pat-glich / robocorp_tim

Send emails with Outlook application

Example requires working Outlook installation on Windows system

Environment variables

• OUTLOOK_ACCOUNT (REQUIRED). This variable defines Outlook account name.
• EMAIL_RECIPIENT (REQUIRED). This variable defines recipient of the email.
• EMAIL_ATTACHMENT (OPTIONAL). This variable defines filepath to the email attachment.
• EMAIL_BODY (OPTIONAL). This variable defines filepath to the email body (text file).

email_body.txt:

Greetings!

This email has been sent by Robocorp Robot.
<ATTACHMENT_TEXT>
You can find my source at https://github.com/robocorp/example-windows-outlook

Best Regards,
Mark the Robot

Task steps

Task consist of three main level keywords:

• Set Variables for the Task
• Open Outlook or Use already open Outlook
• Use New Email button to Send Email

Set Variables for the Task

Verifies that mandatory environment variables exist and sets necessary variables for the task.

Open Outlook or Use already open Outlook

Opens Outlook application if it is not open or gets control of already open Outlook application window.

Use New Email button to Send Email

Click New Email button on fill in information into opened dialog and send the email.

Workarounds in use to improve automation effiency

• Clipboard is used in some places to paste text into input fields / textareas instead of sending keystrokes. The clipboard is cleared just in case in the Task Teardown step.
• Email body text is read from the email_body.txt or file defined by EMAIL_BODY environment variable if either exists. File content can include <ATTACHMENT_TEXT> text which will be replaced with the text information the filename of the attachment.
• Robot Framework IF/ELSE syntax is in use to make process more readable.

Further reading

• Desktop automation
• Windows Robots in the Portal
• RPA.Desktop.Windows library
• RPA.Desktop library
• RPA.FileSystem library