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mmencode.1
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1992-06-14
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MMENCODE(1) USER COMMANDS MMENCODE(1)
NAME
mmencode - Translate to and from mail-oriented encoding for-
mats
SYNOPSIS
mmencode[-u] [-b] [-q] [-p] [file name]
DESCRIPTION
The _m_m_e_n_c_o_d_e 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 mmencode 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, mmencode reads standard input, and sends a
"base64" encoded version of the input to standard output.
The (really not necessary) "-b" option tells mmencode to use
the "base64" encoding.
The "-q" option tells mmencode to use the "quoted-printable"
encoding instead of base64.
The "-u" option tells mmencode to _d_e_c_o_d_e the standard input
rather than encode it.
If a file name argument is given, input is read from that
file rather than from standard input.
RATIONALE
_M_m_e_n_c_o_d_e is intended to be a replacement for _u_u_e_n_c_o_d_e 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 characters 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 "stan-
dard" on which to base an implementation. Finally, uuencode
does not generally work well in a pipe, although some vari-
ants have been modified to do so. Mmencode implements the
encodings which were defined for MIME as uuencode replace-
ments, and should be considerably more robust for email use.
SEE ALSO
metamail(1), mailto(1)
Bellcore Prototype Last change: Release 1 1
MMENCODE(1) USER COMMANDS MMENCODE(1)
BUGS
Nope.
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 pertaining to this
material without the specific, prior written permission of
an authorized representative of Bellcore. BELLCORE MAKES NO
REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR SUITABILITY OF THIS
MATERIAL FOR ANY PURPOSE. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES.
AUTHOR
Nathaniel S. Borenstein
Bellcore Prototype Last change: Release 1 2