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Handle errors in email attachments

This information applies only when using the IMAP using Limilabs or EWS email protocols.

Errors can occur in connection with emails for many reasons: incorrect job settings, unaccepted/unknown files attached, corrupt files, and so on. The potential risk for errors also increases if an email contains multiple attachments.

In previous ReadSoft Collector 6.4 versions (Hotfix 9 or earlier), for example, if an email contained multiple attachments, and ReadSoft Invoices was only able to partially process it, the entire email was moved to an Error folder without any indication concerning which attachments were processed or not. Starting with Hotfix 10, users receive the following information concerning errors that occur while processing attachments:

  • The error that occurred and why the email was moved to an error folder.

  • Which attachments were processed and which ones were not.

Also, for those emails with multiple attachments (where some were successfully processed and others were not), ReadSoft Collector creates a copy of the original email that contains only those attachments that were not processed. That is, the attachments that were processed successfully are not included in the copy. Consequently, users can troubleshoot these email copies without the risk of reprocessing attachments that were processed previously.

This is how it works:

  1. Regardless of the outcome, all emails that are processed through ReadSoft Collector end up in the folder specified in the job for Processed invoices.
  2. If an error occurs in ReadSoft Collector or ReadSoft Invoices, a copy of the email is placed in one of five subfolders that are automatically created under the Error folder depending on the type of error that occurred:

    • NoAttachments

    • OnlyIgnoredAttachments

    • NotAcceptedAttachments

    • NestedEmails

    • Unknown

  3. Each email copy that is put into one of these subfolders is created using these rules:

    • The copy contains the same contents and attributes of the original email (like body text, subject, and sender)

    • A log file is added as a new attachment including information on the nature of the problem, details on which attachments were processed and which ones were not, and how they can be solved.

    • All successfully processed attachments are removed to prevent them from being sent to ReadSoft Invoices again.

    • The prefix, [COPY], is added to the email subject to differentiate it from the original supplier email.

  4. Users then need to check the five error subfolders regularly. How to troubleshoot them depends on the error type:

    • Email copies that end up in the first four categories should be easy to fix. For example:

      • Job settings may need to be adjusted. As a consequence, the email copies would need to be processed by moving them to the input folder.

      • If you see that the email does not contain any invoices, it can simply be deleted.

    • Email copies that end up in the Unkown folder need to be fixed differently depending on the error. For example:

      • All unprocessed attachments can be saved as files and imported directly. Then the email copy can just be removed.

      • Once the source of the error is fixed, email copies can be processed by moving them to an input folder.

Related topic

Configure IMAP as an input source (IMAP using Limilabs must be selected)