What is the meaning of a paperclip in MAIL?

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Level 2

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What is the meaning of a paperclip in MAIL?

Some say that it "usually" means the presence of an attachment. Why "usually"? What are the exceptions? Just this morning, I sent the same attachment to five people, but there were only two paperclips shown in my SENT menu. As it happened, only those two with the paperclips were received and opened by the receiver. I could theorize about this, but I want to know the facts. Can anyone help? I might add that I have sent and received messages to myself without any paperclip in the SENT menu. What's going on?

iDVD 7.1.1 (1150)

Posted on Apr 29, 2014 1:48 PM

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Answer 1

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varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Apr 29, 2014 2:01 PM in response to Niku

Someone else here may know otherwise, but I've never seen the paperclip mean anything but an attachment. Note, however, that an attachment may be something other than document. For instance, an embedded graphic such as in a signature block will also appear as an attachment, though it will be shown in line in the email in your system.

Regards.

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Answer 2

Niku Author

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399 points

Apr 29, 2014 2:06 PM in response to varjak paw

Okay, but why doesn't every attachment get a paperclip? I thought it did, but experimentation has proven to me that some attachments get paperclips and some don't. Why is that? I might add that I'm talking about the SENT menu. As far as I know, all attachments in the INBOX menu have paperclips.

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Apr 29, 2014 2:11 PM in response to Niku

I've never seen a message with an attachment that didn't show a paperclip except for ics invitation files, and I currently have over 3000 messages in my Sent folder Can you detect any sort of commonality in the situations where there is an attachment and the paperclip icon doesn't appear? And I presume you do have the Attachments column set to appear in the Sent folder, yes?

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Answer 4

Niku Author

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399 points

Apr 29, 2014 2:21 PM in response to varjak paw

How often this happened in the past, I don't know, but I noticed it today and yesterday. That's probably because I was particularly concerned about whether the files I had sent could be opened. I found that of the five identical files I had sent to five different people, only two showed paperclips in the SENT menu. Those were the two that I know were received because they were acknowledged. Yes, my SENT menu has a column for paperclips, and it has some in it now.

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Answer 5

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Apr 29, 2014 2:34 PM in response to Niku

Certainly odd. Do the attachments show, either in line or as an icon, if you open the sent message that lacks the indicator in the Attachments column?

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Answer 6

Niku Author

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399 points

Apr 29, 2014 3:09 PM in response to varjak paw

I just sent two music clips to myself as a test. There are no paperclips for them in the SENT menu, but I did receive the clips and played them. One was 2.5 MB and the other was 7.7 MB. The paperclips are shown in the INBOX menu.

This might not be that important. For a moment, I thought that a paperclip in the SENT menu might mean that the messages had been received, but I now think that is not true.

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Answer 7

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Apr 29, 2014 3:14 PM in response to Niku

But do the attachments appear in the message on your sending machine, when you open the message from the Sent folder? Or are they missing from the body of the message as well?

I thought that a paperclip in the SENT menu might mean that the messages had been received, but I now think that is not true.

That is not the case. Mail does not by default support Return Receipts, nor do most mail clients.

Regards.

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Answer 8

Niku Author

Level 2

399 points

Apr 29, 2014 3:27 PM in response to varjak paw

When I click on messages in my SENT menu that contain attachments but have no paperclips, my message opens, and it contains an icon showing .m3u8. When I click on that, the Playlist open, and I can listen to the songs, all 24 of them.

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Answer 9

Apr 29, 2014 4:21 PM in response to Niku

This was a persistant bug that I thought Mavericks had sorted out.

The work around is creating rules:

see this thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3226400?start=0&tstart=0

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Answer 10

Niku Author

Level 2

399 points

Apr 29, 2014 4:41 PM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks for that. It always helps to know that other people have the same problem. I've now printed one man's solution, and I'll be trying it manana (it's not that simple). Whatever happens, I now know I'm getting closer to the solution. I'll give you a grade after I find out if the "fix" works.

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