OLEXP: Received Messages Are Randomly Truncated (293852)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 for Macintosh
  • Microsoft Outlook Express 4.5 for Macintosh
This article was previously published under Q293852

SYMPTOMS

When you send messages with Outlook Express, recipients may report that some messages appear to be interrupted in the middle of the text body. In addition to the partially received message, attachments may not be present.

CAUSE

The Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) server that is used by your Internet service provider is not compatible with the newest Internet mail specification.

MORE INFORMATION

The original Request for Comments (RFC) that governs sending messages on the Internet specifies that the end of a message should be designated by a period (.) on a line by itself, followed by a Carriage Return/Line Feed (CR/LF) character.

With the advent of newer message formats that allow richer text, it is possible for an encoded line of text to wrap to a new line at the end of a sentence, thereby causing the period to be placed on a line by itself. This behavior occurs most often in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) message format.

SMTP Specifications

In Section 4.5.2 of RFC 821, entitled "Transparency," the specification requires the client to place a second period on lines that occur with a single period where additional text is present. When the receiving SMTP server encounters the double period in such cases, it removes the additional period, and continues processing the message body.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/31/2003
Keywords:kbprb KB293852
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