Attaching Files In Mail And News For Navigator 2 & 3 For Macintosh
When you attach non-text files (ex. GIF, JPEG, Word Files ...), do not worry about the radio button in the Attachment window appearing as if Attach as Plain Text is selected. This is a bug in User Interface only. Attachment of non-text file is always performed as source.
Attachment of text files (they include BinHexed files) in Navigator Mail and News is tricky due to some inconsistency in Navigator.
You need to understand that a majority of Mac files have special file structures called Resource Fork in addition to Data Fork where essential data such as text and image are stored.
If a text file is made with SimpleText, it usually has a resource fork. This requires Navigator to treat it in a special manner.
Use Attach URL only when you want to attach a Web page or Web object.
1. Sending Text Files Attached to Your Message
When attaching a text file, make sure it does not have a resource fork. If it has no resource fork, it will not be Base64 encoded, and can be shown as a plain text in-line when received.
If you want to make sure that the file to be attached has no resource fork, open the file with Navigator and use Save As to create one without it. This will allow the file to be legible whether it is attached as source or plain text.
If you do not know whether it has a resource fork, attach the file as Source and NEVER as Plain Text. This will at least gurantee that legible text will be displayed.
2. Receiving Text Files Attached to Message
Switch between View Attachment Inline and View Attachment as Links according to your need to see the attachment: either to be shown in line, or to be saved as a separate file. This applies to GIF and JPEG files, too.
How do I attach files in mail and news (Communicator)
Use the Attach icon in the tool bar menu Or Alternately use the File menu.
Note: For standard types of files (jpeg, gif and plain text documents) no special procedures apply. If the recipient is a PC user then you may wish to add the corresponding file type to the name. I.E. mypicture.jpeg or myletter.txt - Jpeg and gif and txt are crossplatform.
For non-standard types (which include any file generated by a program not included in the above) then it is suggested that you use Stuffit to compact the files, then attach them. This ensures the files arrive at the destination (after unstuffing) without being changed. If sending to PC users, then stuff them using the ZIP format.
Most computers will be able to understand more than just jpeg, gif and txt but you should check with the recipient before sending other file types such as pdf or doc types. Some will also be able to be sent as is, but, if problems arise (some servers don't assign the proper MIME type) then use the non-standard Stuffit or Zip method
