How does the NeXT embed objects in mail messages (file format)?

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2 total messages Started by Tom Wuttke Tue, 24 Nov 1992 00:18

#1900

Author: Tom Wuttke
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 00:18

40 lines
1981 bytes

I do not have a Next, but someone I know mails me messages with 
embedding things like sounds, pictures, and formatted text.  When I 
look at the raw mail files, they look exactly like uuencoded binaries.

>Subject: jpeg FAQ
>Next-Attachment: .tar.148.jpeg_FAQ.attach, 32831, 1/1, 45144, 0
>Status: OR
>
>begin 666 .tar.148.jpeg_FAQ.attach
>M'YV0:=R0*8/'A1PZ9@`H7,BPH<.'$"-*G$BQ(HB+-FC0``'@XD4:,3AZ!"%C
>M8\>1,6;8L'%#QL4:,V#(F`'S!HP9%V/(D'FC(XR*0(,*'4KT89TY=,+(N0C@
>M:!DV;<*X<5.TX1LZ:,K(J<JUJ]>O8,.*[;J'RT$S,+A(G9.FK)DW;NC0$<.&so

So, the first thing I do is uudecode them.  This usually results in a file 
with a name like

>.tar.148.jpeg_FAQ.attach

Then, I proceed to assume that this is a tar archive of all the embedded 
objects, so I run this into tar to look at the list of files using syntax 
like:

tar -tf .tar.148.jpeg_FAQ.attach

This always gives me a table of contents error, or a "hmmm, this 
doesn't look like a tar file to me" error on the Next.

I believe the first part was right, uudecoding the message, but what 
should I do with this binary file that comes out of it, that seems like it 
should be an ordinary tarfile, but isn't?  Is this in some proprietary 
Next format, or are the technical details about this publicly accessible 
somewhere?  I am a programmer, and would not mind writing a simple 
app for other computers to decrypt Next mail messages, but I have to 
know where to start.

If anyone has any insight into this, please let me know, or tell me what 
publications to look at.

Thanks - Tom

Re: How does the NeXT embed objects in mail messages (file format)?

#1908

Author: Stefano Pagiola
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 03:53

41 lines
2288 bytes

Tom Wuttke writes
> 
> I do not have a Next, but someone I know mails me messages with 
> embedding things like sounds, pictures, and formatted text.  When I 
> look at the raw mail files, they look exactly like uuencoded 
> binaries.
> 
> So, the first thing I do is uudecode them.  This usually results
> in a file with a name like .tar.148.jpeg_FAQ.attach
> 
> Then, I proceed to assume that this is a tar archive of all
> the embedded objects, so I run this into tar to look at the
> list of files using syntax like:
> tar -tf .tar.148.jpeg_FAQ.attach
> 
> This always gives me a table of contents error, or a "hmmm, this 
> doesn't look like a tar file to me" error on the Next.
> 
> I believe the first part was right, uudecoding the message,
> but what should I do with this binary file that comes out of
> it, that seems like it should be an ordinary tarfile, but isn't?

I believe its both tarred and compressed.  If you rename the file  
148.jpeg_FAQ.attach.tar.Z and run it through uncompress and tar, it  
should come out fine.
You'll get a bunch of files, so its best to do this inside a  
directory you create for the purpose.  One of these files is called  
index.rtf.  This is the body of the message in Rich Text Format  
(RTF).  The rest of the files and directories are the attachments.   
Hopefully they are files that can be opened on the receiving system.    
If you have an editor that can read RTF files, use it to open  
index.rtf .  It will have the body of the text.  There will be no  
text if just an attachment was sent. 


--
-
Stefano Pagiola
Food Research Institute, Stanford University
spagiola@frinext.stanford.edu (NeXTMail encouraged)
spagiola@FRI-nxt-Pagiola.stanford.edu (NeXTMail encouraged)

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