MMENCODE(1L)MMENCODE(1L)NAMEmmencode - Translate to and from mail-oriented encoding formats
SYNOPSISmmencode [ -ubq ] [ -o outputfile ] [ inputfile ]
DESCRIPTION
The mmencode 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 uuen‐
code(1) and uudecode(1) 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 inputfile to standard output. If no inputfile
is specified, then the standard input is processed.
The following options are available.
-b Tells mmencode to process ``base64'' encoding (which is the
default).
-q Tells mmencode to process ``quoted-printable'' encoding instead
of ``base64''.
-u Tells mmencode to decode the input, rather than encode it.
-o Output will be sent to outputfile instead of the standard out‐
put.
RATIONALEmmencode 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 characters
that don't translate well across all mail gateways (particularly ASCII
<-> EBCDIC gateways). Also, uuencode is not standard -- there are sev‐
eral variants floating around, encoding and decoding things in differ‐
ent 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. mmencode
implements the encodings which were defined for MIME as uuencode
replacements, and should be considerably more robust for email use.
SEE ALSOmetamail(1), uuencode(1), uudecode(1)BUGS
This program is derived from the mmencode provided in the metamail
package. That package also links this program to the name mimencode.
The -p option, which is provided in the metamail implementation, is
accepted as a noop.
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
USENET Community Trust Elm Version 2.5 MMENCODE(1L)
