Microsoft KB Archive/164852

= XCON: Attachments from HP OpenDesk May Not Open =

Article ID: 164852

Article Last Modified on 10/28/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q164852



SYMPTOMS
If you send mail with an attachment from Hewlett Packard (HP) OpenDesk mail to a computer running Microsoft Exchange Server through the X.400 connector (1984), the Microsoft Exchange Server recipient (on the same server as the X.400 connector) receives a message with an attachment of the correct name. However, when the user clicks the attachment to open it, he or she may get an error message reporting "This file does not have a program associated with it." The title bar of the message shows that the file it is attempting to open is c:\Temp\Att.dat. The error occurs even if you have an association for the file extension of the attachment.



CAUSE
HP OpenDesk message is malformed. It does not include the file name in the "pathname" attribute, as specified by the Electronic Messaging Association (see the MORE INFORMATION section of this article). The following is the incoming message in ASN.1 format: ASN.1 Parser Utility Starting at Node 0ftrp [ id = 2879 ] 3080  A180     : 0cnty : ContentsType A080    : 0doct : DocumentType 0605    : 0dctn : DocumentTypeName             :  OBJECT ID: "0x28C27B0503" 0000

0000  A280     : 0envr : EnvironmentParameter A080    : 0aprf : ApplicationReference 8008    : 0regi : RegisteredIdentifier         :  OBJECT ID: "0x2A864886F7140403" 0000

A380    : 0usvs : DescriptiveIdentifier 190C    : 0usrv : GraphicString ="0x474E53494E56454E2E584C53" 0000

0000  A480     : 0flat : FileAttributes AD80    : 0objs : ObjectSize 8102    : 0actv : ActualValue                INTEGER 0x6800 0000

0000  0000 No PathName is present, so the Microsoft Exchange Server MTA cannot apply a proper attachment name for display. The fix supplied by Microsoft (see the STATUS section of this article) treats the user-visible string as the file name (in the example above, the user-visible string is the "DescriptiveIdentifier GraphicString" attribute).



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, save the attachments as files before opening them.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server versions 4.0 and 5.0. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 U.S. Service Packs. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K



MORE INFORMATION
The standards reference for File Transfer Body Part (FTBP) usage is from the Electronic Messaging Association (EMA), Message Attachment Work Group File Transfer Body Part Feasibility Project Guide, v.1.5.2, June 1996.

The following is an excerpt from section 5, File Transfer Body Part 15 Profile, describing where the filename is supposed to go :                               O  R    Notes File-Transfer-Body-Part FileTransferParameters Environment user-visible-string           R  M    note 3 File-Attributes pathname                  R  M    note 4

O - Origination, R - Reception R - recommended, M - mandatory

Notes

3. User-Visible-String

This element should be used to convey any additional distinguishing information that might be of use to the receiver, eg. for presentation to a user or in cases where the application-reference is not recognized by the receiving system.

4. Pathname

If generated, the incomplete-pathname should be used. The SEQUENCE should only consist of a single GRAPHIC-STRING element containing the target file/attachment name without any preceding path information.

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbusage KB164852

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