Rich Text vs. HTML (again)

M

mreidco

In Outlook 2002, I use Rich Text as my default format for new mail. I
believe the default is HTML format.

I know some here advocate plain text only, but the formatting options
offered in Rich Text and HTML are useful for my purposes.

I switched from HTML to Rich Text because I found that editing in HTML
is very quirky -- line spacing, paragraph formatting, etc., often don't
behave the way I expect. Composing or editing an email in Rich Text, on
the other hand, is fairly trouble-free.

I've seen a lot of messages in this group from MVPs advising people not
to use Rich Text because it generates a .dat file attachment to
external (Internet) recipients who don't use Outlook. I think, though,
that Outlook 2002 has a simple solution. There's an option to convert
Rich Text mail to HTML when sending to Internet recipients. (This
option is located through Tools / Options / Mail Format tab / Internet
Format button.)

It seems to me that with this configuration, I can continue to compose
mail in RTF and not bother anyone with .dat attachments. Indeed, though
I've operated this way for several months, I've yet to hear a complaint
about a .dat file (nor any about HTML either).
Is there a problem with this approach that I've overlooked?
 
M

Michael

That should be a fine solution in most cases.

Sue,

Why did you qualify your answer with "in most cases"?

I'm not trying to be difficult -- I just want to understand the
potential downside, because I don't want to inconvenience any of my
customers.

Thanks,
Michael
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]

I don't know what the question was, much less the answer, since you didn't
quote the earlier posts.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
M

Michael

Sue said:
No. That should be a fine solution in most cases.

Why did you qualify your answer with "in most cases"?

I'm not trying to be difficult -- I just want to understand the
potential downside, because I don't want to inconvenience any of my
customers.

--Michael

[Full text of original question and response below]
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]

I've learned never to say always or never when it comes to Outlook. It's
quite possible that there's some layout feature that doesn't translate well
by the automatic converter.

That setting also may prevent you from using Outlook custom forms, task
requests and actual Outlook meeting requests across the Internet, although
you can still use iCalendar meeting requests.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers



Michael said:
Sue said:
No. That should be a fine solution in most cases.

Why did you qualify your answer with "in most cases"?

I'm not trying to be difficult -- I just want to understand the
potential downside, because I don't want to inconvenience any of my
customers.

--Michael

[Full text of original question and response below]
 
W

wjp

<snip>
Sue Mosher said:
I've learned never to say always or never when it comes to Outlook. It's
quite possible that there's some layout feature that doesn't translate
well by the automatic converter.

That setting also may prevent you from using Outlook custom forms, task
requests and actual Outlook meeting requests across the Internet, although
you can still use iCalendar meeting requests.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

An ongoing difficulty I have experienced due to the use of Rich Text/HTML
formats for e-mail is that images can be "lost in translation" when sending
to MSOE users - and this is very confusing and difficult to rectify.

Can you explain what format is reliable in transmitting inline images so
that they arrive intact?

Thanks,

WjP
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]

What kind of problems are you seeing? If it were my message and I wanted the
image to stay in one place, I'd use an HTML table with strict height and
width settings on the cells.
 

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