Question : Problem: How to decode ms-tnef on a mac

Hello there,

Does anybody know how to decode an attachment of the type tnef on a PowerMac?

example: Attachment:        Type: application/ms-tnef
                                     Encoding: base64

They seem to be coming from the obscure world of Microsoft's 'Exchange' and 'Outlook'. I know how people can change there sending preferences in those programs. However they will not or cannot change these settings. Maybe they simply do not understand what the hell I am talking about.

It is not nice to send someone a mail he or she cannot open. As far as I know the tnef thing is not a accepted mime standard and should be avoided on the open inter net.

But for now it would come in handy if there exists an application or way to decode this tnef on a Mac, and you knowing the answer, reading this, responding to it.

Not working are: Mpack, decoder, uuencode and all unstuff programs.
I do have Microsoft software running on my PowerMac. Office, Explorer and ms mail & News. Not that I use them very often. Mostly I use other 'Mac' software. I need these to communicate with those equipped with windows whatever. But this time they failed.

So please help me because I like to be able to open the tnef and find out what they contain.

max.

Answer : Problem: How to decode ms-tnef on a mac

tnef is an acronym for transport neutral encapsulation format. ms exchange and win95 inboxes have the capability for viewing formatted text. when a message is sent from exchange that contains formatted text, an attachment with formatting and text is created (the tnef file) which can viewed by exchange. an e-mail package that is incapable of reading tnef will be unable to view the formatted version (the attachment), but will instead be able to view the unformatted ascii text message body.

the bottom line is....if you really wish to view the tnef and the formatted text, invest in a wintel box, and purchase microsoft exchange, or wait for the microsoft office 97 for mac which is slated to be released later this year.

hope this helps.......

kingrea