What up with mailing files to PC users?

[petercw2]

I am a switcher and one of the only things that has frustrated me is the continual issue of emailing files that supposedly will "work perfectly in windows", but only to find out that the receiver cannot open the file, and almost always there are more than one file of the same thing (but one is a very small file and the other the correct size)...

My biggest issue is emailing Word Docs to PC users. For some reason I email the file, they cannot open it, but then I re-email the same file and they can!

Myunderstanding is that doc files from OSX Word will work perfectly in Word for PC, without a need to convert... Am I wrong about this?

As for the double file: I will send a jpeg, but the receiver will get two files!

thoughts!

thanks

 

[heljy]

I have the same issue of double files with Word Doc as well. One small file and then the original document.

 

[Rower_CPU]

I've gotten this from PC users, too.

One way around it is to Zip the file, even if it's just one file, and then let them download and unzip it.

As for the 2 files thing, I haven't seen it in a while. Are you current with the latest updates to OS X and Mail.app?

 

[markjones05]

I don't have this problem at all. I do frequent emailing of jpegs and wrod documents to my roomate on a PC.

 

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by markjones05
I don't have this problem at all. I do frequent emailing of jpegs and wrod documents to my roomate on a PC.

I think it might have to do with the email program that's used for sending and receiving of the docs.

 

[losfp]

re: the 2 files issue, I know that PCs don't use the resource/data fork thing that the macs use. I usually strip away all the resource forks before I send anything anyway.

 

[gbojim]

I know what the issue is with the 2 files. The Mac OS stores a data file as 2 components - data and resource. Don't worry about the technical reasons why but it is a good thing technically. In OS X, the data and resource components are actually stored as 2 separate files - one you see in the finder and one that you don't.

Some mail apps, including early versions of Apple's mail app, mistakenly sent both of those files when you attached them to an e-mail. The tiny one contains the resources. It does not hurt anything. The receiver just has to know to open the big one. I believe somewhere along the line Apple fixed this with their mail app. Not sure about others.

Not sure why you have to e-mail your Word docs twice. I do this every day between PCs and my Mac. Never have any problems except when the Internet corrupts the message on the odd occassion.

 

[petercw2]

Originally posted by losfp
re: the 2 files issue, I know that PCs don't use the resource/data fork thing that the macs use. I usually strip away all the resource forks before I send anything anyway.

OK, i am WAY too layman for that... Can you explain what you mean and how you do that?

 

[losfp]

Originally posted by petercw2
OK, i am WAY too layman for that... Can you explain what you mean and how you do that?

I use a program called grim reaper (search version tracker for it).. It adds a contextual menu item that allows you to delete the resource forks - I find it useful on smaller images because it makes very little sense to have a file that's 10k, with 30k of resources (misc info, thumbnail image etc), especially when you're uploading it for a webpage! Took me a while to figure out because I'm a relatively new mac user (made the addition of a 12" PB in March), and I didn't understand the whole data/resource part thing - still don't, really!

 

[5300cs]

Originally posted by gbojim
I know what the issue is with the 2 files. The Mac OS stores a data file as 2 components - data and resource. Don't worry about the technical reasons why but it is a good thing technically. In OS X, the data and resource components are actually stored as 2 separate files - one you see in the finder and one that you don't.

Some mail apps, including early versions of Apple's mail app, mistakenly sent both of those files when you attached them to an e-mail. The tiny one contains the resources. It does not hurt anything. The receiver just has to know to open the big one. I believe somewhere along the line Apple fixed this with their mail app. Not sure about others.

Not sure why you have to e-mail your Word docs twice. I do this every day between PCs and my Mac. Never have any problems except when the Internet corrupts the message on the odd occassion.

I often send my working records to my boss on his PC, and he always called me saying he got 2 versions of the attachments- these were word files. So I just tell him to get the bigger one, and things were OK. Or in the signature or as a p.s., I mention that there may be 2 attachments, just take the bigger one.

Works for me.

I don't think Eudora for OS X had this 2 attachment problem though, just Mail.app

 

[Snowy_River]

Re: What up with mailing files to PC users?

Originally posted by petercw2
...
As for the double file: I will send a jpeg, but the receiver will get two files!

thoughts!

thanks

Check the Preferences for whatever graphic app you're using to save the jpg files. In GraphicConverter, for example, there is an option to include a Resource Fork, or not. I always have it set not to. The disadvantage of this is that you don't get the nice preview icon thumbnails in the Finder. But, in general, it will make you more compatible with the rest of the Windows world.

Also, note that the larger file is not always the file that I care about, in this instance. The information stored in the resource fork can actually be significanty larger than that stored in the data fork. This is because the preview image (one that is stored with the file so that various graphics apps don't have to build a preview every time) is stored in the resource fork in a TIF format, which is an uncompressed format. So, even though it is much smaller than the picture itself (pixel-wise), it can take up much more space.

 

[DVDSP]

I've noticed that sometimes when I send a .JPG to an AOL account they can not view it, other times they can. My friends reply they can not open the .mim file.

I found that if I send an email to my friends AOL account AND his Verizon account it is visible through Verizon but not AOL. I don't know what client he uses for Verizon though.

Anyone know why AOL accounts have difficulty?