WD: MacWord File Won't Open When Sent As Mail Attachment

ID: Q125300

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0
Microsoft Mail for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 3.1, 3.2

SYMPTOMS

With versions 3.0, 3.0b, 3.1, and 3.2 of Microsoft Mail for Windows, you may receive the following error when you try to open a Microsoft Word version 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, or 6.01 for Macintosh document.

   STOP!
   The application for the attached "<file name>.DOC" (or one of
   its components) could not be found.

CAUSE

The Word for Macintosh document was saved in Word for Windows format and must still be converted. As a result, Mail for Windows is not able to recognize the attachment.

This error occurs because of the 128-byte MacBinary file header that contains the file creator and file type information. There needs to be an entry in the Msmail.ini file to handle the MacBinary file headers.

RESOLUTION

For Word versions 4.0, 5.0, or 5.1 for the Macintosh, add the following line to the [Mac File Types] section in the Msmail.ini file:

   MSWD:BINA=.DOC

This allows Microsoft Mail for Windows to recognize and strip the MacBinary file header.

For Word version 6.0 for the Macintosh, add the following line to the [Mac File Types] section in the Msmail.ini file:

   MSWD:W6BN=.DOC

MORE INFORMATION

To launch Word for Windows from the Mail Windows client, you can double- click the attachment icon, provided you have associated *.DOC files with Word for Windows in the Windows File Manager. To associate a file in File Manager, choose Associate from the File menu. Specify the .DOC extension and associate it with Word for Windows.

Additional query words: launch begin OLE automatic conversion load macword5

Keywords          : kberrmsg kbinterop winword macword 
Version           : MACINTOSH:4.0,5.0,5.10,6.0
Platform          : MACINTOSH
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: February 4, 1998