Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Ed Hartnett]

Howdy all!

How do I get gnus to handle mime attachments?

For example, I get email like the following. What do I do with it?

If gnus can't handle mime, I've got to switch to a new mail client...


------=_NextPart_RTV6YGPT0A6RG9PMMD0TK2F2
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_VVQY6VL4U8EJT0IS0DPWS595"


------=_NextPart_VVQY6VL4U8EJT0IS0DPWS595
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="gb2312"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

RGVhcnMsDQpJIHdhbm5hIGluc3RhbGwgdGhlIG5ldGNkZiBvbiBteSBDeWd3aW4gc3lzdGVtICgg
bXkgT1MgaXMgd2luZG93czIwMDApLCBidXQgY2Fubm90IG1ha2UgaXQuIEkgaGF2ZSB0aWVkIHRo
ZSB0cm91Ymxlc2hvb3Rpbmcgc3VjaCBjb3B5IGJpbmFyeSBjb2RlIG9mIGxpbnV4XzIuNC1pNjg2

etc...


-- 
Ed Hartnett  -- ed@unidata.ucar.edu

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[David Kastrup]

Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:

> How do I get gnus to handle mime attachments?

The question would rather be how you managed to get it to not handle
them.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Karl Kleinpaste]

Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:
> How do I get gnus to handle mime attachments?
> For example, I get email like the following. What do I do with it?

For starters, you'll have to put some context around the concept
"can't handle."  This is akin to one of my computer-illiterate friends
saying, "My computer isn't working," to which my first sarcastic
response is, "Plug it in and turn it on."  That is, if you won't tell
us which of the 31,264,388 things that might possibly go wrong with a
computer is currently troubling you, we can't possibly help you, so
we'll start you at the bottom level and work up.

When Gnus gained native MIME comprehension some years ago, Lars was so
careful about it that he, and the Gnus development mailing list folks,
managed to find a half dozen or more bugs in other mail clients
because those clients didn't follow the spec properly.

Gnus does MIME.  In fact, Gnus does MIME just about as well as any
other mail/news program out there.  Tell us _specifically_ what Gnus
is doing wrong, and we'll see if it's a bona fide bug, or a
configuration problem on your part, or confusion over what's
happening, or something else entirely.

Bugs are found all the time.  Maybe you've tripped over a new one.
That said, Gnus' MIME handling is pretty much second to none.

--karl

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Ed Hartnett]

Karl Kleinpaste <karl@charcoal.com> writes:

> Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:
>> How do I get gnus to handle mime attachments?
>> For example, I get email like the following. What do I do with it?
>
> For starters, you'll have to put some context around the concept
> "can't handle."  This is akin to one of my computer-illiterate friends
> saying, "My computer isn't working," to which my first sarcastic
> response is, "Plug it in and turn it on."  That is, if you won't tell
> us which of the 31,264,388 things that might possibly go wrong with a
> computer is currently troubling you, we can't possibly help you, so
> we'll start you at the bottom level and work up.
>
> When Gnus gained native MIME comprehension some years ago, Lars was so
> careful about it that he, and the Gnus development mailing list folks,
> managed to find a half dozen or more bugs in other mail clients
> because those clients didn't follow the spec properly.
>
> Gnus does MIME.  In fact, Gnus does MIME just about as well as any
> other mail/news program out there.  Tell us _specifically_ what Gnus
> is doing wrong, and we'll see if it's a bona fide bug, or a
> configuration problem on your part, or confusion over what's
> happening, or something else entirely.
>
> Bugs are found all the time.  Maybe you've tripped over a new one.
> That said, Gnus' MIME handling is pretty much second to none.
>
> --karl


I get a mime message. It looks like this:

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_RTV6YGPT0A6RG9PMMD0TK2F2
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_VVQY6VL4U8EJT0IS0DPWS595"


------=_NextPart_VVQY6VL4U8EJT0IS0DPWS595
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="gb2312"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
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etc...


What do I do to get gnus to do something with this?

Thanks,

Ed

-- 
Ed Hartnett  -- ed@unidata.ucar.edu

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Karl Kleinpaste]

If there are proper header indications, namely MIME-Version and
Content-Type, Gnus will handle it fine.  Lacking those, Gnus correctly
assumes text/plain.

Are there such proper headers?  If so, then there is a deeper problem.

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Ed Hartnett]

Karl Kleinpaste <karl@charcoal.com> writes:

> If there are proper header indications, namely MIME-Version and
> Content-Type, Gnus will handle it fine.  Lacking those, Gnus correctly
> assumes text/plain.
>
> Are there such proper headers?  If so, then there is a deeper
> problem.

Here's the headers. Seems like there is a Mime-Version and a
Content-Type.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ed

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To: ed@unidata.ucar.edu
Subject: 20050608: netCDF under cygwin
Reply-to: xxxxx@mail.iap.ac.cn
Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 06:58:07 -0600
From: Unidata Support <support@unidata.ucar.edu>
Xref: rodney.unidata.ucar.edu support:178
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----- Forwarded Message"
Lines: 3833

>To: support@unidata.ucar.edu
>From: =?gb2312?B?zfXUvQ==?= <xxxxx@mail.iap.ac.cn>
>Subject: =?gb2312?B?UmVwb3J0IG5ldGNkZiBJbnN0YWxsIHByb2JsZW0=?=
>Organization: ?
>Keywords: 200506081058.j58AwQZu008755 netCDF cygwin

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_RTV6YGPT0A6RG9PMMD0TK2F2
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_VVQY6VL4U8EJT0IS0DPWS595"


------=_NextPart_VVQY6VL4U8EJT0IS0DPWS595
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="gb2312"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

RGVhcnMsDQpJIHdhbm5hIGluc3RhbGwgdGhlIG5ldGNkZiBvbiBteSBDeWd3aW4gc3lzdGVtICgg
bXkgT1MgaXMgd2luZG93czIwMDApLCBidXQgY2Fubm90IG1ha2UgaXQuIEkgaGF2ZSB0aWVkIHRo
ZSB0cm91Ymxlc2hvb3Rpbmcgc3VjaCBjb3B5IGJpbmFyeSBjb2RlIG9mIGxpbnV4XzIuNC1pNjg2
IHRvIC91c3IvbG9jYXIsIGJ1dCBpdCBzdGlsbCBjYW5ub3Qgd29yay4gRm9sbG93aW5nIGlzIHRo
ZSBpbmZvbWF0aW9uIGFib3V0IHRoZSBpbnN0YWxsYXRpb24sIHBscyBraW5kbHkgaGVscCBtZS5U


-- 
Ed Hartnett  -- ed@unidata.ucar.edu

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Karl Kleinpaste]

Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:
> Here's the headers. Seems like there is a Mime-Version and a
> Content-Type.
> Any help would be appreciated.

The boundary is mismatched; no wonder Gnus can't parse it.

> Mime-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----- Forwarded Message"

> ------=_NextPart_RTV6YGPT0A6RG9PMMD0TK2F2

No "Forwarded Message" appears.

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Ed Hartnett]

Karl Kleinpaste <karl@charcoal.com> writes:

> Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:
>> Here's the headers. Seems like there is a Mime-Version and a
>> Content-Type.
>> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> The boundary is mismatched; no wonder Gnus can't parse it.
>
>> Mime-Version: 1.0
>> Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----- Forwarded Message"
>
>> ------=_NextPart_RTV6YGPT0A6RG9PMMD0TK2F2
>
> No "Forwarded Message" appears.


Could you please elaborate?

What is the boundary supposed to look like?

Thanks,

Ed

-- 
Ed Hartnett  -- ed@unidata.ucar.edu

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Karl Kleinpaste]

Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:
> Could you please elaborate?
> What is the boundary supposed to look like?

In the header, Content-Type provides the boundary between message
parts.  That string must appear exactly in the next part.  Your sample
message claims a Content-Type boundary string which is unrelated to
the boundary strings actually in the body.

This is a prime example of Gnus' overachieving in MIME; Gnus actually
obeys the spec.  If a message has been generated by a buggy origin
agent, tough: Gnus will deal with it on its merits.  Gnus will not
guess at what might appear, to fuzzy human thinking, to be a proper
MIME indicator.  (For example, older Netscape mail would intuit
MIMEness in the absence of MIME-Version -- grotesquely wrong behavior.)

At a guess, the sender's mailer botched the recursive MIMEness of a
forwarded message which in turn had its own MIME content.  "Oops."
Many mailers have a broken concept of "forwarding" in which they
neglect to include _all_ the headers necessary to preserve the
message's MIME content descriptors and indicate their own content.

Tell the sender to get a real mailer.  One that doesn't generate garbage.

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Ed Hartnett]

Karl Kleinpaste <karl@charcoal.com> writes:

> Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:
>> Could you please elaborate?
>> What is the boundary supposed to look like?
>
> In the header, Content-Type provides the boundary between message
> parts.  That string must appear exactly in the next part.  Your sample
> message claims a Content-Type boundary string which is unrelated to
> the boundary strings actually in the body.
>
> This is a prime example of Gnus' overachieving in MIME; Gnus actually
> obeys the spec.  If a message has been generated by a buggy origin
> agent, tough: Gnus will deal with it on its merits.  Gnus will not
> guess at what might appear, to fuzzy human thinking, to be a proper
> MIME indicator.  (For example, older Netscape mail would intuit
> MIMEness in the absence of MIME-Version -- grotesquely wrong behavior.)
>
> At a guess, the sender's mailer botched the recursive MIMEness of a
> forwarded message which in turn had its own MIME content.  "Oops."
> Many mailers have a broken concept of "forwarding" in which they
> neglect to include _all_ the headers necessary to preserve the
> message's MIME content descriptors and indicate their own content.
>
> Tell the sender to get a real mailer.  One that doesn't generate
> garbage.


Is there a way for me to edit the message to put the correct separator
in a get GNUS to understanding?

Reforming the mailers of all people who send me support emails is a
*little* bit beyond my job description.

Thanks,

Ed

-- 
Ed Hartnett  -- ed@unidata.ucar.edu

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Karl Kleinpaste]

Ed Hartnett <ed@unidata.ucar.edu> writes:
> Is there a way for me to edit the message to put the correct separator
> in a get GNUS to understanding?

`e' in Summary will let you edit a mail message.  It'll give you an
editable version of the message.  `C-c C-c' when you're done.  Put the
right stuff back into the message, which means [a] correct boundaries
and [b] if necessary, MIME-Version and Content-Type in the forwarded
message itself.  Make sure the boundary specified in Content-Type is
the actual boundary used in the body.  (There's some funkiness
regarding an extra leading `-', I think; I'm forgetting the details
now.  Try one thing, if it doesn't work, tweak it a little bit more.)
Make the boundaries used in the encapsulated mail different from the
encapsulating forwarder, or the MIME parser will be confused.

Unfortunately, there are no tools to help you to make sure this is
done right; the originating mailer should have done it right for you
in the first place.  So just be careful as you mess with it.

Sanity: Copy the message and work on the copy, just in case you really
need to get back to the original version sent to you.  Use `B c' in
Summary to copy it to, say, some other mail group to work on.

> Reforming the mailers of all people who send me support emails is a
> *little* bit beyond my job description.

Me, too, but I proselytize anyway.  And it's why I provide help here
from time to time.

Re: Any chance of getting gnus to handle mime attachments?

[Stefan Monnier]

> X-From-Line: imap Wed Jun  8 07:39:46 2005
> Return-Path: <support@unidata.ucar.edu>
> Received: from laraine.unidata.ucar.edu (laraine.unidata.ucar.edu [128.117.140.62])
> 	by unidata.ucar.edu (UCAR/Unidata) with SMTP id j58Cw7Zu021468
> 	for <ed>; Wed, 8 Jun 2005 06:58:07 -0600 (MDT)
> X-Gnus-Mail-Source: imap:mail:INBOX
> Message-Id: <200506081258.j58Cw7Zu021468@unidata.ucar.edu>
> Organization: UCAR/Unidata
> Keywords: 200506081258.j58Cw7Zu021468
> To: ed@unidata.ucar.edu
> Subject: 20050608: netCDF under cygwin
> Reply-to: xxxxx@mail.iap.ac.cn
> Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 06:58:07 -0600
> From: Unidata Support <support@unidata.ucar.edu>
> Xref: rodney.unidata.ucar.edu support:178
> Mime-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----- Forwarded Message"
> Lines: 3833

It's not clear from the above header what software was used to generate this
email message.  Why don't you ask the sender what software he used and tell
him his software has a bug that makes his forwarded email appear
like garbage.

The kind of brokenness above is not that common, so it's unlikely that you
need to tell *all* the people who send you support email to reform
their mailer.  Or maybe you can just tell them to avoid "forward" and use
some other means.

This said, I do find Gnus's MIME support could be improved w.r.t handling
bad MIME.  E.g. being able to display just the header (and/or the raw
undecoded data) of a particular part of a multipart message; or being able
to tell Gnus to "try and guess"; ...


        Stefan