Re: Bug#932: Pine over-encodes files and auto-requests document
dwarf@polaris.net (Dale Scheetz) wrote on 11.02.96 in <[🔎] Pine.LNX.3.91.960211153931.27438A-100000@dwarf.polaris.net>:
> Pine provides ^R as the inclusion feature. You can include uuencoded
> programs using this feature, or just include plain text from some other
> source.
>
> ^J is declared to create a mime attatchment to the current e-mail
> message. You can use this feature with a uuencoded file if you with but
> that was not it's intent.
Umm ... I'm not a Pine user, so all I say is based on what is quoted
above.
However, I do want to note that MIME does *not* say that multipart mails
(that's what "attachments" amount to) have to consist of one non-encoded
and several base64-encoded parts. In fact, most of the base64-encoded
parts in multipart mails I receive should not have been encoded. They
should, however, be MIME multipart mails.
*If* Pine does not offer a way to do that, then I would consider that as a
severe design bug, and "overencoding" is the correct term to describe it.
Anyway, the proper way to encode things should, IMHO, be: if it's text,
see if you can get away with not encoding it; if that won't work, use
quoted-printable; if it's not text, or QP is too much overhead, then and
only then use base64.
MfG Kai
Reply to: