Email Format Issue

[arvdot]

Hey there, I've reached a quite annoying problem. I have code that runs through a list of closed requests and will open the invoice and send the invoice as an attachment to the email listed on it. All of this works well. The only problem is, there are no formats to send it in that work for me.

.PDF : FAR too large of a file. Looks awesome and all, but just slows down everything.

.SNP : No one has Microsoft snapshot viewer, this is just useless.

.txt : Too ugly. Doesn't maintain any formatting that my invoice has.

.html : Still ugly, less ugly than .txt but still is not professional enough to email.

.RTF : This one is the best, except one problem...it allows editing. The recipient can simply open up the invoice and change some numbers before they ship it off to their finance department. Now, most of the charges and invoices we send out are internal so it's not a major issue, but still a big one.

I was wondering if there were any other formats that I can use in the SendObject method (I really don't think there are). Or if there is another method of sending a report via email that will allow me to send the report in another format. Or if it is at all possible (so far I've found all no's) to make the rtf read only before it is sent.

Thanks!

 

[HiTechCoach]

Hey there, I've reached a quite annoying problem. I have code that runs through a list of closed requests and will open the invoice and send the invoice as an attachment to the email listed on it. All of this works well. The only problem is, there are no formats to send it in that work for me.

.PDF : FAR too large of a file. Looks awesome and all, but just slows down everything.

.SNP : No one has Microsoft snapshot viewer, this is just useless.

.txt : Too ugly. Doesn't maintain any formatting that my invoice has.

.html : Still ugly, less ugly than .txt but still is not professional enough to email.

.RTF : This one is the best, except one problem...it allows editing. The recipient can simply open up the invoice and change some numbers before they ship it off to their finance department. Now, most of the charges and invoices we send out are internal so it's not a major issue, but still a big one.

I was wondering if there were any other formats that I can use in the SendObject method (I really don't think there are). Or if there is another method of sending a report via email that will allow me to send the report in another format. Or if it is at all possible (so far I've found all no's) to make the rtf read only before it is sent.

Thanks!

I have been sending snapshots for years. I just include a link to the free download in the email's message body.

For people the do want a PDF, I still create a SNP file then convert to a PDF using a tool form www.lebans.com which runs really fast.

Curious, how are you creating the PDFs that is slow for you?

AFAIK, the RTF format does not support "locking" like a Word DOC. You could use automation to open the RTF file with Word and convert to a DOC format with a password to "locked" out editing.

 

[arvdot]

I'm sorry but the snapshots aren't an option. I can't be telling people to download a program just to view their invoice for work we did for them. And I tried the pdf method except I heard some issues that the files took to long to open and download because of their size.

 

[HiTechCoach]

I'm sorry but the snapshots aren't an option. I can't be telling people to download a program just to view their invoice for work we did for them. And I tried the pdf method except I heard some issues that the files took to long to open and download because of their size.

Ahh ... so you have not actually had a problem with PDFs, only heard rumors. PDF are usually as small if not smaller that a PDF. I have not seen it take any noticable time different to create a PDF over a Snapshot.

IMHO A PDF would probably be your best bet.

What version of Access are you using?

FYI:

I'm sorry but the snapshots aren't an option. I can't be telling people to download a program just to view their invoice for work we did for them.

Why? I sure do. I have never has an issue with 00's of clients requiring them to download the Snapshot viewer. Most people say they prefer it over a PDF because the Abobe Reader takes so long to load over the Snapshot viewer. The also like the ability to view their invoices online with a web browser. This does require the snapshot viewer to be installer.

 

[boblarson]

FYI:

Why? I sure do. I have never has an issue with 00's of clients requiring them to download the Snapshot viewer. Most people say they prefer it over a PDF because the Abobe Reader takes so long to load over the Snapshot viewer. The also like the ability to view their invoices online with a web browser. This does require the snapshot viewer to be installer.

And I would give a big "thumbs-up" to doing it this way as well. But, each place is different and we can only make suggestions from our own experience.