280783 - Cannot send message with HTML signature and relative image path (local)

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Message Compose Window, defect)

Description

[Victor Toni]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/1.0
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041107 Firefox/1.0

Sending an email with an HTML signature file which has an relative "src" to an
(local) image doesn't work.
Setting the "src" to an absolute path works, but is somehow very "unproductive"
e.g. while creating an CI signature.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Create an HTML signature with an image <img src="image.gif"/>
2.Try to send an email with this signature.

Actual Results:  
3.An error occurs:
There was a problem including the file http://image.gif in the message. Would
you like to continue sending the message without this file?
4.Cancel. Cancel the message.
5.Change the "src" to an absolute path on your drive.
6.Try to send an email with this signature.
7.It works.

Expected Results:  
3.It works.

Comment 1

[Victor Toni]

Maybe it's somehow related to
bug 215665
bug 270380

Comment 2

[Mike Cowperthwaite]

Which directory is the image stored in -- the same one as the sig?  When I set 
up a sig like that, it doesn't display in the compose window, let alone get 
sent.  A relative path like you're using assumes a specific starting point, and 
I don't think you can make that assumption when composing a message.

This is actually closer to bug 204683 / bug 192945.

Comment 3

[Victor Toni]

Actually sig and image are in the same directory (the image is relative to the
sig file). Viewing it with Firefox (or anything else expect lynx) works.
I would expect it to work similar to the way it works in an browser.

Say "Z:\signature\" is my directory sig and image are in.

Having <img src="image.gif"/> doesn't work (and doesn't display image).

Having <img src="file://Z:/signature/image.gif"/> works (and shows image).

Comment 4

[Sheldon Cohn]

Messages could be forward with embedded html pictures with the beta version,
after upgrade the pictures do not show within the email, using the selection
send with HTML and TEXT.

Comment 5

[Sheldon Cohn]

 When I mentioned that an embedded picture couldn't be sent, the original email
wasn't composed by myself, but it was forward to me. I wanted to forward the
email along, just as I seen it in Thunderbird viewing window. People I forward
the message complained that the embedded picture didn't show with in the email.
I had no problem sending it using HTM and TEXT selection in the Beta version
of Thunderbird, since the upgrade from the beta, I no longer can do it.

Comment 6

[Kirk M]

Here's a specific example of what may be the same problem. (taken from my original posts on the TB build threads on 12/11/08 and 12/12/08).

    ********************************************************

I'm using the "Insert Image" dialog in this case, not drag and drop or copy and paste.

When inserting an image into a "Reply to" or "Edit as new" type message, this is the path I'm seeing after I choose an image (Prices.jpg) located on my computer (on the Desktop):

"../../../../../Documents%20and%20Settings/my%20name/Desktop/Prices.jpg"

In these cases inserting an image results in nothing but a wire frame box with a "broken image"(?) red dot in the upper left corner instead of the image just appearing like it usually does. Upon sending or "saving as draft" an error message will pop up stating something like "There was a problem attaching the image to this message. Send/Save draft anyway?"

However, when inserting the same image the same way into a "New message", the path to the image changes to this:

"file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/my%20name/Desktop/Prices.jpg"

This inserts the image without a problem. Now here's the kicker...

When I "drag and drop" or "copy and paste" the same image into a "Reply to" or "Edit as new" message the image inserts properly and shows the same path as using the Insert image dialog with a "New message":

"file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/my%20name/Desktop/Prices.jpg"

It's only when using the Insert image dialog in the case of a "Reply to" or "Edit as new" message that the problem manifests itself. Inserting images worked without a hitch until a few days ago when this "glitch" showed up. Unfortunately I was not able to post to the forums (and this bug report) at that time.

Hope this gives you a clue or three.

Comment 7

[ucavus]

Isn't 9 years a long enough wait for a bug to be fixed?

Surely it's not that hard to implement resolving of relative links at read-time, before inserting the signature into the composer.

Signatures cannot be moved without breaking them. They cannot be bundled up and sent to other computers, e.g. for many employees or clients where the target system is out of the author's control. This is despite the fact that this information can be easily deduced from the path to the signature file.