Entourage attach Word doc error: action could not be completed -199

[TechInfoToth]

When I attempt to attach a Word document to an Entourage e-mail, I get
the following error: "The action could not be completed. (An unknown
error occurred
(-199)". I get the same result if I either drag to the attachment
window, or select "Add" from the message window.

The only workaround is to select "Send To" -> "Mail Recipient (As
Attachment)" from the Word "File" menu.

This only occurs for specific Word documents that have somehow become
"corrupted". Another option for "fixing" these documents is to
copy and paste the contents into a new blank Word document, save the
new document, and attach the new document. Also, opening the document
in Office Word 2003 for Windows, and performing a "Save As..."
produces a useable file.

Important note: ALL other (previously non-corrupted) Word documents
will still attach to the same e-mail.

This problem is specific to Entourage, because using Apple Mail, or
Mozilla Thunderbird produces no error when attempting to attach the
file.
This behavior has been demonstrated on multiple workstations throughout
my company. Once a file is "corrupted" it is easy to reproduce the
error, and the error will occur on any other workstation.

Specifics:
Demonstrated on OS 10.3.9 and 10.4.6 workstations.
Microsoft Office 2004: Entourage 11.2.4, Word 11.2.3 (problem was
present before the latest patch update).
No amount of "Database Rebuilding" will solve this issue.
It is not an Application "permissions" issue that can be fixed with
Disc Utility.
The File's permissions are set to read/write/execute for the primary
user.

Any help regarding this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Some of this information has been pulled/verified from the following
post on the Microsoft.public.mac.office.entourage newsgroup:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...rror+occurred+(-199)"&rnum=1#109eb6da4dfd595c

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

If you know that the problem is that the Word documents have become
corrupted, why in the world would you want to send them to anyone in that
corrupted state? They're going to become unmanageable soon. I advise you to
go to the Word Mac newsgroup with questions on how to uncorrupt documents.
(The two methods usually given as they work most of the time are to copy
everything except the final paragraph make - after turning on non-printing
characters or paragraph marks in Word - into a fresh new document and save
it; or, if that doesn't work, go to Save As Web Page, then open the web page
in word and save as Word Document.)

If you insist on sending corrupted documents, zip them first. In OS 10.4
it's simple: control-click on the Word file in the Finder and choose "Create
Archive". In OS 10.3, you'd need to have utility like DropStuff to zip it.
(Obviously the usual option to Stuff it within Entourage itself won't work
for you here.)

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

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ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.