XFOR: Attachment Name Truncated When Name Contains a Period

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0 and 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When you send a message into the Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector (IMC) or Internet Mail Service (IMS), and the message contains an attachment with a name that contains a period and the content-type has an entry in the MIME TYPES field, the attachment name gets truncated.

For example, here is a sample of header information:

    ...
    Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel; name="Excel 4.0 Test"
    ...

When the attachment is received in the client, the attachment name is "Excel 4.xls."

CAUSE

When the IMC or IMS receives a message, it attempts to match the Content- Type in the header to the MIME Types list. If a match is found, the appropriate .3 extension is added to the name if it does not already exist.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem:

• Remove the associated Content-Type from the MIME Types property page. This will prevent the attachment from being associated with the specified extension but will allow the entire attachment name to stay intact.
• To view the MIME Types tab in Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0, go to the Protocols Object (Site or Server). On the File menu, click Properties; MIME Types will be the last tab.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange versions 4.0 and 5.0.

We are researching this problem in Microsoft Exchange version 4.0 and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Exchange 5.0 Server U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):