is it possible to show images directly in outlook

V

Vanguardx

sam said:
is there an option to show image attachments in outlook as they do in
Outlook Express?
Click to expand...

Unless you are using Outlook Express 4 (or a registry hack for Outlook
Express 5), there is no picture slideshow feature in Outlook Express
anymore. Outlook never had that feature. If you want to see the
picture inline with the body of the message then tell your sender to
embed the picture inline (insert it) rather than attach it.
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

Huh? Attachments to messages display inline in OE6.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)



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V

Vanguardx

Diane Poremsky said:
Huh? Attachments to messages display inline in OE6.
Click to expand...

"Huh" back to you. I just sent myself a test message with an *attached*
(not inserted) graphic image file. It was composed in OE6 and received
in OE6. On receipt and when I opened the message, the graphic image was
NOT inline with the body of the message. Yep, the picture does display
at the BOTTOM of the post if composed using HTML. Sent myself another
test HTML e-mail with 4 pictures attached. They show as one long
vertical series of pictures at the END of the body of the message. I'd
hardly call that position as *inline* with the message body. It's a
preview area AFTER the message body. I repeated the test e-mail with
*attached* image files but used Outlook to compose it. Same results.
So there is a non-inline preview available of *attached* pictures but
the slideshow feature isn't available anymore. Outlook just shows a
list of the attached files. I don't use Rich-Text Format (RTF) so I
didn't test behavior for that format.

As far as inline attachments, yes, Outlook will show those within the
body of the message *if* they have Content-Disposition=inline.
Attaching them gives them a dispostion of "attachment" which is merely
an instruction to the e-mail client on how it should present that
attachment (as a paperclip in Outlook's case). If the sender pastes in
a picture within the body (works in Outlook but not in Outlook Express),
it is an *inline* image and will be displayed inline. Rather than
pasting, the user can also use the Insert -> Picture menu.

When I used the Insert -> Picture window in Outlook or Outlook Express,
the received message showed the graphic inline with the body of the
message and NOT at the end as a preview. The headers contained:

Content-Type: multipart/related;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0008_01C4BD7A.2F0DA660"

and the MIME part for the JPEG image was:

------=_NextPart_000_0008_01C4BD7A.2F0DA660
Content-Type: image/jpeg;
name="golfer.jpg"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-ID: <442064010@29102004-1252>

When I copied and pasted the image (only in Outlook since it doesn't
work in Outlook Express), I got the same header and MIME part (except
the Copy [into the Clipboard] save as a BMP file instead of JPEG).

If I send the test e-mail with the JPEG as a file attachment, the
headers have:

Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00CE_01C4BD7C.C52028B0"

and the MIME part is:

------=_NextPart_000_00CE_01C4BD7C.C52028B0
Content-Type: image/jpeg;
name="golfer.jpg"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: attachment;
filename="golfer.jpg"

Notice the Content-Disposition directive is now specified (as
"attachment"). According to RFC 1806 and 2183, "Content-Disposition is
an optional header; in its absence, the MUA may use whatever
presentation method it deems suitable." Since the Content-Disposition
header was missing, and since Outlook [Express] gets to choose how to
present that included file, and apparent from the first test where the
image was inserted or pasted into the message body, it seems Outlook
[Express] will show the image within the body of the message. I had
assumed "attachment" was used if specified but also used by default and
that "inline" had to be specified to get it inline with the body (i.e.,
omitting the disposition meant defaulting to attachment). Guess not.
The mail user agent (MUA), Outlook [Express], decided to default to
inline unless attachment was specified as the disposition.

However, I decided to see if multipart/related and multipart/mixed might
effect their own behaviors. RFC 2387 describes the "related" content
type (which was exhibited in the first test where the image was inserted
or pasted within the body). It isn't clear in this RFC how the MUA
should present the various related MIME parts (whether as an attachment
or inline). "The Multipart/Related media type is intended for compound
objects consisting of several inter-related body parts." "The
Multipart/Related media type will be used for objects that have internal
linkages between the body parts." Well, I suppose that means it
dictates the structure or layout of the message and why Outlook
[Express] shows it inline rather than as an attachment, especially since
"Content-Disposition: attachment" was not explicitly specified. The RFC
says, "User Agents that recognize Multipart/Related will ignore the
Content-Disposition header's disposition type." I doubt Outlook
[Express] would be inserting a header that it doesn't understand. That
seems to indicate that despite the Content-Disposition header, and
especially if absent, then the image should be presented inline.

So, yes, the image can be inserted/pasted within the body of the message
and cab be presented inline the body. Can be done using
"Content-Disposition: inline". Can be done using "Content-Type:
multipart/related". Depends on how the user inserts the image. Insert
File adds the attachment with "Content-Disposition: attachment" (so it
appears separate of the body of the message). Insert Picture in Outlook
or Outlook Express, or pasting it in Outlook, keeps it inline of the
body of the message. My testing was done using Outlook 2002. Sam never
mentioned his version.
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

"Huh" back to you. I just sent myself a test message with an *attached*
(not inserted) graphic image file. It was composed in OE6 and received in
OE6. On receipt and when I opened the message, the graphic image was NOT
inline with the body of the message. Yep, the picture does display at the
BOTTOM of the post if composed using HTML.
Click to expand...

It also displays the image if you send it on plain text messages - Outlook
does not support this unless the image is embedded in the html or RTF. This
is the feature former OE users are asking for and which OL does not support.
OE supports it - including the most current versions, which you said it did
not do.
 
V

Vanguardx

Diane Poremsky said:
It also displays the image if you send it on plain text messages -
Outlook does not support this unless the image is embedded in the
html or RTF. This is the feature former OE users are asking for and
which OL does not support. OE supports it - including the most
current versions, which you said it did not do.
Click to expand...

In Outlook Express 6, I turned off the option to block images in
e-mails. Although this might only apply against linked images, I wanted
to be sure OE6 wasn't blocking images. I composed an HTML message and
inserted a picture within the body of the message using the Insert ->
Picture menu. OE6 was configured to read all message in plain-text mode
only. Upon receipt, the image was not shown within the body of the
message and was also not shown in a preview area at the end of the
message. I then disabled the option to read all e-mail in plain-text
mode only. Now the plain-text message displayed by OE6 showed the image
inline with the body. That's because now OE6 would render the HTML
message.

If I try to compose a plain-text message to send using OE6, there is no
Insert -> Picture menu anymore. Copy/Paste doesn't work into OE6 for
graphic images regardless of what compose mode you use (HTML or
plain-text). So when composing as plain text, an OE6 cannot put an
image inline with the body and can only attach it. Maybe other e-mail
clients exhibit different behavior. So I attached the image file, sent
it, and read it in OE6. Because OE6 was still configure with its option
disabled to read in plain-text mode only, the image attachment would
show in the preview area at the END of the plain-text message because,
after all, the only way I could add the image was to attach it (the
"Content-Disposition: attachment" directive was specified). I changed
OE6 to read all e-mails in plain-text mode only. When that option was
enable, the preview of the attached image file at the end of the
plain-text message disappeared.

So if the user has the option "Read all message in plain text" disabled
then they can see the image previewed at the bottom of plain-text e-mail
message. If they enable this option, it behaves like Outlook where
there is no preview of the image attached to a plain-text message. I
don't use OE for e-mail (except as a backup) and I have this option set
for reading newsgroup posts. I forgot to check its effect on the
preview behavior in OE6. Lots of options, lots of way to configure the
e-mail clients, lots to forget in analyzing behavior.

Thanks for the heads up. So, yes, Outlook doesn't provide an preview
area at the bottom of a plain-text message that has attached image files
but Outlook Express *might* do this (if options are setup to permit it).
 
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