[Info-vax] To MIME or not to MIME

[VAXman- at SendSpamHere.ORG]

In article <ntNqvNtRQoS5 at eisner.encompasserve.org>, cornelius at eisner.decus.org (George Cornelius) writes:
>In article <00B30BB2.688FB617 at SendSpamHere.ORG>, VAXman-  @SendSpamHere.ORG writes:
>> 
>> Bingo!  Problem determined.  
>> 
>> 
>> Content-Type: image/jpeg
>> Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
>> Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="=?UTF-8?b?QmFsc2EuanBn?="
>> Content-ID: <ee8bdd05-5d43-8d03-f9cd-139db0dd7eea at yahoo.com>
>> 
>> I edited the BALSA.TXT file and changed:
>> 
>> Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="=?UTF-8?b?QmFsc2EuanBn?="
>> 
>> to read:
>> 
>> Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="BALSA.JPG"
>> 
>> 
>> The error message is very misleading.  It's also odd that the filename was
>> encoded as it was.  My wife scans and sends me hundreds of photos.  I have
>> never had a problem like this one.
>
>Welcome to the wonderful world of SMTP.
>
>I believe this is the correct method of specifying UTF-8 encoding in SMTP header
>fields.  No documentation handy, but the ?b? is desriptive as well - probably
>indicates that the immediately following UTF-8 name is base64 encoded.
>
>Some header fields allow this encoding.  Others do not.
>
>I am not surprised that MIME.EXE cannot cope with UTF-8.  The unfortunate
>part is that it does not fail in a way that leaves the output name
>undetermined and then return you to its command prompt. Within the
>MIME utility, once the specified filename has been parsed and saved,
>it can be overridden later via a subsequent output command.
>
>George

FWIW, the "Balsa.jpg" email attached image which prompted my initial post was
from a rocket kit that I'd recently received.  I just completed that rocket's
built.  I photographed it and my wife sent me the image.  She called it: "Big
<space>Bertha.jpg", and I had no issue with using MIME.EXE to open and extract
it.  I still do not understand why, after hundreds of email attachments, this
one attachment's name would have been UTF-8 encoded.  Regardless, I do believe
that the MIME utility should permit me to extract the attachment to a file of
my own name.  It's not rocket science! ;)

-- 
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker    VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG

I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.