fixed width fonts to outlook from sendmail?
2,225 views
Skip to first unread message
Mike McGuane
Oct 23, 2014, 12:46:16 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
We send emailed order confirmation emails to customers, as plain text in
the body of the message. It includes a table that loses its column
formatting when it is displayed at the receiving end (eg by Outlook)
using a proportional font, eg Arial, as the default font. The advice
displays ok when the destination uses a non-proportional font (eg
Courier) as the default font.
How can we specify the font to be used by the destination for displaying our message?
I saw this in another group... but cant get it to work.
in RFC 1896 and it lookes likes this:
Replace header:
Content-Type: text/plain
with:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/enriched
<fontfamily><param>courier</
How can we specify the font to be used by the destination for displaying our message?
I saw this in another group... but cant get it to work.
in RFC 1896 and it lookes likes this:
Replace header:
Content-Type: text/plain
with:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/enriched
<fontfamily><param>courier</
param><fixed><nofill>
another dev built the sendmail and I am not very familiar with linux.
I am just building text records to send using this sendmail method.
!/usr/sbin/sendmail -G -Nfailure -f '":SENDERS.EMAIL:"' '":RECIPIENT:"' < ":UNIX.FILE.NAME
Any tips on how to get fontFamily to work? Every way I try to build a line to execute seems to ignore fontFamily.
THanks
another dev built the sendmail and I am not very familiar with linux.
I am just building text records to send using this sendmail method.
!/usr/sbin/sendmail -G -Nfailure -f '":SENDERS.EMAIL:"' '":RECIPIENT:"' < ":UNIX.FILE.NAME
Any tips on how to get fontFamily to work? Every way I try to build a line to execute seems to ignore fontFamily.
THanks
Nathan Rector
Oct 23, 2014, 12:56:55 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
You will need to specify the font in the table tag:
<table style="font-family:Courier New">...</table>
-Nathan
--------------------------------------------
Nathan Rector
International Spectrum, Inc
http://www.intl-spectrum.com
Phone: 720-259-1356
<table style="font-family:Courier New">...</table>
-Nathan
--------------------------------------------
Nathan Rector
International Spectrum, Inc
http://www.intl-spectrum.com
Phone: 720-259-1356
Mike McGuane
Oct 23, 2014, 1:28:16 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Thanks Nathan, But this is just plain text, not html. Hoping to use just plain text so we dont have to rewrite all plain text to html.
Bob Rasmussen
Oct 23, 2014, 1:41:54 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Mike, I believe that by definition you can not control the font to be used
in plain text.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to
> the "Pick and MultiValue Databases" group.
> To post, email to: mvd...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe, email to: mvdbms+un...@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/mvdbms
>
>
Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen, President, Rasmussen Software, Inc.
personal e-mail: r...@anzio.com
company e-mail: r...@anzio.com
voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
fax: (US) 503-624-0760
web: http://www.anzio.com
street address: Rasmussen Software, Inc.
10240 SW Nimbus, Suite L9
Portland, OR 97223 USA
in plain text.
> You received this message because you are subscribed to
> the "Pick and MultiValue Databases" group.
> To post, email to: mvd...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe, email to: mvdbms+un...@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/mvdbms
>
>
Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen, President, Rasmussen Software, Inc.
personal e-mail: r...@anzio.com
company e-mail: r...@anzio.com
voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
fax: (US) 503-624-0760
web: http://www.anzio.com
street address: Rasmussen Software, Inc.
10240 SW Nimbus, Suite L9
Portland, OR 97223 USA
Nathan Rector
Oct 23, 2014, 1:50:13 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Oh, for plain-text emails, you can't control the font. You would have
to wrap the text into html
<html><body><pre>
...
...
...
</pre></body></html>
When doing plain text you are at the mercy of the email client. The
only thing you can control with word wrapping using Quoted-printable
encoding.
Any presentation changes (colors, fonts, sizes, etc) has to be done with
HTML or RTF.
-Nathan
--
to wrap the text into html
<html><body><pre>
...
...
...
</pre></body></html>
When doing plain text you are at the mercy of the email client. The
only thing you can control with word wrapping using Quoted-printable
encoding.
Any presentation changes (colors, fonts, sizes, etc) has to be done with
HTML or RTF.
-Nathan
--
geneb
Oct 23, 2014, 1:59:44 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
On Thu, 23 Oct 2014, Mike McGuane wrote:
> Thanks Nathan, But this is just plain text, not html. Hoping to use just
> plain text so we dont have to rewrite all plain text to html.
>
You might try enclosing everything in <pre></pre> tags so the formatting
> plain text so we dont have to rewrite all plain text to html.
>
you specify may stand. Outlook should obey the mime type you specify
though.
FYI, "sendmail" is the standard *nix mail transport agent. I doubt anyone
that used to work there wrote it. :)
g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!
Mike McGuane
Oct 23, 2014, 2:48:53 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
The <pre> tags have come up in other groups too. and for clarification, they didn't write sendmail, they configured sendmail and setup the method to execute it.
is there a more modern way to specify <fontFamily>? I saw a ten year old reference to it, but no examples. The main goal is to be able to get sendmail to format as monospace (fixed width) fonts. Failing that we will have to change all email processes from D3 using sendmail to be html. And while I believe that is a good thing. all we are really expecting is a better list of line items for an order in an all text email.
thank
is there a more modern way to specify <fontFamily>? I saw a ten year old reference to it, but no examples. The main goal is to be able to get sendmail to format as monospace (fixed width) fonts. Failing that we will have to change all email processes from D3 using sendmail to be html. And while I believe that is a good thing. all we are really expecting is a better list of line items for an order in an all text email.
thank
geneb
Oct 23, 2014, 2:53:23 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
On Thu, 23 Oct 2014, Mike McGuane wrote:
> is there a more modern way to specify <fontFamily>? I saw a ten year old
> reference to it, but no examples. The main goal is to be able to get
> sendmail to format as monospace (fixed width) fonts. Failing that we will
> have to change all email processes from D3 using sendmail to be html. And
> while I believe that is a good thing. all we are really expecting is a
> better list of line items for an order in an all text email.
> thank
>
>
If Outlook isn't using a fixed-width font then it thinks what it's seeing
> is there a more modern way to specify <fontFamily>? I saw a ten year old
> reference to it, but no examples. The main goal is to be able to get
> sendmail to format as monospace (fixed width) fonts. Failing that we will
> have to change all email processes from D3 using sendmail to be html. And
> while I believe that is a good thing. all we are really expecting is a
> better list of line items for an order in an all text email.
> thank
>
>
is HTML. You might want to get copies of the delivered message headers to
see what is explicitly being set.
Nathan Rector
Oct 23, 2014, 3:15:23 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Oh, so you want to setup the sendmail .cf file to automatically add
something pre and post message without having to alter your existing code:
EXECUTE "!sendmail .... < email.tmp"
is that it?
You have 2 options:
1) create a sendmail script in the $HOME directory so that it find that
script before finding the actual sendmail program. Use the script to
'cat' the information into the actual sendmail program.
2) create or find a "Milter" that sendmail will support that will do the
work for you. ie: http://www.mimedefang.com/
I've never used mimedefang before, so don't know if it will solve your
solve your problem.
Another option is to use txt2pd to convert your fixed font layouts into
PDF, and then attach the PDF to the email using sendmail.
-Nathan
> - Go Collimated or Go Home.
> Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
>
> ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
> A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
> http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!
>
> Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
>
> ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
> A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
> http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to
> the "Pick and MultiValue Databases" group.
> To post, email to: mvd...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe, email to: mvdbms+un...@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/mvdbms
--
> You received this message because you are subscribed to
> the "Pick and MultiValue Databases" group.
> To post, email to: mvd...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe, email to: mvdbms+un...@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/mvdbms
Tony Gravagno
Oct 23, 2014, 3:42:14 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Let's all back up a moment. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Email can be sent with both a plain-text and an HTML payload. Readers which are capable of processing HTML use that part. Other readers use the text part. Some users prefer to get email in plain text even if their reader supports HTML. So you have no idea for any given user what they can or want to process. The answer is to provide both formats in every email. I can help with this if requested.
On one hand I'll hop into my Sales shoes and say NebulaMail supports this and a Lot of other features for sending mail with pure BASIC code. On the other hand I re-wrote it a couple years ago but didn't redocument or productize it, so it's not suitable for distribution. But if there is enough demand for a cross-platform BASIC solution that supports all facets of sending email, I can resurrect it. Heck, at this point I might even FOSS it.
HTH
On one hand I'll hop into my Sales shoes and say NebulaMail supports this and a Lot of other features for sending mail with pure BASIC code. On the other hand I re-wrote it a couple years ago but didn't redocument or productize it, so it's not suitable for distribution. But if there is enough demand for a cross-platform BASIC solution that supports all facets of sending email, I can resurrect it. Heck, at this point I might even FOSS it.
HTH
Tony Gravagno
Nebula Research and Development
TG@ remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com
http://Nebula-RnD.com/blog
Visit http://PickWiki.com!
Contribute!
http://Twitter.com/TonyGravagno
http://groups.google.com/group/mvdbms
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Pick-Users-Group-64935
https://bitbucket.org/foss4mv
CDMI - Steve T
Oct 23, 2014, 4:06:42 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Mike: here is my EMAIL.TO.SENDMAIL subroutine
all programs call this subroutine to send email. Notice how I changed original text message to be html message. Also the usage of 'pre' and '/pre'. This is running on QM/Linux.
good luck.
SUBROUTINE EMAIL.TO.SENDMAIL(EMO.ID,EMO.FILE)
*
***
Linux sendmail:
*** -t Read message for recipients.
*** To:, Cc:, and Bcc: lines will be scanned for recipient addresses.
*** The Bcc: line will be deleted before transmission.
!
* 11-01-07 smt outbound email via linux
sendmail
* delete EMO.FILE,EMO.ID and then
* re-write to EMO.FILE with ID = TO.ADDR_seqno
* modifications:
* 08-20-12 smt added Content-Type: text/html;
* 08-04-08
smt per wikipedia.org - valid email address characters are:
* uppercase and lowercase letters
* digits 0 thru 9
* characters ! # $ % * / ? | ^ { } ` ~ & ' + - = _
* character . provided that it is NOT the 1st nor last character, nor may it appear two or more times consecutively
*
* 11-06-07 smt if EMO.ID = contactus - send copy of email to sender
!
$DEBUG
OPENPATH \/tmp/\ to TMP.FILE ELSE GOTO 20000
!
READ EMO.REC FROM EMO.FILE,EMO.ID ELSE
CRT \could NOT read \:EMO.ID:\ from EMAIL out file...\
GOTO 20000
END
DELETE EMO.FILE,EMO.ID
*
TMP.REC = EMO.REC
FOR II = 1 TO 5
TMP.REC = DELETE(TMP.REC,1,0,0) ; * get rid of attributes SENDMAIL does NOT need
NEXT II
*
DONEHTML = 0
IF INDEX(TMP.REC,\text/html;\,1) THEN DONEHTML = 1
IF NOT(DONEHTML) THEN
IF INDEX(TMP.REC,\TEXT/HTML;\,1) THEN DONEHTML = 1
END
IF
NOT(DONEHTML) THEN
NUMAM = DCOUNT(TMP.REC,@AM)
FOR II = 1 TO NUMAM
XX$ = OCONV(TMP.REC<II>,"MCU")
IF INDEX(XX$,\X-MAILER\,1) THEN
II+= 1
DONEHTML = 1
TMP.REC = INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\<pre>\)
TMP.REC = INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\<body>\)
TMP.REC = INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\</head>\)
TMP.REC =
INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\<head>\)
TMP.REC = INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\<html>\)
TMP.REC = INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\ \)
TMP.REC = INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\Content-Type: text/html;\)
TMP.REC = INSERT(TMP.REC,II,0,0,\MIME-Version: 1.0\)
II = NUMAM
END
NEXT II
*
IF DONEHTML THEN
TMP.REC<-1> = \</pre>\
TMP.REC<-1> = \</body>\
TMP.REC<-1> = \</html>\
END
END
*
TMP.SQNO = 1
LOOP
TMP.ID = \emout-\:TMP.SQNO
READ XTMP.REC FROM TMP.FILE,TMP.ID ELSE XTMP.REC = ''
UNTIL XTMP.REC = '' DO
TMP.SQNO+= 1
REPEAT
WRITE TMP.REC ON TMP.FILE,TMP.ID
!
100 * begin processing
!
REPLY.ADDR = FIELD(EMO.REC<11>,":",2)
REPLY.ADDR = FIELD(REPLY.ADDR,",",1) ; * only 1 email address for 'reply.addr'
*** in the CONTACTUS.HTM this is the TOWHO variable in hexidecimal
*** valid characters
* uppercase and lowercase letters
* digits 0 thru 9
* characters ! # $ % * / ? | ^ { } ` ~ & ' + - = _
*
*** remove these characters in email address
*
BADCHARS = \(),\ ; * leave . "
BADCHARS:= "\" ; *
0123456789 leaving the numbers in there
BADCHARS:= ":;" ; * leave @ <>
BADCHARS:= "[]"
*
CONVERT BADCHARS TO '' IN REPLY.ADDR
*
OUTBOUND.ADDR = EMO.REC<4> ; * [To:]
PRIMARY.TO.ADDR = FIELD(OUTBOUND.ADDR,",",1) ; * used to send copy of email to
COPY.ADDR = FIELD(EMO.REC<5>,":",2) ; * multiple separated by commas [Bcc:]
*
CONVERT \,\ TO @VM IN OUTBOUND.ADDR
CONVERT \,\ TO @VM IN COPY.ADDR
*
NUMVM = DCOUNT(OUTBOUND.ADDR<1>,@VM)
FOR ZZZ = 1 TO NUMVM
TO.ADDR = OUTBOUND.ADDR<1,ZZZ>
GOSUB 500 ; * send mail
NEXT ZZZ
*
*** now any Bcc
*
NUMVM = DCOUNT(COPY.ADDR<1>,@VM)
FOR ZZZ = 1 TO NUMVM
TO.ADDR = COPY.ADDR<1,ZZZ>
GOSUB 500 ; * send mail
NEXT ZZZ
*
*** now send copy to the 'From:' email address(es)
*
IF INDEX(CHECK.ID,\CONTACTUS\,1) THEN
TO.ADDR = REPLY.ADDR ; REPLY.ADDR = PRIMARY.TO.ADDR
TMP.REC<1> = \From:\:REPLY.ADDR
TMP.REC<3> = \To:\:TO.ADDR
*
AMC$ = 6
LOOP
VAL$ = TMP.REC<AMC$>
UNTIL VAL$ = '' DO
AMC$+= 1
REPEAT
*
PLN = \You sent the following email to \:REPLY.ADDR:\ .\
TMP.REC =
INSERT(TMP.REC,AMC$,0,0,PLN)
WRITE TMP.REC ON TMP.FILE,TMP.ID
*
AMC$ = 6
LOOP
VAL$ = EMO.REC<AMC$>
UNTIL VAL$ = '' DO
AMC$+= 1
REPEAT
*
EMO.REC = INSERT(EMO.REC,AMC$,0,0,PLN)
*
GOSUB 500
END
*
DELETE TMP.FILE,TMP.ID
GOTO 20000
!
500 * send outbound email via SENDMAIL
!
*
*** remove these characters in email address
*
BADCHARS = \(),\ ; * leave . "
BADCHARS:= "\" ; * 0123456789 leaving the numbers in there
BADCHARS:= ":;" ; * leave @ <>
BADCHARS:= "[]"
*
CONVERT BADCHARS TO '' IN REPLY.ADDR
*
VERB = \sendmail -f\:REPLY.ADDR:\ \:TO.ADDR:\ < /tmp/\:TMP.ID
CRT \ \
CRT \email.to.sendmail...\
CRT VERB
OS.EXECUTE VERB
*
SLEEP 1
*
*** write out with new id (so can track by TO.ADDR)
*
NEW.EMO.ID = OCONV(TO.ADDR,"MCU") ; SQNO = 1 ; DONE = 0
LOOP UNTIL DONE DO
SUFFIX.ID = DATE():"_":TIME()
READ NEW.EMO.REC FROM EMO.FILE,NEW.EMO.ID:"_":SUFFIX.ID ELSE NEW.EMO.REC = ''
IF NEW.EMO.REC # '' THEN
SLEEP 1
END ELSE
DONE = 1
WRITE EMO.REC ON EMO.FILE,NEW.EMO.ID:"_":SUFFIX.ID
END
REPEAT
*
RETURN
!
20000 * end of program
!
RETURN
END
Steve Trimble (501) 615-8674
Computerized Data Mgmt Inc (CDMI)
From: Mike McGuane <mik...@gmail.com>
To: mvd...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: [mvdbms] fixed width fonts to outlook from sendmail?
The <pre> tags have come up in other groups too. and for clarification, they didn't write sendmail, they configured sendmail and setup the method to execute it.
is there a more modern way to specify <fontFamily>? I saw a ten year old reference to it, but no examples. The main goal is to be able to get sendmail to format as monospace (fixed width) fonts. Failing that we will have to change all email processes from D3 using sendmail to be html. And while I believe that is a good thing. all we are really expecting is a better list of line items for an order in an all text email.
thank
is there a more modern way to specify <fontFamily>? I saw a ten year old reference to it, but no examples. The main goal is to be able to get sendmail to format as monospace (fixed width) fonts. Failing that we will have to change all email processes from D3 using sendmail to be html. And while I believe that is a good thing. all we are really expecting is a better list of line items for an order in an all text email.
thank
On Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:59:44 AM UTC-7, geneb wrote:
On Thu, 23 Oct 2014, Mike McGuane wrote:
> Thanks Nathan, But this is just plain text, not html. Hoping to use just
> plain text so we dont have to rewrite all plain text to html.
>
You might try enclosing everything in <pre></pre> tags so the formatting
you specify may stand. Outlook should obey the mime type you specify
though.
FYI, "sendmail" is the standard *nix mail transport agent. I doubt anyone
that used to work there wrote it. :)
g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/ coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!
Kevin King
Oct 23, 2014, 7:32:29 PM10/23/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
If you're interfacing to sendmail directly, you might try "Content-Type: text/text" followed by a blank line in the file above the message. If you're outputting the headers and everything to a file (To:, From:, Subject:, etc.) then put this and a blank line immediately before the text of the message. It's no guarantee that the recipient mail program will format it monospace, but it gives a hint to the recipient that it's just raw text and not anything that is to be formatted. Outlook, in true Microsoft fashion, makes some awful assumptions.
geneb
Oct 24, 2014, 8:57:24 AM10/24/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
On Thu, 23 Oct 2014, Kevin King wrote:
> raw text and not anything that is to be formatted. Outlook, in true
> Microsoft fashion, makes some awful assumptions.
>
Such as, "Nobody EVER wants to bottom post!" and goes out of its way to
> raw text and not anything that is to be formatted. Outlook, in true
> Microsoft fashion, makes some awful assumptions.
>
discourage it. :)
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Peter McMurray
Oct 24, 2014, 5:48:19 PM10/24/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Hi
I think that you are running a risk sending any document as text within an email. In the case of a dispute/error the recipient can alter the document never mind the fact that there are no ways of prescribing how the recipient opens it. Some people even use their telephones, phablets etc.
We send everything as a PDF using a password lock. The original is stored on the hard drive and is capable of being matched to the original database entries. It has the advantage of being retrieved by the operators from D3 so that they are looking at the same item as the customer.
We use Anzio PrintWizard which involves precious little alteration to existing code for terrific results.
Charlie Noah
Oct 24, 2014, 6:06:34 PM10/24/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Hi Peter,
If you send me normal email text as a PDF, I will just delete it. PDFs are great for some things, but everything? Give me a break! They are big and a hassle to deal with. If I want to go back and look for specific text I got in an email, I will search my emails (I keep most everything), but I will not go to the trouble of searching PDFs. Actually, I had to do that today to find 3 emails I got between 2008 and 2012. I found them all with ease. Besides, most PDFs can be modified anyway, if you really know what you're doing. Just my 2¢ worth.
Charlie
If you send me normal email text as a PDF, I will just delete it. PDFs are great for some things, but everything? Give me a break! They are big and a hassle to deal with. If I want to go back and look for specific text I got in an email, I will search my emails (I keep most everything), but I will not go to the trouble of searching PDFs. Actually, I had to do that today to find 3 emails I got between 2008 and 2012. I found them all with ease. Besides, most PDFs can be modified anyway, if you really know what you're doing. Just my 2¢ worth.
Charlie
--
Kevin Powick
Oct 25, 2014, 9:12:27 AM10/25/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Agreed. PDFs are great for some things, but certainly not regular email messages. And as mentioned, PDFs are not that difficult to alter, even if password protected.
If one is worried about the authenticity/integrity of their email messages, they should be using digital signatures for all outbound email.
--
Kevin Powick
Tony Gravagno
Oct 25, 2014, 12:09:55 PM10/25/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Well, all email is sent as text anyway and if someone wants to modify/forge an email they can do other things to it. I've never heard of a case where someone modified a received order confirmation in order to commit fraud. Some naive amateur might try it, and this might have been in the hacker's toolkit in the early 90's, but it's too easy to counter these days. There is a good chance that there is copy on the receiving server, on the sending server, on servers in between, in the source vendor's system, and in all transactions leading up to the generation of the message.
About PDF vs text vs HTML, they all have their place. I don't view HTML from strangers, but I do use HTML for most business emails for easy but very basic formatting. My Outlook client doesn't show images from HTML per my preference. I don't want an image request to ping back a spammer to let them know I've opened their trash. But I do turn on images for known associates. We send all invoices as PDF because on the receiving side our HTML might not print properly but PDF always prints fine. There is no one-size-fits-all here.
And I completely agree about PrintWizard. I just did a prototype for a prospect of an attractive packing slip with barcodes, and not only did I have fun coding it but the results are stunning ... or in other words ... it doesn't look like it came from a R83-era Pick system like most docs we see from these systems. In this case, yes, PDF is an excellent alternative to HTML.
T
About PDF vs text vs HTML, they all have their place. I don't view HTML from strangers, but I do use HTML for most business emails for easy but very basic formatting. My Outlook client doesn't show images from HTML per my preference. I don't want an image request to ping back a spammer to let them know I've opened their trash. But I do turn on images for known associates. We send all invoices as PDF because on the receiving side our HTML might not print properly but PDF always prints fine. There is no one-size-fits-all here.
And I completely agree about PrintWizard. I just did a prototype for a prospect of an attractive packing slip with barcodes, and not only did I have fun coding it but the results are stunning ... or in other words ... it doesn't look like it came from a R83-era Pick system like most docs we see from these systems. In this case, yes, PDF is an excellent alternative to HTML.
T
On Friday, October 24, 2014 2:48:19 PM UTC-7, Peter McMurray wrote:
HiI think that you are running a risk sending any document as text within an email. In the case of a dispute/error the recipient can alter the document ...
Bob Rasmussen
Oct 25, 2014, 12:20:12 PM10/25/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Some clarification is in order here. It is not true that PDFs are easy to
alter. That statement is subject to the universal qualifier: "it all
depends". Let me lay out:
1) A PDF with NO passwords (technically having the default user password)
is easy to modify while leaving evidence, and moderately easy to modify
without leaving evidence.
2) A PDF with an OWNER password but NOT a USER password can be flagged as
unmodifiable. If it is, anyone can view it, but only somewone with the
owner password can modify it. Internally the entire file is hashed and
encrypted.
3) A PDF with BOTH an owner password and a user password can be viewed
only by someone having the user or owner password. Beyond that, it is like
2) above.
4) A PDF that is digitally SIGNED, which must also have both passwords if
I recall, also references a digital certificate. It can only be created by
someone having the private key to that certificate, so this serves to
authenticate (as opposed to encrypt) the author. It also authenticates the
date and time it was created.
I would welcome any factual challenges to this analysis.
alter. That statement is subject to the universal qualifier: "it all
depends". Let me lay out:
1) A PDF with NO passwords (technically having the default user password)
is easy to modify while leaving evidence, and moderately easy to modify
without leaving evidence.
2) A PDF with an OWNER password but NOT a USER password can be flagged as
unmodifiable. If it is, anyone can view it, but only somewone with the
owner password can modify it. Internally the entire file is hashed and
encrypted.
3) A PDF with BOTH an owner password and a user password can be viewed
only by someone having the user or owner password. Beyond that, it is like
2) above.
4) A PDF that is digitally SIGNED, which must also have both passwords if
I recall, also references a digital certificate. It can only be created by
someone having the private key to that certificate, so this serves to
authenticate (as opposed to encrypt) the author. It also authenticates the
date and time it was created.
I would welcome any factual challenges to this analysis.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to
> the "Pick and MultiValue Databases" group.
> To post, email to: mvd...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe, email to: mvdbms+un...@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/mvdbms
>
>
> You received this message because you are subscribed to
> the "Pick and MultiValue Databases" group.
> To post, email to: mvd...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe, email to: mvdbms+un...@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/mvdbms
>
>
Peter McMurray
Oct 25, 2014, 8:35:08 PM10/25/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
HI
I did not say everything I SAID BUSINESS DOCUMENTS which have significant impact these days post SOX,
One thing I have noticed is that a lot of people do not realise the risk with improperly prepared documents. It is an offence to not prepare a document with the Australian Business Number clearly adjacent to the first mention of the business name. I am quite sure that the US has similar requirements in fact each state may differ.
Also when there is a dispute e.g. when suing for an unpaid account it is not unusual for the party being sued to come up with any number of tricks. Only last week the Italian police caught a small group of people who had cheated the government of 1.2 Billion Euros with false documents.
Bob has kindly pointed out that one cannot alter PDFs signed with a sender password which is what we do, and no the client does not know the password.
TG has also explained what a massive improvement PrintWizard offers to a business. We simply got the printer to send us a minimum size pdf of the standard pre-printed documents, Invoices, orders, debtors' statements and credit card statements which we merge using PrintWizard with the D3 output in a single D3 print line. We had one minor issue in that the printer had used an unusual font for one dot on one document (artists !!) easy for him to replace with a normal dot although not quite so perfect in that it was possibly 1 or 2 mm smaller diameter.
On Friday, October 24, 2014 3:46:16 AM UTC+11, Mike McGuane wrote:
Peter McMurray
Oct 25, 2014, 9:37:57 PM10/25/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
Hi Again
I was surprised at the reaction regarding PDFs as we have no problem with searching or size so at the risk of telling my grandmother how to suck eggs. This is what we do. We produce the original pdf without the overlay and save it in an appropriate folder e.g. Invoices>20141030 for October Invoices we then combine it with the overlay and send it
056 makePDF: * Create a temporary PDF with overlay and print permission
057 thisCmd = '!':pw:' -q ':thisProfile:thisSrc:' -Fpdf://':thisdest
058 thisCmd := '?owner=GUESSWHOIS?permissions=P'
059 * send it with Printwiz
060 execute thisCmd capturing errors returning output
061 return
057 thisCmd = '!':pw:' -q ':thisProfile:thisSrc:' -Fpdf://':thisdest
058 thisCmd := '?owner=GUESSWHOIS?permissions=P'
059 * send it with Printwiz
060 execute thisCmd capturing errors returning output
061 return
As for search well one simply uses the Adobe search for example searching the Invoices folder with many thousands of entries for several years for all invoices to "Geltch" returned the result in under a second
Hope this helps someone
On Friday, October 24, 2014 3:46:16 AM UTC+11, Mike McGuane wrote:
Bob Dubery
Oct 27, 2014, 1:00:05 PM10/27/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
That presupposes that the system on which the mail is bring read has that font installed. Sure, it's a long shot thst it doesn't, but <pre> is probably the safest bet.
Mike McGuane
Oct 27, 2014, 2:35:00 PM10/27/14
to mvd...@googlegroups.com
There is some great stuff in these responses.
Thanks Gang. we do both the PDF overlay, and text emails. Some customers dont even like their email shows four attachments, and they think they need to open them, only to find out it is a list of logos for the TGIF (Twi**er, Gm*il, Itunes, F***book). So they hate attachments now. And we are being further required to add 'unsubscribe' links, even though these are for order acknowledgements which the customer had to request in writing.
But I see some great possibilities to advance email in our D3 system from all the suggestions. Thanks Gang...
PS, it turns out we have a test of email to Roundcube. and the formatting only has to pass in roundcube to be signed off by QA. In production it will be willy nilly wild west and They know it, but dont care. Just has to meet an unwritten QA requirement so everyone can turn in the paperwork. and they know it will look uglier in real life, but dont care. (Thanks For Listening!). "Those who are politically apathetic can only survive if they are supported by people who are capable of taking action." - Pericles
I look forward to researching all the suggestions here Gang!
thanks
Thanks Gang. we do both the PDF overlay, and text emails. Some customers dont even like their email shows four attachments, and they think they need to open them, only to find out it is a list of logos for the TGIF (Twi**er, Gm*il, Itunes, F***book). So they hate attachments now. And we are being further required to add 'unsubscribe' links, even though these are for order acknowledgements which the customer had to request in writing.
But I see some great possibilities to advance email in our D3 system from all the suggestions. Thanks Gang...
PS, it turns out we have a test of email to Roundcube. and the formatting only has to pass in roundcube to be signed off by QA. In production it will be willy nilly wild west and They know it, but dont care. Just has to meet an unwritten QA requirement so everyone can turn in the paperwork. and they know it will look uglier in real life, but dont care. (Thanks For Listening!). "Those who are politically apathetic can only survive if they are supported by people who are capable of taking action." - Pericles
I look forward to researching all the suggestions here Gang!
thanks
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages