winmail.dat!

[rick wintomac]

When I receive messages in Entourage having attached MSWord and other
MSOffice documents, it comes through as a winmail.dat. Not readable by
even a text editor, needless to say.

Same e-mail coming though gmail, for example, knows what to do with the
attachment.

Is there some setting in Entourage that I'm overlooking??

My config.

OS X 10.4.7
Entourage 2004 v 11.2.5
MS Office 2004 v.11.2

 

[phill4all]

No, the problem is

A. The sender (Outlook/Microsoft). No other email programs read these
either.
B. Entourage did not implement reading winmail.dat (even though they
have the code)

Winmail.dat only works between two Outlook users. There is a setting in
Outlook to fix it, but the default is stupid (Options... Dialog, Mail
Format Tab, Send in this message format: Microsoft Outlook Rich Text).

Since Entourage is from M$, the COULD implement deciphering of
winmail.dat files, but they didn't.

The only solutions are:

A. Redirect your email to an Outlook client on a PC to unpack the
enclosure.
B. Get the sender to send the file(s) again using anything except
"Microsoft Outlook Rich Text" format.

 

[Diane Ross]

The only solutions are:

A. Redirect your email to an Outlook client on a PC to unpack the
enclosure.
B. Get the sender to send the file(s) again using anything except
"Microsoft Outlook Rich Text" format.

Add this solution:

TNEF¹s Enough, by Josh Jacob.<http://www.joshjacob.com/macdev/tnef/> can be
used to read these files.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
The Entourage Blog lists the EHP as one of the top five Microsoft Entourage
resources.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[Barry Wainwright [MVP]]

When I receive messages in Entourage having attached MSWord and other
MSOffice documents, it comes through as a winmail.dat. Not readable by
even a text editor, needless to say.

Same e-mail coming though gmail, for example, knows what to do with the
attachment.

Is there some setting in Entourage that I'm overlooking??

My config.

OS X 10.4.7
Entourage 2004 v 11.2.5
MS Office 2004 v.11.2

Winmail.dat and/or application/ms-tnef files are sent by Windows users of
Outlook or Exchange who have their mail clients set up to use ŒRTF¹ instead
of plain text or HTML.

Usually they only contain a styled text version of the message you have just
read in plain text, but they can contain encoded attachments that you can¹t
usually get to.

Fortunately, there is an excellent little application that lets you read
these files and extract the attachments, called ³TNEF¹s Enough², by Josh
Jacob. Here¹s a link that should let you find it on VersionTracker:

<http://www.versiontracker.com/mp/new_search.m?productDB=mac&mode=Quick&OS_F
ilter=MacOSX&search=tnef& ;x=14&y=8>

Better still, contact your correspondent and ask them to reset their mail
client prefs to use plain text, or at worst, HTML. Outlook 2003 has a
setting found under Tools\Options "Mail Format" tab, INTERNET FORMAT button.
Inside this dialog box, the Outlook user has the option of converting
messages sent outside the Exchange server to HTML, plain text or unchanged.

 

[rick wintomac]

Better still, contact your correspondent and ask them to reset their mail
client prefs to use plain text, or at worst, HTML.

What is better about contacting numerous correspondents? Why don't we
just correpsond by mail?

Actually, I justed tested again today - I send a message with a Word
attachment from my Outlook account at work,addressed to both my cable
account/Entourage client, and to my Gmail account.

Entourage gives me winmail.dat
Gmail shows Word icon and opens the document with a double click.

 

[rick wintomac]

The only solutions are:

A. Redirect your email to an Outlook client on a PC to unpack the
enclosure.
B. Get the sender to send the file(s) again using anything except
"Microsoft Outlook Rich Text" format.

Say what? Re-direct to a PC? Then why would I use a MAC?

Actually, I justed tested again today - I send a message with a Word
attachment from my Outlook account at work,addressed to both my cable
account/Entourage client, and to my Gmail account.

Entourage gives me winmail.dat
Gmail shows Word icon and opens the document with a double click. No
fuss.

 

[mmmmark]

What is better about contacting numerous correspondents? Why don't we
just correpsond by mail?

Actually, I justed tested again today - I send a message with a Word
attachment from my Outlook account at work,addressed to both my cable
account/Entourage client, and to my Gmail account.

Entourage gives me winmail.dat
Gmail shows Word icon and opens the document with a double click.

So go use Gmail and leave everyone else alone. You are quickly becoming a
troll in these newsgroups. You have been answered intelligently and
patiently by at least 5 separate people whom you care NOT to believe.

-Mark

 

[rick wintomac]

My gosh man! - this is no small matter - the negligence of microsoft
and the community that defends it while the users are exercised...

In addition to Gmail, the following can handle MSOffice files they
receive as atttachments from the Outlook sender:

hotmail.com (no surprise-it's MS)
yahoo.com
excitemail.com (Excite - the bottom of the internet e-mail barrel - can
read MSOffice files that Entourage can't)

Since you all don't mind juming through hoops for MS, a little ol'
troll shouldn't bother...

 

[mmmmark]

This happens SO infrequently that I do what any normal, rational individual
would do: Contact my friend who sent me the email and educate them and help
them fix their Outlook settings so they don't continue to cause problems.

Why don't you do the same rather than try to blame someone. My guess is
that YOU are the one sending improperly formatted emails from work to
yourself elsewhere and that is why it has hit a nerve.

That's it for me. I'm blocking any more comments from you, rick.

-Mark

 

[phill4all]

Say what? Re-direct to a PC? Then why would I use a MAC?

I couldn't agree more. I wish M$ would get off their attitude and fix
this.

 

[Barry Wainwright [MVP]]

I couldn't agree more. I wish M$ would get off their attitude and fix
this.

You can send feedback to the developers on this issue. Use the last menu
item under the 'Help' menu - "Send Feedback on Entourage". This message will
go directly to the developers. The more people that request this feature the
more likely it is to be implemented.

 

[rick wintomac]

winmail.dat...

One of the glitches I thought I left behind 10 years ago when I ditched
aol.

 

[Joseph Getchel]

I couldn't agree more. I wish M$ would get off their attitude and fix
this.

Back in the days prior to OSX, there was a program titled "TNEF's Enough"
written by a guy named Josh Jacob. It specifically took a "winmail.dat"
file and extracted the imbedded file(s) from it.

The "winmail.dat" issue is, and has been for some time, evidence of the
brokenness of MS Outlook for Windoze.