ATT#####.dat - but not what you think

[Danny Dorsey]

This one is odd and I was wondering if anyone else has seen it.

I've got a user who is sending attachments and the whole thing is
coming through on the other end as ATT#####.dat (the # being some
alpha-num). This is where you say, "Have him send as plain text!" but
it goes through with the .DAT even when sending in plain text. Splain
that one to me.

I downloaded a utility to check the DAT the other end is receiving and
it does appear to be valid TNEF with the attachment still in there. Has
anyone else seen this? Outlook isn't supposed to send TNEF from plain
text messages, but Outlook has a mind of its own quite often.

Please help! If you don't and I'm forced to solve this one on my own,
I'll post the answer, or at least a list of the random munging I did to
fix it.

- Danny

 

[Brian Tillman]

This one is odd and I was wondering if anyone else has seen it.

I've got a user who is sending attachments and the whole thing is
coming through on the other end as ATT#####.dat (the # being some
alpha-num). This is where you say, "Have him send as plain text!" but
it goes through with the .DAT even when sending in plain text. Splain
that one to me.

Some versions of Outlook and some versions of Exchange had issues that would
cause this, but since you decided mentioning your Outlook version was
unimportant, no one can point you at specific articles. Thus, it is left to
you to do your own checking.
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Is the attxxxxetc.dat a reproduction of the text of the email message? If
yes, then the only method I know of stopping this behavior is to close
Outlook completely and reopen it.

I happened often with Outlook 2000 or 2002 (don't recall offhand) but
shutting down and reopening would resolve it. Sometimes, rebooting Windows
solved it as it was usually a resource problem.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Danny Dorsey asked:

| This one is odd and I was wondering if anyone else has seen it.
|
| I've got a user who is sending attachments and the whole thing is
| coming through on the other end as ATT#####.dat (the # being some
| alpha-num). This is where you say, "Have him send as plain text!" but
| it goes through with the .DAT even when sending in plain text. Splain
| that one to me.
|
| I downloaded a utility to check the DAT the other end is receiving and
| it does appear to be valid TNEF with the attachment still in there.
| Has anyone else seen this? Outlook isn't supposed to send TNEF from
| plain text messages, but Outlook has a mind of its own quite often.
|
| Please help! If you don't and I'm forced to solve this one on my own,
| I'll post the answer, or at least a list of the random munging I did
| to fix it.
|
| - Danny