On 13 May 2008, at 11:48, BARRY HOLLAND wrote:
> It's this sort of problem that convinces me not to get a computer
> of my own because at least I can rant against the local authority
> crap that purports to be ''access for all'' whereas if the computer
> were *mine* I'd be sorely aggrieved that I'd spent money on
> something that doesn't work.
Well, that's unlikely, seeing as the rest of us mostly have no
problems with the sorts of things you are experiencing. But if you
like a good rant (and don't we all!) carry on!
> While I'm in complaining mood, another thing that
> grates is editing a joke containing pictures that someone sends who,
> lazily, doesn't delete the ''history'' of who's had it before me.
> Being of a tidy mind, I like to do that very thing before sending it
> on. Nine times out of ten, this results in my intended recipient
> getting, instead of a picture, just an outline with a small red
> cross in the corner of the blank square.
> If, however, I just click 'forward' then the whole thing
> including pictures [& the history] goes through with no problem. A
> friend & I have engaged the finest available minds on this & nobody,
> I repeat nobody, can explain or solve it!
Mostly, emails containing images and text are likely to be formatted
as HTML (like a web page). In the kind of self-contained email
messages you are talking about images will usually be attachments to
the mail and the embedded references in the HTML use what are called
Content IDs or "cid"s, which are MIME attributes attached to each
individual MIME part in which there is image content. Your mail client
knows how to resolve these to the attached images when it renders the
HTML in your viewing window.
When you forward the email the whole HTML 'edifice' is left untouched
and the attached files remain attached. Thus the recipient sees what
you see. If you edit the email, and either the integrity of the HTML
gets disrupted by the process (i.e. your mail client doesn't
understand how to edit HTML properly, just display it) or the attached
files get detached somehow in the process, you will end up with the
missing image situation that you describe.
I offer the above explanation, not because I expect you to necessarily
understand the technical jargon that it is difficult to avoid using,
but to indicate that there *is* a logical explanation, and that it may
be connected with the inadequacies of the mail client that you are
forced to use, rather than anything that you may or may not be doing
(right or wrong!). The solution is clear - take control of the
situation and get your own computer upon which you can install
software that works the way you want...! There are plenty of people
here who will offer help and guidance on all manner of things.
Andy
--
Andy Greener
n.b. Whisper
Pangbourne, UK
http://www.nb-whisper.com
"Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not
incredibly stupid"
