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1\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2
3@setfilename emacs-mime
4@settitle Emacs MIME Manual
5@synindex fn cp
6@synindex vr cp
7@synindex pg cp
8@dircategory Editors
9@direntry
10* Emacs MIME: (emacs-mime). The MIME de/composition library.
11@end direntry
12@iftex
13@finalout
14@end iftex
15@setchapternewpage odd
16
17@ifnottex
18
19This file documents the Emacs MIME interface functionality.
20
21Copyright (C) 1998,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22
23Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
26Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29License''.
30
31(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
34@end ifnottex
35
36@tex
37
38@titlepage
39@title Emacs MIME Manual
40
41@author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
42@page
43
44@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
45Copyright @copyright{} 1998,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
46
47Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
48under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
49any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
50Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
51Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
52license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
53License''.
54
55(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
56this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
57Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
58@end titlepage
59@page
60
61@end tex
62
63@node Top
64@top Emacs MIME
65
66This manual documents the libraries used to compose and display
67@sc{mime} messages.
68
69This is not a manual meant for users; it's a manual directed at people
70who want to write functions and commands that manipulate @sc{mime}
71elements.
72
73@sc{mime} is short for @dfn{Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions}.
74This standard is documented in a number of RFCs; mainly RFC2045 (Format
75of Internet Message Bodies), RFC2046 (Media Types), RFC2047 (Message
76Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text), RFC2048 (Registration
77Procedures), RFC2049 (Conformance Criteria and Examples). It is highly
78recommended that anyone who intends writing @sc{mime}-compliant software
79read at least RFC2045 and RFC2047.
80
81@menu
82* Interface Functions:: An abstraction over the basic functions.
83* Basic Functions:: Utility and basic parsing functions.
84* Decoding and Viewing:: A framework for decoding and viewing.
85* Composing:: MML; a language for describing MIME parts.
86* Standards:: A summary of RFCs and working documents used.
87* Index:: Function and variable index.
88@end menu
89
90
91@node Interface Functions
92@chapter Interface Functions
93@cindex interface functions
94@cindex mail-parse
95
96The @code{mail-parse} library is an abstraction over the actual
97low-level libraries that are described in the next chapter.
98
99Standards change, and so programs have to change to fit in the new
100mold. For instance, RFC2045 describes a syntax for the
101@code{Content-Type} header that only allows ASCII characters in the
102parameter list. RFC2231 expands on RFC2045 syntax to provide a scheme
103for continuation headers and non-ASCII characters.
104
105The traditional way to deal with this is just to update the library
106functions to parse the new syntax. However, this is sometimes the wrong
107thing to do. In some instances it may be vital to be able to understand
108both the old syntax as well as the new syntax, and if there is only one
109library, one must choose between the old version of the library and the
110new version of the library.
111
112The Emacs MIME library takes a different tack. It defines a series of
113low-level libraries (@file{rfc2047.el}, @file{rfc2231.el} and so on)
114that parses strictly according to the corresponding standard. However,
115normal programs would not use the functions provided by these libraries
116directly, but instead use the functions provided by the
117@code{mail-parse} library. The functions in this library are just
118aliases to the corresponding functions in the latest low-level
119libraries. Using this scheme, programs get a consistent interface they
120can use, and library developers are free to create write code that
121handles new standards.
122
123The following functions are defined by this library:
124
125@table @code
126@item mail-header-parse-content-type
127@findex mail-header-parse-content-type
128Parse a @code{Content-Type} header and return a list on the following
129format:
130
131@lisp
132("type/subtype"
133 (attribute1 . value1)
134 (attribute2 . value2)
135 ...)
136@end lisp
137
138Here's an example:
139
140@example
141(mail-header-parse-content-type
142 "image/gif; name=\"b980912.gif\"")
143@result{} ("image/gif" (name . "b980912.gif"))
144@end example
145
146@item mail-header-parse-content-disposition
147@findex mail-header-parse-content-disposition
148Parse a @code{Content-Disposition} header and return a list on the same
149format as the function above.
150
151@item mail-content-type-get
152@findex mail-content-type-get
153Takes two parameters---a list on the format above, and an attribute.
154Returns the value of the attribute.
155
156@example
157(mail-content-type-get
158 '("image/gif" (name . "b980912.gif")) 'name)
159@result{} "b980912.gif"
160@end example
161
162@item mail-header-encode-parameter
163@findex mail-header-encode-parameter
164Takes a parameter string and returns an encoded version of the string.
165This is used for parameters in headers like @code{Content-Type} and
166@code{Content-Disposition}.
167
168@item mail-header-remove-comments
169@findex mail-header-remove-comments
170Return a comment-free version of a header.
171
172@example
173(mail-header-remove-comments
174 "Gnus/5.070027 (Pterodactyl Gnus v0.27) (Finnish Landrace)")
175@result{} "Gnus/5.070027 "
176@end example
177
178@item mail-header-remove-whitespace
179@findex mail-header-remove-whitespace
180Remove linear white space from a header. Space inside quoted strings
181and comments is preserved.
182
183@example
184(mail-header-remove-whitespace
185 "image/gif; name=\"Name with spaces\"")
186@result{} "image/gif;name=\"Name with spaces\""
187@end example
188
189@item mail-header-get-comment
190@findex mail-header-get-comment
191Return the last comment in a header.
192
193@example
194(mail-header-get-comment
195 "Gnus/5.070027 (Pterodactyl Gnus v0.27) (Finnish Landrace)")
196@result{} "Finnish Landrace"
197@end example
198
199@item mail-header-parse-address
200@findex mail-header-parse-address
201Parse an address and return a list containing the mailbox and the
202plaintext name.
203
204@example
205(mail-header-parse-address
206 "Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@@srce.hr>")
207@result{} ("hniksic@@srce.hr" . "Hrvoje Niksic")
208@end example
209
210@item mail-header-parse-addresses
211@findex mail-header-parse-addresses
212Parse a string with list of addresses and return a list of elements like
213the one described above.
214
215@example
216(mail-header-parse-addresses
217 "Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@@srce.hr>, Steinar Bang <sb@@metis.no>")
218@result{} (("hniksic@@srce.hr" . "Hrvoje Niksic")
219 ("sb@@metis.no" . "Steinar Bang"))
220@end example
221
222@item mail-header-parse-date
223@findex mail-header-parse-date
224Parse a date string and return an Emacs time structure.
225
226@item mail-narrow-to-head
227@findex mail-narrow-to-head
228Narrow the buffer to the header section of the buffer. Point is placed
229at the beginning of the narrowed buffer.
230
231@item mail-header-narrow-to-field
232@findex mail-header-narrow-to-field
233Narrow the buffer to the header under point.
234
235@item mail-encode-encoded-word-region
236@findex mail-encode-encoded-word-region
237Encode the non-ASCII words in the region. For instance,
238@samp{Naïve} is encoded as @samp{=?iso-8859-1?q?Na=EFve?=}.
239
240@item mail-encode-encoded-word-buffer
241@findex mail-encode-encoded-word-buffer
242Encode the non-ASCII words in the current buffer. This function is
243meant to be called narrowed to the headers of a message.
244
245@item mail-encode-encoded-word-string
246@findex mail-encode-encoded-word-string
247Encode the words that need encoding in a string, and return the result.
248
249@example
250(mail-encode-encoded-word-string
251 "This is naïve, baby")
252@result{} "This is =?iso-8859-1?q?na=EFve,?= baby"
253@end example
254
255@item mail-decode-encoded-word-region
256@findex mail-decode-encoded-word-region
257Decode the encoded words in the region.
258
259@item mail-decode-encoded-word-string
260@findex mail-decode-encoded-word-string
261Decode the encoded words in the string and return the result.
262
263@example
264(mail-decode-encoded-word-string
265 "This is =?iso-8859-1?q?na=EFve,?= baby")
266@result{} "This is naïve, baby"
267@end example
268
269@end table
270
271Currently, @code{mail-parse} is an abstraction over @code{ietf-drums},
272@code{rfc2047}, @code{rfc2045} and @code{rfc2231}. These are documented
273in the subsequent sections.
274
275
276
277@node Basic Functions
278@chapter Basic Functions
279
280This chapter describes the basic, ground-level functions for parsing and
281handling. Covered here is parsing @code{From} lines, removing comments
282from header lines, decoding encoded words, parsing date headers and so
283on. High-level functionality is dealt with in the next chapter
284(@pxref{Decoding and Viewing}).
285
286@menu
287* rfc2045:: Encoding @code{Content-Type} headers.
288* rfc2231:: Parsing @code{Content-Type} headers.
289* ietf-drums:: Handling mail headers defined by RFC822bis.
290* rfc2047:: En/decoding encoded words in headers.
291* time-date:: Functions for parsing dates and manipulating time.
292* qp:: Quoted-Printable en/decoding.
293* base64:: Base64 en/decoding.
294* binhex:: Binhex decoding.
295* uudecode:: Uuencode decoding.
296* rfc1843:: Decoding HZ-encoded text.
297* mailcap:: How parts are displayed is specified by the @file{.mailcap} file
298@end menu
299
300
301@node rfc2045
302@section rfc2045
303
304RFC2045 is the ``main'' @sc{mime} document, and as such, one would
305imagine that there would be a lot to implement. But there isn't, since
306most of the implementation details are delegated to the subsequent
307RFCs.
308
309So @file{rfc2045.el} has only a single function:
310
311@table @code
312@item rfc2045-encode-string
313@findex rfc2045-encode-string
314Takes a parameter and a value and returns a @samp{PARAM=VALUE} string.
315@var{value} will be quoted if there are non-safe characters in it.
316@end table
317
318
319@node rfc2231
320@section rfc2231
321
322RFC2231 defines a syntax for the @code{Content-Type} and
323@code{Content-Disposition} headers. Its snappy name is @dfn{MIME
324Parameter Value and Encoded Word Extensions: Character Sets, Languages,
325and Continuations}.
326
327In short, these headers look something like this:
328
329@example
330Content-Type: application/x-stuff;
331 title*0*=us-ascii'en'This%20is%20even%20more%20;
332 title*1*=%2A%2A%2Afun%2A%2A%2A%20;
333 title*2="isn't it!"
334@end example
335
336They usually aren't this bad, though.
337
338The following functions are defined by this library:
339
340@table @code
341@item rfc2231-parse-string
342@findex rfc2231-parse-string
343Parse a @code{Content-Type} header and return a list describing its
344elements.
345
346@example
347(rfc2231-parse-string
348 "application/x-stuff;
349 title*0*=us-ascii'en'This%20is%20even%20more%20;
350 title*1*=%2A%2A%2Afun%2A%2A%2A%20;
351 title*2=\"isn't it!\"")
352@result{} ("application/x-stuff"
353 (title . "This is even more ***fun*** isn't it!"))
354@end example
355
356@item rfc2231-get-value
357@findex rfc2231-get-value
358Takes one of the lists on the format above and returns
359the value of the specified attribute.
360
361@item rfc2231-encode-string
362@findex rfc2231-encode-string
363Encode a parameter in headers likes @code{Content-Type} and
364@code{Content-Disposition}.
365
366@end table
367
368
369@node ietf-drums
370@section ietf-drums
371
372@dfn{drums} is an IETF working group that is working on the replacement
373for RFC822.
374
375The functions provided by this library include:
376
377@table @code
378@item ietf-drums-remove-comments
379@findex ietf-drums-remove-comments
380Remove the comments from the argument and return the results.
381
382@item ietf-drums-remove-whitespace
383@findex ietf-drums-remove-whitespace
384Remove linear white space from the string and return the results.
385Spaces inside quoted strings and comments are left untouched.
386
387@item ietf-drums-get-comment
388@findex ietf-drums-get-comment
389Return the last most comment from the string.
390
391@item ietf-drums-parse-address
392@findex ietf-drums-parse-address
393Parse an address string and return a list that contains the mailbox and
394the plain text name.
395
396@item ietf-drums-parse-addresses
397@findex ietf-drums-parse-addresses
398Parse a string that contains any number of comma-separated addresses and
399return a list that contains mailbox/plain text pairs.
400
401@item ietf-drums-parse-date
402@findex ietf-drums-parse-date
403Parse a date string and return an Emacs time structure.
404
405@item ietf-drums-narrow-to-header
406@findex ietf-drums-narrow-to-header
407Narrow the buffer to the header section of the current buffer.
408
409@end table
410
411
412@node rfc2047
413@section rfc2047
414
415RFC2047 (Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text) specifies how
416non-ASCII text in headers are to be encoded. This is actually rather
417complicated, so a number of variables are necessary to tweak what this
418library does.
419
420The following variables are tweakable:
421
422@table @code
423@item rfc2047-default-charset
424@vindex rfc2047-default-charset
425Characters in this charset should not be decoded by this library.
426This defaults to @code{iso-8859-1}.
427
428@item rfc2047-header-encoding-list
429@vindex rfc2047-header-encoding-list
430This is an alist of header / encoding-type pairs. Its main purpose is
431to prevent encoding of certain headers.
432
433The keys can either be header regexps, or @code{t}.
434
435The values can be either @code{nil}, in which case the header(s) in
436question won't be encoded, or @code{mime}, which means that they will be
437encoded.
438
439@item rfc2047-charset-encoding-alist
440@vindex rfc2047-charset-encoding-alist
441RFC2047 specifies two forms of encoding---@code{Q} (a
442Quoted-Printable-like encoding) and @code{B} (base64). This alist
443specifies which charset should use which encoding.
444
445@item rfc2047-encoding-function-alist
446@vindex rfc2047-encoding-function-alist
447This is an alist of encoding / function pairs. The encodings are
448@code{Q}, @code{B} and @code{nil}.
449
450@item rfc2047-q-encoding-alist
451@vindex rfc2047-q-encoding-alist
452The @code{Q} encoding isn't quite the same for all headers. Some
453headers allow a narrower range of characters, and that is what this
454variable is for. It's an alist of header regexps / allowable character
455ranges.
456
457@item rfc2047-encoded-word-regexp
458@vindex rfc2047-encoded-word-regexp
459When decoding words, this library looks for matches to this regexp.
460
461@end table
462
463Those were the variables, and these are this functions:
464
465@table @code
466@item rfc2047-narrow-to-field
467@findex rfc2047-narrow-to-field
468Narrow the buffer to the header on the current line.
469
470@item rfc2047-encode-message-header
471@findex rfc2047-encode-message-header
472Should be called narrowed to the header of a message. Encodes according
473to @code{rfc2047-header-encoding-alist}.
474
475@item rfc2047-encode-region
476@findex rfc2047-encode-region
477Encodes all encodable words in the region specified.
478
479@item rfc2047-encode-string
480@findex rfc2047-encode-string
481Encode a string and return the results.
482
483@item rfc2047-decode-region
484@findex rfc2047-decode-region
485Decode the encoded words in the region.
486
487@item rfc2047-decode-string
488@findex rfc2047-decode-string
489Decode a string and return the results.
490
491@end table
492
493
494@node time-date
495@section time-date
496
497While not really a part of the @sc{mime} library, it is convenient to
498document this library here. It deals with parsing @code{Date} headers
499and manipulating time. (Not by using tesseracts, though, I'm sorry to
500say.)
501
502These functions convert between five formats: A date string, an Emacs
503time structure, a decoded time list, a second number, and a day number.
504
505The functions have quite self-explanatory names, so the following just
506gives an overview of which functions are available.
507
508@example
509(parse-time-string "Sat Sep 12 12:21:54 1998 +0200")
510@result{} (54 21 12 12 9 1998 6 nil 7200)
511
512(date-to-time "Sat Sep 12 12:21:54 1998 +0200")
513@result{} (13818 19266)
514
515(time-to-seconds '(13818 19266))
516@result{} 905595714.0
517
518(seconds-to-time 905595714.0)
519@result{} (13818 19266 0)
520
521(time-to-day '(13818 19266))
522@result{} 729644
523
524(days-to-time 729644)
525@result{} (961933 65536)
526
527(time-since '(13818 19266))
528@result{} (0 430)
529
530(time-less-p '(13818 19266) '(13818 19145))
531@result{} nil
532
533(subtract-time '(13818 19266) '(13818 19145))
534@result{} (0 121)
535
536(days-between "Sat Sep 12 12:21:54 1998 +0200"
537 "Sat Sep 07 12:21:54 1998 +0200")
538@result{} 5
539
540(date-leap-year-p 2000)
541@result{} t
542
543(time-to-day-in-year '(13818 19266))
544@result{} 255
545
546@end example
547
548And finally, we have @code{safe-date-to-time}, which does the same as
549@code{date-to-time}, but returns a zero time if the date is
550syntactically malformed.
551
552
553
554@node qp
555@section qp
556
557This library deals with decoding and encoding Quoted-Printable text.
558
559Very briefly explained, qp encoding means translating all 8-bit
560characters (and lots of control characters) into things that look like
561@samp{=EF}; that is, an equal sign followed by the byte encoded as a hex
562string.
563
564The following functions are defined by the library:
565
566@table @code
567@item quoted-printable-decode-region
568@findex quoted-printable-decode-region
569QP-decode all the encoded text in the specified region.
570
571@item quoted-printable-decode-string
572@findex quoted-printable-decode-string
573Decode the QP-encoded text in a string and return the results.
574
575@item quoted-printable-encode-region
576@findex quoted-printable-encode-region
577QP-encode all the encodable characters in the specified region. The third
578optional parameter @var{fold} specifies whether to fold long lines.
579(Long here means 72.)
580
581@item quoted-printable-encode-string
582@findex quoted-printable-encode-string
583QP-encode all the encodable characters in a string and return the
584results.
585
586@end table
587
588
589@node base64
590@section base64
591@cindex base64
592
593Base64 is an encoding that encodes three bytes into four characters,
594thereby increasing the size by about 33%. The alphabet used for
595encoding is very resistant to mangling during transit.
596
597The following functions are defined by this library:
598
599@table @code
600@item base64-encode-region
601@findex base64-encode-region
602base64 encode the selected region. Return the length of the encoded
603text. Optional third argument @var{no-line-break} means do not break
604long lines into shorter lines.
605
606@item base64-encode-string
607@findex base64-encode-string
608base64 encode a string and return the result.
609
610@item base64-decode-region
611@findex base64-decode-region
612base64 decode the selected region. Return the length of the decoded
613text. If the region can't be decoded, return @code{nil} and don't
614modify the buffer.
615
616@item base64-decode-string
617@findex base64-decode-string
618base64 decode a string and return the result. If the string can't be
619decoded, @code{nil} is returned.
620
621@end table
622
623
624@node binhex
625@section binhex
626@cindex binhex
627@cindex Apple
628@cindex Macintosh
629
630@code{binhex} is an encoding that originated in Macintosh environments.
631The following function is supplied to deal with these:
632
633@table @code
634@item binhex-decode-region
635@findex binhex-decode-region
636Decode the encoded text in the region. If given a third parameter, only
637decode the @code{binhex} header and return the filename.
638
639@end table
640
641
642@node uudecode
643@section uudecode
644@cindex uuencode
645@cindex uudecode
646
647@code{uuencode} is probably still the most popular encoding of binaries
648used on Usenet, although @code{base64} rules the mail world.
649
650The following function is supplied by this package:
651
652@table @code
653@item uudecode-decode-region
654@findex uudecode-decode-region
655Decode the text in the region.
656@end table
657
658
659@node rfc1843
660@section rfc1843
661@cindex rfc1843
662@cindex HZ
663@cindex Chinese
664
665RFC1843 deals with mixing Chinese and ASCII characters in messages. In
666essence, RFC1843 switches between ASCII and Chinese by doing this:
667
668@example
669This sentence is in ASCII.
670The next sentence is in GB.~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}Bye.
671@end example
672
673Simple enough, and widely used in China.
674
675The following functions are available to handle this encoding:
676
677@table @code
678@item rfc1843-decode-region
679Decode HZ-encoded text in the region.
680
681@item rfc1843-decode-string
682Decode a HZ-encoded string and return the result.
683
684@end table
685
686
687@node mailcap
688@section mailcap
689
690The @file{~/.mailcap} file is parsed by most @sc{mime}-aware message
691handlers and describes how elements are supposed to be displayed.
692Here's an example file:
693
694@example
695image/*; gimp -8 %s
696audio/wav; wavplayer %s
697@end example
698
699This says that all image files should be displayed with @code{gimp}, and
700that realaudio files should be played by @code{rvplayer}.
701
702The @code{mailcap} library parses this file, and provides functions for
703matching types.
704
705@table @code
706@item mailcap-mime-data
707@vindex mailcap-mime-data
708This variable is an alist of alists containing backup viewing rules.
709
710@end table
711
712Interface functions:
713
714@table @code
715@item mailcap-parse-mailcaps
716@findex mailcap-parse-mailcaps
717Parse the @code{~/.mailcap} file.
718
719@item mailcap-mime-info
720Takes a @sc{mime} type as its argument and returns the matching viewer.
721
722@end table
723
724
725
726
727@node Decoding and Viewing
728@chapter Decoding and Viewing
729
730This chapter deals with decoding and viewing @sc{mime} messages on a
731higher level.
732
733The main idea is to first analyze a @sc{mime} article, and then allow
734other programs to do things based on the list of @dfn{handles} that are
735returned as a result of this analysis.
736
737@menu
738* Dissection:: Analyzing a @sc{mime} message.
739* Handles:: Handle manipulations.
740* Display:: Displaying handles.
741* Customization:: Variables that affect display.
742* New Viewers:: How to write your own viewers.
743@end menu
744
745
746@node Dissection
747@section Dissection
748
749The @code{mm-dissect-buffer} is the function responsible for dissecting
750a @sc{mime} article. If given a multipart message, it will recursively
751descend the message, following the structure, and return a tree of
752@sc{mime} handles that describes the structure of the message.
753
754
755@node Handles
756@section Handles
757
758A @sc{mime} handle is a list that fully describes a @sc{mime}
759component.
760
761The following macros can be used to access elements in a handle:
762
763@table @code
764@item mm-handle-buffer
765@findex mm-handle-buffer
766Return the buffer that holds the contents of the undecoded @sc{mime}
767part.
768
769@item mm-handle-type
770@findex mm-handle-type
771Return the parsed @code{Content-Type} of the part.
772
773@item mm-handle-encoding
774@findex mm-handle-encoding
775Return the @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} of the part.
776
777@item mm-handle-undisplayer
778@findex mm-handle-undisplayer
779Return the object that can be used to remove the displayed part (if it
780has been displayed).
781
782@item mm-handle-set-undisplayer
783@findex mm-handle-set-undisplayer
784Set the undisplayer object.
785
786@item mm-handle-disposition
787@findex mm-handle-disposition
788Return the parsed @code{Content-Disposition} of the part.
789
790@item mm-handle-disposition
791@findex mm-handle-disposition
792Return the description of the part.
793
794@item mm-get-content-id
795Returns the handle(s) referred to by @code{Content-ID}.
796
797@end table
798
799
800@node Display
801@section Display
802
803Functions for displaying, removing and saving.
804
805@table @code
806@item mm-display-part
807@findex mm-display-part
808Display the part.
809
810@item mm-remove-part
811@findex mm-remove-part
812Remove the part (if it has been displayed).
813
814@item mm-inlinable-p
815@findex mm-inlinable-p
816Say whether a @sc{mime} type can be displayed inline.
817
818@item mm-automatic-display-p
819@findex mm-automatic-display-p
820Say whether a @sc{mime} type should be displayed automatically.
821
822@item mm-destroy-part
823@findex mm-destroy-part
824Free all resources occupied by a part.
825
826@item mm-save-part
827@findex mm-save-part
828Offer to save the part in a file.
829
830@item mm-pipe-part
831@findex mm-pipe-part
832Offer to pipe the part to some process.
833
834@item mm-interactively-view-part
835@findex mm-interactively-view-part
836Prompt for a mailcap method to use to view the part.
837
838@end table
839
840
841@node Customization
842@section Customization
843
844@table @code
845
846@item mm-inline-media-tests
847This is an alist where the key is a @sc{mime} type, the second element
848is a function to display the part @dfn{inline} (i.e., inside Emacs), and
849the third element is a form to be @code{eval}ed to say whether the part
850can be displayed inline.
851
852This variable specifies whether a part @emph{can} be displayed inline,
853and, if so, how to do it. It does not say whether parts are
854@emph{actually} displayed inline.
855
856@item mm-inlined-types
857This, on the other hand, says what types are to be displayed inline, if
858they satisfy the conditions set by the variable above. It's a list of
859@sc{mime} media types.
860
861@item mm-automatic-display
862This is a list of types that are to be displayed ``automatically'', but
863only if the above variable allows it. That is, only inlinable parts can
864be displayed automatically.
865
866@item mm-attachment-override-types
867Some @sc{mime} agents create parts that have a content-disposition of
868@samp{attachment}. This variable allows overriding that disposition and
869displaying the part inline. (Note that the disposition is only
870overridden if we are able to, and want to, display the part inline.)
871
872@item mm-discouraged-alternatives
873List of @sc{mime} types that are discouraged when viewing
874@samp{multipart/alternative}. Viewing agents are supposed to view the
875last possible part of a message, as that is supposed to be the richest.
876However, users may prefer other types instead, and this list says what
877types are most unwanted. If, for instance, @samp{text/html} parts are
878very unwanted, and @samp{text/richtech} parts are somewhat unwanted,
879then the value of this variable should be set to:
880
881@lisp
882("text/html" "text/richtext")
883@end lisp
884
885@item mm-inline-large-images-p
886When displaying inline images that are larger than the window, XEmacs
887does not enable scrolling, which means that you cannot see the whole
888image. To prevent this, the library tries to determine the image size
889before displaying it inline, and if it doesn't fit the window, the
890library will display it externally (e.g. with @samp{ImageMagick} or
891@samp{xv}). Setting this variable to @code{t} disables this check and
892makes the library display all inline images as inline, regardless of
893their size.
894
895@item mm-inline-override-p
896@code{mm-inlined-types} may include regular expressions, for example to
897specify that all @samp{text/.*} parts be displayed inline. If a user
898prefers to have a type that matches such a regular expression be treated
899as an attachment, that can be accomplished by setting this variable to a
900list containing that type. For example assuming @code{mm-inlined-types}
901includes @samp{text/.*}, then including @samp{text/html} in this
902variable will cause @samp{text/html} parts to be treated as attachments.
903
904@end table
905
906
907@node New Viewers
908@section New Viewers
909
910Here's an example viewer for displaying @code{text/enriched} inline:
911
912@lisp
913(defun mm-display-enriched-inline (handle)
914 (let (text)
915 (with-temp-buffer
916 (mm-insert-part handle)
917 (save-window-excursion
918 (enriched-decode (point-min) (point-max))
919 (setq text (buffer-string))))
920 (mm-insert-inline handle text)))
921@end lisp
922
923We see that the function takes a @sc{mime} handle as its parameter. It
924then goes to a temporary buffer, inserts the text of the part, does some
925work on the text, stores the result, goes back to the buffer it was
926called from and inserts the result.
927
928The two important helper functions here are @code{mm-insert-part} and
929@code{mm-insert-inline}. The first function inserts the text of the
930handle in the current buffer. It handles charset and/or content
931transfer decoding. The second function just inserts whatever text you
932tell it to insert, but it also sets things up so that the text can be
933``undisplayed' in a convenient manner.
934
935
936@node Composing
937@chapter Composing
938@cindex Composing
939@cindex MIME Composing
940@cindex MML
941@cindex MIME Meta Language
942
943Creating a @sc{mime} message is boring and non-trivial. Therefore, a
944library called @code{mml} has been defined that parses a language called
945MML (@sc{mime} Meta Language) and generates @sc{mime} messages.
946
947@findex mml-generate-mime
948The main interface function is @code{mml-generate-mime}. It will
949examine the contents of the current (narrowed-to) buffer and return a
950string containing the @sc{mime} message.
951
952@menu
953* Simple MML Example:: An example MML document.
954* MML Definition:: All valid MML elements.
955* Advanced MML Example:: Another example MML document.
956* Charset Translation:: How charsets are mapped from @sc{mule} to MIME.
957* Conversion:: Going from @sc{mime} to MML and vice versa.
958@end menu
959
960
961@node Simple MML Example
962@section Simple MML Example
963
964Here's a simple @samp{multipart/alternative}:
965
966@example
967<#multipart type=alternative>
968This is a plain text part.
969<#part type=text/enriched>
970<center>This is a centered enriched part</center>
971<#/multipart>
972@end example
973
974After running this through @code{mml-generate-mime}, we get this:
975
976@example
977Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=-=-="
978
979
980--=-=-=
981
982
983This is a plain text part.
984
985--=-=-=
986Content-Type: text/enriched
987
988
989<center>This is a centered enriched part</center>
990
991--=-=-=--
992@end example
993
994
995@node MML Definition
996@section MML Definition
997
998The MML language is very simple. It looks a bit like an SGML
999application, but it's not.
1000
1001The main concept of MML is the @dfn{part}. Each part can be of a
1002different type or use a different charset. The way to delineate a part
1003is with a @samp{<#part ...>} tag. Multipart parts can be introduced
1004with the @samp{<#multipart ...>} tag. Parts are ended by the
1005@samp{<#/part>} or @samp{<#/multipart>} tags. Parts started with the
1006@samp{<#part ...>} tags are also closed by the next open tag.
1007
1008There's also the @samp{<#external ...>} tag. These introduce
1009@samp{external/message-body} parts.
1010
1011Each tag can contain zero or more parameters on the form
1012@samp{parameter=value}. The values may be enclosed in quotation marks,
1013but that's not necessary unless the value contains white space. So
1014@samp{filename=/home/user/#hello$^yes} is perfectly valid.
1015
1016The following parameters have meaning in MML; parameters that have no
1017meaning are ignored. The MML parameter names are the same as the
1018@sc{mime} parameter names; the things in the parentheses say which
1019header it will be used in.
1020
1021@table @samp
1022@item type
1023The @sc{mime} type of the part (@code{Content-Type}).
1024
1025@item filename
1026Use the contents of the file in the body of the part
1027(@code{Content-Disposition}).
1028
1029@item charset
1030The contents of the body of the part are to be encoded in the character
1031set speficied (@code{Content-Type}).
1032
1033@item name
1034Might be used to suggest a file name if the part is to be saved
1035to a file (@code{Content-Type}).
1036
1037@item disposition
1038Valid values are @samp{inline} and @samp{attachment}
1039(@code{Content-Disposition}).
1040
1041@item encoding
1042Valid values are @samp{7bit}, @samp{8bit}, @samp{quoted-printable} and
1043@samp{base64} (@code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}).
1044
1045@item description
1046A description of the part (@code{Content-Description}).
1047
1048@item creation-date
1049RFC822 date when the part was created (@code{Content-Disposition}).
1050
1051@item modification-date
1052RFC822 date when the part was modified (@code{Content-Disposition}).
1053
1054@item read-date
1055RFC822 date when the part was read (@code{Content-Disposition}).
1056
1057@item size
1058The size (in octets) of the part (@code{Content-Disposition}).
1059
1060@end table
1061
1062Parameters for @samp{application/octet-stream}:
1063
1064@table @samp
1065@item type
1066Type of the part; informal---meant for human readers
1067(@code{Content-Type}).
1068@end table
1069
1070Parameters for @samp{message/external-body}:
1071
1072@table @samp
1073@item access-type
1074A word indicating the supported access mechanism by which the file may
1075be obtained. Values include @samp{ftp}, @samp{anon-ftp}, @samp{tftp},
1076@samp{localfile}, and @samp{mailserver}. (@code{Content-Type}.)
1077
1078@item expiration
1079The RFC822 date after which the file may no longer be fetched.
1080(@code{Content-Type}.)
1081
1082@item size
1083The size (in octets) of the file. (@code{Content-Type}.)
1084
1085@item permission
1086Valid values are @samp{read} and @samp{read-write}
1087(@code{Content-Type}).
1088
1089@end table
1090
1091
1092@node Advanced MML Example
1093@section Advanced MML Example
1094
1095Here's a complex multipart message. It's a @samp{multipart/mixed} that
1096contains many parts, one of which is a @samp{multipart/alternative}.
1097
1098@example
1099<#multipart type=mixed>
1100<#part type=image/jpeg filename=~/rms.jpg disposition=inline>
1101<#multipart type=alternative>
1102This is a plain text part.
1103<#part type=text/enriched name=enriched.txt>
1104<center>This is a centered enriched part</center>
1105<#/multipart>
1106This is a new plain text part.
1107<#part disposition=attachment>
1108This plain text part is an attachment.
1109<#/multipart>
1110@end example
1111
1112And this is the resulting @sc{mime} message:
1113
1114@example
1115Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="=-=-="
1116
1117
1118--=-=-=
1119
1120
1121
1122--=-=-=
1123Content-Type: image/jpeg;
1124 filename="~/rms.jpg"
1125Content-Disposition: inline;
1126 filename="~/rms.jpg"
1127Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
1128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1146
1147--=-=-=
1148Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="==-=-="
1149
1150
1151--==-=-=
1152
1153
1154This is a plain text part.
1155
1156--==-=-=
1157Content-Type: text/enriched;
1158 name="enriched.txt"
1159
1160
1161<center>This is a centered enriched part</center>
1162
1163--==-=-=--
1164
1165--=-=-=
1166
1167This is a new plain text part.
1168
1169--=-=-=
1170Content-Disposition: attachment
1171
1172
1173This plain text part is an attachment.
1174
1175--=-=-=--
1176@end example
1177
1178@node Charset Translation
1179@section Charset Translation
1180@cindex charsets
1181
1182During translation from MML to @sc{mime}, for each @sc{mime} part which
1183has been composed inside Emacs, an appropriate charset has to be chosen.
1184
1185@vindex mail-parse-charset
1186If you are running a non-@sc{mule} Emacs, this process is simple: If the
1187part contains any non-ASCII (8-bit) characters, the @sc{mime} charset
1188given by @code{mail-parse-charset} (a symbol) is used. (Never set this
1189variable directly, though. If you want to change the default charset,
1190please consult the documentation of the package which you use to process
1191@sc{mime} messages.
1192@xref{Various Message Variables, , Various Message Variables, message,
1193 Message Manual}, for example.)
1194If there are only ASCII characters, the @sc{mime} charset US-ASCII is
1195used, of course.
1196
1197@cindex MULE
1198@cindex UTF-8
1199@cindex Unicode
1200@vindex mm-mime-mule-charset-alist
1201Things are slightly more complicated when running Emacs with @sc{mule}
1202support. In this case, a list of the @sc{mule} charsets used in the
1203part is obtained, and the @sc{mule} charsets are translated to @sc{mime}
1204charsets by consulting the variable @code{mm-mime-mule-charset-alist}.
1205If this results in a single @sc{mime} charset, this is used to encode
1206the part. But if the resulting list of @sc{mime} charsets contains more
1207than one element, two things can happen: If it is possible to encode the
1208part via UTF-8, this charset is used. (For this, Emacs must support
1209the @code{utf-8} coding system, and the part must consist entirely of
1210characters which have Unicode counterparts.) If UTF-8 is not available
1211for some reason, the part is split into several ones, so that each one
1212can be encoded with a single @sc{mime} charset. The part can only be
1213split at line boundaries, though---if more than one @sc{mime} charset is
1214required to encode a single line, it is not possible to encode the part.
1215
1216@node Conversion
1217@section Conversion
1218
1219@findex mime-to-mml
1220A (multipart) @sc{mime} message can be converted to MML with the
1221@code{mime-to-mml} function. It works on the message in the current
1222buffer, and substitutes MML markup for @sc{mime} boundaries.
1223Non-textual parts do not have their contents in the buffer, but instead
1224have the contents in separate buffers that are referred to from the MML
1225tags.
1226
1227@findex mml-to-mime
1228An MML message can be converted back to @sc{mime} by the
1229@code{mml-to-mime} function.
1230
1231These functions are in certain senses ``lossy''---you will not get back
1232an identical message if you run @sc{mime-to-mml} and then
1233@sc{mml-to-mime}. Not only will trivial things like the order of the
1234headers differ, but the contents of the headers may also be different.
1235For instance, the original message may use base64 encoding on text,
1236while @sc{mml-to-mime} may decide to use quoted-printable encoding, and
1237so on.
1238
1239In essence, however, these two functions should be the inverse of each
1240other. The resulting contents of the message should remain equivalent,
1241if not identical.
1242
1243
1244@node Standards
1245@chapter Standards
1246
1247The Emacs @sc{mime} library implements handling of various elements
1248according to a (somewhat) large number of RFCs, drafts and standards
1249documents. This chapter lists the relevant ones. They can all be
1250fetched from @samp{http://quimby.gnus.org/notes/}.
1251
1252@table @dfn
1253@item RFC822
1254@itemx STD11
1255Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages.
1256
1257@item RFC1036
1258Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages
1259
1260@item RFC2045
1261Format of Internet Message Bodies
1262
1263@item RFC2046
1264Media Types
1265
1266@item RFC2047
1267Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text
1268
1269@item RFC2048
1270Registration Procedures
1271
1272@item RFC2049
1273Conformance Criteria and Examples
1274
1275@item RFC2231
1276MIME Parameter Value and Encoded Word Extensions: Character Sets,
1277Languages, and Continuations
1278
1279@item RFC1843
1280HZ - A Data Format for Exchanging Files of Arbitrarily Mixed Chinese and
1281ASCII characters
1282
1283@item draft-ietf-drums-msg-fmt-05.txt
1284Draft for the successor of RFC822
1285
1286@item RFC2112
1287The MIME Multipart/Related Content-type
1288
1289@item RFC1892
1290The Multipart/Report Content Type for the Reporting of Mail System
1291Administrative Messages
1292
1293@item RFC2183
1294Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages: The
1295Content-Disposition Header Field
1296
1297@end table
1298
1299
1300@node Index
1301@chapter Index
1302@printindex cp
1303
1304@summarycontents
1305@contents
1306@bye
1307
1308@c End: