MMENCODE(1)MMENCODE(1)NAMEmmencode - Translate to and from mail-oriented encoding formats
(Same program also installed as "mimencode".)
SYNOPSIS
mmencode[-u] [-b] [-q] [-p] [file name] [-o outputfile]
DESCRIPTION
The mmencode program simply converts a byte stream into (or out of) one
of the standard mail encoding formats defined by MIME, the proposed
standard for internet multimedia mail formats. Such an encoding is
necessary because binary data cannot be sent through the mail. The
encodings understood by mmencode are preferable to the use of the uuen‐
code/uudecode programs, for use in mail, in several respects that were
important to the authors of MIME.
By default, mmencode reads standard input, and sends a "base64" encoded
version of the input to standard output.
The (really not necessary) "-b" option tells mmencode to use the
"base64" encoding.
The "-q" option tells mmencode to use the "quoted-printable" encoding
instead of base64.
The "-u" option tells mmencode to decode the standard input rather than
encode it.
The "-p" option tells mmencode to translate decoded CRLF sequences into
the local newline convention during decoding and to do the reverse dur‐
ing encoding. This option is only meaningful when -b (base64 encod‐
ing) 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
Mmencode 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 num‐
ber 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 sev‐
eral variants floating around, encoding and decoding things in differ‐
ent 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. Mmencode
implements the encodings which were defined for MIME as uuencode
replacements, and should be considerably more robust for email use.
SEE ALSOmetamail(1), mailto(1)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 per‐
taining to this material without the specific, prior written permission
of an authorized representative of Bellcore. BELLCORE MAKES NO REPRE‐
SENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR SUITABILITY OF THIS MATERIAL FOR ANY
PURPOSE. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WAR‐
RANTIES.
AUTHOR
Nathaniel S. Borenstein
Bellcore Prototype Release 1 MMENCODE(1)
