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How can I find out what the file extension is of an attachment to an e-mail?

  • 5 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by Mogens

Mogens
Mogens
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I am receiving an e-mail with an attachment I can't open with any of the applications I have available in my Ubuntu 14.04. How can I find out what the extension of the attached document is, so i can find an attachment that can open and store it?

I am receiving an e-mail with an attachment I can't open with any of the applications I have available in my Ubuntu 14.04. How can I find out what the extension of the attached document is, so i can find an attachment that can open and store it?

Chosen solution

I cannot save it to disk without using an application

I'd really be curious what would prevent you from doing that. There is no problem saving a file to disk without a file extension.

I don't like it when a program hides important details from me

I don't think there is anything Thunderbird hides from you. Most likely the attachment doesn't have a file extension - for whatever reason.

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All Replies (5)

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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You could ask the sender about the file type of the attachment. Or you could try to open it with a text editor and see if that gives a clue about the file type. Or you save the attachment to your disk and use the 'file' command to determine the file type.

Modified by christ1

Mogens
Mogens Question owner
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I cannot save it to disk without using an application - and I can;t find an application without knowing the file extension.

Yes, of course I can ask the sender. But that's like giving me a fish instead of teaching me to fish. It is time consuming and does nothing to help me next time I have the same problem.

When I used OUTLOOK, the file extension was always shown when I requested "View Details" but it does not work like that in ThunderBird. I don't like it when a program hides important details from me - it limits my possible use of the program to what the developer thinks I need.

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

I cannot save it to disk without using an application

I'd really be curious what would prevent you from doing that. There is no problem saving a file to disk without a file extension.

I don't like it when a program hides important details from me

I don't think there is anything Thunderbird hides from you. Most likely the attachment doesn't have a file extension - for whatever reason.

Mogens
Mogens Question owner
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I think you are right. I tested by sending myself some e-mails from a yahoo account. ThunderBird openly displays their names and file extensions!

So this is not an issue with ThunderBird, but with the sender. Thanks for helping me see that...

Mogens
Mogens Question owner
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As to saving the file, I can't. Ubuntu want to know what application I want to use before it accepts carrying out that job. I know it is a voicemail, but none of the programs I use to play voice files with can recognize the file as something they want to deal with, most likely because the file extension is hidden.

When I used Windows XP and OUTLOLOK, clicking on these files automatica;ly opened them with VLC. I also have VLC installed here on my Ubuntu 14.04, but it will not do it here. It denies to recognize the file as of a type it can deal with.

If there is a way around that, I am definitely interested in learning about it.

Modified by Mogens