CHAPTER 1
ATTACHMENTS
An attachment provides a way to add additional information to a conference comment or mail item. EIES® attachments are comparable to receiving a letter from the post office and having a pamphlet, book, or other item included. There are a number of types of attachments available on EIES®:
Binary file Any computer program or file that is not in ASCII or EBCDIC format.
Text file Any text only file, in ASCII or EBCDIC format.
Item Any EIES® mail item or conference comment.
Activity Any of the various special tools which assist group functions.
1.1 Using Attachments
At some time you may receive an EIES® mail item or conference comment with an attachment. When an item with an attachment is viewed, the following is displayed in the lower portion of the screen: use (type) attachment (Y/N)>. The type of item/file that is attached appears within the parenthesis. If you wish to use the attachment type Y. Depending on the type of attachment, EIES® will either present an item directly or a menu may be displayed. If you do not wish to use the attachment at this time type N. You may use the attachment at a later time simply by viewing the item again, or by selecting Use attachment from either the list or view screens.
EIES® item, text file, and activity attachments will be displayed on your screen once you choose yes to use them. Binary file attachments must be downloaded to your host computer or PC.
1.1.1 Downloading Binary File Attachments to Your PC
When you choose to use a binary file attachment EIES® will ask: Put file to PC or Host (P/H) >. Enter P to send the item to your personal computer. EIES® will then ask: File to put to PC >. Type the filename that you would like the binary file saved as. Remember to abide by the filename format that your PC operating system requires (i.e., MS-DOS allows 8 character maximum with 3 character maximum extension). EIES® will confirm the filename you have selected as follows: Writing out to file yourfile.ext on PC. Ok to Continue (Y/N) > Enter Y if you wish to continue downloading the binary file attachment. Enter N if you wish to cancel the download.
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1.1.2 Downloading Binary File Attachments to Your Host Computer
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1.2 Adding Attachments
If you wish to add an attachment to an EIES® item you must first have your attachment ready. Then compose your mail item or conference comment as you normally do. When you have finished composing the item and send it, EIES® will ask: Attachments (Y/N)>. Answer Y to this question. A screen like this will appear:
Select the type of attachment you have. EIES® will ask for the attachment. If you want to attach an EIES® item simply provide the item number. For example, if you want to attach comment number 234 from the Welcome Conference (conference number 1), you would enter C1CC234. When attaching a text item, EIES® will take you to your scratchpad so that you may enter the text; however, if your text file has already been created on your PC you may wish to upload it to EIES® and then attach it to your item. If you wish to attach a binary file you must upload it to EIES®.
1.2.1 Uploading a Text Attachment to EIES®
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1.2.2 Uploading a Binary File Attachment to EIES®
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1.3 Sending Attachments to an Internet Address
You can send mail items with certain types of attachments to Internet users. Simply send the mail as you normally would. The Internet recipient will receive the text of the mail with the attachment posted at the end. Item attachments and text attachments can be sent to an Internet address; however, binary attachments can not be sent via the Internet. The following screen shows how mail sent from EIES® with a text attachment may be presented to an Internet user.
1.4 Copying Attachments
Certain types of attachments can be copied into your scratchpad. You may wish to do this if you receive an item with an attachment and wish to store the attachment in another location on EIES® or send it to another user. To copy an attachment follow the instructions below:
1. View the EIES® item with the attachment you wish to copy. You must be at the point where EIES® is asking use (type) attachment (Y/N)>.
2. Type +log (this command will place everything displayed on your screen to a file called LogFile).
3. Use the attachment.
4. Type +stoplog (this command stops placing what is displayed on your screen in the LogFile).
5. Enter the scratchpad. If you wish to store the attachment in a conference, enter the conference and then enter the scratchpad. If you wish to send the attachment as mail, first go to mail, and then enter the scratchpad).
6. Copy the contents of the LogFile into the scratchpad using one of the following commands:
The contents of the attachment are now in your scratchpad. You may now store or mail the attachment as you would any item. In addition, the attachment may be modified while it is in your scratchpad.