Invoice from Rapid electronics.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

When I get the email conformation of an online order from Rapid, it arrives as a blank email with HTML attachment. And the HTLM attachment opens blank too. Looking at the HTLM file in an editor shows it to contain code.

The email headers show:-

Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

Now I have got a prog to decode base 64 - but is a hassle I could do without.

Last time I used Rapid I didn't have this problem. Wonder why they've changed things?

(the e-mail confirmation is an easy way of storing what I've bought from then if needed later - saves having to scan in the actual paper receipt when the goods arrive)

[Bob Eager]

Just a new mail client I suspect...it's been happening since at least April 2008.

If you've only noticed it recently, perhaps you turned off base64 decoding in your own email client....?

Mail clients ought to be able to handle this transparently....it's within the rules.

[Man at B&Q]

I don't recall having this problem quite recently (last couple of weeks). I've found their website help desk very responsive and helpful in the past, try asking them what's going on.

They have also obsoleted quite a lot of the lines they used to carry, or at least the ones I used to buy from them.

Farnell are a lot more competitive that they used to be, and get a lot more business from me, that used to go to Rapid.

MBQ

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Ah - right. I don't use them very often.

No - it can't handle it. I'm told others don't either. I'd really like to keep using this machine for email rather than the PC - no worries about viruses etc.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I have emailed sales and asked them to pass it on to their IT dept.

I'd say the recession is hitting these guys hard.

[tony sayer]

In article , Dave Plowman (News) scribeth thus

I used to that the problem with RS components but it seems OK now..

PDF is a much better way for order confirmation and invoices:)

[Bob Eager]

My mail client doesn't either. In fact, it's got to the point where there's so much it doesn't handle, I'm going to have to change.

As an experiment, I fed some of the offending emails to Kmail on one of my FreebSD systems. It displayed it as real text, straight away.

[OG]

I have installed CutePDF as a printer on my machines, so any online booking confirmation page is 'printed' to pdf. The same allows me to produce an image of items such as online maps, etc etc.

[John Rumm]

Can you just save the whole message to a file? If you give it a .UUE extension and then transfer the message to your PC, something like winzip on the PC will then open it transparently.

Failing that, a MIME encoder/decoder like mpack for the arc should do it. See something like:

[Dave Plowman (News)]

This is the first time I've come across it not handling an HTML file. Obviously it won't do WMF etc, but nothing important gets sent as those.

I'm sure Outlook Express handles them OK too. But that's not the point. I just wondered why they've decided to use this encoding when others don't.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Can't see why they don't just send it as plain text. That's the important part. Saves bandwidth, too.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

converts from base 64. Then drop the resulting data file into an editor and change the filetype to HTML. Then put the email reader into edit mode, remove the original HTML file and replace it with the new one. But life's too short... ;-)

[Bob Eager]

I think it's because email is essentially a 7-bit medium and this allows the 8th bit! I notice that emails from Canford are like that too...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Wonder what they think they're putting in an invoice that requires the extra bit? It could be written on a standard typewriter...

[Jules]

Agreed. I don't have HTML email capability switched on here a) because the vast majority of emails sent in HTML are spam and b) I don't want all your crappy graphics, ta very much - I'm only interested in the information that's actually useful to me. If there are layout reasons that makes the sender think they can't make do with plain text, then use PDF...

Thankfully *most* "account-based" places who send out emails do give the individual the option of how to receive things (even if they sadly make HTML the default in some cases). Some don't, and are best avoided IMHO.

cheers

Jules

[Jules]

It all adds up; they can send you extra crap without using any extra bandwidth. Quantity over quality wins out every time, don't y'know? ;)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

But having decoded it the HTML file just contains plain text. Nothing more at all - no adverts etc or graphics.