mailx not sending excel attachment properly

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

Hi,

I am trying to send email with attachment using mailx command. I am using the folowing command:

uuencode XX_HWSW_BUYERWISE_88963631_1.xls XX_HWSW_BUYERWISE_88963631_1.xls | mailx -s "Test Mail as Attachment" oracleams@xyz.com

I get the email in the inbox. However, when I try to open the excel attachment, it has junk characters instead of the actual excel file.

Please help.

Thanks & regards,
Anoop

2

I cannot duplicate your problem. There has to be something else going on.
Please show us the following:

Can you ftp (binary copy) the xls file somewhere, or copy it to a usb drive, so you can then open it on your PC? -- need to know if the file itself is okay; the only way is to do the above copy. Please DO NOT assume your .xls file on the unix box is okay. It probably is not. It probably has UNIX carriage control, which excel may not like very much.

3

Hi Jim,

I did FTP the .xls file on to my desktop. It opens with the intended output. The mailx works fine when I attach a PDF file.

Regards,
Anoop

---------- Post updated at 07:07 PM ---------- Previous update was at 06:53 PM ----------

I got the issue. I was using webmail to check the output. The attachment works fine with MS Outlook.

Regards,
Anoop

4

I think that you have answered you own question.

5

Hi,

The issue is resolved but the question is not answered. Why does the .xls attachment doesnot open properly in webmail.

Regards,
Anoop

6

In every DOS system, the file extensions alone identify the file type. These are internally associated with the appropriate programme to open the file.

In your webmail (assuming its a client), check the association for xls. If none, see whether it defaults to using local associations.

For an experiment, in the PC where you opened outlook, use mycomputer --> tools --> folderoptions --> filetypes and delete the association for XLS.

Check the result.

OK