Mail: view message plain text

Question

Level 1

31 points

Mail: view message plain text

Hello

Mail (and Thunderbird) are configured to use IMAP.

In Mail certain messages I recieve display no visible body text: to read each of these messages I need to View | Message | Plain Text Alternative one-by-one. Using Thunderbird the body text of the same messages is always readable.

What can I do (if anything) to make Mail display the body text automatically.

I am happy to post an (edited) example if this will be useful.

Thanks
Andrew

iMac Mac OS X (10.4)

iMac Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Apr 28, 2006 4:07 AM

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Answer 1

Sijmons

Level 4

2,095 points

Apr 28, 2006 1:01 PM in response to ennio99

Ennio, you can forward an example mail to my mail address. Click on my profile for email address.

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Answer 2

Apr 28, 2006 4:31 PM in response to ennio99

Try rebuilding the mailbox first, i.e. select the mailbox that contains the messages that don't display properly and choose Rebuild from the Mailbox menu.

Your profile says you're using Mac OS X 10.4. Does that mean 10.4.0? Is there a reason you haven't installed any system updates?

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Answer 3

ennio99 Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 28, 2006 5:06 PM in response to David Gimeno Gost

David

I have tried rebuilding the mailbox but the problem persists.

I am running OS X 10.4.6, just hadn't selected the correct OS from the list - apologies.

Thanks for your help.

iMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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Answer 4

ennio99 Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 28, 2006 5:22 PM in response to Sijmons

Sijmons
thanks for your response.

Of course when I try to forward an example the body text appears to be missing! If I choose"View | Message | Raw Source" before forwarding the same occurs; only when I choose Plain Text Alternative is there anythin visible.

Which do you recommend that I should send?
Andrew

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Answer 5

Sijmons

Level 4

2,095 points

Apr 29, 2006 2:54 AM in response to ennio99

Ennio, possibly one of your fonts is damaged,
have a look here for some background and possible solutions
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/undofontbook.html

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Answer 6

ennio99 Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 29, 2006 3:45 AM in response to Sijmons

Sijmons
have done as you have suggested but the problem persists.

I have discovered that for each message which will not display, if I "View | Message | Previous Alternative" then the message text is displayed correctly.

Also when I display the Raw Source the header content type is:
<<<
Content-Type: MULTIPART/ALTERNATIVE; DIFFERENCES=Content-Language; BOUNDARY="559005-12401-1146208746=:3328"
Content-Language: en-GBR

and the body:
<<<
--559005-12401-1146208746=:3328
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Language: en-GBR

(Have no idea whether this is useful)

As I am fairly new to Mac OS X how would I actually get support from Apple? (I bought AppleCare) http://www.apple.com/support/ is keen to direct me to FAQ and to this forum rather than to allow me to log a ticket with Apple support.

Andrew

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Answer 7

Sijmons

Level 4

2,095 points

Apr 29, 2006 4:10 AM in response to ennio99

nothing weird in your headings, from the look of it.

Did you buy your Mac directly from Apple or from a retailer?
If from a retailer, you should contact him directly using your Apple Care although that is more for hardware issues then software. Yor best bet would still be this forum.

Which fonts have you set in Preferences, Fonts? Default should be Lucida Grande font. Try setting all to Helvetica

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Answer 8

ennio99 Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 29, 2006 4:22 AM in response to Sijmons

bought directly from Apple Store UK

tried restting Preference | Fonts as you have suggested, then restarting mail but still the problem persists.

Is there any way of getting technical support from Apple online or do I have to call them?

iMac 20" Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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Answer 9

Sijmons

Level 4

2,095 points

Apr 29, 2006 4:31 AM in response to ennio99

ennio, try this number:
0800 039 1010 (UK)

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Answer 10

ennio99 Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 29, 2006 5:53 AM in response to Sijmons

thanks, am "chat"ting with Apple tech support using this url: www.apple.com/support/imac/

iMac4,1 20" Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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Answer 11

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,514 points

Apr 29, 2006 7:26 AM in response to ennio99

Also when I display the Raw Source the header content
type is:
<<<
Content-Type: MULTIPART/ALTERNATIVE;
DIFFERENCES=Content-Language;
BOUNDARY="559005-12401-1146208746=:3328"
Content-Language: en-GBR

and the body:
<<<
--559005-12401-1146208746=:3328
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Language: en-GBR

A "multipart" message should have another part, normally preceeded by a header that says Content-Type: Text/html.

If this is missing, I can see that Mail might get confused and need to be told to use the Plain Text version.

Can you tell what program the sender is using? It may be defective.

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Answer 12

Netdude21

Level 1

114 points

Apr 29, 2006 9:41 AM in response to ennio99

ennio99,

Here's a tip directly from the June issue of Macworld. You can do it one of two ways. The first is choose Mail:Preferences, click on the viewing tab, and turn off the Display Remote Images In HTML Messages option.

The second is to launch Teminal located in /Applications/Utilities, at the prompt, Type "<font face "Monaco">defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE" minus the quotes and pres return, it will appear nothing has happened, but the next time you launch Mail and get your new messages, you will find that most of them are now displayed in pure plain text.

Hope this helps.

Netdude21

Message was edited by: Netdude21

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Answer 13

ennio99 Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 29, 2006 10:09 AM in response to Netdude21

Netdude21
you are the man

setting "defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE" has fixed my problem.

Unfortunately the best that Apple support could come up with in 2 hours of web chat and on the phone, speaking with four different agents, two of whom were product specialists, was: "re-install Mail"

Thankyou to all who have helped.
Andrew

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Answer 14

ennio99 Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 29, 2006 10:15 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Tom
thankyou for responding.

I am not sure if I may have misled you by pasting only those mail tags which I thought were relevant, but as my reported problem is now resolved perhaps there is no need to dig deeper.

Andrew

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Answer 15

Sijmons

Level 4

2,095 points

Apr 29, 2006 10:36 AM in response to Netdude21

Netdude, that was one for the filing cabinet, excellent tip.

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