Corrupt pdf files, any advice.

Julian Field mailscanner at ecs.soton.ac.uk
Mon Jul 28 11:44:36 IST 2003


Did the problem exist in any earlier 4.22-x releases, or is that not known?
The more I can narrow down the point at which the problem started, the
better the chance I have of finding the problem.

At 11:34 28/07/2003, you wrote:
>Julian
>
>It appears that the "corrupted PDF file" problem is more extensive and
>serious than described below. I said in a message to the list a few days
>ago that:
>
>"We are running MS 4.22-5 with SA 2.55 and users are suffering some
>serious problems sending/receiving PDF files. The problem seems to have
>started with MS 4.22-5. Most (all?) incoming PDF attachments are flagged
>as corrupt.
>
>"The problem is even apparent with a local sender who is using Pine on a
>Unix system. Zipping the PDF file appears to make no difference. It thus
>appears that it is within MS or one of the modules that is processing
>the PDF file that the problem occurs."
>
>I have two sample PDF files that cannot be sent from this site because
>of the behaviour of MS or my configuring of it.
>
>Quentin
>---
>PHONE: +44 191 222 8209    Computing Service, University of Newcastle
>FAX:   +44 191 222 8765    Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, NE1 7RU.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>"Any opinion expressed above is mine. The University can get its own."
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Plant, Dean [mailto:dean.plant at ROKE.CO.UK]
> > Sent: 28 July 2003 11:24
> > To: MAILSCANNER at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
> > Subject: Corrupt pdf files, any advice.
> >
> >
> > Julian,
> >
> > I hope you had a good holiday.
> >
> > I am having a problem with pdf files corrupting when the
> > disclaimer gets added to email passing through the MailScanner.
> >
> > RH 8.0
> > Mailscanner 4.21-9
> > Spamassassin/dcc/razor2
> > F-prot 4.1.1
> >
> > Our setup is internal MS exchange 5.5 / outlook 2000 clients
> > with Mailscanner as a relay to the internet.
> >
> > The problem only occurs when the mail is generated from MS
> > exchange which sometimes encodes pdf files as quoted
> > printable (looking on TechNet shows that MS exchange decides
> > the encoding depending on the pdf file version). If the mail
> > is generated with base64 the pdf file passes through correctly.
> >
> > I have found discussions of the problem within mailing lists
> > of similar products to Mailscanner which also seem to suffer
> > from this problem, so I think it must be down to the
> > MIME::QuotedPrint perl module and the ambiguity of the QP
> > standard on different OS's.
> >
>http://mailtools.anomy.net/archives/anomy-bugs/2002-06/0003.shtml
>
>As a quick fix I have advised users to zip all pdf files to ensure
>correct delivery. I have also discussed the possibility of the MS
>exchange people forcing the attachment encoding to base64 but they are
>cautious in case something else breaks. I think they are unwilling to
>change as it all worked before I put in the Mailscanner relay.
>
>Is there any advice you can offer on this problem. (Suggestions of
>smashing up the MS exchange box can not be accepted).
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Dean Plant.
>
>--
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>
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--
Julian Field
www.MailScanner.info
Professional Support Services at www.MailScanner.biz
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