Russell McMahon wrote:
>
> My favourite techo forum must surely have a few MAC users.
> Narry a PIC in sight on this one but you guys know everything so I'll
> venture to ask.
>
> How do you read HTML format files on a MAC?

HTML is a format that puts special tags into an ordinary
ASCII file. For example, in an HTML file I could
make something bold by saying
   <B>this would be boldface</B> and this wouldnt

The format has nothing to do with any operating system.

> Presumably some/all browsers can do this?

By definition this is what a browser 'does' - it displays pages fetched over
the internet by HTTP protocol, and usually those pages are HTML, though
modern browsers also support plain text and various graphic file formats.


> Are browsers generally freeware for MACs?

yes. Browsers are usually downloads. The most common browsers, Netscape Navigato
r
and Internet Explorer, are basicly free.

>
> Some members of another technical group I belong to claim that they
> can read HTML web pages but not HTML attached to emails.
> Does this sound sensible?

Yes. Anyone who can browse web pages can 'read HTML web pages'.
email used to just be a simple text format. Somebody got the bright idea
of making a standard (called MIME) encoding to allow 'stuff' to be attached to m
ail,
with a protocol roughly like this:

//SPECIAL HEADER TELLING YOU THIS IS PART OF A MESSAGE, BELOW IS PIC CODE
0F98AAB7CD34103AC
... lots more lines of this ...

//SPECIAL HEADER TELLING YOU THIS IS PART OF A MESSAGE, BELOW IS GIF
... lots more lines of hex...

//SPECIAL HEADER TELLING YOU THIS IS PART OF A MESSAGE, BELOW IS HTML
<B>A little message in bold</B>

//SPECIAL HEADER TELLING YOU THIS IS PART OF A MESSAGE, BELOW IS PLAIN TEXT
this is just text

Obviously the mail reader has to be smart enough to both understand MIME,
and to understand the specific thing being sent. So every mail reader
understands plain text, some do and some don't understand HTML, and
none understands PIC code. Most mail readers treat unknown MIME types by
making them 'attachments'. So if I send you a whizzycalc spreadsheet it'll
appear as an attachment.

>If so, is there any solution?

Get a mail reader that understands HTML.

>
> Replies are probably best offlist unless you can work a PIC into the
> answer.
> If I get lots of replies I'll venture a summary to the list for
> general info.
>
> TIA
>
>         Russell McMahon

Suggest a basic book on the internet. It should answer most of these questions.

--
Anniepoo
Need loco motors?
http://www.idiom.com/~anniepoo/depot/motors.html