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MIMENCODE(1) General Commands Manual MIMENCODE(1)
NAME
mimencode - Translate to and from mail-oriented encoding formats
(Same program also installed as "mmencode".)
SYNOPSIS
mimencode[-u] [-b] [-q] [-p] [file name] [-o outputfile]
DESCRIPTION
The mimencode program simply converts a byte stream into (or out of)
one of the standard mail encoding formats defined by MIME, the proposed
standard for internet multimedia mail formats. Such an encoding is
necessary because binary data cannot be sent through the mail. The
encodings understood by mimencode are preferable to the use of the
uuencode/uudecode programs, for use in mail, in several respects that
were important to the authors of MIME.
By default, mimencode reads standard input, and sends a "base64"
encoded version of the input to standard output.
The (really not necessary) "-b" option tells mimencode to use the
"base64" encoding.
The "-q" option tells mimencode to use the "quoted-printable" encoding
instead of base64.
The "-u" option tells mimencode to decode the standard input rather
than encode it.
The "-p" option tells mimencode to translate decoded CRLF sequences
into the local newline convention during decoding and to do the reverse
during encoding. This option is only meaningful when -b (base64
encoding) is in effect.
If a file name argument is given, input is read from that file rather
than from standard input.
The "-o" option, which must be followed by a file name, sends output to
the named file rather than to standard output.
RATIONALE
Mimencode is intended to be a replacement for uuencode for mail and
news use. The reason is simple: uuencode doesn't work very well in a
number of circumstances and ways. In particular, uuencode uses charac-
ters that don't translate well across all mail gateways (particularly
ASCII <-> EBCDIC gateways). Also, uuencode is not standard -- there
are several variants floating around, encoding and decoding things in
different and incompatible ways, with no "standard" on which to base an
implementation. Finally, uuencode does not generally work well in a
pipe, although some variants have been modified to do so. Mimencode
implements the encodings which were defined for MIME as uuencode
replacements, and should be considerably more robust for email use.
SEE ALSO
metamail(1), mailto(1)
BUGS
This program was originally distributed as "mmencode". That name turns
out to conflict with a program of the same name that is part of the
Slate software from BBN, but totally changing the name to mimencode
would create other problems (notably with portability to systems where
the left half of file names is limited to 8 characters). Currently, it
is being distributed with links under BOTH names. The programs in the
distribution that call the program all call it as "mimencode", so the
"mmencode" version may be deleted at sites where it causes a problem.
(The source files are still named "mmencode" rather than "mimencode".)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1991 Bell Communications Research, Inc. (Bellcore)
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this material for any
purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies, and
that the name of Bellcore not be used in advertising or publicity per-
taining to this material without the specific, prior written permission
of an authorized representative of Bellcore. BELLCORE MAKES NO REPRE-
SENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR SUITABILITY OF THIS MATERIAL FOR ANY
PURPOSE. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WAR-
RANTIES.
AUTHOR
Nathaniel S. Borenstein
Bellcore Prototype Release 1 MIMENCODE(1)
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