Has anyone integrated their app with a FAX server that works well and is not expensive? Or used some sort of e-mail to FAX? When I search on the web for FAX servers there are about a billion of them and as many ways to integrate. So if anyone has had a happy experience I'd love to hear about it. Also, if there are any I should avoid it'd be nice to know.

Thanks,

Dave Ballance

I use Microsoft's fax server at a clients site…Running Msoft Small business server? (something NT anyway ). You just use mapi to send a fax…ie same as e-mail but, the email address has fax:999999 (where 99999 is the fax number).

Code follows:

*

subroutine bsbs_send_fax(FullFileName,Company,FaxNo,Subject,TxtBody)

declare subroutine Msg, Get_Status

declare function   MapiSendMail, MAPILogon, MAPILogoff

$insert Mapi_Equates

equ CRLF$ to \0D0A\

equ CR$   to \0D\

equ LF$   to \0A\

equ TAB$  to \09\

Session=0

Status=MAPILogon(Session, @Window, "MS Exchange Settings", "")

FileName=FullFileName-1,'B\'

if Session then

	Flags=MAPI_LOGON_UI$

end else

	Flags=MAPI_LOGON_UI$ + MAPI_DIALOG$

end

if TxtBody=" then TxtBody=.'

Message='

Message=Subject

Message=fax:":FaxNo:""

Message=TxtBody

• Message=MAPI_RECEIPT_REQUESTED$

Message=IPM.Microsoft Mail.Note"

• Message=IPM."

Message=FileName

Message=FullFileName

Message=( len( message) - 2 ) 

if MAPISendMail(Session, 0, Flags, Message) then

  Msg(@window, "Fax sent successfully!":@fm:"T1")

end else

  Get_Status(ErrMsg)

  Msg(@window, ErrMsg)

end

Status=MAPILogoff(Session, @Window)

return

*

Barry

Bary,

Interesting solution. I was curious though how you handle the issue when the defined profile is not "MS Exchange Settings". When I first looked into this my computer had a totaly different named profile and thus the code wont work.

John

Thanks Barry.

Do you send attachments too? For instance, can you print a PDF with OIPI attach and send that way?

John,

I have it in two client sites (Customised)…Both work on the same settings…or at least the "published" ones.

I honsetly have'nt a clue about was the different settings mean…or either what all the options are.

Barry

Sorry, FullFileName contains the path of the .PDF file that I create using OIPI.

Barry

I have integrated WinFax with a OI Process Server and OIPI. I used Tony Splaver's OIWAM so I could read the WinFax logs to find out if the fax was successful. Many are NOT!

We have some problems where the NT Workstation running the WinFax complains that it doesn't know how to decode the PDF created by OIPI. Then, it works fine for the next one!

I have plans to move it to a XP-based workstation as a fax server.

Barry, sounds like just what I need. I Want to send the PDF, not text in the message. I can stick what I need in the PDF.

Thanks,

Dave

The text message was an user option if they wanted a message in the "Fax" header page.

Dave

I am using WinFax at a client site and Faxing(Email) and I was interested in how OIWam helps you to read the log file.

Barry

re: I use OIWAM to read the log file

OI16 and WinFax are operating as a "OI Server" which checks a transaction file for a fax to be sent, creates a PDF using OIPI, and uses OIWAM to pass the faxing parameters to Winfax. Then, later, it processes the Send file of Winfax, looking for success or failure. They are reported back to the sender via e-mail (in OI MAPI). OIWAM also lets me delete entries in the log so it doesn't grow too large.

Although you can use OI DDE to start Winfax, you can't read those logs. In order to discover if I had success or failure I had to read those logs.

Contact Tony Splaver for a demo.

Dave

OK, As I am sending faxes by e-mail with {fax:….], WinFax is picking this up and sending status e-mailback to user.

What I was looking for was beening able to have OI detect if Fax saw send succesfully or not and flag the orinating document file (e.g Order Confimation) as to the status.

I was able to do this in Arev as WinFax allows Dos sends with Arev creating a fax body file (with headers) and a standard .extension, WinFax then changes the extension to signify if OK or not. I was then able to check the file extensions of faxes sent to get the status)

I know that WinFax has a whole set of APIs that could probaly be used to get what I want, But I am hopeless with converting APIs to OI "calls".

The full explaination above was more for other Developers benifit as I know you probally know the capabilties of WinFax.

Barry

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