracted Fields : Automatically update a SQL database using extracted fields parsed from the incoming message.
• Update MongoDB : Create or update MongoDB documents.
• Lookup From A MongoDB Database : Lookup a document from a MongoDB database and assign it to a Variable.
• Embedded Data Store : Save and query data using the embedded Document DB.
• Embedded Value Store: Save and retrieve key value pairs using the embedded Document DB.
• Embedded Files Store : Save and query files using the embedded Document DB.
• Update Excel File : Update a Microsoft Excel file.
• Lookup From Excel : Lookup specific cell and cell range values from an Excel file and assign to variables.
• Update CSV : Add a row to a CSV file or variable containing CSV data.
• Read CSV : Read a CSV file or variable containing CSV data.
• Counter : Update a counter value.

Outgoing

• Send Email : Send an outgoing email immediately or on a scheduled future date.
• Remove Scheduled Outgoing Message : Remove pending scheduled emails for a given recipient.
• Forward Original Message : Forward the incoming message and optionally add or drop attachments.
• Wait For User Response : Request confirmation from a user before continuing execution.
• Send Appointment : Creates an appointment in any iCalendar compatible Calendar Server.
• Send Slack Message : Send a message to a Slack channel.
• Send Tweet : Send a Tweet to Twitter or reply to an incoming Tweet.

Documents

• Create Document : Create a formatted document and save it in various formats.
• Create Spreadsheet : Create a spreadsheet and save it in various formats.
• Convert Document : Convert Word, Excel, PDF, Richtext, Text, Markdown Text, CSV or HTML documents or attachments to PDF, Word, HTML, image or text.
• Convert Document To Text : Convert PDF, Word, Excel, Richtext or HTML documents or attachments to plain text or extract PDF form data.
• Convert Image To Text Using OCR : Convert an image file or attachment to text using optical character recognition (OCR). Can also extract images from PDF files and convert these to text.
• Convert PDF Document : Convert a PDF document or attachment to image files, text or HTML.
• Sign PDF Document : Add a digital signature to a PDF document.
• Save As PDF : Save the incoming message or any HTML file or URL as a PDF document.
• Word Merge : Performs a mail merge on a Word document or attachments and saves the merged document as a new file.
• Print : Automatically print the incoming message, attachments or specific documents.
• Run A Report : Create a report using a pre-defined report template and export it to various formats.

Office 365

• Get/Update Contact : Get or update a contact for an Office 365 account.
• Create Appointment : Create an appointment for an Office 365 account.
• Update Incoming Message : Set flags and/or modify the subject on the incoming Office 365 source message.
• Get User Presence : Get current presence information (availability and activity) for one or more users.
• Send Teams Message : Send a message to a Microsoft Teams Channel.
• Create Outlook MSG File : Save the current message or a custom message as a Microsoft Outlook MSG file.

General

• Text Operation : Perform various operations on text values.
• Date Operation : Perform various operations on date values.
• File Operation : Perform various operations on files & folders.
• Math : Perform mathematical calculations and save the result to a variable.
• Parse CSV Line : Extract column data from a comma separated text value.
• Encryption : Encrypt/decrypt text data or files.
• Compression : Compress/decompress text data or files.
• Create Hash : Create hash values for text data or files.
• Set Message Store Flag : Assign a flag to the message stored in the Message Store.
• Set Logging Level : Set the amount of detail recorded in the Automation log.
• Create Passcode : Create a random Passcode and assign the value to a variable.
• Find and Replace : Finds and replaces text in any variable.
• Read/Write Text File : Write data to a text file or read an existing text file and assign the content to a variable.
• Tokenize : Tokenize any text and assign the comma separated tokens to a variable.
• Extract Email Signature : Parse contact and company information from email signature footers.
• Text To Speech : Convert text to a speech WAV file and return the WAV file path to a variable.

Flow

• If Block : Conditionally execute a one or more actions based on a Condition.
• Call Automation : Call another Automation with a value and assign the return value to a variable.
• Return : End execution of the Automation and return a value.
• End Processing : End execution of the Automation without returning a value.
• For Each : Create a loop on various properties and execute Actions inside the loop.
• Select Case : Conditionally execute a one or more actions in the matching Case block.
• Go To Label : Move processing to a label.
• On Error : Control what should happen if an error occurs on subsequent actions.
• Create Web Form Redirect : For Automations called from a Web Form Message Source. Redirect the submitted form to another ThinkAutomation Web Form or URL.

Network

• DNS Lookup : Perform a DNS Lookup and assign the returned data to a variable.
• Ping : Ping any host and return the results to a variable.
• Execute Secure Shell Command : Execute SSH commands against any host and assign the response to a variable.

CRM

• Get CRM Entity : Read entity values from Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Sugar or Zoho CRM.
• Update CRM Entity : Add or update Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Sugar or Zoho CRM entities.
• Query CRM Entities : Perform a generic query to read one or more CRM entities as Json text, CSV or Markdown.

Xero

• Xero Contact : Read, create & update Xero Accounting contacts.

Web

• HTTP Get : Read any web page and assign the returned HTML or plain text to a variable.
• HTTP Post : Post data to any web page using a HTTP POST.
• Download File : Download a file via HTTP and return the local path to a variable.
• OAuth SignIn : Obtain a authorization token from an OAuth endpoint for use on subsequent HTTP actions.
• Cloud Storage : Download or Upload files using cloud storage providers (Amazon S3, Google Drive, Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft OneDrive, IBM Cloud Storage, Wasabi, Digital Ocean, Linode).
• Wait For Webhook : Wait for a 3rd party webhook call.
• Call A Soap Web Service : Execute a SOAP or .NET Web Service and assign the results to variables.
• FTP Upload : Upload files or attachments to an FTP or SFTP server.
• FTP Download : Download files from an FTP or SFTP server.
• Get Browser Info : Extract browser name, version and operating system info from a User Agent.
• Wrap HTML : Wraps text inside HTML tags with optional styling.

Json

• Create JSON : Create a Json Document and assign it to a variable.
• Update JSON : Create or update multiple Json paths within Json text and return the updated Json to a variable.
• Read JSON Document : Parse a JSON document from any URL and assign element values variables.
• Convert JSON To HTML : Convert Json to a readable HTML table and assign the HTML to a variable.

Location

• Translate : Translate text from one language to another and assign the result to a variable.
• Detect Language : Detect the language of any text and assign the language code to a variable.
• Speak Text : Return a URL of a WAV or MP3 file containing spoken text in the desired language.
• GeoIP Lookup : Perform a GeoIP lookup for any IP address, URL, domain name or email address. Assign the Country, Region and City information to variables.

Twilio

• Twilio Make A Telephone Call : Make a telephone call and optionally connect the call to another number.
• Twilio Send SMS Message : Send a SMS message via Twilio.
• Twilio Wait For SMS Reply : Send a SMS message via Twilio and wait for a reply.
• Normalize Phone Number : Convert a phone number to the correct internationalized version.

Sentiment

• Score Sentiment : Perform Sentiment Analysis on any text and return the score to a variable.
• Train Sentiment : Train the Sentiment Analysis database.
• Classify Sentiment : Assign the most relevant sentiment class name for any text to a variable.

Azure

• Azure File : Download or Upload files to Azure Storage shares.
• Azure File Get Link : Get URLs to files in an Azure Storage share and assign to a variable.
• Azure Cosmos DB : Update Or Query Documents In A Cosmos Container.
• Azure Blob : Get or Put Azure Blobs.
• Azure Table : Get or Put Azure Table Entities.
• Azure Queue : Get or Put Azure Queue Messages.
• Azure Form Recognize : Extract text, key-value pairs and tables from documents, forms, receipts, invoices and business cards using the Azure Form Recognizer service.

System

• Execute PowerShell : Execute PowerShell commands and assign the results to a variable.
• Run A Program : Execute a Windows executable file and assign the output to a variable.

Custom Actions

ThinkAutomation also includes Custom Actions. These are additional actions you create or download from our on-line library. You can add actions from the on-line library for use on any of your Automations.

On-line Library

To explore the online library, click the Custom Actions tab on the ThinkAutomation Studio ribbon and then click Explore Online Library button.

You can then view custom actions in the online library. Use the Search box to search for specific terms. Select a custom action that you wish to use and then click Install. This will download the custom action from the online library and add it to your local library. The custom action can then be used on any of your Automations in the same way as the built-in actions.

Create Your Own

ThinkAutomation Professional Edition includes the ability to create your own custom actions using the Custom Action Designer. The Custom Action Designer includes a UI builder for configuring the action settings and a C# or VB.NET editor for editing the execution code. Once a Custom Action has been created it appears in the available actions list and can be used like any other action on any Automations. You can also share your custom action with the ThinkAutomation community.

Extracting Fields

For each Automation you can create any number of Extract Field actions. An Extracted Field is a distinct piece of data that ThinkAutomation will parse and extract from the incoming message and assign it a field name. You can use these extracted field values on other action properties using %variable% replacements.

To create an Extracted Field drag the Extract Field action to your Automation.

Create Extracted Fields From Text Or Json

You can create multiple Extract Field actions using the Create Extracted Fields From Text/Json button on the Automation toolbar. This option allows you to paste some text or Json and then create the Extract Field actions to extract each item.

Paste a sample of the text or Json you want to extract from. You can also specify the Extract Fields From variable - this should be set to the variable you will be extracting from. You can optionally set the Database Table Name if you will be using the Update A Database Using Extracted Fields action.

When extracting from Json you can also optionally specify a Start At Path. For example, suppose we want to create Extracted Fields the contact section only of the following:

​x
{
  "events": [
    {
      "id": "EVWB66IXJICNYVGN3JAKVBEYP523WE",
      "processed": false,
      "created": 1674055179966,
      "type": "account.created",
      "live": true,
      "data": {
        "id": "kssbzdB-RZigU84gp7ycyQ",
        "account": "kssbzdB-RZigU84gp7ycyQ",
        "contact": {
          "first": "TestFirstName",
          "last": "TestLastName",
          "email": "test@test.com",
          "company": "Test Company",
          "phone": "4075452118",
          "subscribed": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

You would set the Start At Path to events[0].data.contact

Extracted Fields would then be created for first, last, email, company, phone & subscribed only. You can then repeat the process for other sections.

Click the Create Extracted Fields button to create the Extract Field actions..

A preview of the Extract Field actions created will be shown. You can test the extractions using the Test button.

Click OK to save. The Extracted Field actions will be inserted into your Automation below the currently selected line.

Automation Flow

Logical operations allow you to control the flow of actions, call other Automations and conditionally execute actions (or blocks of actions).

Call Automation

The Call action enables you to call another Automation with a value and assign the return value to a variable. Select the Automation to call - this must be within the same Solution or an Automation saved to the Library. From the With Message Body Set To list - select the variable to pass to the called Automation. The called Automation will receive this value as its incoming message body value (%Msg_Body%). You can also optionally add Attachments.

Wait For Completion

Automations can return a value using the Return action. Enable the Wait For Completion option and select the variable to receive the returned value from the Assign Return Value To list. The current Automation will wait until the called Automation has completed.

If Wait For Completion option is not enabled, then a new message for the selected Automation will be added to the process queue. The current Automation will continue without waiting for the new message to be processed.

Scheduled Execution

If the Wait For Completion option is not enabled then you can optionally enable the Scheduled Execution option. You can specify that the call should execute After x minutes, hours or days or At a specific date/time. If scheduled execution is enabled then the new message will be added to the process queue - but will not be executed until the specified execution time. Called Automations waiting to be executed will show in the Outbox list when viewing the Message Store using the Studio. You can delete pending messages if you need to cancel execution.

The Scheduled Execution option is useful if you have some actions in your Automation that you need to execute at a certain time or be delayed. You can place these actions in their own Automation and use the Call action with the Scheduled Execution option.

Called Automations can also call other Automations. An Automation cannot call itself. You should ensure that called Automations do not in turn call the parent (which would result in a loop).

Return

Ends execution of the Automation and returns a value. If this is the parent Automation for the incoming message then the returned value will be saved with the current message in the Message Store - otherwise the value will be passed back to the calling Automation.

Automations do not have to return a value. If all actions complete for an Automation then it will return automatically with a blank return value.

You can have multiple Return actions in an Automation inside If..Else..End If or Select Case blocks allowing you to return different values depending on conditions.

The return value can be fixed text or %variable% replacements or a combination. For example, the return value can be set to: 'New Order: %OrderNumber% For Customer %CustomerName%'.

Returned values are stored against the processed message in the Message Store. You can view the Message Store to see returned values for each message. The return value will also be displayed if you use the Send Message option in the Studio to manually send a message to an Automation.

Showing Return Values On Web Form Message Sources

If you use the Web Form message source then the return value can also be displayed to the web user after the form is submitted. Enable the Wait For & Include Automation Return Value In The Confirmation Message option on the Message Source Web Form properties.

If the return value contains HTML (eg: 'Your order number is: <strong>%OrderNumber%</strong>') it will be formatted when shown to the user. If the return value is Markdown then the markdown will be converted to HTML (eg: 'Your order number is: **%OrderNumber%**').

You can also include a redirect in the return value if you want another Web Form or URL shown after the form is submitted. See the Create Web Form Redirect action.

Providing A Link To The Automation Results

The %Msg_ResultsUrl% variable returns a static link to the Automation return value that a user can access via a web browser. Your Automation could include this variable in an outgoing email. A user can click the link to view the Automation return value at a later date. The %Msg_ResultsUrl% URL is unique for each processed message and contains a secure hash. The link will work for as long as the Message is stored in the Message Store.

End Processing

Ends execution of the Automation without returning a value.

You can conditionally end execution by including End Processing or Return actions inside If.. End If blocks.

If.. Then.. Else.. End If

Conditionally executes a group of actions based on a Condition.

When you drag an If Action onto the actions list the Condition Builder will be displayed.

Here you create a Condition that will be tested. The condition must be true to start the If block otherwise processing moves to the next Else or End If statements.

In the If column you select a message variable or one of your Extracted Fields or Variables (you can also type text and have combinations of text and %variables%).

In the Is column you select one of the following Match Types:

• Equal To
• Not Equal To
• Less Than
• Greater Than
• Less Than Or Equal To
• Greater Than Or Equal To
• Is Blank
• Is Not Blank
• Contains
• Contains One Of (list of words or phrases)
• Contains All Of (list of words or phrases)
• RegEx Matches (matches a regular expression)
• Does Not Contain
• Starts With
• Ends With (value
• Length Equal
• Length Less Than
• Length Greater Than
• Is A Valid Email Address (check the email address is the correct format)
• Is A Valid Email Address With MX Record (check the email address is the correct format AND has a valid MX record)
• Is Not A Valid Email Address
• Date Only Equal To
• Date Only Less Than
• Date Only Greater Than
• Hour Less Than
• Hour Greater Than
• Minute Less Than
• Minute Greater Than
• Weekday Number Equal To

In the Value column enter a value to compare against. This can contain %variable% replacements.

Click the Add button to add another line. The new line can be assigned as an AND or OR clause.

Each If statement must have a matching End If.

If blocks can be nested inside other If Blocks.

You can also assign a Condition to individual actions using the Condition tab of the Action properties page.

Contains / Does Not Contain Wildcards

The Contains and Does Not Contain match types can use wildcards in the value. For example: If value was 'good *,' - then this would match for a string containing 'Good Morning,' AND 'Good Afternoon,'. The Contains/Does Not Contain matches are case-insensitive.

Contains One Of/Contains All Of Match Types

For the Contains One Of or Contains All Of match types you can enter multiple words or phrases. For Contains One Of the If field must contain at least one of the values. For Contains All Of it must contain all of the values. Both Contains One Of and Contains All Of use case-insensitive matching. Individual words/phrases can contain wildcards.

For example: Suppose we want to check that the message body (%Msg_Body%) contains 'Red' AND 'Blue' AND 'Green' - we would use Contains All Of and set the value to 'Red,Blue,Green'.

Individual words or phrases in the list can contain %variable% replacements. For example, you could use 'Red,Blue,%MyColor%' - %MyColor% will be replaced before the condition is checked.

Word Matches

By default the Contains One Of and Contains All Of match types match text anywhere, so if Contains One Of contained 'request' it would match for 'request' and 'requested' etc. To match whole words only, enclose the word or phrase in square brackets. For example: If we want to check that the message subject contains 'support' AND 'request' we would use Contains All Of and set the value to 'support,[request]'. This would match if the subject was 'New support request', but would NOT match if the subject was 'Support was requested'.

RegEx Matches Match Type

For RegEx Matches match type the value must be a valid Regular Expression. The match will be true if the If value contains one or more matches. For example: To check that the message body contains a ZIP code, set the If to %Msg_Body% and use the RegEx Matches match type with the value set to *\b\d{5}(?:[-\s]\d{4})?\b*

Comparing Numeric Values

If the If value and the value both contain numeric values then the Equal To, Not Equal To, Less Than, Greater Than, Less Than Or Equal To and Greater Than Or Equal To comparisons compare the numeric values rather than string literals. So '1000.00' and '1,000' would be evaluated as equal.

Comparing Date Values

Where the If value is a date or datetime (for example: %Msg_Date%), you can use:

• Date Only Equal To/Less Than/Greater Than : where value is also a date or datetime. Compares the date only portions (ignoring the time).
• Hour Greater Than/Less Than : where value is a number. Compares the hour value of the time.
• Minute Greater Than/Less Than: where value is a number. Compares the minute value of the time.
• Weekday Number Equal To : where value is a number. Compares the day of week value (0=Sunday,1=Monday..6=Saturday).

You can also use other match types (Equal To, Not Equal To, Greater Than etc) where the If value is a date/datetime and the value is a date/datetime. In these cases the dates are converted to yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss format and then compared.

Example If Block

xxxxxxxxxx
If %Msg_To% Contains support Then
    If %Msg_Subject% Contains One Of urgent,ticket Then
        // Support Email
        If %Msg_Date% Hour Greater Than 8 And %Msg_Date% Hour Less Than 18 Then
            // Day time
            Send Teams Message To Support Team "Support Request: %Msg_Subject%" For User Support
        Else
            // Out of hours
            Send Email To outofhours@mycompany.com "Support Email: %Msg_Subject%"
        End If
    End If
End If  

Select Case.. Case.. End Select

Creates a Select Case block to conditionally execute a group of actions in the matching Case block.

When you drag a Select Case action onto the Actions list you will be asked for a Value. Enter a value or a %variable% replacement.

A Select Case block will then be created.

Click a Case action to define the condition for each Case statement.

The Is can be:

• Equal To
• Not Equal To
• Less Than
• Greater Than
• Less Then Or Equal To
• Greater Than Or Equal To
• Contains
• Does Not Contain
• Contains One Of (list of words or phrases)
• Contains All Of (list of words or phrases)
• Starts With
• Ends With
• Else

Enter a Value or %variable% replacement to compare against the Select Case Value.

If the Select Case Value matches the Value of the Case statement then the Actions in the Case block will be executed. Drag any number of actions inside the Case block to execute. Execution will then move to the End Select action.

You can drag additional Case actions to the Select Case block.

The Case Else block will be executed if no matched Case actions are found.

Each Select Case block must have at least 1 Case action and end with an End Select.

Select Case blocks can be nested - so the Case actions can include further Select Case blocks.

Contains / Does Not Contain

The Contains and Does Not Contain match types can use wildcards and are case-insensitive.

Contains One Of/Contains All Of Match Types

For the Contains One Of or Contains All Of match types you can enter a list of words or phrases. For Contains One Of the Select Case Value must contain at least one of the values. For Contains All Of it must contain all of the values. Both Contains One Of and Contains All Of use case-insensitive matching. Individual words/phrases can contain wildcards.

For Each Loop.. Next Loop

Allows you to create a loop based on the following:

• Message Recipients (All, To, CC or BCC)
• Message Attachments (Regular Attachments, Inline Attachments only or both)
• Message Keywords
• Message Headers
• Extracted Fields
• Lines contained in any variable
• Comma Separated Values contained in any variable
• Email addresses, URL's and Tokens contained in any variable
• Data Reader Rows (See: Open Database Reader)
• Json Member in
• Variable Value

Inside the loop you can assign the values of the current loop item and current iteration count to variables. You can then use these values in actions within the loop.

For example, when looping on Recipients you can assign the Email Address & Name of the current recipient in the loop to variables by selecting from the Assign To drop downs.

When looping on Lines the Lines In will be split into lines (based on carriage returns and/or line feeds). Each non-blank line will then assigned to the loop value.

When looping on Comma Separated Values In, the In value will be split on commas. Quoted values will be handled. For example, if Comma Separated Values In contained: