screenshot changed to text: OLE-object: Picture

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Hello,

One of our users sent an RTF email with two pasted screenshots.
When forwarding or replying, the first screenshot is replaced with the
text:
<< OLE-object: Picture (Metafile) >>
The second screenshot is replaced by the text:
<< OLE-object: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) >>

In previous cases I always told the person who complained to tell the
sender that he has to attach, not paste, the screenshots. But in this
case I was asked to investigate the issue.

I am quite sure that it is impossible for the receiver to prevent the
change from image to text. I have tested a lot of things. Only copy/
paste to a new RTF mail works. Can anyone confirm or deny?

I suppose the only thing that can be done, is on the sender side.
Can anyone please give me advice on a failsafe method of adding
"screenshots" to an RTF email?

And to make my boss happy: who can come up with a human readable
explaining of this issue?

Kind regards,

Amedee Van Gasse

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

You didn't mention what version of Outlook is being used & if <= Outlook
2003, does said person use Word as their e-mail editor when composing the
forward/reply?

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

You didn't mention what version of Outlook is being used & if <= Outlook
2003, does said person use Word as their e-mail editor when composing the
forward/reply?

Didn't I? oops sorry! (/me auto-LARTs)

Everybody here has Outlook 2003.

The sender doesn't use Word as editor.
Receiver A does use Word as editor.
Receiver B doesn't use Word as editor.
==> my conclusion is that Word isn't a factor here. Or is this a too
hasty conclusion?

Amedee

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

At this point I would ask...

Receiver A replies/forwards and can duplicate issue?

Receiver B replies/forwards and can duplicate issue?


Is it safe to assume that all users are using same version of Windows?
Everyone have the same service packs installed on operating system and
office 2003?

What type of mail accounts are involved?


Just so you know, at this point I can't duplicate using Windows XP SP2,
Office 2003 SP3, and Exchange 2003 SP2.

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

At this point I would ask...

Receiver A replies/forwards and can duplicate issue?
Yes.

Receiver B replies/forwards and can duplicate issue?
Yes.

Is it safe to assume that all users are using same version of Windows?
Everyone have the same service packs installed on operating system and
office 2003?

That is *extremely* safe to assume.
WinXPsp2
OL2k3sp2
Ex2k3sp2

What type of mail accounts are involved?

Exchange accounts.

Just so you know, at this point I can't duplicate using Windows XP SP2,
Office 2003 SP3, and Exchange 2003 SP2.

I must say that I have seen this behavior before at $WORK-2, where we
had Outlook 2000 + POP accounts.
I never investigated it because I always "blamed" the sender and asked
him to send an attachment.

Amedee

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

That is *extremely* safe to assume.
WinXPsp2
OL2k3sp2
Ex2k3sp2


Exchange accounts.


I must say that I have seen this behavior before at $WORK-2, where we
had Outlook 2000 + POP accounts.
I never investigated it because I always "blamed" the sender and asked
him to send an attachment.

Amedee

uhhh... bump?
(sorry... but I'm really at a dead end)

 

[frier]

On 20 feb, 14:17, "neo [mvp outlook]" <[email protected]>
wrote:

At this point I would ask...
Receiver A replies/forwards and can duplicate issue?

Yes.

Receiver B replies/forwards and can duplicate issue?

Yes.

Is it safe to assume that all users are using same version of Windows?
Everyone have the same service packs installed on operating system and
office 2003?

That is *extremely* safe to assume.
WinXPsp2
OL2k3sp2
Ex2k3sp2

Exchange accounts.

I must say that I have seen this behavior before at $WORK-2, where we
had Outlook 2000 + POP accounts.
I never investigated it because I always "blamed" the sender and asked
him to send an attachment.

Amedee

uhhh... bump?
(sorry... but I'm really at a dead end)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Only HTML format can carry inline (embedded) images.
Using RTF format, your only option is to attach images.

Correct me if I am wrong ...?

http://www.emailsignature.eu

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

I'm still here... just trying to figure out how to duplicate the issue.

Are the screenshots of the entire window or is the user being selective
(print screen vs. alt + print screen)

The other thing my brain is stuck on is that "OLE-object:" implies Word
control codes, but apparently I can't get there by toggling certain boxes
under Tools > Options. I'm wondering, can you backup this users settings
using Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizard and see it dup on another machine
vs what I'm trying of just a clean install of Windows XP/Office and nothing
else?

The reason I'm going this is route is that I'm starting to wonder if there
is a 3rd party program installed (e.g. Google Desktop). I have seen 3rd
party apps cause some pretty strange things and it might be worth going down
this path since we don't have the same baseline to compare against.

Any event, to answer your original question... Exchange/Outlook users should
be able to send RTF messages with screenshots w/out issues. Reply/Forward
should not do what you are seeing in out-of-box installs.

That is *extremely* safe to assume.
WinXPsp2
OL2k3sp2
Ex2k3sp2


Exchange accounts.


I must say that I have seen this behavior before at $WORK-2, where we
had Outlook 2000 + POP accounts.
I never investigated it because I always "blamed" the sender and asked
him to send an attachment.

Amedee

uhhh... bump?
(sorry... but I'm really at a dead end)

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

I'm still here... just trying to figure out how to duplicate the issue.

Are the screenshots of the entire window or is the user being selective
(print screen vs. alt + print screen)

Does it matter?
But in this particular case: alt+print screen

The other thing my brain is stuck on is that "OLE-object:" implies Word
control codes, but apparently I can't get there by toggling certain boxes
under Tools > Options.  I'm wondering, can you backup this users settings
using Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizard and see it dup on another machine
vs what I'm trying of just a clean install of Windows XP/Office and nothing
else?

No, I cannot do that, because that software is not installed.
Anyway all machines have the same settings because they are installed
with installation templates.
Even for every little f@rt every sofware can be reinstalled with
factory settings.

The reason I'm going this is route is that I'm starting to wonder if there
is a 3rd party program installed (e.g. Google Desktop).  I have seen 3rd
party apps cause some pretty strange things and it might be worth going down
this path since we don't have the same baseline to compare against.

No it is not yet installed but we are evaluating a company-wide
deployment of Google Desktop Enterprise Edition.

Any event, to answer your original question... Exchange/Outlook users should
be able to send RTF messages with screenshots w/out issues.  Reply/Forward
should not do what you are seeing in out-of-box installs.

We are bumping into several annoyances with RTF messages. Receipients
outside our Exchange environment (on the internet) sometimes receive
winmail.dat files. This happens when they don't use Outlook but
Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Incredimail, Google mail, or any other
mail client out there.
I reeeeeeally feel like encouraging people to switch to plain text, or
html if they really, *really* need markup.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

For "Does it matter?" - For me, nope. Can't duplicate either way, but since
I can't see the setup you have I'm trying to help by figuring how to get a
repro. At the very least you can't fault your peer for trying.

For the "software equation" - Well, this is the fun part about IT. If your
machine differs in configuration from what the customer has, it makes it
difficult to figure out. This is why Microsoft and your peers will ask for
exact repro steps and/or what is installed. Makes it easier to get a repro
on the problem in order to figure out if it is an out-of-box problem or some
sort of interaction between two or more products.

On the RTF front... well, Rich Text Format (RTF) just plain sucks to any
mail client that isn't Microsoft Outlook. This is why Microsoft has made
the switch to using HTML as the default message format. At the very least
you get better cross platform support when you have *Nix purists that can't
stand HTML formatted messages. At the very least, the Exchange/Outlook will
provide a plain text body part that makes them happy (1).

/neo

(1) Of course no purist is happy when mentioning Microsoft in any type of
context.

I'm still here... just trying to figure out how to duplicate the issue.

Are the screenshots of the entire window or is the user being selective
(print screen vs. alt + print screen)

Does it matter?
But in this particular case: alt+print screen

The other thing my brain is stuck on is that "OLE-object:" implies Word
control codes, but apparently I can't get there by toggling certain boxes
under Tools > Options. I'm wondering, can you backup this users settings
using Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizard and see it dup on another
machine
vs what I'm trying of just a clean install of Windows XP/Office and
nothing
else?

No, I cannot do that, because that software is not installed.
Anyway all machines have the same settings because they are installed
with installation templates.
Even for every little f@rt every sofware can be reinstalled with
factory settings.

The reason I'm going this is route is that I'm starting to wonder if there
is a 3rd party program installed (e.g. Google Desktop). I have seen 3rd
party apps cause some pretty strange things and it might be worth going
down
this path since we don't have the same baseline to compare against.

No it is not yet installed but we are evaluating a company-wide
deployment of Google Desktop Enterprise Edition.

Any event, to answer your original question... Exchange/Outlook users
should
be able to send RTF messages with screenshots w/out issues. Reply/Forward
should not do what you are seeing in out-of-box installs.

We are bumping into several annoyances with RTF messages. Receipients
outside our Exchange environment (on the internet) sometimes receive
winmail.dat files. This happens when they don't use Outlook but
Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Incredimail, Google mail, or any other
mail client out there.
I reeeeeeally feel like encouraging people to switch to plain text, or
html if they really, *really* need markup.

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

For "Does it matter?" - For me, nope.  Can't duplicate either way, but since
I can't see the setup you have I'm trying to help by figuring how to get a
repro.  At the very least you can't fault your peer for trying.

I know. Thank you very much for the effort. I really appreciate it.

On the RTF front... well, Rich Text Format (RTF) just plain sucks to any
mail client that isn't Microsoft Outlook.  This is why Microsoft has made
the switch to using HTML as the default message format.  At the very least
you get better cross platform support when you have *Nix purists that can't
stand HTML formatted messages.  At the very least, the Exchange/Outlook will
provide a plain text body part that makes them happy (1).

/neo

(1) Of course no purist is happy when mentioning Microsoft in any type of
context.

Guilty as charged ;-)
As soon as I punch out at work, I am an Ubuntu evangelist (although
Ubuntu also sucks)

Anyway, to get back on topic.
You wrote: "This is why Microsoft has made the switch to using HTML as
the default message format."
I suppose you mean Microsoft did this in Outlook 2007? The company
decided they will skip Office 2007 and wait for Office 2009 or 2010 or
whatever it will be named.
Where can I find documentation about this switch to HTML? This is
interesting material for me because I can inform the decision makers
about possible issues with future upgrade paths.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

Outlook 2003 out of box is HTML as the default message format with Word
enabled as the editor.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA100072091033.aspx


Outlook 2007 out of box is HTML and there is no such thing as a choice for
what you want to use as an e-mail editor.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP012329961033.aspx

I don't remember (more like didn't use) Outlook 2002, but Outlook 2000
default message format is Rich Text.

For "Does it matter?" - For me, nope. Can't duplicate either way, but
since
I can't see the setup you have I'm trying to help by figuring how to get a
repro. At the very least you can't fault your peer for trying.

I know. Thank you very much for the effort. I really appreciate it.

On the RTF front... well, Rich Text Format (RTF) just plain sucks to any
mail client that isn't Microsoft Outlook. This is why Microsoft has made
the switch to using HTML as the default message format. At the very least
you get better cross platform support when you have *Nix purists that
can't
stand HTML formatted messages. At the very least, the Exchange/Outlook
will
provide a plain text body part that makes them happy (1).

/neo

(1) Of course no purist is happy when mentioning Microsoft in any type of
context.

Guilty as charged ;-)
As soon as I punch out at work, I am an Ubuntu evangelist (although
Ubuntu also sucks)

Anyway, to get back on topic.
You wrote: "This is why Microsoft has made the switch to using HTML as
the default message format."
I suppose you mean Microsoft did this in Outlook 2007? The company
decided they will skip Office 2007 and wait for Office 2009 or 2010 or
whatever it will be named.
Where can I find documentation about this switch to HTML? This is
interesting material for me because I can inform the decision makers
about possible issues with future upgrade paths.

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Outlook 2003 out of box is HTML as the default message format with Word
enabled as the editor.http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA100072091033.aspx

Thank you. That was the article I hoped existed somewhere but didn't
find.

There is only one thing that bugs me: receipients from a Sharepoint
2007 address list in Outlook 2003 are always RTF, and I cannot find
any way to change that. (That is: not in Outlook 2003. It could be a
Sharepoint 2007 or an Exchange 2003 issue, but I cannot fix that)