30.18 Attachment filter
30.18.1 Overview ¶
The attachment filter checks properties of a message's attachments - attachment count, attachment name, attachment size. It targets only mails that carry at least one, exactly one, or no attachment, or it detects specific attachment file names.
Important: This filter in the Message filters decides whether the entire mail is processed. Which individual attachments are then considered by a task (e.g. Save attachments) is controlled by the additional Attachment filter in the task itself (see chapter 9.3).
30.18.2 Available properties ¶
| Property |
Description |
| Attachment count |
Number of attachments |
| Attachment name |
File name of an attachment (text filter, see chapter 30.10) |
| Attachment size |
Size of a single attachment (size filter, see chapter 30.12) |
| Has attachments |
Boolean property (see chapter 30.15) |
30.18.3 Attachment count ¶
| Operator |
Description |
| equal / not equal |
Exactly X or not equal to X |
| less than / greater than |
Thresholds |
| is between |
Range (Value 1 to Value 2) |
30.18.4 Attachment name and attachment size ¶
Attachment name uses the same operators as the text filter (see chapter 30.10):
| Operator |
Example |
| contains / does not contain |
Attachment name contains "Invoice" |
| ends with / starts with |
Attachment name ends with ".pdf" |
Attachment size uses the operators less than / greater than / is between with the units Bytes / KB / MB.
How multiple attachments are checked:
- Positive operators (contains, starts with, ends with): the filter matches as soon as at least one attachment fulfills the condition.
- Negative operators (does not contain, does not end with …): the condition is only fulfilled if none of the attachments contains the value. If one attachment carries the excluded term in its name, the entire mail is filtered out - even if the other attachments would qualify. Example: "Attachment name does not contain AGB" excludes an invoice mail if an "AGB.pdf" is attached alongside it.
- Mails without any attachment never fulfil an attachment-name criterion - neither positive nor negative. If you also want to capture mails without attachments, check that separately (e.g. via Has attachments or an OR combination with another criterion).
This filter always decides about the whole mail. To save or print only specific attachments from a mail, do not use the message filter but the attachment filter in the respective task (see section 30.18.6 / chapter 9.3).
30.18.5 Use case ¶
Do not process mails without attachments
Attachment count greater than 0
Prevents the profile from triggering on plain-text mails when all tasks are attachment-related (e.g. Save attachments).
30.18.6 Filter in message filters vs. attachment filter ¶
| Location |
Effect |
| Message filters (see chapter 8.9) |
Decides whether the entire mail is processed |
| Attachment filter in the task (see chapter 9.3) |
Decides which attachments are concretely saved/printed |
Rule of thumb:
- Ignore the mail entirely when no suitable attachments are present -> Message filters
- Handle the mail but consider only certain attachments -> Attachment filter in the task
30.18.7 Tip ¶
- For inline images (e.g. logos in the HTML signature), the program does not count them as regular attachments by default - this can be toggled per task via the option Process inline attachments