XWEB: OWA Client Does Not Correctly Associate .Rtf Freedoc

• Microsoft Outlook Web Access, version 5.5
• Microsoft Exchange Active Server Components, version 5.0
• Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.02, 4.0, 4.01 for Windows 95
• Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.02, 4.0, 4.01 for Windows NT 4.0
• Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.02a, 3.03, 4.0 for Windows 3.1
• Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.01a, 4.0 for Macintosh

SYMPTOMS

You may experience the following behavior when using the Outlook Web Access (OWA) client with Internet Explorer to open a Freedoc file that has an .Rtf extension and is located in a Microsoft Exchange Server folder:

1. You are prompted to open the file or save it to disk. If you choose to open it, you are prompted with the Open With dialog box in order to associate the specified file extension with an application:

   Click the program you want to use to open the file 'frmRoot.XXX'. If the program you want is not in the list, click Other.

   ...where XXX is a randomly generated file extension.



2. You choose an application, such as Winword. NOTE: Do not choose the "Always use this program to open this file" option. If you do, the random file extension will be permanently associated with the application you selected. If you choose Winword, Microsoft Word starts and you receive the following error message:

   Word cannot open the document.
   Try one or more of the following:
   - On the FIle menu, click Open to open the document.
   - Make sure the document has a .Doc extension.
   (D:\WIN95\TEMPORARY.DOC)




3. You click OK, and the following error message appears:

   The document name or path is not valid.
   Try one or more of the following:
   - Check the path to make sure it was typed correctly.
   - On the File menu, click Open. Search for the file using the dialog
   box.
   (FILES\CACHE\FRMROOT.XXX)

   ...where XXX is a randomly generated file extension. If you click OK, a blank document opens in Microsoft Word.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, open the file in Microsoft WordPad or another text editor. Alternatively, you can choose to save the file locally and manually add the .Rtf extension to the file from Windows Explorer. Then open the file from Microsoft Word using the File/Open menu.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

Additional query words: frmroot.asp

Keywords : kbusage XCLN XWEB
Version : MACINTOSH:3.01a,4.0; WINDOWS:3.02,3.02a,3.03,4.0,4.01,5.0,5.5
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug