EMC163   Attachment Botches 1/2
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services

EMC163 Attachment Botches to Email 1/2   Release  12/21/98

Query: Why do some users get clean attachments to their Email
messages while others trash an attachment as unreadable?

Answer:  First let's define an attachment. It a file from your
computer that is sent separate from, but with, the Email message.
That is, it is not within the text of the message, but "attached"
for sending purposes. The success of attachment can vary because
of several aspects: (1) your understanding of this subject; (2)
the ability of your software to handle attachments: (3) the type
of attachment; (4) the software the recipient has, since he/she
must have software that can 'handle' the attachment you send.

Typically an attachment is a binary file.  A binary file is any
file that contains non-textual data. Examples of binary files 
are applications and images. These include: Word processing
documents (MS Word, WordPerfect), JPG image files, GIF image
files, execution program files (PC), and other "data" type files
that are not pure ASCII, such as compressed files. (Refer to
bulletin EMC162 for more about ASCII aspects, ASCII being text.)

The problems that are encountered when trying to view attachments
are usually created by an incompatibility between Email software
and the methods that they use to encode and/or compress files. 
This is usually the case when different platforms are used since
the "default" methods are usually different.  As an example, Macs
normally use one method of encoding files, while the DOS/Window
computers use something else. Since most Email programs will 
automatically encode attachments, the user needs to understand
what that software is capable of doing by the way of encoding.
In the newer Email programs there is often a selection for
default encoding that allows the user to choose what method they
need to use for a particular recipient. Those with this option
can learn how to achieve successful transmission of attachments
by conducting tests with the intended receiving party to verify
that they are able to decode the attachment. Once the computer
user grasps the fundamentals of which option achieves which 
purpose, sending attachments becomes second nature. Fortunately,
ever improving software makes this process easier as more of
us learn these aspects of intercommunication between people.

(Continues, next bulletin, EMC164.)
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EOM