741788 - pdf attachments do not show/open in the emails

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Thunderbird :: Message Reader UI, defect)

Description

[Kian]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/535.19 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/18.0.1025.11 Safari/535.19

Steps to reproduce:

Receiving emails from other people with pdf attachments


Actual results:

pdf does not show as attachment, but email size tells me there is attachment. But I do not see anything. i can see the attachment using my web browser and going to my gmail. Other strange way of looking at the pdf file is to forward the message and all the sudden pdf shows up as attachment to the forwarded one! I just open the pdf from there and delete the draft!!! This is very odd and is causing issues as I even do not see the paper clip icon beside these emails indicating they have attachment. The only way is to look at the email size and guess or ask the sender and make sure they have attached files. I even forwarded the email to myself and nothing showed up as attachment. 


Expected results:

It should show a paper clip icon and also list the attached pdf files. I had enough pain getting winmail.dat files (finally installed a winmail.dat reader) but his one is very critical as it does not show any attachment being there until you forward it or open it using your web client. latest example is our legoland e-ticket that was a pdf file attached by lego and we did not see anything attached to that email.

Comment 1

[rsx11m]

Is the PDF attachment the only content of that message? If yes, it's bug 701261 you may see. Opening the source of the message with Ctrl+U should allow you to investigate its structure. Messages triggering bug 701261 have a Content-Type of application/pdf or application/octet-stream in the very first header block:

From: xxx
To: yyy
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: application/pdf; name=xxx.pdf
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

whereas "true" attachments show up in a separate block:

---some separator
Content-Type: application/pdf; name=xxx.pdf
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: inline; filename=xxx.pdf

The latter should be shown in Thunderbird correctly.

As for "winmail.dat", that's a proprietary/non-standard Microsoft format which is not natively supported by Thunderbird, but there is an extension (LookOut add-on) available for that purpose.

Comment 2

[rsx11m]

Looking again, bug 701261 was declared fixed with TB 9.0 already, thus it's not a likely candidate for what you see in 11.0; nevertheless, it would be good to get some more information on the structure of the message causing this issue.

Comment 3

[Kian]

Not every pdf is like that. Some emails I get are fine, but most are not. I will send one example as soon as figure out how to attach a file to this report.

Comment 4

[Kian]

Attachment: Ctrl U of file with pdf attachment

This is the ctrl+U, let me know if you like to see the original email

Comment 5

[rsx11m]

There is no text in the message body, but I can see the attachment and can save it. Thus, it looks more like an issue with the folder index...

Ludo, I'd recommend running a "Folder Repair" on the folder in question, any other suggestions for Kian to try first?

Comment 6

[Kian]

I went through some similar bugs like 
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=705431

And looks like email that I get from SAP systems have this issue. 

DO I need to run that folder repair, and if yes, how?

Comment 7

[rsx11m]

> looks like email that I get from SAP systems have this issue. 

If only certain e-mails from specific senders are affected, it's more likely an issue with the format of the message (corrupted folders show such issues rather on random messages). However, your message in attachment 611822 [details] ("Old 620 Spec") looks and behaves normal and "IPC-A-620.pdf" is offered for opening and saving. That's one of the messages you are referring to?

Comment 8

[Kian]

you are correct, only certain emails. I can see this particular email with 439Kb size in the emails list, but TB does not show any attachment (no paper clip, and no file in the preview section , and no file when I open the email), only until I try forwarding it, then, a pdf shows up in file attachment section!!! I do not mind doing this workaround, but how to know if it has attachment? Forward every email with med size and see if any attachment pops! does not sound right. I am sure you guys have a way of fixing this issue.

I also tried that view message body trick (show all parts enabled) but it shows every parts of the email except the pdf one. So it did not help. Strange part was it dropped a paper clip beside all the emails! as it sees every email made of several parts.

Comment 9

[Kian]

Comment on attachment 611822 [details]
Ctrl U of file with pdf attachment

>Return-Path: <>

>        by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id n10sm21707417obu.23.2012.04.03.08.15.47
>        (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=OTHER);
>        Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:15:49 -0700 (PDT)
>Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
>Disposition-Notification-To: 
>Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:15:45 -0700
>From: Kian Bahaie <>
>User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:11.0) Gecko/20120327 Thunderbird/11.0.1
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>To: Kian <>
>Subject: Old 620 Spec

>Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
> boundary="------------050601040309080701070606"
>
>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>--------------050601040309080701070606
>Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
><html>
>  <head>
>    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
>      charset=ISO-8859-1">
>    <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
>    <style><!--
>/* Font Definitions */
>@font-face
>	{font-family:"Cambria Math";
>	panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
>@font-face
>	{font-family:Calibri;
>	panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
>@font-face
>	{font-family:Tahoma;
>	panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
>/* Style Definitions */
>p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
>	{margin:0cm;
>	margin-bottom:.0001pt;
>	font-size:12.0pt;
>	font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
>a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
>	{mso-style-priority:99;
>	color:blue;
>	text-decoration:underline;}
>a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
>	{mso-style-priority:99;
>	color:purple;
>	text-decoration:underline;}
>span.EmailStyle17
>	{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
>	font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
>	color:#1F497D;}
>.MsoChpDefault
>	{mso-style-type:export-only;}
>@page WordSection1
>	{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
>	margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;}
>div.WordSection1
>	{page:WordSection1;}
>--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
><o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
><o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
><o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
></o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
>  </head>
>  <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000066">
>    <br>
>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span
>style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:black"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
>  </body>
></html>
>
>--------------050601040309080701070606
>Content-Type: application/octet-stream;
> name="IPC-A-620.pdf"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
>Content-Disposition: attachment;
> filename="IPC-A-620.pdf"
>

Comment 10

[Kian]

Attachment: pdf file

Comment 11

[Kian]

Comment on attachment 611822 [details]
Ctrl U of file with pdf attachment

>

Comment 12

[rsx11m]

Kian, I'm not sure what you are trying to do with the attachment, but I'm waiting for other people to chime in with fresh ideas...

(In reply to Kian from comment #8)
> I also tried that view message body trick (show all parts enabled) but it
> shows every parts of the email except the pdf one. So it did not help.

That "All Body Parts" setting should definitely have shown the attachment, given the structure reiterated in comment #9. As said, the message as posted worked fine for me.

Another diagnostic option: Do you have any add-ons installed which may interfere with the detection and parsing of the message? Thus, using Help > Restart with Add-Ons Disabled, do you still see the same problem as before?

Comment 13

[Ludovic Hirlimann [:Usul]]

(In reply to rsx11m from comment #5)
> There is no text in the message body, but I can see the attachment and can
> save it. Thus, it looks more like an issue with the folder index...
> 
> Ludo, I'd recommend running a "Folder Repair" on the folder in question, any
> other suggestions for Kian to try first?

Nope apart from making a backup.

Comment 14

[rsx11m]

Ok, so while Thunderbird isn't running, locate the profile folder as described in http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird which for Windows XP should be C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Thunderbird. Make a copy of the whole Thunderbird folder and put it at a safe place on your drive, that's your backup (there are more sophisticated ways but that should do for now).

Starting Thunderbird again, right-click on the folder in question in the folder listing on the left-hand side of the window and select "Properties" from the menu. Go into the "General Information" tab and click "Repair Folder" there. This may take a while, depending on the number of messages in that folder, and will rebuild the index as necessary.

Once that process has finished (it says "Done" in the status bar), close the Properties window and see if this solved the issue.

Comment 17

[WADA:World Anti-bad-Duping Agency]

(In reply to Kian from comment #9)
> Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
> --------------050601040309080701070606
> Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name="IPC-A-620.pdf"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
> Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="IPC-A-620.pdf"

Same case as bug 453805, and problem won't occur on this kind of mail at least in Tb 11 as written in that bug, unless problem of bug 739025 occurs due to bug 503309 and mail with corrupted mime-type.
(see bug 580971, bug 659355, bug 685112, bug 738284 for actual corrupted mime-type example)

Do you have entries related PDF file in Tools/Attachments?
Do you see definitions related to application/octet-stream, file extesion of ".PDF", in mimeTypes.rdf file in your profile directory?

Can you see your problem with the mail even after all entries relevant to PDF is deleted at Tools/Options/Attachments?
("Delete action" at bottom of drop down list of Action column)

Comment 18

[rsx11m]

Kian, any news?

Comment 19

[Kian]

Sorry for the delay. Just got back from Vacation. I did the folder repair (as rsx11m instructed) but still missing the attachments. I can see them on my gmail (using a web browser) but not on TB. So no paper clip beside the email.
also deleted the action at Tools/Options/Attachments. did not fix the issue.

WADA, I looked at the bugs you referenced. Most of them are related to viewing the attachment. My first problem is that TB does not show any attachment as part of email. This is bad as you get email with attachments and reply to sender: "Dear, ..., looks like you forgot to attach the file"! the only way to see it is to forward the email and then you see the attachments in the forwarded email window which is a funny way of finding them!

Comment 20

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

Bug 596280 Comment 4 has a more comprehensive list of bugs with same problem, which need consolidation and confirmation.

Comment 21

[WADA:World Anti-bad-Duping Agency]

(In reply to Kian from comment #19)
> the only way to see it is to forward the email and then you see the
> attachments in the forwarded email window which is a funny way of finding them!

Mail which you attached to Comment #10?
> Created attachment 611853 [details]
> pdf file

If so, check mimeTypes.rdf content. If wrong mime-type is registered for .pdf or application/octet-stream, bugs I pointed may happen because the wrong mime-type may be applie internally, and phenomenon can be "not shown as attachment".

If different mail, same phenomenon/issue as Bug 747770?

Comment 22

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Kian, do you still see this issue?
A folder, containing a single message would be preferable testcase

Comment 23

[Phoenix]

Resolved per whiteboard