Problem sending a table (lines disappear in copypasting)
I have to send a table made in LibreOffice Calc (or Writer) with Tbird (not as an attachment). Table is quite small: 3 columns, 30 lines, only text around 1000 letters. The problem is that after copypasting the black lines of the table are not visible in Tbird message and, more importantly, the recipient will not get them either. Instead, I see dotted red lines and the recipient does not see even them (I have understood that the red lines are just for the sender and not important here). Sometimes the table format is visible for the recipient, sometimes not.
So, how to get the black lines visible both for me and the recipient?
I haven't found any help in the settings. I have tried e.g. with all four Sending Format settings (found in the Options menu of the email form) and numerous other ways, but it just doesn't work. Html-has been on and of several times, I have made several templates, etc.
Could the problem be in the Calc-settings?
If I use the Windows Live desktop program (which has not been supported for years), then there is no problem, i.e. the lines are visible to me and the recipient.
All Replies (6)
Hello
works for me (Thunderbird 102.2 from Ubuntu 22.04 distro). In the received mail (Outlook), the result looks a bit cramped but - more importantly - when pasted into Excel the array looks the same as under LibreOffice. Did you enable 'Compose messages in HTML format' in the account properties (Composition & Addressing) ?
Thank you! Glad to hear it works with you! The same (table pasting correctly when copied from email recipient has received) happens with me (with LibreOffice Calc) but not with my customers who paste the table into their own programs (house made). They want the black lines.
Yes, I have enabled 'Compose messages in HTML format'. I have also disabled it and done several other experiments (both on and off and cross-checking, I quess, all possibilities).
Do you have any specific settings in Excel or LibreOffice Calc? I suspect that the problem might have something to do with Calc-settings but so far have not figuret it out. I use it but do not know much about it.
I have TB 102.4.2, Calc 7.0.3.1 and Windows10.
Just curious, but did you actually set the border colours in calc? Try print preview in calc. Do you see borders?
Thank you for being curious, I have not thought about borders, yet.
No, I did not do anything for the border colours in Calc. I printed a table (3x30 table of chosen cells, not a preview as then it was not possible to choose cells) and no, there are no borders.
I will try to find out how to change the border colours and test if that works.
I have written about black lines (borders I quess?), but to be more precise they look grey on the screen.
In calc, select the range. Select the cell A1 Then Ctrl+shift+End on the keyboard will select the entire "used" part of the sheet. Then in the Format menu select the Autoformat Styles and pick a "style" you like. Now try copy and pasting.
pekka.j.karvonen said
my customers who paste the table into their own programs (house made). They want the black lines.
Well, that may be a specific problem with this software then. At the mail level, it's all textual information (html is text). If your customer don't have Excel, ask them to paste the result in Wordpad, it can manage formatted text and displays the table correctly - although pasting in Notepad result in numbers separated by 'Tabs' that are importing fine into Excel too - minus the lines of course. If it works in Wordpad, say them that it is their developer's concern, not yours or Thunderbird.