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Conference iosg::all-in-1_v30

Title:*OLD* ALL-IN-1 (tm) Support Conference
Notice:Closed - See Note 4331.l to move to IOSG::ALL-IN-1
Moderator:IOSG::PYE
Created:Thu Jan 30 1992
Last Modified:Tue Jan 23 1996
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:4343
Total number of notes:18308

3350.0. "document type foreign, want Word Perfect..." by CGOOA::HOMMEN (two tents) Fri Oct 01 1993 17:18

    Hi:
    
    Sending mail messages with message bodies of type ascii and PC Word
    Perfect attachements into ALL-IN-1 IOS via Message Router and Mailbus
    Postmaster v.3.0. The message body is fine, but the attachment is
    indicated as document type foreign. This system has WP for ALL-IN-1 IOS
    integrated, so it should be able to handle WP format documents. Indeed
    if one files the attachment, and exports it,then the document can be
    pulled into WP outside of ALL-IN-1.
    
    So...
    
    How do I encourage ALL-IN-1 to recognize the attachment as a WP
    document automatically?
    
    -K
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
3350.1CSOA1::LENNIGDave (N8JCX), MIG, @CYOFri Oct 01 1993 18:096
    You need to encourage the Wordperfect integration, not ALL-IN-1.
    
    (I wish we could figure out how to coat our products with the 
     same teflon Wordperfect does for their integration kit).
    
    Dave
3350.2Its off to WP support then...CGOOA::HOMMENtwo tentsFri Oct 01 1993 18:5510
    
    If you've ever dealt with WP support, (and I have), it is important to
    be absolutely certain of where ALL-IN-1 leaves off and Word Perfect
    Integration begins.
    
    It's not a question of teflon at all, but of avoiding finger pointing.
    
    Regards
    
    -K
3350.3CSOA1::LENNIGDave (N8JCX), MIG, @CYOSat Oct 02 1993 15:3040
    (For the umpteen-zillionth time)
    
    The WP integration sends/recieves WP docs in an NBS DECBODY1 bodypart
    rather than the DECBODY7 that everything else uses. The combination 
    of ALL-IN-1 + WP integration will only recognize and record received
    DECBODY1s as WP documents. Similarly WP docs sent from ALL-IN-1
    won't be processable by most other MAILbus applications (though
    A1MAIL can be reconfigured nowadays to handle DECBODY1s). There is
    nothing "wrong" with their integration, and there is nothing "wrong"
    with the rest of MAILbus, but WP's design/implimentation choice 
    obviously presents an interworking problem. Back when they initially
    did their development work, the nowadays generally accepted practice
    of shipping arbitrary documents/files around in DECBODY7s didn't exist,
    and interworking between IOS+WP and the rest of the MAILbus world
    wasn't much of an issue. Today customers are using MAILbus to link
    together may differant environments using user agents and gateways
    that didn't even exist then, and this interworking issue is now seen
    frequently. The 'teflon' I referred to is that for some reason this
    interworking issue is apparently always perceived by customers as a
    Digital problem (in particular IOS), not a WP integration problem.
    
    Conceptually, there are only three solutions
    1) Get WP to update their integration to interwork with 'the world'
    2) Get 'the world' to update their software to interwork with WP
    3) Modify ALL-IN-1 to work around the third-party WP integration
    
    IMHO, (1) is the correct choice, but none of the choices are something
    that can be done quickly. They all involve an investment of engineering 
    and development resources and _time_. I would not expect your call to
    WP support to get a solution, but perhaps if enough customers call
    enough times they will get the message, so go ahead and call them.
    
    In the meantime, quite a few people have developed a number of hacks
    to workaround the problem in a number of differant fashions. Research
    in here and other current and archived conferences will reveal these. 
    Besides this conference and its earlier incarnations, try MSG_SOLUTIONS, 
    the old X400MAIL conf, MAILBUS old and current, and probably others
    that I don't happen to monitor. This is not a new problem.
    
    Dave
3350.4CGOOA::HOMMENtwo tentsSun Oct 03 1993 15:496
    
    Thank you for taking the time to explain this in detail. And yes, I
    will still be contacting WP support to raise the issue of the current
    state of their integration.
    
    -K