Automatic Extraction of Metadata from Microsoft Outlook Emails

Automating the capture of email metadata allows users to easily store, search, and archive important emails. The document management system can automatically capture metadata from emails that are added to FileHold from Microsoft Outlook. The fields captured are To, CC, Date, From, Subject, and any attachment.

In order to extract email metadata, you must enable this feature. You will also need to create an email extraction schema and the metadata fields to map the fields CC, Date, From, Subject, and To. For example, you can name the fields “Email CC”, “Email Date”, “Email From”, “Email Subject”, and “Email To”.

After the feature is enabled and the schema is created, the values for the mapped fields are automatically populated as the emails are moved into Library and associated with email extraction schema. Emails are stored in the Microsoft Outlook .MSG format using the FileHold Desktop Application (FDA) and Microsoft Outlook. It will not remove the Email from Outlook unless you specific this setting in the Desktop Client User Settings and Preferences.

Watch the Email Extraction Rule training video.

TIP: If the FileHold toolbar does not appear in the Add-Ins ribbon in Microsoft Outlook, refer to the Office 2007 Troubleshooting section.

To create the email schema and metadata

1. Create a new schema called Email or something similar. For more information on creating schemas, see Creating Document Schemas for more information.

2. Create text fields with 140 character maximum length for:

• From:

• To:

• CC:

• Subject:

• Attachments

3. Create a date field for:

• Date Sent:

4. Save the Email schema.

 To enable the extraction of metadata from email

1. In FDA, go to Tools > Extraction Rules.

2. In the List of Extraction Rules window, click Add Email Headers Rule.

3. In the Email Headers Rule window, enter a name for the rule such as "Email extraction rule".

4. Enter a description (optional).

5. To enable the rule, ensure the Rule is Enabled check box is selected.

6. In the Document Schema field, select the Email schema name from this list.

7. Map the metadata fields for From, To, CC, Subject, Attachments, and Date Sent to the metadata fields you created in the previous section.

8. Click OK.

9. To test the email settings, launch Microsoft Outlook and the FileHold Desktop Client. Login to the FileHold Desktop Client. Open an email in Outlook so it is in full screen. From the Add-ins ribbon, click Add to FileHold. The metadata fields will be automatically populated based on the email content.  

FileHold '09 Email Extraction

NOTE: The instructions above are for FileHold 12. For FileHold '09, use the procedure below to map the email schema to the emails. If you have upgraded from FileHold '09 to FileHold 12, your email extraction rule settings will have been automatically updated to the Extraction Rules list. You do not need to recreate the email extraction rule.

To enable the extraction of metadata from email (for FileHold '09 only)

1. Go to Library Admin > Library Settings > General.

2. In the Extraction of Email Metadata area, select the Enable extraction of email metadata in FDA and FOC.

3. Select the Email schema name from this list.

4. Map the metadata fields for From, To, CC, Subject, and Date Sent to the metadata fields you created in the previous section.

5. Click Update.

6. To test the email settings, launch Microsoft Outlook 2007 and the FileHold Desktop Client. Login to the FileHold Desktop Client. Open an email in Outlook so it is in full screen. From the Add-ins ribbon, click Add to FileHold. The metadata fields will be automatically populated based on the email content.

See Also:

Extraction Rules

File Properties Extraction Rules

XML Nodes Extraction Rules