TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: attatchments From:Matt Ion <soundy -at- NEXTLEVEL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 25 Feb 1997 19:05:24 -0800
On Tue, 25 Feb 1997 11:02:42 CST, TIMMERMAN wrote:
>I am by no means an expert here but recently learned that there is no
>standard in email message/attachment formats. Since there are several
>different email/attachment formats and not all mail readers can decode
>all the formats, you need a program like CoderPad to decode these
>gobbledygook messages. Use one of the Web search engines and search
>for CoderPad. I've used it once and it worked great.
I think you misunderstand. There is a standard format for
attachments... in fact, three that are used almost universally. MIME
is the most common for e-mail attachments in the PC world. BinHex
dominates the Mac e-mail domain. And UUencoding is used in USENET
newsgroups.
All three perform the same basic function: converting a binary file
into a 7-bit ASCII block wrapped at a certain column so that it can be
included in a mail message. This allows even the most archaic
text-only mail programs and mail-moving systems to move binary files
around. A decoder is used on the receiving end to convert the ASCII
information back into the original binary file. In most cases, the
decoder can pick out the delimiters of the encoded information and
extract it from the message, although with some stand-alone decoders
you may have to save the attachment alone as a separate file, then
convert it.
Not all mail programs support automatic handling of all three formats,
but as noted above, stand-alone encoders/decoders are available for
most platforms.
Your friend and mine,
Matt
<insert standard disclaimer here>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe today, maybe tomorrow
That's not the question for me
No matter what cost, I'm gonna follow
The keeper of all eternity
- White Heart, "Maybe Today"
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
