Frequently Asked Questions on Sending and Receiving Mails in Tamil

What is Tamil mail. Why does the characters do not appear in tamil?
Tamil mail like any other mail file is just a text file. TMail or TBEdit files are just text files and can be opened in any text editor like Notepad. The characters do not appear in Tamil, because the fonts are different. The trick of having tamil letters is in fonts only! TMAIL uses the font MaduramTSC for editing and Maduram for Menus. TBEdit uses TABMMaduram for text files and TAMMaduram for Menus.  In fact you can use any font that end with TSC to read messages created by TMAIL and fonts that start with TAB to read TBEdit files. If you receive a mail sent by TMAIL which looks gibberish, then change the font to MaduramTSC. This will change the text to Tamil.  If you receive a mail sent by TBEdit, then change the font to TABMaduram. This will change the text to Tamil

How to change fonts in an application?
This is a bit tricky. Each application has different methods. Here are a few examples:
1.   If you are using Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange or Outlook Express (provided with Internet Explorer), when you receive a message and find it gibberish, than highlight the entire text. (Highlighting of text is done by holding <Ctrl> and then pressing <a>. select Format from the menu and then select font. First try changing the font to MaduramTSC and then select OK. If the characters does not make sense, then follow the same step again, only this time select TABMaduram (This is for users who send mails through TBEDIT). If you do not have any of these fonts, you can download them from http://www.kamban.com.au/ and then select download. Note you only need TABMaduram and MaduramTSC fonts to read any mail files. If you have TMAIL or TBEDIT installed, the fonts are automatically installed for you.
2.   If you are using Netscape Messager that is provided with Netscape Naviagator, the fonts can be changed from Format Menu and then selecting Fonts. In fact most application has format Menu and then fonts to facilitate changing of Fonts.

What if I use Web base E-Mail Service like Hotmail account?
If you receive an E-Mail that is gibberish in you Hotmail account then copy the whole text (Highlight the text then hold <Ctrl> and press <c>. This will copy the text). Now open TMAIL or TBEDIT. Hold <Ctrl> and then press <v>. This will paste the copied text into the editor. If the mail is sent using TSCII based font, then the text could be read through TMAIL, and if the text is sent based on TAB based font then the text could be read through TBEdit. If you are in doubt, open up both the programs and paste the text to both of them. One of them should be able to read

What to do when we receive mail from Murasu Anjal. How to read this?
Murasu Anjal supports TSCII and TAB based fonts. As long as you ensure that the mail is based on either TSCII or TAB based fonts then you can change the fonts and read them. (See above for changing fonts)

READING MAIL SENT AS ATTACHMENT
I received a mail with an attachment. When I opened it is unreadable?
All Tamil based mails conforms to either TSCII or TAB based fonts. There are old files which uses proprietary font structure. These cannot be read, unless you use that particular font. (Good news is nobody uses those fonts now.) When you receive a file without any extensions, try opening it as text file with Notepad , then try changing the font to MaduramTSC and if does not make any sense then try changing the font to TABMaduram. (See topic above on changing fonts). This should make the text readable.

I received a mail with an attachment. The extension reads .TMF How do I open it?
If the extension is TMF then you can just double click on the extension. This will automatically launch TMAIL and open the file for you. If you do not have TMAIL, you can download from http://www.kamban.com.au

I received a mail with an attachment. The extension reads .TBE How do I open it?
If the extension is TBE then you can just double click on the extension. This will automatically launch TBEDIT and open the file for you. If you do not have TBEDIT, you can download from http://www.kamban.com.au

I am using Hotmail account (or similiar Web based account). I receive an attachment. How do I read it?
If you receive an attachment on a web based account, you can copy the file to your local hard disk and then open it. 

SENDING MAIL WITHOUT ATTACHMENT
Sending Tamil mail without an attachment is not preferable since the receiver do no know whether you have used TBEDIT or TMAIL. To send a Tamil mail direct, then type your mail, highlight the text and copy it (<Ctrl> and <c>). Then in your mail application (including the Web based mail) use <Ctrl> + <v> to paste the text. The text may look garbled (since the font may not be the same), but when the message is received by the other end, the user will switch the font (using one of the above steps) and read it.

SENDING MAIL AS AN ATTACHMENT
This is the most preferred way and easy to use. Type your document in TMAIL or TBEDIT. Then save it as a file. Open your mail program or Web based mail service. Fill the sender details and subject. Then select attachment and attach the document you have typed. This will ensure that the receiver gets the file as an attachment and he or she can open the same by just double clicking on it.

SENDING MAIL DIRECTLY FROM TMAIL OR TBEDIT
Both the programs has "Minanjal... " on the File menu. Click on that, you will be prompted with a dialog box of choosing profile. Accept the default and press OK. Your mail program will then open with the file you typed as an attachment. Fill the sender details and subject and then send the mail, as you would normally send mails. Note that this will not work for Web based E-Mails like Hotmail or Yahoo.