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Q126648: PC Win DOS: How the WINMAIL.DAT File Effects Attachments

Article: Q126648
Product(s): Microsoft Mail For PC Networks
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.0,3.2,3.2a
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 27-OCT-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Mail for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.2, 3.2a 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When Microsoft Mail for Windows sends a message with attachments, it dumps some
raw data into the message body. When another Windows client receives this mail
message, it parses and removes the raw data so the user never sees it.

A problem arises when the mail message is read by different clients. For example,
the MS-DOS client or a foreign mail system client does not have the ability to
remove the raw data. As a result, the unreadable data is left in the message
body.

CAUSE
=====

The "invisible attachment," or WINMAIL.DAT file, should remove the raw data in
the attachment's message body.

RESOLUTION
==========

The MS-DOS client was changed in version 3.0b to provide the following
functionality for mail sent from the Windows client:

1. The MS-DOS client shows a text list of the file attachments in the header of
  the message file. This list corresponds to what a user would see in the
  Attachments, View or Save.

2. The WINMAIL.DAT file no longer shows up as text in the MS-DOS client. Foreign
  mail clients may, however, still see the raw text. The MS-DOS client user can
  still see the text from the View or Save menus of the MS-DOS client.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMailSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbMail300 kbMail320 kbMail320a
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.2,3.2a

=============================================================================

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