Attachment Management

[Aphid]

The next version of Outlook should include attachment management capabilities
with at least two features. First, the ability to have attachments
automatically removed from incoming messages and stored in designated
folders. Second, attachments to outgoing mail should not be embedded in the
message, but should be sent with the message from their location on the hard
drive. This latter is most important as it prevents multiple "copies" of
files being created by the email client. I know there are third party
Outlook add-ins that claim to do both of these tasks and I have tried
several, but they often thoroughly corrupt my .pst file. Furthermore, I
think these are important features that will significantly reduce .pst file
size, increase attacment handling efficiency, and should not be left to
add-ins.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...d4d50481c&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.general

 

[Brian Tillman]

The next version of Outlook should include attachment management
capabilities with at least two features. First, the ability to have
attachments automatically removed from incoming messages and stored
in designated folders.

See http://www.slipstick.com/addins/housekeeping.htm for add-ins that will
do this now.

Second, attachments to outgoing mail should
not be embedded in the message, but should be sent with the message
from their location on the hard drive. This latter is most important
as it prevents multiple "copies" of files being created by the email
client.

How do you propose that your recipient get the attachment if it's not
embedded in the message?

I know there are third party Outlook add-ins that claim to
do both of these tasks and I have tried several, but they often
thoroughly corrupt my .pst file.

Then try more. There are scads of them.

Furthermore, I think these are
important features that will significantly reduce .pst file size,
increase attacment handling efficiency, and should not be left to
add-ins.

While I may tend to agree that it might be a handy feature for incoming
mail, by having that added in you'll merely make the "Microsoft is a
monopoly" crowd scream all the louder.

 

[Aphid]

Mr. Tilmon,

All of your responses are well taken and I cannot disagree with any.
However, my point is that attachments are a fundamental part of email and
their management should be part of the email client. Also, I was not clear
on sending attachments. The attachment can be sent with the message, but not
embedded in the copy stored in the Sent Items folder. This is, after all,
what most of the add-ins listed at slipstick.com are trying to accomplish.

As for the "Microsoft is a monopoly" crowd, that hypocrisy has become
tiresome. There is no fault in pushing Microsoft to develop applications
that accomplish their tasks efficiently. Outlook is a very good
email/information management client, but it could be better.

 

[Bannor]

Hi there!

Yes, I also feel that this is one area where Outlook could improve
considerably! I receive MANY email attachments daily as part of my work. It
would be SO convienient to be able to sort them and save them to my hard
drive automatically! Also, when creating 'blank' (template) emails with
attachments, if the attachment was left on the hard drive instead of being
embedded in the mail, then each time the mail was sent the recipient would
ALWAYS receive the most up-to-date copy of my file - which is exactly what I
need!

 

[Madra_B]

There is no such option still available in outlook but third party add-on are available for attachment management. The Kernel for Attachment Management is an effective tool for processing selected attachments easily. By default the tool processes all attachments based on the rule created by the user. But there may arise a situation where a user wants to extract attachment of a particular file type from incoming Emails. For example, a user may require extracting only Word documents attached with incoming Emails automatically leaving all other attachments within the Email. The tool provides an option to include the file types that one wants to save or to exclude the file type that he/she does not want to process. The software provides an option to update shortcut or text description when a user changes the location of the folder where processed attachments are saved.