Paperclip but no attachment

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perivale
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Paperclip but no attachment

Post by perivale »

Every now and then I get a message which has a paperclip icon indicating an attachment., but when I open it there is no attachment pane shown at the bottom of the message.

What criteria are searched for in the message source which indicate the presence of an attachment ?
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Jeroen p
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Post by Jeroen p »

I do not know the exact code, but open your message and take a look at the message source (Ctrl+U). Do a search for "Content-Type" (without the quotes). The first match you find is the content type for the message itself. Any other is, if you not in a multipart/alternative message, an attachment.
Extensions for Thunderbird: <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_cs">Contacts Sidebar</a>, <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_ts">Timestamp</a> and <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_aes">Allow Empty Subject</a>
perivale
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Location: London UK

Post by perivale »

Both these examples show the paperclip but have no attachment. I've cut the relevant bits of the source.
Both have 2 content-type clauses. I don't know why. The multipart/mixed clause in both cases is empty. The text or html is contained in the 2nd clauses
of text/plain or text/html.


First Example (Plain Text Message)
-----------------------------------------

Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="----=_Part_7807_7110401.1102695841031"

------=_Part_7807_7110401.1102695841031
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit


Plain text of message here.


------=_Part_7807_7110401.1102695841031--


2nd Example (HTML Message)
-----------------------------------

MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="gc0pJq0M:08jU534c0p"




--gc0pJq0M:08jU534c0p
Content-type: text/html;
Content-Disposition: inline;

<html>
HTML Code Here
<html>

--gc0pJq0M:08jU534c0p--
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Jeroen p
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Post by Jeroen p »

Multipart/mixed indicates there a mutiple parts in the message and of mixed type. But in both examples there is only one part i them actual message. In your first example a text/plain message and in your second example a text/html messages.

Conclusion is, both message bodies do have the parts that their headers say the have.
Extensions for Thunderbird: <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_cs">Contacts Sidebar</a>, <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_ts">Timestamp</a> and <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_aes">Allow Empty Subject</a>
perivale
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Location: London UK

Post by perivale »

Sorry but I still don't really understand why thunderbird reports an attachment.
Heres a test message with an attachment I sent to myself with thunderbird.
The name of the attatched file (Test Attachment File.txt) is clearly visible in a name= and a filename= expression, but no such expressions exist in the 2 examples I gave above.

MIME-Version: 1.0
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Test Message With Attachment
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="------------010709060301050805030404"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------010709060301050805030404
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Dear Whoever

End of message.

--------------010709060301050805030404
Content-Type: text/plain;
name="Test Attachment File.txt"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline;
filename="Test Attachment File.txt"

Test Attachment file starts here

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party

Last line of attacment

--------------010709060301050805030404--
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Jeroen p
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Post by Jeroen p »

perivale wrote:The name of the attatched file (Test Attachment File.txt) is clearly visible in a name= and a filename= expression, but no such expressions exist in the 2 examples I gave above.

This is what I was trying to explain. The header in your two example messages and in your Thunderbird message all three indicate there are multiple parts in the message (content-type=multipart/mixed). Both your examples are misformed messages, because they do not cantain an actual attachment in the body of the message. As you said your self, the Thunderbird message does have an attachment in the body.

The paper clip is shown on the basis of the headers, the attachment pane in the bottom of the message pane is shown on the basis of the actual attachment in the message body.
Extensions for Thunderbird: <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_cs">Contacts Sidebar</a>, <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_ts">Timestamp</a> and <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_aes">Allow Empty Subject</a>
perivale
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Location: London UK

Post by perivale »

Thanks for the response.

I think I understand. Its the content=multipart/mixed clause which causes thunderbird to believe there is an attachment.

Is the likely cause a problem with the way the senders own mail client is wrongly structuring the message or should'nt thunderbird check for a filename clause before indicating the presence of an attachment ?

Incidentally I am running AVG anti virus, although I can't see that it would rewrite headers.
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Jeroen p
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Post by Jeroen p »

perivale wrote:I think I understand. Its the content=multipart/mixed clause which causes thunderbird to believe there is an attachment.

Correct

perivale wrote:Is the likely cause a problem with the way the senders own mail client is wrongly structuring the message or should'nt thunderbird check for a filename clause before indicating the presence of an attachment ?

Yes, it is the email client of the sender that is creating a malformed message. Thunderbird looks for two reasons only at the message headers. The first reason is speed. It would take much longer to determine if there is a attachment in the message. Second reason, the message body is not always available when the message list is displayed. It is possible in Thunderbird to only download the headers of an email.
Extensions for Thunderbird: <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_cs">Contacts Sidebar</a>, <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_ts">Timestamp</a> and <a href="http://jpeters.no-ip.com/extensions/?page=tb_aes">Allow Empty Subject</a>
perivale
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Joined: December 11th, 2004, 7:27 am
Location: London UK

Post by perivale »

Thanks for your patience.
oldyellr
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Re: Paperclip but no attachment

Post by oldyellr »

I had not noticed this before, but lately I've been seeing emails from a certain Google Group, all showing paperclips, but there are no attachments when I open them. That's the reason I searched for this. This is a very old thread, but it's all that came up. It has to be a Thunderbird bug that has never been fixed. I notice that when I click each email (not double click to open it) the paperclip disappears. If it doesn't disappear. there actually is an attachment. Isn't it about time this bug was fixed?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Paperclip but no attachment

Post by DanRaisch »

There was a answer provided 15 years ago, in the post just above from Jeroen P, and it's not a Thunderbird bug.

Locking this due to the age of the original posts.
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