Develop Bugs

Email and attachments

I guess nobody seems to care but I've searched almost the whole day for a solution but coulnd't find any or am I the only one who sends email with attachments other than pictures, video or audio etc ?
The big problem is the predefined set of file types you can attach to an email. This in both the HTC Email application and the Gmail application.
When you want to add an attachment to an email, you can only choose pictures, video's, audio, app share, location and document. What if I want to attach a .zip file or multiple zip files at once. No way you can do that. The only solution I found was a program called File Sender but this one only works for the Gmail application, whereas I'm an Exchange Active Sync user.
When started, the File Sender application opens a tiny file explorer in which you can choose the file you want to attach to an email. I want the same functionality in the stock HTC Email application. And no I don't want to buy 3rd party Exchange email clients. Any one with a solution or any one who can develop a mod/program/hack or whatever to bring this functionality to Android ? It would be nice to select multiple files at once no matter what kind of file type.
Thanks....

There are many apps that can solve your problem. For example install Blackmoon File Browser and you can attach any file in Gmail.

You can always change the extension of a .zip file to .jpg or similar and tell your recipient to change it back, saves you doing anything
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

pascanu said:
There are many apps that can solve your problem. For example install Blackmoon File Browser and you can attach any file in Gmail.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, but for Gmail there are solutions but I'm an Exchange user so I use the stock HTC Email application and NOT the Gmail app. For HTC email app there are only paid apps which can handle attachments as it should be.

Try a file manager, I've got Astro and I can send with that through Gmail or the Mail app but I'm not sure about your exchange account.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Jabbafat23 said:
Try a file manager, I've got Astro and I can send with that through Gmail or the Mail app but I'm not sure about your exchange account.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
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Click to collapse
+1 for astro, it'll allow you to send any file as an attachment in my experience. not used it with exchange though as i dont use exchange

Email app: "Unable to download this attachment"

Shocked I'm the first one looking for a solution to this problem. Search turned up nothing.
In my email app, it downloads only the attachments that are below 500kb. For any attachments that are over 500kb, I need to hit the little down arrow to download. it. I get the spinning clock and then the error "Unable to download this attachment". I've rebooted and no effect.
This is for a docx file. Another one is a pptx. I have Docs to Go and am able to open docx files that downloaded along with the email.
The kicker is that if I forward the email to my Gmail, it will say "fetching attachment" for awhile and then Docs TG will say it's not a valid Word 97-2008 file. But I can open it on my computer just fine.

Anyone?
I can't download this with Touchdown either. I can't be the only one with this problem. I was able to download large attachments via the same Exchange server on the Epic 4G and the Palm Pre.

Why do you suppose you are getting the "97-2000 file" .... ??? The answer is self explanitory man.....
Why do you think it works fine on your computer..... the answer is self explanitory......
The evo is not a windows phone.... if you cant download and/or open office 2010 docs do you find that really very surprising???
So lets start with the basics.....
What rom are you running?
What email app are you using.
Maybe tell whomever is sending office 2010 files to same them as 97-2000 file types ie: doc and ppt and xls
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

It's not a Office 2010 file issue. I can open smaller docx, pptx and xlsx files just fine. Meanwhile, I have a XLS file in my inbox right now I can't open which is 3.7MB.
I'm running Stock Sense ROM. Well, almost, it's the deodexed one. I'm rooted.
I've tried the HTC Mail, the stock 2.2 mail, and Touchdown. All give me an error of some sort when downloading larger attachments.
Like I said, I had no problems downloading these large attachments on other phones. If I can't figure this out I'm going to have to return the phone because I receive large-ish attachments all the time for work and if I can't view them on my phone that is an absolute no go.
v_lestat said:
Why do you suppose you are getting the "97-2000 file" .... ??? The answer is self explanitory man.....
Why do you think it works fine on your computer..... the answer is self explanitory......
The evo is not a windows phone.... if you cant download and/or open office 2010 docs do you find that really very surprising???
So lets start with the basics.....
What rom are you running?
What email app are you using.
Maybe tell whomever is sending office 2010 files to same them as 97-2000 file types ie: doc and ppt and xls
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Some more data points:
< 1MB PDF downloads OK
< 1MB docx downloads/views OK
1+ MB PDF does not download
1+ MB docx does not download
So it appears there is a 1MB threshold somewhere although I have no idea where.
And I'm not a huge fan of the iPhone but it also is able to download these attachments. I just tested them on my wife's phone.

Are you sure nothing has changed on ur exchange server recently ? Activesync clients can enforce restrictions specified by the server. You should check with ur xchange admin if u havent already.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

sandpa said:
Are you sure nothing has changed on ur exchange server recently ? Activesync clients can enforce restrictions specified by the server. You should check with ur xchange admin if u havent already.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I considered that, but like I said, I added my Exchange account to my wife's iPhone just last night and could download these attachments no problem.

Any ideas? This is infuriating and I'm not sure what to do. I'm about to try going into the store and adding my EAS account on one of the demo units to see if it does it there. I'm at a complete loss here.

I tested the Sprint Store demo unit with my account and had the same problem. I asked them about it and they told me it's not the first time they've heard of this problem, it is due to the way mail is handled in Android, and there is no fix :-( Even though I wasn't sure he knew what he was talking about, it's not a good sign.
Crap. Now what....

In the email app under settings. Make. Sure you select "entire mail" and and "always" under the attachment setting.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Jetdr said:
In the email app under settings. Make. Sure you select "entire mail" and and "always" under the attachment setting.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
So I already have "entire mail" selected under mail size limit. Not sure what you're referring to on the "always" setting. I have a setting for "Include file attachment" and my options are Never, <25KB, <100KB and <500KB. I have <500KB selected.

Use Blackmoon Attachsave. It will let you save it, then view it after. I had the same problem and that solved it for me.

abiezer said:
Use Blackmoon Attachsave. It will let you save it, then view it after. I had the same problem and that solved it for me.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the idea. It seems that this is only for GMail. I did try installing it but it didn't work. Thanks anyways.

Okay, let's try this another way. Can ANYONE download attachments larger than 1MB using Exchange on the email app? Anyone at all?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Shane112358 said:
Okay, let's try this another way. Can ANYONE download attachments larger than 1MB using Exchange on the email app? Anyone at all?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Bump, can anyone test this and prove/disprove that this is a platform problem and not device specific?

Shane112358 said:
Bump, can anyone test this and prove/disprove that this is a platform problem and not device specific?
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Click to collapse
Hey man... I just downloaded 1.9MB zip file, using HTC Mail app(stock Froyo rooted), from my work exchange server.
Let me know if you would like to check anything else..

kitts said:
Hey man... I just downloaded 1.9MB zip file, using HTC Mail app(stock Froyo rooted), from my work exchange server.
Let me know if you would like to check anything else..
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Click to collapse
Thanks. So apparently this isn't completely widespread. Maybe it's a function of Android + my server? Because my server works fine with the iPhone and other people's servers work fine with the Evo.
Totally confused. 5 days to return the phone.

FYI, no fix. Contacted higher level technical support and they were absolutely no help.

I too have this problem and have been using Kaiten Mail from Android Marketplace. It downloads attachments fast even on 3G/HSDPA. But it became too buggy for me so now I'm back to the Gmail app.
Maybe try some email clients.

[Q] Import VCard?

I finally rooted my Evo, and I loaded this ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1364075 I love it. Only problem I am having is that I had someone send me a vcard contact through SMS / MMS. Message comes in with an attachment, but phone thinks it is a video? How do you import it in as a contact? Always came in simply as a contact on my old stock ROM. Is this a problem with all CM ROMs, or is it just the ICS one I loaded?

Download the attachment from your sms client, browse your sd card via file manager, check MMS for the vcard, move it to the root of the sd card, open the people [contacts] app, press menu, import/export.

Really? All those steps? No way to just click and open/import? Doable, yes, but odd there is not an all-in-one solution.

long_tall_texan said:
Really? All those steps? No way to just click and open/import? Doable, yes, but odd there is not an all-in-one solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 'all in one solution' would be to just to to people, hit menu and click import. I don't know if it'll detect it inside the folder so you need to move it. And you can complete that whole process in 30 seconds or less.

OK but how do I download the vcf attachment? When I click on it, it seems to attempt to play a video file... and after playing the video, there is no vcf file on the SD Card. I tried with the native SMS app and with HandCent. Same result.

long_tall_texan said:
OK but how do I download the vcf attachment? When I click on it, it seems to attempt to play a video file... and after playing the video, there is no vcf file on the SD Card. I tried with the native SMS app and with HandCent. Same result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can either long press the attatchment or I believe while in the convo (using handcent) hit menu then save attatchments. Hope that helps.
Sent from my SWAGGED OUT V6 EVO

Ok. I tried that in Handcent. There are 2 mms messages in the conversation. When I try to save the attachments, it says there are no attachments to save. I know I am not this big of a bonehead. I dunno.... I am sure I am missing something really simple.

long_tall_texan said:
Ok. I tried that in Handcent. There are 2 mms messages in the conversation. When I try to save the attachments, it says there are no attachments to save. I know I am not this big of a bonehead. I dunno.... I am sure I am missing something really simple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So on /sdcard/handcent/download there was nothing in there?

Nope. Nothing is there. ???

[Q] transfering texts to email

My girlfriend has an unrooted dinc and needs to get a text msg thread on her laptop. Is there a way I can send them to email or another way I can forward them to my rooted dinc and get them from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated

This might not be exactly what you're looking for, but a tool like SMS Backup & Restore (from the Market) will create an XML export of your texts on your SD card. At least from there you have them in XML form where you have access.

Thanks for the reply. I found an app that backs it up to her email. I will use an app like you said on my phone. I used astro file manager on my phone and I can't find where my SMS threads are stored and this will make it a lot easier. Thanks again, much appreciated.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

You can just put her e-maill address in the text app where it says to: and text it to her email.

post attachment limits

cc: @AquilaDroid
When attaching files to posts, what are the size limits? Do they vary by file extension? By thread? By user?
Someone wanted to share a 180KB text file. I said "just attach it, I've seen much bigger files." He found he was forced to break it into pieces.
I went through the motions of attaching a 40MB PDF file. It ground away a bit, and seemed to have accepted and uploaded the file. I deleted the attachment before posting, but it really looked like it was going to let me do it.

This would be something to ask to @MikeChannon, please?
I'm also interested in this because the other day I needed to attach a small 200KB txt file but was unable to do it. The file was uploaded but not recognized: the posted message did not contain the attachment.
So my bonus question to Mike is: are txt and log (for instance) extensions allowed on xda currently? If it's not the case it would be appreciated to add them because txt/log/whatever are basic to me.
@J.Michael's concerns are interesting.
Thanks.

In another thread, people regularly attach .txt files. When I try to "open" the attachment in my browser, instead of displaying the file in a browser tab (which I want), it gets downloaded. Add to the nuisance of having to open another app and navigate to the Downloads folder, the subsequent bug hunt for a file whose name I did not get to choose, which name was never clearly displayed to me.
It may be that those text files are less than 20KB.

woodman said:
This would be something to ask to @MikeChannon, please?
I'm also interested in this because the other day I needed to attach a small 200KB txt file but was unable to do it. The file was uploaded but not recognized: the posted message did not contain the attachment.
So my bonus question to Mike is: are txt and log (for instance) extensions allowed on xda currently? If it's not the case it would be appreciated to add them because txt/log/whatever are basic to me.
@J.Michael's concerns are interesting.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
J.Michael said:
In another thread, people regularly attach .txt files. When I try to "open" the attachment in my browser, instead of displaying the file in a browser tab (which I want), it gets downloaded. Add to the nuisance of having to open another app and navigate to the Downloads folder, the subsequent bug hunt for a file whose name I did not get to choose, which name was never clearly displayed to me.
It may be that those text files are less than 20KB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes txt, pdf, log files are already approved and with big size limits. The system uses "chunked" uploading.
A couple of points to note. It might be that on any one occasion the servers are at high load and might not co-operate nicely.
As for whether your browser opens or downloads a file, well that depends on you and the settings you have set in your browser. You have options to choose whether your browser opens or saves files and it can be set by file type. Different browsers can have varying options. In firefox go to Settings>General and scroll down for options for each file type. In Chrome settings can be changed via Windows see here.
Mike

Testing uploading txt file...

I've tried to upload a txt file from Chrome mobile, and it doesn't work, like the other day. Will probably try some other things later...

New test, uploading very small txt file...

In either Naked Browser or Chrome (on a tablet), trying to open the attachment (tap or take the trouble to long-press and select "Open in new tab") instead results in "download". I do not see any settings to specify handling as a function of file type.
Maybe it is because the URL does not look like a file name ("https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachments/test-txt.5384917/"), but the name of the downloaded file is clean ("test.txt"), and I am able to open image attachments in the browser, as opposed to being forced to download text files.
Can you confirm that a MIME type is being sent and just what it is?