OL2002: Modifying a Plain Text Message Using IMAP Results in a Winmail.dat File Attachment (280857)
The information in this article applies to:
This article was previously published under Q280857 SYMPTOMS
When you modify a plain text message in your IMAP mailbox and then download the message by using an e-mail program other than Outlook, a Winmail.dat attachment appears.
CAUSE
This behavior occurs because changing the message body or subject line and then saving the message causes the message to be encoded in Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF). Messages that are formatted in Rich Text Format or that contain Outlook items are typically TNEF-encoded. Modifying a plain text message on an IMAP server with Outlook 2002 also causes a message to be TNEF-encoded. When a message that contains TNEF information is received by a mail client that does not understand TNEF, an attachment named Winmail.dat may be created.
WORKAROUND
To work around this issue, just ignore the Winmail.dat attachment, which contains formatting information that only Outlook can interpret. The recipient receives the plain text version of the message you modified.
STATUSMicrosoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 7/27/2006 |
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Keywords: | kbbug kbnofix kbui KB280857 |
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