Application/Applefile Problem said:
I'm receiving Word files from someone using MAC. They open with gibberish on
my PC. Saving as RTF didn't work. I'm using Word 2003.
There's no difference in the Word file format (since Word 97), although
if the file does not have the .doc extension, you may need to add it
manually or use File | Open from within Word.
The most common problem arises when the doc was sent by email and the
attachment encoding was not set properly. If you see something about
"application/x-macbinary" when trying to open the doc, sounds like they
encoded it for Mac computers (Application/applefile may be a newer
version of that). Or if it brings up a prompt about “encoding†and
opens with a bunch of squares. Try sending the explanation below to your
correspondent, asking them to change their encoding. The help on any
Mac email program will tell them how.
A Mac email program, Entourage, has this to say in Help:
About attachment encodings
When you choose an encoding format, it is helpful to understand how
Macintosh files differ from files created on other computers. Macintosh
files include additional resource information that files created on
other types of computers do not. If you are sending a data file, such as
a Microsoft Word document or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, such resource
information may not be necessary. However, if you are sending something
more complex, such as a program, to another Macintosh computer, you must
choose an encoding format that preserves all the data.
The AppleDouble encoding format preserves the additional resource
information, and can be read by both Macintosh and other types of
computers. AppleDouble is a good choice for your default encoding
format; it works most of the time with most computers. However, if
AppleDouble fails, you can choose a different encoding format depending
on the type of computer you are sending the attachment to:
• To send an attachment to a Macintosh computer, use BinHex, which
preserves the Macintosh resource information and data.
• To send an attachment to a Windows-based computer, use MIME/Base 64,
which preserves the data only.
• To send an attachment to a UNIX computer, use UUEncode, which
preserves the data only.
