Subject: email attachment

From: "Rosemary K. Bradas" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 08:33:05 -0600 (CST)

Can anyone accurately tell me how to attach a Microsoft Word document
to a pine email message so that it will arrive alive and unharmed?

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From: "Adam H. Kerman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 11:12:28 -0600 (CST)

>From: "Rosemary K. Bradas" <[email-masked]>
>Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 08:33:05 -0600 (CST)

>to a pine email message so that it will arrive alive and unharmed?

While composing a message, put the cursor in the headers and hit ^j and enter
the filename. It's that simple. You are, of course, positive, that the
receipient can read Word, right?

With respect to "unharmed", there's nothing pine can do about that. pine
doesn't handle mail transport. Each of the machines along the path to the final
machine must be properly configured to handle MIME attachments. All you can do
is hope for the best.

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From: Edward M Greshko <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 18:06:07 +0800 (GMT)

> machine must be properly configured to handle MIME attachments. All you can do

Everything is OK....except for your last statement.  One of the goals of 
MIME was to make it such that no MTA in the middle need to know anything
about MIME.  So, there is no requirement that any MTA be configured in any
way to handle MIME attachments.

Ed

-- 
Edward M. Greshko                  Technical Manager, Electronic Commerce
GSM: +65-975-10860                 Control Data Asia/Pacific Region
PGPKey-ID:CA3AFA5D  Fingerprint: 2DE6 5527 144E D1BC  3C55 9FA5 518E 52EE

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From: "Adam H. Kerman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 10:59:59 -0600 (CST)

If you reply to the list, there is no need to send me a separate reply.

>From: Edward M Greshko <[email-masked]>
>Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 18:06:07 +0800 (GMT)

>>doesn't handle mail transport. Each of the machines along the path to the
>>final machine must be properly configured to handle MIME attachments.

>Everything is OK....except for your last statement.

My last statement was, "Hope for the best."

>One of the goals of MIME was to make it such that no MTA in the middle need to
>know anything about MIME. So, there is no requirement that any MTA be
>configured in any way to handle MIME attachments.

We have had quite a bit of discussion about machines truncating and rewriting
headers, or choosing to pass only certain headers. I suggest that such machines
are not properly configured to handle MIME attachments. If any such machines
are along the path that mail travels from sender to receipient, the attachment
won't be unharmed. The headers must survive transport!

Otherwise, it ain't MIME; it's garbage.

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From: Edward M Greshko <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 08:00:36 +0800 (GMT)

> My last statement was, "Hope for the best."

That's always the case within the Internet.  :-) :-)

> won't be unharmed. The headers must survive transport!

Correct.  However, these MTAs are simply *broken*.  Their choice to mangle
headers has nothing to do with the headers being MIME or not.  Chances
are very good that the MTAs in question predate MIME.

> Otherwise, it ain't MIME; it's garbage.

Yep....

Regards,
Ed