Subject: Receiving Encoded Mail. Help!

From: [email-masked] (Rich)
Date: 1 Apr 1996 10:42:19 -0800

I seem to have problems when it comes to receiving encoded mail.  Can you
help with this.

I use both the Unix Elm and Pine mail programs and also can utilize Eudora
if necessary.

Here are my questions:

1.  If a person uses a word processing program to create a file, does he
    have to save the file to ASCII?  

    a.  If he does save the file to ASCII, does he need to encode that 
        file when attaching it to an e-mail message?

    b.  If he doesn't save it to ASCII and leaves it as a binary file,
        what are the ramifications.  Should he send the file as is or??

2.  Once I receive the file and it is mime encoded, should Pine "Always"
    be able to decode the file?  If not, what do I do?

3.  If I receive a uuencoded file, will uudecode always be able to 
    decode the file (in Unix)?  If not, what do I do?

The reason I ask these questions, is because the other day someone
sent me 4 different file attachements and after trying every way possible
to decode them, I could not read any one of them.

Is it possible that I have to read the file using the same program that
he used to write them on?  One of the files was a Framemaker document and 
the others were other MS programs.

Your help would be appreciated.

Rich Hill
[email-masked]

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From: Sven Guckes <[email-masked]>
Date: 1 Apr 1996 23:57:58 GMT

>    have to save the file to ASCII?  

No.

>        file when attaching it to an e-mail message?

No.Yes.  Always uuencode the ASCII files!

>        what are the ramifications.  Should he send the file as is or??

Encoding is only necessary if any part of the transport does not transfer the
data as is.  If in doubt - encode.  If still in doubt - encode again!

>    be able to decode the file?  If not, what do I do?

MIME encoded means that *some* encoding was used.
If your setup has to deal with a code it does not know then you
loseneed to get the proper decoder.
Wanna buy a MIME coder ring?  Really cheap!

>    decode the file (in Unix)?  If not, what do I do?

"Will the decoder decode the encoded data?"  Naah.  Of course not!  Silly boy!

>The reason I ask these questions, is because the other day someone sent me 4
>different file attachements and after trying every way possible to decode
>them, I could not read any one of them.

Sending random garbage as MIME attachments sure keeps the newbies away...

>Is it possible that I have to read the file using the same program that he
>used to write them on?  One of the files was a Framemaker document and the
>others were other MS programs.

Hey, did Bill Gates tell you that?
Never use a program *twice* on the same data!
Get the upgrade!
Comsume!
Buy!!!

*sigh*   I have no mercy for people who do not know how to attach a sig...

Oh, it's April *second* already?  Sheesh..

Sven  [A file is a file is a file is a file.]