Email parsing + database generation

Create database tables from your stored email messages :

Create the database. Visit the database page for more information.
Download, install and start DTBuild.
Select the appropriate email parsing template.
Set the input: your message folder(s).
Set the output: your database.

Map the input to the output with a string set. For example :

Text	Target
Customer:	table.custname
Customer ID:	table.custid
Transaction ID:	table.transid
Transaction date:	table.transdate
Amount:	table.amt
....	...

Modify other configuration data as necessary.
Run DTBuild.

Create the database

Use a DBMS (Database Management System) such as Microsoft Access to create the "target" database. Visit the Database + ODBC page for information regarding database creation and configuring the ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) connection.

Download, install and start DTBuild

Download the DTBuild self-installing executable (.EXE) file.

Install DTBuild by running the downloaded .EXE file on your computer. It is recommended that you accept the defaults by simply pressing "Enter" until the installation has finished. Be sure to take time to read the license agreement, though!

Start DTBuild - the installation creates a Start menu entry and icons allowing you to run the program.

Select the appropriate email parsing template

The DTBuild installation is accompanied by several sample email parsing configurations. The best way to create an email parser is to adapt an existing parser that closely matches the desired task.

EMail-To-Database.dxd is a good starting point for many email formats. Modify the string sets and action group "NewEMail" as needed.

Contact DTUtilities support for assistance with email parser configuration.

Set the input

The input is specified as one or more message folders. When the Run | Email input (Ctrl+E) command is selected all messages in the specified folders are scanned. Select Input/Output | Input email folders to define the folders to be scanned.

Set the output

DTBuild can output to database or files. Specify output file(s) using the "Input/Output" menu, option "Output files". Specify the database using the "Input/Output" menu, option "Database". Click here for more information on databases. Consult the program help for information on output destinations.

Map the input to the output

Modify the DTBuild string set(s) using the "Definitions" menu, option "String sets". String sets are also accessible via the "Quick Start" menu.

Modify other configuration data as necessary

In order to perform the desired task the sample configurations may require modification beyond changing input, output and string sets. Consult the program help and the tutorial for more information.

Run

Use the Run | Email input (Ctrl+E) command to parse the emails. See the run topic for more information.

Obtaining the desired output typically requires a few iterations of three basic steps :

Modify the configuration,
run,
check the results.

Contact DTUtilities support for assistance with email parser configuration.

Message (email) interface

DTBuild uses MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) to interact with the Windows messaging system. In order to determine whether or not it has already seen a message, DTBuild marks each message with a time stamp. This enables DTBuild to run in "New messages only" mode. Apart from this time stamp, DTBuild's access to the messaging system is read-only.

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