Attachment Type

Defines an attachment type and its behaviors for files in a Batch Folder, enabling Grooper to recognize, process, and manage a wide variety of digital documents and archives.

Remarks

Purpose and Role

When a Batch Folder has a file attachment, an Attachment Type is automatically assigned which governs the available actions and metadata for that file.

Integration with Batch Folders

• Each Batch Folder with an attachment has a 'Attachment Type' property indicating an Attachment Type.
• Attachment Types expose Commands that appear in the context menu and can be executed manually or as part of automated batch processes.
• Attachment Types expose properties which are available for use in expressions or transfer into Data Fields.

Commands

• Attachment Types provide commands that can be executed manually by users via the UI, or programmatically through the Execute activity.
• These commands enable file operations, conversions, and custom actions tailored to the file type, supporting both interactive and automated workflows.

Metadata

• Properties exposed by Attachment Types can be accessed from the 'Default Value' and 'Calculate Expression' expressions of Data Field objects.
• These properties are also available in expressions used by Data Actions and during Export operations.
• This enables metadata from various attachment types (such as file name, MIME type, page count, author, etc.) to be dynamically captured into Grooper fields, supporting advanced automation, reporting, and data enrichment scenarios.

Attachment Type Selection

• Grooper automatically selects the appropriate Attachment Type for a file based on its extension and/or MIME type.
• Built-in Attachment Types exist for common formats (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ZIP, PST, EML, etc.), each providing specialized commands and extraction logic.
• Developers can extend Grooper by creating custom Attachment Types in an Object Library, by inheriting a class from MimeTypeHandler.

Related Concepts

• Batch Folder: The container for documents and attachments in Grooper.
• Attachment Type: The user-facing concept for file type handling, implemented by MimeTypeHandler.
• Command: The mechanism for exposing actions (commands) on attachments.
• Data Field: Expressions can access attachment metadata for field population.
• Data Action: Expressions and actions can utilize attachment properties.
• Export: Attachment metadata can be used in export path and filename expressions.
• File Type Recognition: The process by which Grooper matches files to handlers using extension and MIME type.

For more information, see the documentation for Batch Folder, Attachment Type, Data Field, Data Action, and Export.

Context Menu Commands

Command	Shortcut	Description
send_time_extension Change Extension		Changes the file extension of an attachment.
description Remove Attachment		Deletes the locally-stored attachment file from this folder object.
picture_as_pdf Remove PDF Version		Deletes the Grooper-generated PDF version from this item.
edit_document Rename Attachment		Renames the attachment for this item.

Derived Types

There are 14 implementations of Attachment Type.

EDI File	Represents an EDI X12 document attachment for a Batch Folder, providing access to EDI-specific processing and normalization.
Excel Document	Represents a Microsoft Excel document, enabling spreadsheet-centric processing, extraction, and integration in Grooper.
HTML Document	Represents an HTML file attachment type for Batch Folders, enabling HTML-centric processing, parsing, and integration in Grooper.
JPEG Image	Represents a JPEG image file attachment for a Batch Folder, providing access to image properties and metadata.
Mail Message	Represents an attachment type for RFC822 and Outlook mail messages, enabling mail-centric processing, extraction, and integration in Grooper.
PDF Document	Represents a PDF document attachment for a Batch Folder, providing access to PDF-specific properties, metadata, and commands.
Power Point Document	Represents a Microsoft PowerPoint document, enabling presentation-centric processing, extraction, and integration in Grooper.
PST File	Represents a Microsoft Outlook PST (Personal Storage Table) file, enabling mail-centric extraction, processing, and integration in Grooper.
Text Document	Represents a plain text file attachment type for Batch Folders, enabling text-centric processing, parsing, and integration in Grooper.
TIFF Document	Represents a TIFF document attachment for a , providing access to TIFF-specific properties and page information.
vCard	Represents an RFC6350 (vCard) object, enabling contact-centric processing, extraction, and integration in Grooper.
Word Document	Represents a Microsoft Word document, enabling document-centric processing, extraction, and integration in Grooper.
XML File	Represents an XML document attachment type for Batch Folders, enabling XML-specific processing, parsing, and integration in Grooper.
ZIP Archive	Represents a ZIP Archive attachment type for Batch Folders, providing access to ZIP-specific properties and commands.

Used By

BatchBatch Folder