Mail.app attachment aliases/links?

[Memzee]

Bit of a strange request.

I'd like to be able to save an attachment from an e-mail to my hard drive, and then have it replaced in the e-mail by a link or alias that links to the file on my hard drive.

Basically, so I can remove the attachment from the e-mail and save space in my Exchange inbox allowance, but still be able to easily find the attachment from my hard drive if I need to refer back to it.

I had this feature in Lotus Notes from my Windows days and it was really useful - is it possible on a Mac?

Thanks

 

[Memzee]

No takers huh?

 

[miles01110]

It's not possible with Apple Mail.

 

[Memzee]

Ah that sucks. Are there any alternatives? I can't see the option in Thunderbird or Entourage either.

 

[miles01110]

I've never heard of anything like that on any major mail client.

 

[nadyne]

Entourage 2008 or Entourage for Web Services (which you should use if you're on Exchange 2007) allows you to save the email to your hard drive and then delete just the attachment from your Exchange account. However, it doesn't maintain a link to that file on your hard drive. In the message, you'll see an information bar to tell you "Attachment [filename] was removed on [date]."

Personally, the way that I manage this in Entourage is that I created a folder in my Documents directory called "Exchange attachments". I save attached files to that directory. That means that I can always find files, since Entourage tells me the filename of the attachment that was on that mail. I sometimes place them elsewhere, and then simply search via Spotlight for the filename, but most often I put them in that directory.

Regards,
Nadyne.