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A file sent with an E-mail
message, such as a document or an audio clip. Any disk file can be sent as
an attachment, although size is often a limitation for those with slow modem
connections; sending unannounced huge video segments to friends is generally
regarded as bad form.
Files sent as attachments from e-mail programs must
be converted into a text-based format using a process known as encoding. The
text is then converted back into binary file format at the receiving
end. The most common encoding systems for the PC are uuencode
and mime; Macintoshes commonly use binhex. Such conversions
occasionally cause problems, as not all e-mail programs understand all
formats; this is why e-mail sometimes arrives as pages of seemingly
incomprehensible garbage, rather than the expected document or spreadsheet.
A bigger contemporary problem is that of viruses such as Melissa and
I Love You, many of which now arrive in the form of e-mail attachments. |
