Siebel Email Administration Guide > Configuring Communications Templates > Fields for Template Items >

Fields for the Template Items List

The following fields are available in the Template Items list:

• Sequence (required). A sequence number is automatically assigned the template item. The sequence number is used to assemble the template items for the communication.

  The default sequence value for a new template item is the lowest positive number that is not assigned to an existing template item for the same template. For template items for the message body, messages to deliver to recipients are constructed as follows:

  • All plain-text template items are concatenated in sequence to form the plain-text message body for the email message. (This constructions applies to email, fax, page, and wireless message templates.)
  • All HTML template items are concatenated in sequence to form the HTML message body for the email message. If HTML template text is defined, then the HTML template items for the message body appends this text. (This construction applies to email templates only.)

    Only template items that have the Message Body check box selected form the plain-text message body or (for email only) the HTML message body.

    For an email message, the recipient's email client displays the HTML version of the message body if it can do so; otherwise, the email client displays the plain-text version of the message body. Sending separate plain-text and HTML versions of the same email message body is called MIME multipart or alternative support. (MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension.)

    NOTE:  For a fax template, specify HTML template items as attachments only. Do not specify HTML template items for the message body. (The text in the Text field can be either HTML or plain text.)

    You can change the sequence number for a template item, but you cannot specify a sequence number that another template item uses. Instead, you must shift the numbers to make space for the one you want to modify. For example, if you have sequences 1 and 2, then to swap the numbers you can change 1 to 3, change 2 to 1, and then change 3 to 2.

• Attachment Label. Specify a label for a template item to attach to an email or fax message. In this context, an attachment is any template item for which the Message Body check box is not selected.

  For a template item that you add as an attachment to an email or fax message, the Attachment Label field provides an optional string to name the attachment. If you do not specify an attachment label, then the file name and extension are used as the attachment label.

  For an HTML template item that you add as an attachment to an email or fax message, note the following points about the attachment label:

  • The Attachment Label field specifies a string that is used for embedding the template item into the HTML. The string must exactly match a reference in the HTML markup so that the HTML content can provide recipients access to the template item content, such as an embedded picture.

    The email client for an email recipient, or the email server for your fax gateway, matches these strings to correctly locate and display or process each embedded attachment.

    For example, for a my_picture.jpg attachment label (without enclosing quotes), the matching HTML reference for the embedded picture file follows:

  <IMG SRC="my_picture.jpg">

  • If you do not specify an attachment label, then the attachment is a true attachment to the HTML email or fax message and is not embedded in the HTML message.

    NOTE:  If you specify an attachment label that does not exactly match a reference in the HTML markup, then email clients, or the email server for your fax gateway, might not be able to access the template item. The template item is an embedded attachment for which the HTML markup provides no access.

    For more information, see the description for the Attachment Name field in this topic.

    Embedding pictures or other referenced files in HTML makes an email message larger and makes sending an email message take longer, or makes fax gateway processing take longer for a fax. For an email message, you can also make a file available on the Internet and include its URL in the HTML. In this scenario, do not also add the files as template items. Recipients can view the images only if they are connected to the Internet when they read the email message.

• Literature Name. Specify a literature item from the Siebel File System. For information about adding a literature item for a template item, see Specifying Template Items for Advanced Templates.

  For a literature item you specify, values are substituted using the business component fields in the Available Fields list if the Substitute Values check box is selected.

  You can specify a template item containing a literature item for the message body for the template, or specify a template item as an attachment.

  You can drill down on the literature item to navigate to another view where you can open the item. For information about adding literature items to the Siebel File System, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

• Attachment Name. Specify the name of an operating system file. The file can be a text file, an HTML file, a graphics file, or another type of file. For information about adding a file for a template item, see Specifying Template Items for Advanced Templates.

  After you specify a file, its name (without the file extension) appears in the Attachment Name field. (The file extension appears in the File Type field.)

  You must add any graphics (picture) file for an HTML message as a file and specify the file as an attachment to the message. You cannot specify the file for the message body. You must specify an attachment label for the file. For more information, see the description of the Attachment Label field in this topic.

  For a file you specify, values are substituted using the business component fields in the Available Fields list if the Substitute Values check box is selected.

  You can specify a template item containing a file for the message body for the template, or specify a template item as an attachment.

  NOTE:  When you specify a file for a template item, the file is automatically added to the Siebel File System. Then, the operating system file is not referenced. When you send the file, you send the version in the Siebel File System.

• File Type. (read only) Displays the extension of a file you add. The file name, without the extension, appears in the Attachment Name field.
• File Size. (read only) Displays the size, in kilobytes, of a file you add.