It seems that one of the most frequently used programs these days is the Microsoft e-mail program, Outlook Express, probably only because its installed when the PC is purchased. Everyone should have some idea of how to send an e-mail, so we thought about going through attaching files to e-mails. However, having had a look at Outlook Express (which is installed on a spare PC specifically for this series of articles), it seems so straight forward and shouldn't take too long to cover so I'll also cover the terms BCC and CC, i.e what do they mean and how are they used.First of all, attaching files. This is something you may wish to do if you want to send letters and/or pictures to friends and/or relatives abroad - but how do you do it? You may not even be aware that you can DO it - but this is an essential part of the e-mail facility. Such files are generally picture files (normally .jpg or .gif files - all other types of graphic files are normally too large) or document files which may be one of the many types of word processor files or desktop publishing files, or possibly a .txt file. Another type of file I frequently send is .PDF files, a format specifically designed for electronic transmission as it is extremely compact - this is covered in another article.

So how do you attach a file. When I checked this on my test PC, it seems obvious. Essentially, it is a case of preparing your e-mail as required but before

sending, you click the ATTACH button at the top of the window (I can't check it just at the moment but I think its the sixth or seventh button along the top). This opens a dialogue box which allows you to navigate to where your file is located and once selected, its location and filename appears in a line immediately above the message panel. If you wish, you can add further files as necessary.

There is a word of caution on sending files though. If you try and send a large file you may find it doesn't go even though everything has been done correctly. The reason could well be that your Internet Service Provider (ISP), e.g. Freeserve, BTopenworld and any one of the many other ISPs vying for your business, limits the maximum e-mail size that can be sent and each may set a different maximum. For example, a job I had a few weeks ago required me to try and send a large file of about 5 or 6 Mb to my contact but although it looked like it was going, in the end it was rejected by my ISP (Nildram) after sending for some time simply because it was too large. As a result I had to find another way of getting the file to them. There is also one one thing to remember as well. Any file you send is encoded before sending and this can increase the file size by up to 66%! In my case, I think I'm limited to a maximum of 4 Mb that I can send. As a result by the time encoding has been applied, the maximum file size is limited to about 2.5Mb - not a lot for my needs.

Well, I think I've covered all I need to about attaching files but what about CC (Carbon Copy) and BCC (Blind Carbon Copy)? Very briefly, they each work on a very similar basis and enable you to send a copy of an e-mail to any number of others as well as the main recipient. The main difference between them is that CC shows the e-mail is that the received e-mail shows the addresses of all those to whom copies have been sent whilst BCC doesn't. Essentially, CC equates to a letter which states who you are sending a copy to and which is printed on each letter you send. With BCC, it is the same as sending out the same number of letters but not saying who the copies are going to - only the main recipient's details are included. Sometimes BCC is necessary when people are a bit touchy about broadcasting their e-mail address.

I think you can see the ways in which each of these features can be used and when they should be used. However, as always, if you have any questions on what I have written then please get in touch via the Contact Us page. And please, if you disagree with anything I've written in this article, I'm not too proud to acknowledge any error and would be only too willing to publish a correction and credit you with putting me right.