Linking emails to software license entries

rob_gendreau
rob_gendreau
Community Member

When I was using the standalone version of 1P on a Mac I could drag and drop an email, with say the license info and receipt, onto a software license entry. Since moving to the subscription version, I can't do that—dragging an email opens the document window. Using one of the other options opens a standard Mac Finder dialog to find a file, but finding an email that way is non trivial and too much of a pain.

If I drag and drop into documents that saves the email, but then I have to go back to the software license item and then link up the email document manually. Takes MANY more steps than before.

Is there a way to get the same functionality I had before? so I could just drop an email onto the proper field in the software license? or a way to streamline all these steps?


1Password Version: 7.3
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: maxOS 10.14.5
Sync Type: 1P

Comments

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @rob_gendreau!

    Yes, there is a quicker version:

    1. Open an existing 1Password item and enter Edit mode
    2. In the Related Items section, click on Add New File

    This will add your attachment to 1Password as a document item, and at the same time link the two items so you don't have to do this manually ;)

  • rob_gendreau
    rob_gendreau
    Community Member

    Doh. Should have figured that out; thanks. Missed the "linked" part. Great new feature, and glad it works with just dragging an email out of the mailbox in macOS Mail. IIRC in the non-subscription version I had to remove the email from an imap mailbox and store it locally in "On My Mac," but now that isn't required. Great!

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    @rob_gendreau, you are very welcome! :)

    If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to get back to us anytime, we will be happy to help you.

    Have a wonderful day!

  • rob_gendreau
    rob_gendreau
    Community Member

    Doesn't seem to be working for me now with emails. Using latest version of 1P.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @rob_gendreau - what specifically isn't working? What's changed since June?

  • rob_gendreau
    rob_gendreau
    Community Member

    If I open and enter Edit mode per ag_ana's instructions, then in Related Items I click Add New File, I get flung into a dialog box on my Mac.

    That's useless in macOS for adding an email because the emails themselves are hidden in ~/Library and not easily accessible via a drill-down in the Finder. In the old 1P a drag and drop would successfully add an email.

    In subsequent testing in the latest version I've discovered that the drag and drop from Mail.app ONLY works if you drag and drop from Mailboxes/Inbox. Doesn't matter which email account, if the message/email is in the Inbox you can drag and drop it.

    Some other mailboxes also work, but there's no pattern I can discern in a Mail.app window itself (it might correlate with an underlying file in ~/Library/Mail somewhere, but I don't have the time to look).

    I have noticed that if I find the same email message via other means than Mail.app (I used eg Spotlight and Houdah Spot) that very same email CAN be dragged and dropped from THAT application into 1P (ie drag it from Houdah Spot).

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    @rob_gendreau:

    That's useless in macOS for adding an email because the emails themselves are hidden in ~/Library and not easily accessible via a drill-down in the Finder.

    They are, you just need to make sure you add your Library folder as a shortcut if you don't want to drill all the way down to the Library folder through the Finder.

    There is probably a quicker way to do this, if you find yourself having to do this all the time: I don't use Mail.app anymore, so my memory is not very clear, but if you need to do attach a single message, a quicker way would be to export it from Mail using something like File > Save, putting it somewhere like your Desktop, and add that file to 1Password.

  • rob_gendreau
    rob_gendreau
    Community Member

    Not sure what "shortcut" you're referring to. I can get into the ~/Library easily enough. But perhaps you're not familiar with how Mail.app stores emails? It's a structured file hierarchy corresponding to the database within Mail.app.

    Assuming you got in to ~/Library/Mail, here's the typical file structure you are confronted with::

    /Users/me/Library/Mail/V6/A69DE8B2-780B-46D1-911B-1AB33BE31260/INBOX.mbox/Mac Receipts.mbox/1047DE81-3C31-4329-9854-9715109C1F67/Data/4/7/Messages/74621.emlx

    So browsing for an email with the subject "Thank you for your order from Agile!" to add to a 1P item is pretty tough. Beyond me, in any case. That's why drag and drop is key; finding via the (ahem) Finder doesn't work.

    And yes, I could export, copy in, and then delete. But since you CAN drag and drop from some mailboxes I thought I could continue to use the easier route, and there was a way to fix it. But I'm getting a sense it's not used much by anyone else. Works great for me for all my software licenses, website subscriptions, and so on.

    But thanks anyway.

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni
    edited September 2019

    Not sure what "shortcut" you're referring to.

    You can add any folder as a shortcut in your Finder. I hope a screenshot will be helpful for you:

    I can get into the ~/Library easily enough. But perhaps you're not familiar with how Mail.app stores emails? It's a structured file hierarchy corresponding to the database within Mail.app.

    I am not sure what you are suggesting though: would you like Mail.app to allow you to drag and drop from any folder to 1Password? Because if that's the case, it seems to be a request better directed to Apple themselves.

    So browsing for an email with the subject "Thank you for your order from Agile!" to add to a 1P item is pretty tough. Beyond me, in any case. That's why drag and drop is key; finding via the (ahem) Finder doesn't work.

    I am afraid we cannot help with Apple apps and macOS. Other than using a different email client that actually behaves the way you want, if you would like to have an improved way of accessing your emails via the Finder, please send a feedback request to Apple. I am sure other folks with the same needs as yours will appreciate your effort.

  • rob_gendreau
    rob_gendreau
    Community Member

    I don't want to repeat myself too much, but if you look at the response I made of Sept 13th you can see that drag and drop DOES work in 1P from Mail.app with certain mailboxes. Why it doesn't work with others, I don't know. But drag and drop from Mail.app works with many other macOS applications so I wouldn't think there's evidence to conclude it's an OS issue. In any case, I'll move on, and as you suggest use an alternative, like Devonthink, to store the license info instead of 1P, and recommend to others they do so as well.

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    @rob_gendreau:

    drag and drop DOES work in 1P from Mail.app with certain mailboxes. Why it doesn't work with others, I don't know.

    My thought was that, if this was a 1Password issue, 1Password would not be able to drag and drop from any mailbox. I might be wrong though, but have you 100% ruled out this could be a Mail.app issue? From your response, it doesn't look like it, so I felt like recommending to reach out to Apple as well for completeness.

    In any case, I am happy that a separate document storage app will work for you in this case. If you find yourself dragging emails inside 1Password all the time, a separate app specifically for document management sounds like the best solution for your workflow, so you can let 1Password do password management alone, which is what it does best ;)

This discussion has been closed.