Decode Shell Extension FAQ

America Online users - We have a set of step-by-step instructions for handling email attachments that come to AOL. See the AOL Decode Email Example (web link) or, if that link is out of date,  http://www.funduc.com/decfaq.htm for the current link.

If you have suggestions for the FAQ or a question that is not answered here, please write us at support@funduc.com.
 

General FAQ Topics:
  Decode Shell Extension Installation Issues
  Basic Steps for Decoding Messages
  AOL Mail Problems & Suggestions
  Decoding AOL Mail That Doesn't Download
  POP3 Problems & Suggestions
  Will Funduc Software Decode attachments?
  Decoded files named NONAME
  Word & Messages
  What Encoding Types are Supported?
  Creating encoded Files

Q: How do I install Decode Shell Extension program?
A: We recommend you use the self-installing version, available from Decode Shell Extension (web link) page. The self-installer will handle everything.

Q: Where is the Decode Shell Extension program item in my Windows Start Menu?
A: There isn't one. All functions are via a Folder/File view from Windows Explorer. Highlight a file in Windows Explorer and right click with your mouse. "Decode" will activate Decode Shell Extension on the highlighted file. Note that "Decode" is not present when a folder is highlighted.

Q. How come I can't find the Decode menu in my Email program.
A. There won't be one for our program. Decode Shell Extension relies on the fact most modern Email  programs can save a message to a file. You then use Windows Explorer to get the command to decode the file.

Q. How do I use Decode Shell Extension to decode a message?
A. Follow these steps:

1. First you must use your Email software and save the entire message that contains the attachment as a text file. For most Email programs you will find a save function under the File/Save menu. Make note of the filename and path you use when saving the
   message to a file.
2. Then use the Windows Explorer and navigate to the file you created in step 1.
3. Highlight that file, Right-click with your mouse, and pick Decode from the right-click context menu.
4. The program will automatically detect the attachment format and provide you with prompts for file names and overwrites.
5. See the AOL Decode Email Example (web link) on our web site for a step-by-step example for AOL mail.

Q. How can I decode the file to another directory?
A. When prompted, click the "Change Name button" and select a different directory.

Q. I'm new to computers and cannot decode attachments that come to my America Online mail.
A. Many users report "problems" receiving attachments through AOL mail. Some attachments simply refuse to decode properly. Sometimes we can debug the problem messages for users, sometimes not. These problem is not exclusive to our software - other decoding software has trouble as well. Furthermore, the problem is not exclusive to a proprietary service such as AOL mail. Multi-attachments sometimes fail when they arrive through a standard POP3 email service.

However, there is good news for AOL users. If you take the correct steps with your correspondents, the AOL client software can receive attachments just fine. In fact, you may not even need to use Decode Shell Extension!!.

Here are some suggestions that may allow you receive those problem attachments with the AOL client software:

• Have your correspondent set their email program to send messages to you as "plain text". DO NOT use "html" or "rich text" messages. This is very very important!!!! The majority of attachment problems we have helped users solve involve "html" format messages. We have added enhancements to our decoding software to handle this but the highest probability for success will be if your correspondent uses "plain text" formatting for their messages.
• In addition to the above, tell your correspondents to attach files a separate attachments and not "in line" images or text. If your correspondent is using "plain text" message format then this should not even be an option for them as "in line" images are only possible with "html" or "rich text" messages.
• Have your correspondent send only one attachment per message. The AOL mail client will probably not be able to decode a multiple attachment message, thus requiring you to use another program such as Decode Shell Extension (web link), Directory Toolkit (web link) or Explorer Extensions (web link). In contrast, if your correspondent sends only one attachment using "plain text" format, the AOL mail client may well be able to handle the message automatically.
• If you are dealing with images, ask your correspondents to send only .gif or .jpg format images (one per message). AOL mail can decode these natively.
• Have your correspondent use a mainstream Email program to send their mail to you. Programs such as Forte Agent, Eudora, or Pegasus work well sending attachments to AOL. Again, sending one attachment per message greatly increases the odds that the mail will get through properly. Programs such as Outlook, Outlook Express, and Netscape Communicator also work fine, provided the sender does not use "html" or "rich text" message format. Ditto for Windows Messaging.
• Experiment with your correspondent if you still cannot receive their attachment(s) with your AOL software. Have he/she try sending a few messages, with one attachment per message, using different settings for his/her Email program.
• Upgrade your AOL client software to the latest version. Version 4.0 really is very nice package!

Q: I followed the AOL Decode Email Example (web link) but AOL never downloaded the attachment. What is wrong?
A: Any chance the message did not have an attachment? Also, check in the AOL default download directory - perhaps it did download. This will probably be something like "c:\America Online 4.0\download" if you haven't changed the default settings in AOL Preferences. Beyond this, contact AOL support.

Q: I can see that a message I received via AOL mail is encoded but AOL doesn't offer me a Download Now button. What can I do.
A: See the Basic Steps for Decoding Messages section above. For the AOL mail client, there are two methods to use. We recommend the first method. We're including the second method, FYI.

Method 1 (Preferred):

1. Open the message in the AOL mail reader.
2. Click anywhere in the message text to be sure the 'focus' of the cursor is on the message.
3. From the AOL 4.0 Edit menu, select 'Select All'. This will highlight the entire message. (Ctrl+A will probably do the same thing).
4. From the AOL 4.0 Edit menu, select Copy. This will copy the highlighted part to the Windows clipboard. (Ctrl+C will probably do the same thing).
5. Open a new, blank text file in Windows Notepad or your favorite text editor. Press Ctrl+V to paste the clipboard contents from the above step into the file. (Note: We recommend that you use a standard text editor here. Multi-function word processing programs such as Word or WordPerfect tend to introduce formatting changes even when you use their 'save as text file' functions. There are ways to prevent this but many users may find it easiest to use a plain old text editor.)
6. Save the file, making note of the path and file name you use.
7. Close Notepad or the text editor you used.
8. Next use Windows Explorer to make your way to the path & file name you used when you saved the Notepad file. Right click on the file. Select Decode from the menu.

Method 2 (May have problems):

1. Open the message in the AOL mail reader.
2. From the AOL File menu, select 'Save' or 'Save As'. You will then be offered a dialog which you can use to define a file name and path where you want to save the message text to. Make note of your choices. Click on the 'Save' button in the dialog to save the file.
3. Next use Windows Explorer to make your way to the path & file name you used in the above step. Right click on the file. Select Decode from the menu.

Note: Method 2 may result in the message being saved with html coding embedding in the file even though none existed in the original message. If you open the the file in your text editor and see things like <HTML> or <FONT SIZE=3 PTSIZE=10> or <BR> which are not in the original message, then html code was added as AOL saved the file. Although we have added functions to our decoding programs to handle this, should you have problems, try Method 1 above.

Q. My email program can't decode a multiple attachment message I received. I read the bit in your FAQ about America Online but I'm not using that. I have a standard POP3 mail account. Can you help?
A. Is the message coming to you in "html" or "rich text" format? Our own experiments indicate that "html text" or "rich text" format messages sent by one email program may not be understood properly when received by another email program. For example, Microsoft's Outlook Express does a fine job handling multi-attachment html text messages sent by someone using Outlook Express. But the receiver may have trouble handling the message if they're using another brand of html text-capable email program. Our decoding software may or may not be of help here. We suggest that you are having ongoing problem with a particular sender, ask them to use "plain text" messages. If that doesn't help, try having them send only one attached file per message.

Q. Can you fix & decode my attachment for me if I send it to you?
A. Do not send us your problem attachment without asking first. We will try to help but please understand that we cannot provide ongoing support for a freeware product. For ongoing support you need to purchase Explorer Extensions (web link) or Directory Toolkit (web link). As a registered user, if you have ongoing problems with a particular sender we would help you fix the initial problem rather than continually debug problem attachments.  

Q. Why is the decoded file named NONAME.DAT and how do I open it?
A. If the program that encoded it did not specify the original file name, Decode will still decode it but will use that default name. When decoding, you can click the Change Name button and use the correct name and extension. If you're not sure what name and extension to use, write the person who sent it to you and ask them.

Q. The decoded file is corrupt. Why? I pasted the message text into Word, then saved it to a file and tried to decode it.
A. Word and other editors may add extraneous characters, thus corrupting the attachment. Instead, use the File/Save menu from your Email program to save the message to a text file.

Q. What types of encoding are supported?
A. UUENCODED(or UUE), Base64 (MIME), BinHex (Mac), XXENCODED (or XXE), quoted printable, 7 bit (unencoded) and plain text.

Q. How can I encode a file and send it to someone else?
A. Decode Shell Extension only decodes files. You'll need either Directory Toolkit (web link) or Funduc Explorer Extensions (web link) if you want to create an encoded file.