Microsoft KB Archive/211813

= WD2002: Word Attachment Is Not Readable upon Receipt =

Article ID: 211813

Article Last Modified on 7/11/2002

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q211813





SYMPTOMS
When you send a Microsoft Word document as an attachment through e-mail, you expect it to be able to be readable upon receipt; but instead it contains large amounts of random, garbled text.



CAUSE
This behavior may occur when there is a mismatch in encoding types between the sending e-mail client and the receiving e-mail client, such as Microsoft Outlook.



MORE INFORMATION
The Internet was not designed to carry binary files. It is only able to transfer messages made up of ASCII text characters. To resolve this behavior and to allow various file types to be sent over the Internet and to be exchanged between diverse operating systems, encoding methods have been developed.

The two major encoding methods are Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) and Uuencode. Files encoded with either of these methods generally have information in the text header to identify the type.

Send any further questions on encoding schemes to your Internet provider or e-mail software manufacturer.

Additional query words: prb

Keywords: kbinterop kbprb KB211813

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