--- title: "PDF Merger email notification setup" slug: "pdf-merger-email-notification-setup" description: "Automate PDF merging in Quickbase with customizable notifications, ensuring efficient file management and seamless updates for your records." tags: ["Quickbase Extension", "Document Generation"] updated: 2026-10-09T17:38:39Z published: 2026-10-09T17:38:39Z canonical: "help.quickbase.com/pdf-merger-email-notification-setup" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.quickbase.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # PDF Merger email notification setup PDF Merger runs in the background. Each merge starts when a Quickbase email notification on your table sends the record's PDF Merger parameters to PDF Merger. The notification decides *when* a merge runs—for example, when someone selects the **Execute PDF Merger** button, when a record is added, or when a status field changes. The notification goes to PDF Merger, not to your users. The installation wizard doesn't create this notification. You create it once on the table where you installed PDF Merger. ## Before you start - Install PDF Merger on the table with the installation wizard, or add a **PDF Merger Parameters** formula field yourself. See [PDF Merger setup](/quickbase-extensions/docs/pdf-merger-setup) and [Formula Text field parameters](/quickbase-extensions/docs/formula-text-field-parameters). - Make sure you can create an email notification with the **Open** permission type in your Quickbase app, so it can be sent to an address outside your app. If you can't select **Open**, [submit a technical support case](https://help.quickbase.com/docs/get-help-from-quickbase-technical-support). ## Create the email notification in Quickbase In your Quickbase app, create a new email notification on the table where you installed PDF Merger, and enter these settings: | Setting | Value | | --- | --- | | **Permission Type** | **Open**: Emails sent openly to anyone | | **Notification Name** | Any name that makes sense to you, for example `PDF Merger: Merge files`. | | **Notify Whom** | A specific list of email addresses | | **Email address** | `pdfmerger@pdfmerger.quickbasetools.com`, or `pdfmergereu@pdfmerger.quickbasetools.com` if your Quickbase account is in the EU. The wizard also adds this address to your table as the **PDF Merger Batch Email** field. | | **Notify When** | The record changes and conditions that should start a merge (see [Choosing when to notify](/quickbase-extensions/docs/pdf-merger-email-notification-setup#notify-when)). | | **Message Type** | Custom Message, **Single Record Version** | | **Subject** | Any subject. PDF Merger doesn't use it, so pick one that helps you recognize the notification—for example, `PDF Merger Request`. | | **Custom Message** | The **PDF Merger Parameters** field, and nothing else (see [Custom message](/quickbase-extensions/docs/pdf-merger-email-notification-setup#custom-message)). | Save the notification. ### Custom message The custom message sends PDF Merger everything it needs: which files to merge, where to save the result, and which fields to update. All of this is in the **PDF Merger Parameters** formula field, so the message is just that field in square brackets: ```plaintext [PDF Merger Parameters] ``` If you installed PDF Merger with the wizard, the field's value already ends with the type and a `configid`, so PDF Merger receives something like this: ```plaintext clientid=Q123 appid=bq1a2b3c4 mrgdte=7 errorfid=8 triggerfid=9 Configuration=bq5d6e7f8:12-6|bq1a2b3c9:25-10 fn=Merged_File apptoken= type=pdfmerger configid= ``` In the EU, the type is `type=pdfmergereu`. If you installed PDF Merger before 2025, your formula may not include the type or a `configid`. Add them after the field, separated by spaces: ```plaintext [PDF Merger Parameters] type=pdfmerger configid= ``` `configid` is the key of your app's PDF Merger batch configuration. See [Batch Config Portal overview](/quickbase-extensions/docs/batch-config-portal-overview). If your account requires batch configurations, PDF Merger only runs when the `configid` and the parameters match a saved batch configuration. Otherwise it writes an error to **Merger Error Details** and doesn't merge. To see what your formula already includes, open the **PDF Merger Parameters** field's formula and look for `type=` and `configid=`. Don't add either one twice. > [!NOTE] > Note > > Don't add other text to the message. PDF Merger reads the message as a list of parameters separated by spaces, so extra words can be read as parameters. ### Choosing when to notify Use **Notify When** and the notification's conditions so that a merge only runs when it should. **With the Execute PDF Merger button.** The button writes `Batch Execution Requested_` and the date and time to the **PDF Merger Trigger Field**, and it's hidden while that field contains *Requested*. Set the notification to: - Notify when a record is modified and **PDF Merger Trigger Field** changes. - Add a condition: **PDF Merger Trigger Field** contains `Requested`. **Without the button.** You can start merges from any change you like, so they run automatically. For example: - Notify when a record is added, to merge the files as soon as the record is created. - Notify when a record is modified and **Status** changes, and only when **Status** is *Ready to merge*. > [!WARNING] > Important > > Make sure the notification can't fire again because of the merge it just ran. When a merge finishes, PDF Merger updates the record: the merged file field, **Merged Date**, **Merger Error Details**, and the trigger field (to `PROCESS COMPLETED_` or `ERROR ENCOUNTERED_` and the date and time). Don't notify on changes to those fields without a condition that rules them out—such as the *contains Requested* condition above—or PDF Merger can merge the same record again and again. ## What happens after the notification is sent PDF Merger merges the files and saves the merged PDF where the parameters say. Then it updates the record: | Field (wizard name) | When the merge succeeds | When the merge fails | | --- | --- | --- | | **PDF Merger Trigger Field** | `PROCESS COMPLETED_` and the date and time | `ERROR ENCOUNTERED_`, the date and time, and the error | | **Merger Error Details** | Cleared | The reason the merge failed | | **Merged Date** | The date and time of the merge | The date and time of the attempt | The date and time in the trigger field are in your app's time zone. Merges take a little while, so refresh the record to see the result. ## Test it 1. Open a record that has files to merge. 2. Select **Execute PDF Merger**, or make the change that your notification watches for. 3. Wait a moment, then refresh the record. The merged PDF should be in the file attachment field, and the trigger field should start with `PROCESS COMPLETED_`. ## If nothing happens | What you see | What to check | | --- | --- | | The trigger field still says `Batch Execution Requested_` and the **Execute PDF Merger** button is gone | The notification didn't fire, or didn't reach PDF Merger. Check that it's on the right table, uses the **Open** permission type, is sent to the right address for your region, and that its conditions match (trigger field changes and contains `Requested`). To get the button back, clear the trigger field. | | **Merger Error Details** has a message | PDF Merger ran but couldn't finish. The message says why—for example, a file couldn't be found, a limit was reached, or the parameters don't match your batch configuration. Fix the cause, clear the trigger field if needed, and run the merge again. | | The same record is merged more than once | The notification is firing on the fields PDF Merger updates. Add a condition as described in [Choosing when to notify](/quickbase-extensions/docs/pdf-merger-email-notification-setup#notify-when). | ## Learn more - [PDF Merger overview](/quickbase-extensions/docs/pdf-merger-overview) - [PDF Merger finish](/quickbase-extensions/docs/pdf-merger-finish): the fields the wizard adds to your table. - [Formula Text field parameters](/quickbase-extensions/docs/formula-text-field-parameters): what goes in **PDF Merger Parameters**. ## Related - [PDF Merger features and functionality](/pdf-merger-features-and-functionality.md)