Mapping e-mail headers to SharePoint metadata

KB: Mapping e-mail headers to SharePoint metadata

This article applies to harmon.ie for SharePoint, Enterprise & Notes Editions.

When uploading e-mail messages to SharePoint using harmon.ie, you can automatically map the e-mail headers (From, To, CC, Subject, Date, etc.) to SharePoint document properties. To enable this mapping, the SharePoint document library needs to be set up with e-mail specific columns.

There are two ways to do this:

  1. The recommended way is to install the optional SharePoint feature package and library template provided by Mainsoft on your SharePoint Server. This package adds a new e-mail document library, including e-mail columns, an e-mail content type, and an e-mail view.
  2. Alternatively, configure the SharePoint document library to receive incoming e-mails. It will include the To, From, and Subject columns. The compatible e-mail headers will be automatically mapped to these columns when uploading e-mail messages with harmon.ie. This approach gives a partial solution of mapping e-mail headers to SharePoint columns:
    • There is no e-mail content type, and the e-mail header columns are not read-only.
    • There is no e-mail view for an Inbox-style display of items.

This article explains the e-mail feature package and how to install and uninstall it.

What metadata is added to SharePoint?

The e-mail content type includes the following read-only fields, which are added to SharePoint:

E-mail header Description SharePoint column type
Received A copy of this field is added by each transport service that relays the message. Single line of text
Attachments Indicates if the e-mail message contains one or more attachments. Yes/No
To The identity of the primary recipients of the message. Single line of text
From The identity of the person who sent the message. Single line of text
Subject A summary of the message. Single line of text
Cc The identity of the secondary recipients of the message. Single line of text
Date The date and time when the message was sent. Date and Time
In-Reply-To The contents of this field identify previous correspondence that this message answers. Single line of text
References The contents of this field identify other correspondence that this message answers. Single line of text
Reply-To Indicates any mailbox(es) to which responses are to be sent. Single line of text

The e-mail view provides an Inbox-like display of e-mail messages - including the e-mail headers - stored on SharePoint. The view hides non-e-mail messages from the list, and allows messages to be sorted and filtered by any column.


Installation

To download and install the optional e-mail feature package and template, do the following:

  1. Download the e-mail feature package for SharePoint for SharePoint 2010 or MOSS 2007, depending on your SharePoint server version.
  2. Extract the contents of the downloaded archive to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\14\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\ on the SharePoint server, preserving the folder structure.
  3. Open a Command Prompt and run the following commands to install and activate the e-mail feature of the SharePoint Server:
    1. cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\14\BIN
    2. STSADM.EXE -o installfeature -name emailfeature
      (The command prompt will respond with Operation completed successfully.)
    3. STSADM.EXE -o activatefeature -name emailfeature -url <SharePoint URL>
      (The command prompt will respond with Operation completed successfully.)
  4. Download the EMailDocumentLibrary.stp template for SharePoint 2010 or MOSS 2007, depending on your SharePoint server version.
  5. From the SharePoint Web interface, select Site Actions > Site Settings > Galleries > List templates.
  6. In the List Template Gallery, select Upload > Upload Document, and browse to the STP file you downloaded in step 4. Then, click OK.

Note: Depending on your SharePoint Server version, the number “14” in the paths above will differ.

The e-mail columns, e-mail content type, and e-mail view are now deployed and activated on the SharePoint Server.

Configuring the Mapping

The mapping between e-mail headers and SharePoint columns is configurable from the mappings list in the harmon.ie Options. To learn more, read:

Uninstalling

To remove the e-mail feature from a SharePoint Server, open a command line interface and run the following commands to deactivate and uninstall the feature:

  1. cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\14\BIN
  2. STSADM -o deactivatefeature -name emailfeature -url <SharePoint URL>
  3. STSADM -o uninstallfeature -name emailfeature
  4. IISRESET (This restarts the Web server.)

Note: Depending on your SharePoint Server version, the number “14” in the path above will differ

If the e-mail feature needs to be reinstalled or updated, you first have to deactivate and uninstall the feature before installing it again.

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