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suzwil - Jan 8, 2006 - 6:01 pm

I have a powerbook G4 and am using Safari. Whenever I try to open an email attachment, I get the following message:


Unable to read the dictionary of the application or extension because it is not scriptable.

What am I lacking?? Besides brains?? With me, it's often an ID-ten-T error--but my savvy son had also never heard of such an error message.

Thanks for any help you can give.
Suzanne

ishan - Jan 8, 2006 - 6:06 pm

What application are you using to open the email attachment, and typically, what format is the attachment in, e.g., a .pdf or a Word document or a .jpeg, etc...?

Also, you aren't lacking any brains. Nothing about computers is intuitive; wish it were so.


Please give us more details and we should be able to figure this out.

suzwil - Jan 9, 2006 - 2:44 pm

Thanks for your reply. I looked up several attachments that wouldn't open--they have tags like .pps, .smil, and.wmv. I guess that last one is a windows generated movie, huh? I wasn't given a choice of applications, and sorry, I don't know what the default app would be.

ishan - Jan 9, 2006 - 7:48 pm

.ppt is most likely a Powerpoint presentation. Take a look at filext.com and they will give you a comprehensive list of file extensions and what programs generate them. If you don't have Powerpoint on your Macintosh, you won't be able to open .ppt files–except if you have a program called Maclink Deluxe 15 which can open just about anything. Another program which is superb for opening image files is GraphicConverter.


.wmv is a Windows Media Player file and you can download the Macintosh version from versiontracker.com or macupdate.com

.smil is a RealPlayer file, and you can download the free version from their website. Be careful, though because the prominently featured "download now" button(s) refer to a paid subscription to RealPlayer, which you definitely don't want. Search the website carefully for the free version and your .smil files will open.

If, for some reason, you have the right program but the file still doesn't open, control click on the file and choose "Open with..." and you'll get a bunch of applications to choose from. If the application you need to use to open the file is not on the list, just click on "Other..." and you can then navigate to that app on your hard drive.

Alternatively, when you encounter e.g., a .wmv file, do a Get Info on it and choose the application with which you want to open the file. You can also choose to have that application open all files with than extension from then onwards, which makes sense. This doesn't mean that other apps can't open the file; it's just that the default app that opens files with that particular file extension is the one you assigned. You can always try to open the file with another app.

HTH and please let us know how things work out.

suzwil - Jan 9, 2006 - 8:09 pm

Thanks for all the good info--one more question tho'--how do I guess which application I should chose from the list? I can see that if it's a movie, I should choose something like Quick Time player or Realplayer--but for less obvious things I'm clueless. Any advice?

Guess I have some downloading to do.

Thanks again.

ishan - Jan 9, 2006 - 9:09 pm

It's really a guessing game. Most image files will open with Preview; Preview will open .pdf files. Many text files will open with BBEdit (or it's Lite version, which is free), but for all the rest, it's really your best computer intuition.

I know that's not very helpful, but a Google search sometimes will help to narrow down the list of potentially useful apps to open a particular file. Often, the file will open if some app other than the original is used, but e.g., in a text document, the formatting will be lost. If the formatting is important–and it often is–that does you no good.


In any event, best wishes for the New Year and Happy Computing! Wait until tomorrow...when things will get even more complicated when Macintel computers are introduced by Mr. Jobs.

suzwil - Jan 9, 2006 - 10:24 pm

Thanks so much and Happy New Year to you too.
Suzanne