


MIMENCODE(1)             USER COMMANDS               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]

DESCRIPTION
     The _m_i_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   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 _d_e_c_o_d_e the standard input
     rather than encode it.

     The "-p" option tells mimencode to  translate  decoded  CRLF
     sequences into the local newline convention during decoding.
     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.

RATIONALE
     _M_i_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.  Mimencode implements  the
     encodings   which   were   defined   for  MIME  as  uuencode



Bellcore Prototype   Last change: Release 1                     1


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MIMENCODE(1)             USER COMMANDS               MIMENCODE(1)



     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 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















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