From: mathog@seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2000 11:04 AM
To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com
Subject: Re: VMS Mail - Sending binaries

In article <OF4A725075.B6120970-ON8325696E.006E0F3D@ep-bc.petrobras.com.br>, fabio_compaq@ep-bc.petrobras.com.br writes:
>Is there a way to send by VMS Mail  a .PDF file attached   (I have SMTP
>configured and
>it works fine) and extract it in Win platform ???? I am testing it and the
>binary comes in the
>body of the message . ..

This may be in the FAQ.  And the real answer is that the Q really needs to 
add a few whistles and bells to MAIL, as it's getting pretty old (but is 
fundamentally sound.)  

There are basically two methods.

1.  find the VMS version of pine and install that.

2.  pick up a version of MPACK and install it.  Then pick
    up 

    http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/pub/SOFTWARE/MMAIL.COM

    MMAIL.COM takes these parameters:

      P1   File(s) to be mailed - they WILL be deleted!!!!  (Comma delimited)
      P2   Address(es) to mail to.
      P3   If defined, use second mode (via port 25) instead of MULTINET mode.

   So that

    $ @mmail "login.com,foo.splat,whatever.txt" "nobody@nowhere.com" yes

   would send those 3 files as attachments to the address shown through the
   port 25 method.

   Read the notes inside the procedure for more information.


Another posted suggested you pack things up and then use MAIL, but that
will NOT work, as MAIL always puts a space after the headers it supplies.
However, there is a very clever work around for that which Howard Foote 
and (or?)  Rick Williams  came up with.  The trick is to put all the
headers into the subject line so that the inevitable space won't break the
MIME headers.  First you use MPACK to make binary attachments, then do 
something like:

   $ cr[0,8] = 13
   $ lf[0,8] = 10
   $ subject = "This is a test." + cr + lf -
   _$ + "Mime-Version: 1.0" + cr + lf -
   _$ + "Content-Type: text/enriched"
   $ write sys$output subject
   This is a test.
   Mime-Version: 1.0
   Content-Type: text/enriched
   $ mail/subject="''subject'" tt: "SMTP%""anybody@xyzcompany.com"""
   Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, or CTRL/C to
   quit:
   <bold>Sometimes</bold>
   <x-color><param>red</param>I</x-color>
   even amaze <italic>myself</italic>!
   ctrl-Z <-- i.e., here I typed a ctrl-z
   $

VMS 7.2 also comes with MIME but that program isn't worth bothering with at
this time since it won't let you actually send a MIME message (except to
another VMS system).  To use it I had to do 

  $ mime:==$sys$system:mime
   
Still, if you like this program you could use it instead of MPACK, and mung 
up MMAIL.COM to process the output from MIME.

One other thing to be aware of.  If you have a forward set on a VMS account
to an SMTP mail address MIME mail will be transferred correctly to its
final destination and will be extractable with normal MIME tools.  However,
if you receive a message, read it, find it interesting, and then use the 
MAIL "forward" command to send it the resulting message will be broken
when received.

Regards,

David Mathog
mathog@seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu
Manager, sequence analysis facility, biology division, Caltech