Posting .pdf or .doc/x format files

[Clinton McKenzie]

My apologies if this is answered elsewhere or this is a dumb question, but is it possible to post copies of .pdf or .doc/x files into PPRuNe threads and, if yes, how, and if not, what is the 'workaround'?

[MechEngr]

The button that looks like a tiny painting next to the smiley face says "Upload" Have you tried that? I haven't needed to try so I don't know for sure.

[IBJoel]

Using MechEngr's intsructions, yes you should be able to

[Saab Dastard]

Using MechEngr's intsructions, yes you should be able to
Not so.

As far as I can make out, the only file types that are supported for "uploading" are .JPG, .GIF and .PNG - i.e. the most common image formats - .TIFF and .BMP can't be uploaded. I've tried uploading .PDF, .DOCX and .CSV files and they all fail. Of course that could just be me...

Note also that the URL has to be accessible from the PPRuNe servers, so it has to be located on the internet. Images can be uploaded directly from your personal device, but are then stored in your personal album in PPRuNe - which can be accessed by others. You can upload images into your PPRuNe album separately and link to those as any other internet URL.

You can, of course, simply include a link to the .pdf / .docx file (located in an internet-accessible location).

[MechEngr]

Not entirely unexpected, but the Upload File title gave hope. I suppose it is to prevent becoming a file sharing site.

[Clinton McKenzie]

My experience is the same as Saab Dastard's.

For small (1 page) .pdf documents, I've had success by converting them to jpeg format using free, online tools. Bigger docs? PITA.

I'm not sure why a 'fat' picture's OK but a 'fat' pdf file isn't. The same thing happens on bookface...

[Jhieminga]

Could be one of several reasons. To avoid becoming a file sharing site is one. Both PDF and DOC(X) files could be carriers of nasty viruses. A large picture can be something up to a couple of MB, a sizable PDF (aircraft manual?) can easily run into hundreds of MB and server capacity becomes an issue in that case. If it's a combination of text and images and not too large, you could try copying from the document to the reply box. I haven't tried but it wouldn't surprise me if the software is clever enough to deal with a mix of text and images. If you want to share largish documents, you will need to find a bit of server space to park the document and link to that.