embed rather than attach

[Jon M. Hanson]

The fact that some things are shown in-line in an e-mail depends on  
the e-mail client in use. I doubt any e-mail client will be able to  
show an Open Office spreadsheet in-line because it would require the  
people that make the e-mail to embed a viewed for Open Office into  
their client.

You will have a better chance of your spreadsheet being shown in-line  
in an e-mail by converting it to a PDF before mailing it. Even then I  
think that will only work on OS X's mail client. It will show PDFs in- 
line.
---
Jon M. Hanson (N7ZVJ)
Weblog: http://the-hansons-az.net/wordpress/
Homepage: http://the-hansons-az.net/
Jabber IM: jon at the-hansons-az.net



On Apr 6, 2007, at 6:45 PM, Michael Havens wrote:

> Ohhhh.... you think I have bad intentions? Not I! I send my father a
> spreadsheet as an attachment (oocalc) weekly and he requested I  
> send it in
> the body of the text.  Now I need to find out how to do this!
>
> Thanks for the information you gave. I guess all the spam I get has  
> a purpose
> now!
>
> lol
>
> On Friday 06 April 2007 12:08 pm, Alan Dayley wrote:
>> Reply bottom posted...
>>
>> vodhner at cox.net wrote:
>>> Hi, Michael.
>>>
>>> ---- Michael Havens <bmike101 at cox.net> wrote:
>>>> I want to embed things into an email so that they appear as the
>>>> text of the message rather than as an attachment.
>>>
>>> What you are describing sounds like an HTML email message.  If  
>>> you really
>>> know your audience for the message, this may be OK.  But there  
>>> are some
>>> things you should know . . .
>>>
>>> HTML email messages are controversial and considered harmful,  
>>> dangerous,
>>> immoral, tacky, rude or spamiferous by many people in the FOSS  
>>> community.
>>>
>>> Many people block HTML messages out of hand, or automatically  
>>> redirect
>>> them to spam reporting centers.  Many people set their email  
>>> client to
>>> present HTML emails as plain text and not render any graphics or  
>>> other
>>> non-text content.
>>>
>>> A common trick in spamming is to put an image at the top of the  
>>> message
>>> containing what looks like normal text.  Spam detectors have trouble
>>> recognizing stock hype and anatomical enlargement pitches when  
>>> they're in
>>> image form.
>>>
>>> Another common trick is to have a link to a one-pixel graphic with a
>>> serialized filename unique to your email address, so that the  
>>> sending
>>> site will get a web-hit that tells them that your email address is
>>> working.  Anybody in the know sets their mail client to *not*  
>>> fetch any
>>> external images referenced by links in an HTML message, because  
>>> this is
>>> also a way to drag in potentially hostile objects (although less  
>>> so for
>>> Linux-based recipients).
>>>
>>> But you asked, so here's how:  Compose the body of your message  
>>> as an
>>> HTML document -- pick apart some examples to see how.   Set the  
>>> content
>>> type to text/html.  Read up on multipart email formats, and  
>>> create an
>>> alternative part in the message for those who are blocking HTML:   
>>> this is
>>> where you use the multipart/alternative content type, and then  
>>> include a
>>> text/plain as well as a text/html part.
>>>
>>> One way around the blocked-external-links issue is to embed  
>>> graphics as
>>> separate binary parts within the message and refer to them with  
>>> internal
>>> links.  I've seen it done but don't know how.  But you said you  
>>> want your
>>> embedded pieces to "appear as the text of the message", so I don't
>>> understand why you don't just /make/ them the text of the  
>>> message.  If
>>> you're talking about font effects, coloring, etc., then all that  
>>> you know
>>> about HTML can apply here, but any CSS you use should be set  
>>> inside the
>>> message and not refer to anything external.
>>>
>>> Bottom line:  Don't do it, Michael.  But if you must, then just  
>>> be aware
>>> that your message will be received differently by different  
>>> people, and
>>> not received at all by some.
>>>
>>> Good luck,
>>>
>>> Vic
>>
>> Victor,
>>
>> This is one of the best explanations about the negatives of HTML  
>> email
>> that I have every read.  Thank you!
>>
>> Can I quote you?
>>
>> Alan
>>
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