MIMENCODE(1)                                                  General Commands Manual                                                 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] [-o outputfile]

DESCRIPTION

       The  mimencode  program  simply converts a byte stream into (or out of) one of the standard mail encoding formats defined by MIME, the pro-
       posed 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 decode the standard input rather than encode it.

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

       The "-o" option, which must be followed by a file name, sends output to the named file rather than to standard output.

RATIONALE

       Mimencode  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 several variants floating around, encoding and decoding things in
       different 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.  Mimencode implements the encodings which were defined for MIME as uuencode
       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

Bellcore Prototype                                                   Release 1                                                        MIMENCODE(1)