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I just had a request from my boss - he has a situation where someone is requesting copies of emails and attachments over a specific time period as part of an FOI request. As it is done now, my boss pulls up the (Outlook) email, prints it, prints the attachment (if required,) and moves on to the next email, ad nauseum, until his fingers fall off and a small forest is wiped out. I mentioned exporting to a PST and giving it to the guy on disc, but apparently, this doesn't fly, because it has to be in a "readable" format. The criteria for this software is that: It must provide a readable output (text, image, etc); It must be able to export in date order It must be able to discern that there is an attachment and export it accordingly and that's pretty much it. Please, someone, tell me that you've had this exact experience and found the perfect tool to get the job done... EDIT: I may have found a plugin that will work. What a pain in the rear end. berzerkmonkey fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Sep 12, 2014 |
# ? Sep 12, 2014 18:28 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 09:49 |
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I don't have the silver bullet for this, but wouldn't printing to PDF at least save the small forest?
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# ? Sep 14, 2014 22:07 |
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Yes, but the jackass requested paper, so paper it is. You have to comply with the request of the citizen, as long as it is within your power to do so (i.e. we don't have to comply with a request for the information to be on a floppy, since that is impossible now.) Welcome to government! At any rate, we needed a solution that would print in batches, including the attachments (if any) in order. Outlook on its own doesn't do that.
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 00:58 |
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Isn't mbox a standard for doing that sort of export? Check out this article from the author of O'Reilly's "Mining the Social Web", which shows how to process e-mail data with Python. Hopefully there's something there you can use.
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 08:53 |
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like this is only applicable to Gmail? EDIT: Apparently not. Though, like I said, I was able to find a cheap plugin that is user friendly and will do what he needs to do. Thanks though.
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 15:09 |
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berzerkmonkey posted:Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like this is only applicable to Gmail? Don't you get to pass along the cost of the plugin to the citizen doing the request?
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 15:20 |
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deimos posted:Don't you get to pass along the cost of the plugin to the citizen doing the request? Nope. I mean, essentially he's paying for it anyway (taxes) but this is to lessen our burden. It's only $22 anyway.
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 18:11 |
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berzerkmonkey posted:Nope. I mean, essentially he's paying for it anyway (taxes) but this is to lessen our burden. It's only $22 anyway. Do I have to issue a drat FOI request to get you to tell us the name of the plugin?
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 23:08 |
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spog posted:Do I have to issue a drat FOI request to get you to tell us the name of the plugin? In triplicate. Sorry - I did that thing that I hate when other people do: post that they found a solution and never actually say what that solution was. I'll get it up tomorrow when I can check my email.
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# ? Sep 16, 2014 00:21 |
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berzerkmonkey posted:In triplicate. Sorry - I did that thing that I hate when other people do: post that they found a solution and never actually say what that solution was. I'll get it up tomorrow when I can check my email. There seemed to be a certain irony in your apparant refusal to reveal vital information, in a thread about FOI. Either that, or you used to a writer for Lost.
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# ? Sep 16, 2014 08:54 |
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Ehh, it wasn't a refusal, just an oversight. At any rate, it was from here: http://www.sperrysoftware.com/outlook/print-on-demand.asp I haven't tried it, I've just submitted it up the chain for review, so I can't recommend it in any way, other than it is advertised to do what is needed.
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# ? Sep 16, 2014 17:04 |
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Nah. Just pulling your leg and pointing out the irony in the situation I'd appreciate hearing your experiences with it.
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# ? Sep 16, 2014 17:37 |
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If my boss decides to use it, I'll post an update here.
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# ? Sep 16, 2014 19:14 |
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I'm totally curious for no reason, now. What was the subject/purpose of the FOI request?
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 04:58 |
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KillHour posted:I'm totally curious for no reason, now. What was the subject/purpose of the FOI request? Food Court complaint cards.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 07:16 |
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Well, then.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 15:21 |
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KillHour posted:I'm totally curious for no reason, now. What was the subject/purpose of the FOI request? Who knows. The public asks for some wacky things. I'm not at that level though, so I don't get to see or process the requests. Also, as an update, my boss will not share any information, so I can't respond to the previous request regarding whether or not the program works.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 16:56 |
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berzerkmonkey posted:Who knows. The public asks for some wacky things. I'm not at that level though, so I don't get to see or process the requests. Also, as an update, my boss will not share any information, so I can't respond to the previous request regarding whether or not the program works.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 17:02 |
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nexxai posted:There is more delicious irony in that the public has a right to this information, but you as a government employee apparently don't (according to your boss, anyways). It's possible his boss doesn't want it to be seen as an endorsement I guess, but it is hilarious no matter how you cut iy.
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# ? Oct 21, 2014 18:53 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 09:49 |
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berzerkmonkey posted:Also, as an update, my boss will not share any information, so I can't respond to the previous request regarding whether or not the program works. File a FOIA about it.
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# ? Oct 22, 2014 04:26 |