Fixing Compatibility Problems Due To application/ms-tnef Content

[David Dickinson]

Many people who use Outlook 2003 or 2007 report having problems sending
attachments to people who are not using those versions of Outlook or Vista's
Windows Mail. The cause of most of these problems seems to be due to
Microsoft's policy regarding the handling of external attachments bundling
into winmail.dat. In other words, imagine this scenario:

1) I am a normal Outlook user and I have no idea what "Outlook Rich Text
Format" (ORTF) or "ms-tnef" means.

2) When I create a new contact, it is set up by default to "Sent using
Outlook Rich Text Format". This person is using some other email client.

3) I receive a message in ORTF that has a PDF attachment from one
correspondent and wish to forward it to the new contact.

The attachment will be bundled into the winmail.dat attachment EVEN IF I
HAVE PREVIOUSLY CONFIGURED OUTLOOK TO SEND NEW MESSAGES IN PLAIN TEXT
because the message I am forwarding was in ORTF. My recipient, also a
normal user, will not be able to open the attachment and, in fact, may not
even know that it's there.

The only available workarounds for forwarded attachments (see KB290809) are:

A) Change the message format PER MESSAGE to plain text or HTML, or

B) In Contacts, double-click the email address and change the "Internet
Format" to "Send plain text only".

These cumbersome workarounds would be unnecessary if Outlook intelligently
handled attachments:. If the attachment is not Outlook-specific, i.e., a
meeting request, etc., then the attachment should not be encapsulated into
winmail.dat.

Am I wrong, or is this solution too obvious? I realize that this also would
make obvious the fact that the entire ms-tnef specification was a bad and
useless idea from the beginning. Meeting requests, etc., should have had
their own mime type which Outlook could process and the unnecessary
winmail.dat encapsulation could have been compeletely avoided, and Outlook
users could successfully send attachments to the hundreds of millions of
non-Outlook users in the world.

David Dickinson
eveningstar at die-spammer-die mvps dot org

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

First you need to figure out why your contacts are configured for RTF format
automatically. (Let outlook decide is the normal default. Linking to a
sharepoint contact list uses 'always get RTF' though.)

also, go to tools, options, mail format - what is your default format? It
should be plain text or HTML, never RTF.
while on that tab, click internet format button - is outlook set to use
HTML to internet addresses?


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

 

[David Dickinson]

Well, Diane, as I said whenever you create a new contact it is configured by
default to send ORTF to that contact regardless of what Internet Format
setting you have in Options. This default setting /for contacts/ cannot be
changed in options. It can only be changed in the Contact item and must be
changed individually, for each contact. There is no way to change this
setting globally for all contacts or to change the default for contacts.

What's more, the Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format is a completely
unnecessary complication -- as is ORTF. Encapsulating attachments into
winmail.dat which are not Outlook-specific has proven to be a huge
compatibility problem for Outlook users. Ridiculous utilities have become
necessary that non-Outlook users must use to process winmail.dat
attachments, although our recipients often can't see the winmail.dat
attachment, and many servers simply -- and correctly -- block the transport
of winmail.dat.

Instead of MS-TNEF, which was made necessary by proprietary and incompatible
technologies like ORTF, meeting requests, and other facilities in Outlook,
Microsoft should strive for compatibility. While the collaboration tools of
Outlook are obviously very useful, they should be more simply implemented
with function-specific attachments, and ORTF should be eliminated entirely
because it nearly duplicates a function that is available with HTML, grossly
expands the size of messages, and is completely non-standard. MS-TNEF is
an unnecessary technology that causes more problems than it is worth.

At the very least, Outlook should not encapsulate attachments which are not
Outlook-specific. There is no technical reason for that encapsulation.

First you need to figure out why your contacts are configured for RTF
format automatically. (Let outlook decide is the normal default. Linking
to a sharepoint contact list uses 'always get RTF' though.)

also, go to tools, options, mail format - what is your default format? It
should be plain text or HTML, never RTF.
while on that tab, click internet format button - is outlook set to use
HTML to internet addresses?


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Many people who use Outlook 2003 or 2007 report having problems sending
attachments to people who are not using those versions of Outlook or
Vista's Windows Mail. The cause of most of these problems seems to be
due to Microsoft's policy regarding the handling of external attachments
bundling into winmail.dat. In other words, imagine this scenario:

1) I am a normal Outlook user and I have no idea what "Outlook Rich Text
Format" (ORTF) or "ms-tnef" means.

2) When I create a new contact, it is set up by default to "Sent using
Outlook Rich Text Format". This person is using some other email client.

3) I receive a message in ORTF that has a PDF attachment from one
correspondent and wish to forward it to the new contact.

The attachment will be bundled into the winmail.dat attachment EVEN IF I
HAVE PREVIOUSLY CONFIGURED OUTLOOK TO SEND NEW MESSAGES IN PLAIN TEXT
because the message I am forwarding was in ORTF. My recipient, also a
normal user, will not be able to open the attachment and, in fact, may
not even know that it's there.

The only available workarounds for forwarded attachments (see KB290809)
are:

A) Change the message format PER MESSAGE to plain text or HTML, or

B) In Contacts, double-click the email address and change the "Internet
Format" to "Send plain text only".

These cumbersome workarounds would be unnecessary if Outlook
intelligently handled attachments:. If the attachment is not
Outlook-specific, i.e., a meeting request, etc., then the attachment
should not be encapsulated into winmail.dat.

Am I wrong, or is this solution too obvious? I realize that this also
would make obvious the fact that the entire ms-tnef specification was a
bad and useless idea from the beginning. Meeting requests, etc., should
have had their own mime type which Outlook could process and the
unnecessary winmail.dat encapsulation could have been compeletely
avoided, and Outlook users could successfully send attachments to the
hundreds of millions of non-Outlook users in the world.

David Dickinson
eveningstar at die-spammer-die mvps dot org

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Again, if your outlook is setting all contacts to always use RTF, something
is not right because it should default to let outlook choose, in which case
it will not send RTF messages or winmail.dat files.

TNEF is needed for some features of outlook but should only be used for
internal email. This is why the default setting changes it to HTML for
internet email.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Well, Diane, as I said whenever you create a new contact it is configured
by default to send ORTF to that contact regardless of what Internet Format
setting you have in Options. This default setting /for contacts/ cannot
be changed in options. It can only be changed in the Contact item and
must be changed individually, for each contact. There is no way to change
this setting globally for all contacts or to change the default for
contacts.

What's more, the Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format is a completely
unnecessary complication -- as is ORTF. Encapsulating attachments into
winmail.dat which are not Outlook-specific has proven to be a huge
compatibility problem for Outlook users. Ridiculous utilities have become
necessary that non-Outlook users must use to process winmail.dat
attachments, although our recipients often can't see the winmail.dat
attachment, and many servers simply -- and correctly -- block the
transport of winmail.dat.

Instead of MS-TNEF, which was made necessary by proprietary and
incompatible technologies like ORTF, meeting requests, and other
facilities in Outlook, Microsoft should strive for compatibility. While
the collaboration tools of Outlook are obviously very useful, they should
be more simply implemented with function-specific attachments, and ORTF
should be eliminated entirely because it nearly duplicates a function that
is available with HTML, grossly expands the size of messages, and is
completely non-standard. MS-TNEF is an unnecessary technology that causes
more problems than it is worth.

At the very least, Outlook should not encapsulate attachments which are
not Outlook-specific. There is no technical reason for that
encapsulation.

First you need to figure out why your contacts are configured for RTF
format automatically. (Let outlook decide is the normal default. Linking
to a sharepoint contact list uses 'always get RTF' though.)

also, go to tools, options, mail format - what is your default format? It
should be plain text or HTML, never RTF.
while on that tab, click internet format button - is outlook set to use
HTML to internet addresses?


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Many people who use Outlook 2003 or 2007 report having problems sending
attachments to people who are not using those versions of Outlook or
Vista's Windows Mail. The cause of most of these problems seems to be
due to Microsoft's policy regarding the handling of external attachments
bundling into winmail.dat. In other words, imagine this scenario:

1) I am a normal Outlook user and I have no idea what "Outlook Rich
Text Format" (ORTF) or "ms-tnef" means.

2) When I create a new contact, it is set up by default to "Sent using
Outlook Rich Text Format". This person is using some other email
client.

3) I receive a message in ORTF that has a PDF attachment from one
correspondent and wish to forward it to the new contact.

The attachment will be bundled into the winmail.dat attachment EVEN IF I
HAVE PREVIOUSLY CONFIGURED OUTLOOK TO SEND NEW MESSAGES IN PLAIN TEXT
because the message I am forwarding was in ORTF. My recipient, also a
normal user, will not be able to open the attachment and, in fact, may
not even know that it's there.

The only available workarounds for forwarded attachments (see KB290809)
are:

A) Change the message format PER MESSAGE to plain text or HTML, or

B) In Contacts, double-click the email address and change the "Internet
Format" to "Send plain text only".

These cumbersome workarounds would be unnecessary if Outlook
intelligently handled attachments:. If the attachment is not
Outlook-specific, i.e., a meeting request, etc., then the attachment
should not be encapsulated into winmail.dat.

Am I wrong, or is this solution too obvious? I realize that this also
would make obvious the fact that the entire ms-tnef specification was a
bad and useless idea from the beginning. Meeting requests, etc., should
have had their own mime type which Outlook could process and the
unnecessary winmail.dat encapsulation could have been compeletely
avoided, and Outlook users could successfully send attachments to the
hundreds of millions of non-Outlook users in the world.

David Dickinson
eveningstar at die-spammer-die mvps dot org

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

In checking with the other outlook mvps, palm conduit and possibly BCM will
set contacts to always use RTF. Are you using either? If not, are you
syncing with any external source?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Again, if your outlook is setting all contacts to always use RTF,
something is not right because it should default to let outlook choose, in
which case it will not send RTF messages or winmail.dat files.

TNEF is needed for some features of outlook but should only be used for
internal email. This is why the default setting changes it to HTML for
internet email.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Well, Diane, as I said whenever you create a new contact it is configured
by default to send ORTF to that contact regardless of what Internet
Format setting you have in Options. This default setting /for contacts/
cannot be changed in options. It can only be changed in the Contact item
and must be changed individually, for each contact. There is no way to
change this setting globally for all contacts or to change the default
for contacts.

What's more, the Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format is a completely
unnecessary complication -- as is ORTF. Encapsulating attachments into
winmail.dat which are not Outlook-specific has proven to be a huge
compatibility problem for Outlook users. Ridiculous utilities have
become necessary that non-Outlook users must use to process winmail.dat
attachments, although our recipients often can't see the winmail.dat
attachment, and many servers simply -- and correctly -- block the
transport of winmail.dat.

Instead of MS-TNEF, which was made necessary by proprietary and
incompatible technologies like ORTF, meeting requests, and other
facilities in Outlook, Microsoft should strive for compatibility. While
the collaboration tools of Outlook are obviously very useful, they should
be more simply implemented with function-specific attachments, and ORTF
should be eliminated entirely because it nearly duplicates a function
that is available with HTML, grossly expands the size of messages, and
is completely non-standard. MS-TNEF is an unnecessary technology that
causes more problems than it is worth.

At the very least, Outlook should not encapsulate attachments which are
not Outlook-specific. There is no technical reason for that
encapsulation.

First you need to figure out why your contacts are configured for RTF
format automatically. (Let outlook decide is the normal default. Linking
to a sharepoint contact list uses 'always get RTF' though.)

also, go to tools, options, mail format - what is your default format?
It should be plain text or HTML, never RTF.
while on that tab, click internet format button - is outlook set to use
HTML to internet addresses?


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


message Many people who use Outlook 2003 or 2007 report having problems sending
attachments to people who are not using those versions of Outlook or
Vista's Windows Mail. The cause of most of these problems seems to be
due to Microsoft's policy regarding the handling of external
attachments bundling into winmail.dat. In other words, imagine this
scenario:

1) I am a normal Outlook user and I have no idea what "Outlook Rich
Text Format" (ORTF) or "ms-tnef" means.

2) When I create a new contact, it is set up by default to "Sent using
Outlook Rich Text Format". This person is using some other email
client.

3) I receive a message in ORTF that has a PDF attachment from one
correspondent and wish to forward it to the new contact.

The attachment will be bundled into the winmail.dat attachment EVEN IF
I HAVE PREVIOUSLY CONFIGURED OUTLOOK TO SEND NEW MESSAGES IN PLAIN TEXT
because the message I am forwarding was in ORTF. My recipient, also a
normal user, will not be able to open the attachment and, in fact, may
not even know that it's there.

The only available workarounds for forwarded attachments (see KB290809)
are:

A) Change the message format PER MESSAGE to plain text or HTML, or

B) In Contacts, double-click the email address and change the "Internet
Format" to "Send plain text only".

These cumbersome workarounds would be unnecessary if Outlook
intelligently handled attachments:. If the attachment is not
Outlook-specific, i.e., a meeting request, etc., then the attachment
should not be encapsulated into winmail.dat.

Am I wrong, or is this solution too obvious? I realize that this also
would make obvious the fact that the entire ms-tnef specification was a
bad and useless idea from the beginning. Meeting requests, etc.,
should have had their own mime type which Outlook could process and the
unnecessary winmail.dat encapsulation could have been compeletely
avoided, and Outlook users could successfully send attachments to the
hundreds of millions of non-Outlook users in the world.

David Dickinson
eveningstar at die-spammer-die mvps dot org