Use the MAILTO function to generate clickable links that send an email. You can specify recipients, subjects, and body text.
You could use the MAILTO function to automatically create links that notify model users of a change to data or a required action.
Syntax
MAILTO(Display text, To [, CC] [, BCC] [, Subject] [, Body text])
Arguments
| Argument | Data type | Description |
| Display text (required) | Text | The text to use as a clickable link to send an email. Displays in the result line item. |
| To (required) | Text | The recipients within the To field of the email that the function sends. For multiple recipients, email addresses should be separated by commas. |
| Cc | Text | The recipients within the Cc field of the email that the function sends. For multiple recipients, email addresses should be separated by commas. |
| Bcc | Text | The recipients within the Bcc field of the email the function sends. For multiple recipients, email addresses should be separated by commas. |
| Subject | Text | The subject of the email that the function sends. |
| Body text | Text | The body text of the email that the function sends. |
The MAILTO function returns a text result that you can click to send an email.
Calculation engine functionality differences
You cannot currently use the MAILTO function in Polaris.
In the Classic Engine, you can.
Syntax example
MAILTO("Click to send email", "", "", Mail list, Email subject, Content)
This example uses line items named Mail list, Email subject, and Content. This means that the recipient, subject, and content of the email are easy to change by clicking different links.
Additional information
Different types of text-formatted line items
The arguments for the MAILTO function work with all text-formatted line items regardless of whether they have the General, Email, or Link text type.
Omit optional arguments
The only required arguments for the MAILTO function are Display text and To. To omit any of the other arguments, such as Cc or Bcc, use two double quotation marks for the argument. This provides a blank text entry for them, which enables you to provide later arguments.
Add line breaks to Body text argument
You can add line breaks or paragraphs to the Body text argument if it refers to a line item (you cannot add line breaks directly into a formula). These also display in the email that the MAILTO function generates. To add a line break when you edit a text-formatted line item, press:
- Ctrl + Alt + Enter on Windows
- Ctrl + Option + Enter on Mac OS
Constraints
Default email application for operating system
When you use the MAILTO function to send an email, it opens a new email window in the default email application selected for your operating system. The email pre-populates with the information provided in the arguments of the MAILTO function. To ensure the MAILTO function works properly, select the correct email application for your operating system and browser.
Maximum email length
The MAILTO function sends the details of an email to your default email application via a URL string.
Different browsers support different maximum lengths for URL strings. Internet Explorer supports 2,048 characters, and other browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge support about 80,000. However, the MAILTO function is limited by a combination of the operating system, browser, and email application. For example, a combination of Windows operating system, Google Chrome browser, and Outlook email application limits characters to about 2,000.
If the combined character count of the recipient's email addresses, the email subject, and the body text cause the URL to exceed the maximum length for your browser, the MAILTO function does not work.
If your email contains non-ASCII characters such as Japanese or Cyrillic, each character displays in URLs as multiple symbols and numbers, usually about 3 to 6. This is based on percent-encoding. Additionally, in percent-encoding, a whitespace character and various punctuation display as three characters. This means that the maximum length of MAILTO emails composed of non-ASCII characters is can be about one sixth to one third as long as standard ASCII characters. Additionally, the maximum length of MAILTO emails that contain a lot of punctuation is also shorter.
Excel equivalent
Examples
General example
In this example, the module has a User roles list on columns, which contains the different categories of users to send emails to. The module also has text-formatted line items on rows. The line items contain the email addresses to send the emails to, the content of the emails, and a formula that uses the MAILTO function.
You can publish the links generated by the MAILTO function to a dashboard or page. Use this to enable users to send emails more easily.
| Model Builders | Reviewers | |
| Email link | Send email to model builder | Send email to reviewers |
| To | Brianna.builder@anaplan.com | Renata.reviewer@anaplan.com |
| Cc | Sawyer.security@anaplan.com, Patrice.planner@anaplan.com | |
| Bcc | Alex.admin@anaplan.com | |
| Subject | New update to the Reporting Model | Review the latest update to the Reporting Model |
| Body text | Hello Brianna, There's been an update to the Reporting Model. Please check it and update the model with your required actions. | Hello All, Please review the changes that have been made to the Reporting Model. Provide any feedback via the agreed channels. |
Link to send email
| Send email to model builder | Send email to reviewers |
Formula result for Model Builders list item
When a user clicks the text Send email to model builder within the Link to send email line item, the MAILTO function generates an email where:
- Brianna.builder@anaplan.com is the recipient in the To field of the email.
- The Subject line reads New update to the Reporting Model.
- The body text of the email reads: Hello Brianna, there's been an update to the reporting model. Please check it and update the model with your required actions.
Formula result for Reviewers list item
When a user clicks the text Send email to reviewers within the Link to send email line item, the MAILTO function generates an email where:
- Renata.reviewer@anaplan.com is the recipient in the To field of the email.
- Sawyer.security@anaplan.com and Patrice.planner@anaplan.com are the recipients in the Cc field of the email.
- Alex.admin@anaplan.com is the recipient in the Bcc field of the email.
- The Subject line of the email reads Review the latest update to the Reporting Model.
- The body text of the email reads: Hello All, Please review the changes that have been made to the Reporting Model. Provide any feedback via the agreed channels.
