XCLN: Opening an Attachment on Rich Text Field Fails

ID: Q164599

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Windows NT client, version 5.0
Microsoft Exchange Client for Windows 95, version 5.0
Microsoft Outlook Windows NT client, version 8.03
Microsoft Outlook Windows 95/98 client, version 8.03

SYMPTOMS

When you add a RichEntry field to a form in a simple Exchange Form Designer, compile the form, and install it, you can attach an Office 97 .doc or .xls file to the form.

When the recipient tries to open the attached file, the following error message may appear:

The application associated with this attachment could not be started. Verify that the application is installed on your system with a correct directory path.
c:\path\file.doc

When you press F2, you may get a Microsoft Exchange Client - 0 - (80000008), even though the Microsoft Office 97 application is installed and works correctly.

The problem occurs with Office 97 applications but not with Office 95 applications.

CAUSE

The association for the file extension of the icon you have attached has been established using a path to the application that contains "space" or special characters.

You can verify this using Windows Explorer. Go to View / Options / File Types. Click the file type you want and click Edit. Under the action, click Open. You will find that the path to the application has a space or a special character.

Another way to test the association is to send the file in a message. If you create a standard message, not a form, and attach the same file to it, the recipient can open the file without any problem.

The problem is that Office 97 does not install into an 8.3 compatible directory. By default, Word is installed in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\winword.exe. Office 95 installs into a directory path that is 8.3 compatible.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, either change the path or reinstall the Office 97 application:

To change the path:

If possible, you can change the path to your application in the Open action on the Association tab for your icon.

In Windows Explorer, on the View menu, click Options. On the File Types tab, select Microsoft Word Document, and click Edit.

Change the Open command, and substitute the path with an 8.3 compatible path:
```
      C:\progra~1\micros~1\office\winword.exe 
```

This requires that all of the client computers be changed.

To reinstall the Office 97 application:

Reinstall the application to a new directory that does not contain special characters or a space. If you install Office 97 in the directory C:\office\winword.exe, everything works fine.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange versions 4.0 and 5.0. Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbusage XCLN
Version : WINDOWS:5.0,8.03; Win95:5.0
Platform : Win95 WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug