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RE: MIME
Subject:
RE: MIME
Date:
Tue, 18 Mar 1997 19:05:44 -0500 (EST)
From:
Paul Anderson <paul-at-geeky1.ebtech-dot-net>
To:
Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
On Mon, 17 Mar 1997, Tesla List wrote:
> Thus, when I do see the mime encoded
> material, I know there is something wrong with the encoding. I think
> what is
> happening is that the server is either not decoding the MIME material
> before
> sending it back out, or is adding some new information at the front of
> the
> message (like a blank line, maybe??) that messes up the mime stream.
>
Uhh, no. The server treats the entire message as just plaintext. 7-bit
data, that's why binary files can't be sent without encoding them into
ASCII characters. The server DOES NOT do anything to the message except
deliver it. It doesn't decode the MIME stuff, your mailer does. Most
mailers can handle MIME, but not all of them. The server doesn't add
blank lines, it only adds one header line showing that mail was routed
through it. The mail does not have to be encoded to get through the
server, it is transferred as plain ASCII text, no encoding involved.
> Anyway,
> the point of all this is that using mime or not using mime is not always
> a
> choice. But HTML can be avoided.
>
No no! Using MIME is always a choice, and HTML should be banished from
e-mail. You also have HTML mixed up with MIME and uuencode. HTML is a
markup language for formatting documents, whereas MIME and uuencode are
methods of encoding 8-bit data(pictures and programs) so that mail
transfer agents don't strip the 8th bit. TTYL!
---
Paul Anderson
paul-at-geeky1.ebtech-dot-net
Author of Star Spek(a tongue in cheek pun on Star trek)
e-mail: starspek-request-at-lowdown-dot-com with subscribe as the subject
I hear it's hilarious. Maintainer of the Tips-HOWTO.
http://www-dot-netcom-dot-com/~tonyh3/speck.html
Manuals out, after all possible keystrokes have failed.