How to send a document by e-mail
and how to type accented letters

N.B. Some of the following assumes the use of a PC under Windows.

1. Attached file (formatted file)

A word-processor-format file or html-format file can be attached to an e-mail message. Select "Attach file" from the mailer menu (e.g. Eudora or Netscape), browse through the directory of the hard or floppy disk and select the file to be sent (in Netscape mail choose "As is", NOT "Convert to plain text"). The e-mail header should now include the name of the file to be sent. Warning: make sure that under your mailer's "Options" the attachments setting is NOT set to put attachments in the body of the e-mail message.

2. Document in body of e-mail message (unformatted file)

A straightforward document (e.g. without tables, or other "sophisticated" formatting) can be put in the body of an e-mail message by using copy-and-paste (Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V).

In the word-processor: either choose "Select All" in the "Edit" menu, or hold down the Ctrl key and hit "a" (Ctrl-A), to create a block. Now press Ctrl-C (Ctrl + "c"). Switch to the mailer: place the cursor where you want to put the document and type Ctrl-V (Ctrl + "v").

3. Accents and French quotation marks

Methods 1 and 2 obviate the need to type accents in your e-mail message. A third option for sending a document by e-mail is of course to type it directly as part of the e-mail message. Within Eudora and Netscape's mailer – and, in fact, in most applications – accents can be typed in various ways. The simplest way is perhaps to use the Alt key in combination with the number pad. Under the Alt method, accented letters are defined by their ASCII decimal value; thus, acute "e" is 130 in the ASCII character set. To type an "e" acute, hold down the Alt key and type "130" on the number pad; release the Alt key and an "e" acute will appear in your text. Make sure the Num Lock is on. The following are the ASCII numbers available for accented letters used in French and for French quotes.

LetterASCII number
à133
â131
ç135
Ç128
é130
É144
è138
ê136
ë137
î140
ï139
ô147
ù151
û150
ü129
«174
»175

R. Wooldridge, 1998-2006