On Mon, 20 Dec 2004, JupiterHost.Net wrote:
> Hawkes, Mick I wrote:
>
> > I am currently using the MIME::Lite module to send Emails, However
> > my boss wants me to line the tables up better and generally pretty
> > it up A bit (bold) etc.
> >
> > I can't use HTML as our company is still using NT4 Outlook.
>
> Your boss wants you to format text without using the world's most
> compatible and widely used formatting language??
...which should never, ever have been added to email.
This is offtopic, but let's be honest, HTML is a lousy formatting
language, and adding it to email caused all kinds of problems, from
myriad security issues that never existed before, to enabling spammers
to keep track of who is reading their nocturnal emissions.
Any company that, as a policy, wants to ban HTML mail is okay by me.
So. Text formatting options.
* Use Perl's built-in functionality. This article takes a look at how
this is done today with Perl5, and how it will be done in the future
with Perl6:
<http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2004/02/27/exegesis7.html>
* Use the Text::Template module, if it isn't overkill:
<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Text-Template/lib/Text/Template.pm>
These approaches can handle basic table layouts, but not text styling:
boldface, italics, etc. *But*, some people can _make do_ /without/ that
with text tricks that approximate *bold*, /italics/, and _underlining_.
(I think Word will even take that and apply the actual styles, but I
don't use Word because of such "helpful" things. Some people like it.)
If you really need that kind of formatting, consider using either
attachments (a good PDF will look better than HTML anyway, but you can
also just attach an Office document or whatever) or set up an intranet
server where people can post documents and send each other URLs to them.
--
Chris Devers
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