[imp] Mac attachment testing report

Joe Kletch joe at kletch.com
Fri Mar 5 11:59:59 PST 2004


On Mar 5, 2004, at 1:48 PM, Ben Poliakoff wrote:

> * Joe Kletch <joe at kletch.com> [040305 10:41]:
>>
>> I'd like to better understand how IMP is recombining the resource and
>> data fork with Mac attachments.
>>
>
> We've been tortured by these issues as well (as a primarily Mac campus
> implementing webmail).
>
> IMP is *not* recombining the resource and data fork.  It's just
> offering downloads of both sub parts of the multipart/appledouble
> MIME part.
>
> IMP makes no attempt to recombine these parts, nor should it; since
> the user retrieving the attachment might not be a Mac user.  A *nix or
> Windows user can't do much with a multi-forked appledouble file.
>
> Perhaps Mac web browsers will someday have the capability of
> reassembling multipart/appledouble MIME attachments (in the same way
> that Mac mail clients do).  But they don't do it now.  And until a Mac
> web browser can reintegrate a multipart/appledouble MIME attachment 
> then
> I think our best bet is to tweak IMP so that it only offers up links to
> the data fork of multipart/appledouble MIME attachments.
>
> In a webmail context, offering up both parts of a multipart/appledouble
> MIME attachment *only* confuses the vast majority of users.
>
> Dropping the resource fork is problematic since Mac users historically
> haven't had to make use of file extensions.   But I don't see a better
> solution.
>
> Try to get your users to use an archiver (stuffit, maczip, etc), if you
> want to preserve the resource fork in a webmail context.
>
> Anyone else dealing with this?  Anyone else have a better idea?
>
> Ben
>

Thanks for the clarification Ben. I agree with you on getting the users 
to archive the attachments. But one the the reasons many designers use 
the Mac is because they are not technical and asking them to do one 
more thing may just cause them to work with someone who doesn't--or at 
least so I have been told.

How are users on your campus taking to having to Archive Mac 
attachments in order to email them?

Joe Kletch



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