1 |
edhill |
1.1 |
mpack/munpack version 1.6 for unix |
2 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
Mpack and munpack are utilities for encoding and decoding |
4 |
|
|
(respectively) binary files in MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail |
5 |
|
|
Extensions) format mail messages. For compatibility with older forms |
6 |
|
|
of transferring binary files, the munpack program can also decode |
7 |
|
|
messages in split-uuencoded format. The Macintosh version can also |
8 |
|
|
decode messages in split-BinHex format. |
9 |
|
|
|
10 |
|
|
The canonical FTP site for this software is ftp.andrew.cmu.edu:pub/mpack/ |
11 |
|
|
Binaries are no longer provided. The pc, os2, amiga and archimedes ports |
12 |
|
|
have been removed. The mac version probably doesn't compile anymore, but |
13 |
|
|
is still included (MacOS X users can use the unix version...) |
14 |
|
|
|
15 |
|
|
This MIME implementation is intended to be as simple and portable as |
16 |
|
|
possible. For a slightly more sophisticated MIME implementation, see |
17 |
|
|
the program MetaMail, available via anonymous FTP to |
18 |
|
|
thumper.bellcore.com, in directory pub/nsb |
19 |
|
|
|
20 |
|
|
|
21 |
|
|
Decoding MIME messages: |
22 |
|
|
|
23 |
|
|
First, you have to compile the munpack program. See the instructions |
24 |
|
|
in the section "Compilation" below. If, after reading the |
25 |
|
|
instructions, you are still unsure as to how to compile munpack, |
26 |
|
|
please try to find someone locally to help you. |
27 |
|
|
|
28 |
|
|
To decode a MIME message, first save it to a text file. If possible, |
29 |
|
|
save it with all headers included. Munpack can decode some MIME files |
30 |
|
|
when the headers are missing or incomplete, other files it cannot |
31 |
|
|
decode without having the information in the headers. In general, |
32 |
|
|
messages which have a statement at the beginning that they are in MIME |
33 |
|
|
format can be decoded without the headers. Messages which have been |
34 |
|
|
split into multiple parts generally require all headers in order to be |
35 |
|
|
reassembled and decoded. |
36 |
|
|
|
37 |
|
|
Some LAN-based mail systems and some mail providers (including America |
38 |
|
|
Online, as of the writing of this document) place the mail headers at |
39 |
|
|
the bottom of the message, instead of at the top of the message. If |
40 |
|
|
you are having problems decoding a MIME message on such a system, you |
41 |
|
|
need to convert the mail back into the standard format by removing the |
42 |
|
|
system's nonstandard headers and moving the standard Internet headers |
43 |
|
|
to the top of the message (separated from the message body with a |
44 |
|
|
blank line). |
45 |
|
|
|
46 |
|
|
There must be exactly one message per file. Munpack cannot deal with |
47 |
|
|
multiple messages in a single file, to decode things correctly it must |
48 |
|
|
know when one message ends and the next one begins. |
49 |
|
|
|
50 |
|
|
To decode a message, run the command: |
51 |
|
|
|
52 |
|
|
munpack file |
53 |
|
|
|
54 |
|
|
where "file" is the name of the file containing the message. More than |
55 |
|
|
one filename may be specified, munpack will try to decode the message in |
56 |
|
|
each file. For more information on ways to run munpack, see the section |
57 |
|
|
"Using munpack" below. |
58 |
|
|
|
59 |
|
|
|
60 |
|
|
Reporting bugs: |
61 |
|
|
|
62 |
|
|
Bugs and comments should be reported to mpack-bugs@andrew.cmu.edu. |
63 |
|
|
When reporting bugs or other problems, please include the following |
64 |
|
|
information: |
65 |
|
|
|
66 |
|
|
* The version number of Mpack |
67 |
|
|
* The platform (Unix, PC, OS/2, Mac, Amiga, Archimedes) |
68 |
|
|
* The EXACT output of any unsuccessful attempts. |
69 |
|
|
* If having a problem decoding, the first couple of lines |
70 |
|
|
of the input file. |
71 |
|
|
|
72 |
|
|
|
73 |
|
|
Compilation: |
74 |
|
|
|
75 |
|
|
Mpack uses autoconf and automake on unix. |
76 |
|
|
refer to INSTALL for more information |
77 |
|
|
|
78 |
|
|
Using mpack: |
79 |
|
|
|
80 |
|
|
Mpack is used to encode a file into one or more MIME format messages. |
81 |
|
|
The program is invoked with: |
82 |
|
|
|
83 |
|
|
mpack [options] -o outputfile file |
84 |
|
|
|
85 |
|
|
or |
86 |
|
|
|
87 |
|
|
mpack [options] file address... |
88 |
|
|
|
89 |
|
|
or |
90 |
|
|
|
91 |
|
|
mpack [options] -n newsgroups file |
92 |
|
|
|
93 |
|
|
Where "[options]" is one or more optional switches described below. |
94 |
|
|
"-o outputfile" is also described below. "file" is the name of the |
95 |
|
|
file to encode, "address..." is one or more e-mail address to mail the |
96 |
|
|
resulting messages to and "newsgroups" is a comma-separated list of |
97 |
|
|
newsgroups to post the resulting messages to. |
98 |
|
|
|
99 |
|
|
The possible options are: |
100 |
|
|
|
101 |
|
|
-s subject |
102 |
|
|
Set the Subject header field to Subject. By default, |
103 |
|
|
mpack will prompt for the contents of the subject |
104 |
|
|
header. |
105 |
|
|
|
106 |
|
|
-d descriptionfile |
107 |
|
|
Include the contents of the file descriptionfile in an |
108 |
|
|
introductory section at the beginning of the first |
109 |
|
|
generated message. |
110 |
|
|
|
111 |
|
|
-m maxsize |
112 |
|
|
Split the message (if necessary) into partial messages, |
113 |
|
|
each not exceeding maxsize characters. The default |
114 |
|
|
limit is the value of the SPLITSIZE environment |
115 |
|
|
variable, or no limit if the environment variable |
116 |
|
|
does not exist. Specifying a maxsize of 0 means there |
117 |
|
|
is no limit to the size of the generated message. |
118 |
|
|
|
119 |
|
|
-c content-type |
120 |
|
|
Label the included file as being of MIME type |
121 |
|
|
content-type, which must be a subtype of application, |
122 |
|
|
audio, image, or video. If this switch is not given, |
123 |
|
|
mpack examines the file to determine its type. |
124 |
|
|
|
125 |
|
|
-o outputfile |
126 |
|
|
Write the generated message to the file outputfile. If |
127 |
|
|
the message has to be split, the partial messages will |
128 |
|
|
instead be written to the files outputfile.01, |
129 |
|
|
outputfile.02, etc. |
130 |
|
|
|
131 |
|
|
The environment variables which control mpack's behavior are: |
132 |
|
|
|
133 |
|
|
SPLITSIZE |
134 |
|
|
Default value of the -m switch. Default "0". |
135 |
|
|
|
136 |
|
|
TMPDIR |
137 |
|
|
Directory to store temporary files. Default "/tmp". |
138 |
|
|
|
139 |
|
|
|
140 |
|
|
Using munpack: |
141 |
|
|
|
142 |
|
|
Munpack is used to decode one or more messages in MIME or |
143 |
|
|
split-uuencoded format and extract the embedded files. The program is |
144 |
|
|
invoked with: |
145 |
|
|
|
146 |
|
|
munpack [options] filename... |
147 |
|
|
|
148 |
|
|
which reads the messages in the files "filename...". Munpack may also |
149 |
|
|
be invoked with just: |
150 |
|
|
|
151 |
|
|
munpack [options] |
152 |
|
|
|
153 |
|
|
which reads a message from the standard input. |
154 |
|
|
|
155 |
|
|
If the message suggests a file name to use for the imbedded part, that |
156 |
|
|
name is cleaned of potential problem characters and used for the |
157 |
|
|
output file. If the suggested filename includes subdirectories, they |
158 |
|
|
will be created as necessary. If the message does not suggest a file |
159 |
|
|
name, the names "part1", "part2", etc are used in sequence. |
160 |
|
|
|
161 |
|
|
If the imbedded part was preceded with textual information, that |
162 |
|
|
information is also written to a file. The file is named the same as |
163 |
|
|
the imbedded part, with any filename extension replaced with |
164 |
|
|
".desc" |
165 |
|
|
|
166 |
|
|
The possible options are: |
167 |
|
|
|
168 |
|
|
-f |
169 |
|
|
Forces the overwriting of existing files. If a message |
170 |
|
|
suggests a file name of an existing file, the file will be |
171 |
|
|
overwritten. Without this flag, munpack appends ".1", ".2", |
172 |
|
|
etc to find a nonexistent file. |
173 |
|
|
|
174 |
|
|
-t |
175 |
|
|
Also unpack the text parts of multipart messages to files. |
176 |
|
|
By default, text parts that do not have a filename parameter |
177 |
|
|
do not get unpacked. |
178 |
|
|
|
179 |
|
|
-q |
180 |
|
|
Be quiet--suppress messages about saving partial messages. |
181 |
|
|
|
182 |
|
|
-C directory |
183 |
|
|
Change the current directory to "directory" before reading |
184 |
|
|
any files. This is useful when invoking munpack |
185 |
|
|
from a mail or news reader. |
186 |
|
|
|
187 |
|
|
The environment variables which control munpack's behavior are: |
188 |
|
|
|
189 |
|
|
TMPDIR |
190 |
|
|
Root of directory to store partial messages awaiting |
191 |
jmc |
1.3 |
reassembly. Default is "/usr/tmp". Partial messages |
192 |
edhill |
1.1 |
are stored in subdirectories of $TMPDIR/m-prts-$USER/ |
193 |
|
|
|
194 |
|
|
|
195 |
|
|
Acknowledgements: |
196 |
|
|
|
197 |
|
|
Written by John G. Myers, jgm+@cmu.edu |
198 |
|
|
|
199 |
|
|
The mac version was written by Christopher J. Newman, chrisn+@cmu.edu |
200 |
|
|
|
201 |
|
|
Send all bug reports to mpack-bugs@andrew.cmu.edu |
202 |
|
|
|
203 |
|
|
Thanks to Nathaniel Borenstein for testing early versions of mpack and |
204 |
|
|
for making many helpful suggestions. |
205 |
|
|
|
206 |
|
|
|
207 |
|
|
PGP signature: |
208 |
|
|
|
209 |
|
|
The mpack 1.6 distribution is not pgp signed. |
210 |
|
|
|
211 |
|
|
Legalese: |
212 |
|
|
|
213 |
|
|
(C) Copyright 1993,1994 by Carnegie Mellon University |
214 |
|
|
All Rights Reserved. |
215 |
|
|
|
216 |
|
|
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software |
217 |
|
|
and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, |
218 |
|
|
provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that |
219 |
|
|
both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in |
220 |
|
|
supporting documentation, and that the name of Carnegie Mellon |
221 |
|
|
University not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to |
222 |
|
|
distribution of the software without specific, written prior |
223 |
|
|
permission. Carnegie Mellon University makes no representations about |
224 |
|
|
the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as |
225 |
|
|
is" without express or implied warranty. |
226 |
|
|
|
227 |
|
|
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO |
228 |
|
|
THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY |
229 |
|
|
AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY BE LIABLE |
230 |
|
|
FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES |
231 |
|
|
WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN |
232 |
|
|
AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING |
233 |
|
|
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS |
234 |
|
|
SOFTWARE. |
235 |
|
|
|
236 |
|
|
Portions of this software are derived from code written by Bell |
237 |
|
|
Communications Research, Inc. (Bellcore) and by RSA Data Security, |
238 |
|
|
Inc. and bear similar copyrights and disclaimers of warranty. |