Actionable email documents

A device comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• one or more media including processor-executable instructions that are capable of being executed by the at least one processor, the processor-executable instructions direct the device to perform acts comprising:
• creating an email document comprising a data collection form and a body, wherein the data collection form is in the body of the email document;
• establishing a mapping between metadata and blocks of the email document, wherein the establishing comprises adding field identifiers to the email document in association with respective blocks of the email document, the blocks capable of accepting data from a recipient of the email document, wherein respective field identifiers correspond to respective fields of the metadata;
• including a linkage identifier with the email document that links the email document to the metadata;
• setting one or more reply email processing options for reply email documents, wherein the one or more reply email processing options comprise a limit to a selectable maximum number of reply email documents eligible for processing;
• transmitting the email document via an email mechanism, wherein the data collection form and blocks are transmitted in the body of the email document;
• setting a deadline for arrival of an email document reply;
• in response to receiving the email document reply prior to the deadline:
• effectuating an action using received data populating the blocks and responsive to both the field identifiers and the linkage identifier, wherein the action includes:
• inserting the received data populating the blocks within the email document reply into respective fields of the metadata, the fields identified by the field identifiers.

A method comprising:

• adding blocks that are capable of accepting data to a body of an email document;
• adding field identifiers in association with the blocks to the body of the email document, the field identifiers corresponding to respective fields of metadata;
• adding a linkage identifier to the body of the email document, the linkage identifier linking the email document to the metadata;
• setting one or more reply email processing options for reply email documents, wherein the one or more reply email processing options comprise a limit to a selectable maximum number of reply email documents eligible for processing;
• transmitting the email document toward a destination email address via an email mechanism, the blocks being transmitted in the body of the email document;
• rendering the blocks for data population when rendering the email document;
• populating at least one of the blocks with data;
• receiving a reply email document via the email mechanism, the reply email document comprising the body, the body comprising the linkage identifier and the field identifiers associated with the blocks, the blocks being populated with data;
• and
• effectuating an action using the data populating the blocks in the body of the received reply email document responsive to both the linkage identifier and the field identifiers of the reply email document, the effectuating comprising inserting the data into respective fields of the metadata that correspond to respective field identifiers that are respectively associated with the blocks.

One or more processor-accessible storage media comprising processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to perform acts comprising:

• receiving input by a database program, the input including a database table, a field within the database table, a recipient, an operation associated with the email, the operation indicating an insertion or an update, and a type of data collection;
• in response to the input, the database program performs the following:
• in response to determining the type of data collection corresponds to email, the database program creates an email, the email comprising a table identifier associated with the database table and a field identifier associated with the field within the database table;
• sends the email to the recipient;
• processes a reply email from the recipient in accordance with the email processing option, the reply email comprising the field identifier, the table identifier and received data, the processing including:
• in response to determining the operation associated with the email indicates an insert, inserting the received data into the field of the database;
• and
• in response to determining the operation associated with the email indicates an update, updating data associated with the field of the database with the received data.