Author Topic: TNEF's Enough lets Macs read and extract files from Microsoft TNEF stream files  (Read 4413 times)

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TNEF's Enough allows Macs to read and extract files from Microsoft TNEF stream files (attachments named winmail.dat )



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TNEF's Enough

TNEF's Enough is a program I wrote to help Mac users deal with certain attachments from users of Microsoft Outlook and Exchange. The program is freeware so check it out if you ever receive weird attachments with the name "winmail.dat."

Wow! I've had tons of feedback and questions on TNEF's Enough. Unfortunately I'm not able to respond to everyone who writes. I have taken some of the feedback and created a new FAQ page. Please check that out before writing. Thanks!

TNEF's Enough allows Macs to read and extract files from Microsoft TNEF stream files. The files are usually received by SMTP based e-mail programs from Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook users. The SMTP based e-mail program will usually receive either a MIME attachment named "winmail.dat" or a MIME attachment with the type "application/ms-tnef."

The file is a rich text (or MAPI) message that is sent from Outlook to Exchange. When Exchange sends the message to an outside server it writes the MAPI message as a MIME attachment. The unfortunate side effect of this plan is if the Outlook user has someone in their address book as a person who can receive "Rich Text" then the user will receive the TNEF file whether the user uses Outlook or not.


Download

Version 2.2 for Mac OS X 10.5/10.6+ (Universal - PowerPC/Intel)

Version 2.0 for Mac OS X 10.4 and earlier (PowerPC only)

TNEF's Enough - FAQ

« TNEF's Enough

Q: I downloaded it. Now what do I do?

    To use, either drag a windmail.dat file to the TNEF's Enough icon in the Finder or while it's already running in the Dock. Alternatively, launch TNEF's Enough and do a "File > Open..." to locate your winmail.dat file.

    If TNEF's Enough can open the file, it will display any embedded files (aka. email attachments in the original message) and some attributes about the TNEF file. For embedded files, you can select them and save them to your computer.

Q: All I see is this window? What does it mean?


    A TNEF file is a whole email message regardless of it containing attached files. In this example the TNEF file doesn't contain any files.

    Clicking on the "Attributes" tab will give you some nitty-gritty bits about the message, but if you're looking for attached files, TNEF's Enough can't find any.

Q: TNEF's Enough won't open of just crashes. What gives?

    No one's pefect. I apologize if you can't use TNEF's Enough but simply don't have time to assist everyone who has problems.

Q: What is the deal with winmail.dat files anyway?

    The files are usually received by SMTP based e-mail programs from Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook users. The SMTP based e-mail program will usually either receive a MIME attachment named "winmail.dat" or a MIME attachment with the type "application/ms-tnef."

    The file is a rich text (or MAPI) message that is sent from Outlook to Exchange. When Exchange sends the message to an outside server it writes the MAPI message as a MIME attachment. The unfortunate side effect of this plan is that if the Outlook user has someone in their address book as a person who can receive "Rich Text" then the user will receive the TNEF file whether the user uses Outlook or not.

Q: Why would there be a problem or error opening a file?

    If you open a file with TNEF's Enough and receive an error the reason could be one of many. The most obvious is that the file is not a TNEF file. For example, opening a .SIT file with the application would give you this error.

    Another possibility is that the file is a TNEF file but is currently encoded in another format. For example, if someone received an e-mail with a TNEF file and forwarded it to you and your e-mail program did not decode the encoding used by the sender's e-mail program then the TNEF file could still be encoded. There is no easy way to figure out if your file is encoded in a format like BinHex, Base64 or UUEncoding (three common encoding methods used in e-mails) but a common solution can be to open the file with Stuffit Expander first. Stuffit Expander can often figure out these encodings and can return the file to the TNEF format for TNEF's Enough.

    The last possibility is that the TNEF file is damaged. If the file is sent through an e-mail system or received by an e-mail program that doesn't now how to deal with these files than the file can become corrupt and TNEF's Enough will not be able to open it. If this is the case then there is nothing that TNEF's Enough can do to recover the embedded files

Feedback

Let me know if you have any problems with using TNEF's Enough or if you have suggestions for future versions. My time to answer emails is a bit spotty to say the least but I'll try my best to answer your questions.

Thank You

For everyone who has donated or has passed on their appreciation, I say "Thank You!" Your donations help to keep the lights on (or web site running) so that others with winmail.dat problems on Mac OS X can find a free solution.

http://www.joshjacob.com/mac-development/tnef.php

 

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