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Pmail v4.41 Confusion - Forwarding and Copy-Self

If there is an image in the forwarded message you wish to 'save', then bcc yourself. This will include any image/attachment that would be missing when a forward/send is done.

This is a design issue from when hard drive spoace was not as available/large as it is now.

If there is an image in the forwarded message you wish to 'save', then bcc yourself. This will include any image/attachment that would be missing when a forward/send is done. This is a design issue from when hard drive spoace was not as available/large as it is now.

I have been using pmail for a few years now, but I have 2 questions, for which I cannot find an answer:

(1) When i forward a message from pmail, a file with the extension ".pm$" is attached. This causes great confusion to people who receive the email because they try to open it and can't. How do i stop pmail from adding the attachment, but add the forwarded message into the body of the email..?

(2) If i create a new message using the HTML formatting (insert pictures, tables, colours, fonts, etc.) when the message is saved to my "copy-self" folder, the formatting is lost. I often right-click on a saved message to "resend", but all the previous layout is lost. How do i stop this from happening..?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Stephen.

<P>I have been using pmail for a few years now, but I have 2 questions, for which I cannot find an answer:</P> <P>(1) When i forward a message from pmail, a file with the extension ".pm$" is attached. This causes great confusion to people who receive the email because they try to open it and can't. How do i stop pmail from adding the attachment, but add the forwarded message into the body of the email..?</P> <P>(2) If i create a new message using the HTML formatting (insert pictures, tables, colours, fonts, etc.) when the message is saved to my "copy-self" folder, the formatting is lost. I often right-click on a saved message to "resend", but all the previous layout is lost. How do i stop this from happening..?</P> <P>Thanks in advance for your help.</P> <P>Stephen.</P>

Stephen,

Just some short notes.

[quote user="cadcambrafe"](1) When i forward a message from pmail, a file with the extension ".pm$" is attached. This causes great confusion to people who receive the email because they try to open it and can't. How do i stop pmail from adding the attachment, but add the forwarded message into the body of the email..?
[/quote]I tried forwarding using most of the different methods Pegasus supplies, none of them added a .PM$ file. The only place I find files with that extension is in a temp directory, where I believe files are stored for access by mail filtering rules with a "Run a program" action.

Which settings do you use when forwarding? Some add forwarded messages as attachments, some as part of the message body.

Is the .PM$ file visible on the Attachments page in the message editor?
[quote user="cadcambrafe"](2) If i create a new message using the HTML formatting (insert pictures, tables, colours, fonts, etc.) when the message is saved to my "copy-self" folder, the formatting is lost. I often right-click on a saved message to "resend", but all the previous layout is lost. How do i stop this from happening..?
[/quote]According to my personal experience, you have to carefully check the Richt text setting in the message editor. Your message may be shown with graphics and formatting, but the message will be sent as plain text unless this option is checked. I think Pegasus sometimes enables it automatically, often it will not. What You See Is What You See, but not necessarily what Your Recepient Gets.

From some tests I did, I think this is how it works:

  • When Rich text checked, both the message sent and the Copy-to-self are formatted.
  • When Rich text is not checked, neither is formatted. So if your Copy-to-self is plain text, so was the message delivered to your recipient(s).
  • When resending a Copy-to-self, Rich text is not automatically checked even if the message displays with formatting. So the message is sent as plain text.

There are a number of settings that control Rich text behaviour:

Tools | Options... | Outgoing mail | Messages and Replies:    Default value for Rich (formatted) text

Tools | Options... | Outgoing mail | Message formatting:        has options to always send unformatted mail and to paste plain text (from clipboard)

Text on the first of these settings pages says that the default Rich text setting can be overriden by address book settings, but I haven't found out how. Perhaps that's a very good idea that never got implemented.

 

Hope this helps,

Erik

<p>Stephen,</p><p>Just some short notes. </p> <p>[quote user="cadcambrafe"](1) When i forward a message from pmail, a file with the extension ".pm$" is attached. This causes great confusion to people who receive the email because they try to open it and can't. How do i stop pmail from adding the attachment, but add the forwarded message into the body of the email..? [/quote]I tried forwarding using most of the different methods Pegasus supplies, none of them added a .PM$ file. The only place I find files with that extension is in a temp directory, where I believe files are stored for access by mail filtering rules with a "Run a program" action. </p> <p>Which settings do you use when forwarding? Some add forwarded messages as attachments, some as part of the message body.</p><p>Is the .PM$ file visible on the Attachments page in the message editor? [quote user="cadcambrafe"](2) If i create a new message using the HTML formatting (insert pictures, tables, colours, fonts, etc.) when the message is saved to my "copy-self" folder, the formatting is lost. I often right-click on a saved message to "resend", but all the previous layout is lost. How do i stop this from happening..? [/quote]According to my personal experience, you have to carefully check the Richt text setting in the message editor. Your message may be shown with graphics and formatting, but the message will be sent as plain text unless this option is checked. I think Pegasus sometimes enables it automatically, often it will not. What You See Is What You See, but not necessarily what Your Recepient Gets.</p><p>From some tests I did, I think this is how it works:</p><ul><li>When Rich text checked, both the message sent and the Copy-to-self are formatted.</li><li>When Rich text is not checked, neither is formatted. So if your Copy-to-self is plain text, so was the message delivered to your recipient(s). </li><li>When resending a Copy-to-self, Rich text is not automatically checked even if the message displays with formatting. So the message is sent as plain text. </li></ul><p>There are a number of settings that control Rich text behaviour:</p><p style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: courier new,courier;">Tools | Options... | Outgoing mail | Messages and Replies</span>:    Default value for Rich (formatted) text</p><p style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: courier new,courier;">Tools | Options... | Outgoing mail | Message formatting</span>:        has options to always send unformatted mail and to paste plain text (from clipboard) </p><p style="margin-left: 40px;">Text on the first of these settings pages says that the default Rich text setting can be overriden by address book settings, but I haven't found out how. Perhaps that's a very good idea that never got implemented. </p><p> </p><p>Hope this helps,</p><p>Erik</p>

(1) I checked my method of forwarding:

forward  >  edit or make changes to the messages before forwarding them

But, the copy-self message has the following added to the bottom:

Attachments:

C:\DOCUME~1\username\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6EE5.PM$

 This is a plain text message with no attachments..!

 

(2) I checked my settings:

messages and replies  >  rich text (on)

message formatting  >  disable all text styling (unchecked)

On the copy-self message I see this in the raw view:

<img src="cid:786631.1207139292.13084" width="210" height="100"

border="0" alt="graphic"/>

The message gets delivered okay with the correct formatting, but the copy-self message just has a plain grey box where there should be an image.

 

Can anybody explain why..? Thanks.

&lt;FONT size=2&gt; &lt;P&gt;(1) I checked my method of forwarding:&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;forward &amp;nbsp;&amp;gt; &amp;nbsp;edit or make changes to the messages before forwarding them&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;But, the copy-self message has the following added to the bottom:&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;Attachments:&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;C:\DOCUME~1\username\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6EE5.PM$&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;This is a plain text message with no attachments..!&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P mce_keep=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;(2) I checked my settings:&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;messages and replies&amp;nbsp; &amp;gt; &amp;nbsp;rich text (on)&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;message formatting&amp;nbsp; &amp;gt; &amp;nbsp;disable all text styling (unchecked)&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;On the copy-self message I see this in the raw view:&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;&amp;lt;img src=&quot;cid:786631.1207139292.13084&quot; width=&quot;210&quot; height=&quot;100&quot; &lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;graphic&quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;The message gets delivered okay with the correct formatting, but the copy-self message just has a plain grey box where there should be an image.&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P mce_keep=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;Can anybody explain why..? Thanks.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;

[quote user="cadcambrafe"](1) I checked my method of forwarding:

forward  >  edit or make changes to the messages before forwarding them

But, the copy-self message has the following added to the bottom:

Attachments:

C:\DOCUME~1\username\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6EE5.PM$

 This is a plain text message with no attachments..![/quote]

Checking the "Forward any attachments the message has..." option makes Pegasus attach the forwarded message in addition to including it in the message body. This is probably because even the message body is treated as an attachment, at least if the message is MIME encoded, and Pegasus can't tell which is which. Each message part is first extracted to a .PM$ file in the temp directory and then becomes an attachment. (Wonder how Pegasus decides what to include in the message body of the new message.)

I leave that option checked and manually delete unwanted attachments before sending, because it's even more annoying to quickly forward a message only to find out that important attachments where left behind.

[quote user="cadcambrafe"](2) I checked my settings:

messages and replies  >  rich text (on)

message formatting  >  disable all text styling (unchecked)

On the copy-self message I see this in the raw view:

<img src="cid:786631.1207139292.13084" width="210" height="100"

border="0" alt="graphic"/>

The message gets delivered okay with the correct formatting, but the copy-self message just has a plain grey box where there should be an image.[/quote]

I believe another Pegasus trait comes into play. This is what I think happens:

Attachments are not saved with the Copy -to-self, there is just that informational line added at the end of the message plus an X-RS-Attach header that points to where the original file was. I guess the header is used for reattaching files when resending the message.

Problem is: An embedded image is an attachment in the MIME sense, but it's not a file in the file system. So the scheme breaks, because the attachment is stripped from the Copy-to-self and there is no external file to reattach. When you forward a message with an embedded image the header will point to the temp file, which seems to be deleted when Pegasus is closed. Resending might work for the duration of the session and fail the next time you start Pegasus. (BTW, resend also fails if you delete or move a file that has been attached.)

If I'm right in my assumptions, then there isn't much you can do about it - unless you can retrieve the image from disk or from a received message.

Erik 

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;[quote user=&quot;cadcambrafe&quot;](1) I checked my method of forwarding:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; &lt;p&gt;forward &amp;nbsp;&amp;gt; &amp;nbsp;edit or make changes to the messages before forwarding them&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;But, the copy-self message has the following added to the bottom:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Attachments:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;C:\DOCUME~1\username\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6EE5.PM$&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;This is a plain text message with no attachments..![/quote]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Checking the &quot;Forward any attachments the message has...&quot; option &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;makes Pegasus attach the forwarded message in addition to including it in the message body. This is probably because even the message body is treated as an attachment, at least if the message is MIME encoded, and Pegasus can&#039;t tell which is which. &lt;font&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Each message part is first extracted to a .PM$ file in the temp directory and then becomes an attachment. (Wonder how Pegasus decides what to include in the message body of the new message.) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I leave that option checked and manually delete unwanted attachments before sending, because it&#039;s even more annoying to quickly forward a message only to find out that important attachments where left behind. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;[quote user=&quot;cadcambrafe&quot;](2) I checked my settings:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;messages and replies&amp;nbsp; &amp;gt; &amp;nbsp;rich text (on)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;message formatting&amp;nbsp; &amp;gt; &amp;nbsp;disable all text styling (unchecked)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;On the copy-self message I see this in the raw view:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;img src=&quot;cid:786631.1207139292.13084&quot; width=&quot;210&quot; height=&quot;100&quot; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;graphic&quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The message gets delivered okay with the correct formatting, but the copy-self message just has a plain grey box where there should be an image.[/quote]&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p mce_keep=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; I believe another Pegasus trait comes into play. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;This is what I think happens:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p mce_keep=&quot;true&quot;&gt;Attachments are not saved with the Copy -to-self, there is just that informational line added at the end of the message plus an X-RS-Attach header that points to where the original file was. I guess the header is used for reattaching files when resending the message.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p mce_keep=&quot;true&quot;&gt;Problem is: An embedded image is an attachment in the MIME sense, but it&#039;s not a file in the file system. So the scheme breaks, because the attachment is stripped from the Copy-to-self and there &lt;font&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;arial,helvetica,sans-serif&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;is no external file to reattach. When you forward a message with an embedded image the header will point to the temp file, which seems to be deleted when Pegasus is closed. Resending might work for the duration of the session and fail the next time you start Pegasus. (BTW, resend also fails if you delete or move a file that has been attached.) &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;If I&#039;m right in my assumptions, then there isn&#039;t much you can do about it - unless you can retrieve the image from disk or from a received message. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Erik&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

Thanks for your reply Erik...

Surely, these are bugs... Or at least, incomplete features..!!

Thank again.

&lt;P&gt;Thanks for your reply Erik...&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;Surely, these are bugs... Or at least, incomplete features..!!&lt;/P&gt; &lt;P&gt;Thank again.&lt;/P&gt;

I'm afraid I wasn't of much help...

Bug or Feature? Probably an overlooked side effect of the "Copy-Self without attachments" policy in the presence if MIME, so a bug.

This policy probably was a lot more important when disk storage was expensive (I remember spending approx. $1000 for a 1GB SCSI disk in 1995, or so). It still has some value IMHO, although I would prefer being able to weed out large mail and/or attachments at my own discretion.

/E 

&lt;p&gt;I&#039;m afraid I wasn&#039;t of much help...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bug or Feature? Probably an overlooked side effect of the &quot;Copy-Self without attachments&quot; policy in the presence if MIME, so a bug.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This policy probably was a lot more important when disk storage was expensive (I remember spending approx. $1000 for a 1GB SCSI disk in 1995, or so). It still has some value IMHO, although I would prefer being able to weed out large mail and/or attachments at my own discretion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;/E&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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