Re: Eudora question - "extra" file w/sent attachment

In article <calvin-32F3C9.13562303092006@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Calvin <calvin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <bill-8E0623.23022702092006@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Bill Cole <bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <calvin-0A4E0D.18053801092006@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Calvin <calvin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <1hkycd0.1snodmj12x5skmN%kmorgan@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
kmorgan@xxxxxxxxxxx (Kathy Morgan) wrote:

Calvin <calvin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

When I send an email from Eudora with an attachment, it makes it to
the sender, but if the receiver is using a PC, there is a
secondary
file that also arrives. usually only a few kb in size. this
confuses
many pc users. any thoughts on how to eliminate this "extra" file?

That probably is the Mac resource fork for the attachment. Under
Special | Settings | Attachments, uncheck the block for "Always include
Macintosh information." While you're at it, you probably should check
the radio button for "Appledouble ("MIME")" for greatest compatibility
with PC's.

Thx for the info.
I checked my settings, the "Always include" box was already unchecked.
And I have Apple Double set as default method.

I'll see if having the suffix on the file changes anything.


It shouldn't.

AppleDouble is what causes that second file. Mac files have two logical
data streams associated with them plus a fairly large set of metadata
(name, create/change/backup times, file type and creator, finder
comments, etc) in contrast to the rather simple structure of a file in
Windows in most cases: a stream of data associated with a name, 3 bits
of permission flags, and a change time. AppleDouble is a way of sending
all of a Mac file as two parts: one with the data fork of the file and
the other with the resource fork and metadata. Normally a Windows
machine will only have use for the data fork, and most Windows clients
(e.g. the crapware from Microsoft) don't understand the AppleDouble
format any better than to see it as two distinct files. The main file
containing the data fork is all a Windows machine can usually use
anyway.

You can totally eliminate the appearance of the Mac-specific second part
by sending files using Eudora's "uuencode data fork" encoding method.
That means that when sending files to another Mac user, it won't have
any Mac-specific details like custom icons, Finder comments, type and
creator info, and so on.

The best fix would be for the receiving mail client to get smart about
what is in an AppleDouble structure, and to actually use the information
in that secondary part to whatever extent is possible. Windows has some
support for richer metadata than most Windows mail clients support in
mail.

This problem occurs with Lotus Notes, Outlook, and with Gmail. There
may be others. Thx for the info.
Does the Apple mail application have this problem? or is it Eudora
specific?

It is not a problem with Eudora, it is a problem with the receiving
client software and arguably between keyboard and chair on the receiving
end. AppleDouble encoding is common to all Mac mail clients and is a
standard Internet attachment encoding scheme. Handling AppleDouble mail
in a way that confuses users is a problem with the receiving client,
and being confused by it is a user problem. The only "problem" on the
sending side is global to MacOS: the system maintains and uses more data
about files than is maintained and used on other systems. Your options
with Eudora are to either not send that data (i.e. use the "uuencode
data fork" option) or to have people using broken clients on the other
end (like those you listed) risk confusion.

--
Now where did I hide that website...
.

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