Actually... Apple's Built in Mail program (v1.37) - Panther provides this
functionality without user intervention. The document is attached without
using a compression scheme, known to the user. It appears as a normal
document in the file choice dialog. We use the Entourage in rare instances
for the calendar function/ or with semi-compliance with MS Exchange. I still
think .key is just another file type that should be recognized.
(e-mail address removed)
It sure does Phil. I just tried it with many of the applications of OS
X that are really "packages" such as iCal, Address Book, etc. When you
try to send something like that with Entourage they are just grayed
out, but with Mail you are able to attach them to an email. Mozilla
variants are also able to select these applications.
With a little experimentation, here is what I found. Mail actually zips
the file before sending it. I tried sending these programs. I sent one
from Mail and received it with Entourage, and then I sent one with Mail
and received it with Mail.
When Mail received it, It must have done everything behind the scene
because I didn't notice anything happening. It sent the application,
and when it received the application it was "MacJanitor.app." When I
drug it to the desktop, it became just "MacJanitor" without any
intervention on my part.
When Entourage received it, the name of the file was
"MacJanitor.app.zip." When I drug it to the desktop, it stayed in it's
zipped state of course. I did a Get Info on the resulting zip file, and
for the "open with" field it says "BOMArchivhelper." This is the
Panther zip utility.
I double clicked the zip file, and no application opened that I could
tell, at least by observing the dock, but it did unzip to the original
file. Trashed and emptied the unzipped file.
Next, I right clicked on the zipped file and chose "open with" Stuffit
Deluxe (version 7.03). MacJanitor appeared on the desktop when I drug
it from the Stuffit Deluxe window to the desktop. I double clicked
MacJanitor and it opened right up without any problems and ran as it
should. Trashed and emptied the unzipped file.
Finally, I right clicked and chose "open with" Stuffit Expander
(version 7.03). MacJanitor appeared on the desktop again, fully
functional.
I think with this information, we can assume that Apple has refined
Panther's zip capability since the original links from MacOSXhints.com
were authored. If you look at the dates of those links, they are from
the early days of Panther, October through December 2003. The link Dave
provided being October 28, 2003.
With this in mind Phil, using Panther 10.3.3, you can compress your
Keynote files using Panther's zip without fear that your documents will
become unreadable by Mac users. I know this is just a workaround, and
not a solution. Maybe this will be addressed in future versions of
Entourage.
In my opinion, you could argue all day long about the fact that these
files are really some type of folder. We are on an Apple platform. MS
writes software for this platform. If Apple says that their Keynote
documents will be in some folder format (as they have for their
applications) then that's the bottom line. They will be folder format.
If MS wants to maintain the ability to send Keynote files easily, they
will have to change the way their program looks at files.
My suggestion to Phil is this: If you would rather not manually
compress your files before sending them, then use Mail or some Mozilla
varient to send your keynote files. In the meantime, you could give MS
feedback about it.
Testing configuration:
iBook 700MHz, 640 MB RAM
OS X 10.3.3
Mail 1.3.7 (v615/613)
Entourage 10.1.4 (030702)
2 separate POP email accounts, one for sending, one for receiving.
ISP: RoadRunner Cable
--
Walt Basil
www.basilweb.net
Got Unison? The ultimate newsreader IMO for Mac OS X
http://www.panic.com/unison/