1 <?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1/docbook.dtd">
5 <refentry id="mimedecode.py">
8 <refentrytitle>mimedecode.py</refentrytitle>
9 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
13 <refname>mimedecode.py</refname>
14 <refpurpose>decode MIME message</refpurpose>
19 <command>mimedecode.py</command>
21 <option>-h|--help</option>
24 <option>-V|--version</option>
27 <option>-cCDP</option>
30 <option>-f charset</option>
33 <option>-d header</option>
36 <option>-p header:param</option>
39 <option>-beit mask</option>
41 <arg choice="opt">filename</arg>
47 <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
49 Mail users, especially in non-English countries, often find that mail
50 messages arrived in different formats, with different content types, in
51 different encodings and charsets. Usually it is good because it allows to use
52 an appropriate format/encoding/whatever. Sometimes, though, some unification is
53 desirable. For example, one may want to put mail messages into an archive,
54 make HTML indices, run search indexer, etc. In such situations converting
55 messages to text in one character set and skipping some binary attachments is
60 Here is the solution - mimedecode.py!
64 It is a program to decode MIME messages. The program expects one input file
65 (either on the command line or on stdin) which is treated as an RFC822 message,
66 and decoded to stdout. If the file is not an RFC822 message it is just piped to
67 stdout as is. If the file is a simple RFC822 message it is just decoded as one
68 part. If it is a MIME message with multiple parts ("attachments") all parts are
69 decoded recursively. Decoding can be controlled by the command-line options.
73 First, Subject and Content-Disposition headers are examined. If any of those
74 exists, it is decoded according to RFC2047. Content-Disposition header is not
75 decoded - only its "filename" parameter. Encoded header parameters violate
76 the RFC, but widely deployed anyway, especially in the M$ Ophice GUI (often
77 referred as "Windoze") world, where programmers are often ignorant lamers who
78 never even heard about RFCs. Correct parameter encoding specified by RFC2231.
79 This program decodes RFC2231-encoded parameters, too.
83 Then the body of the message (or the current part) is decoded. Decoding
84 starts with looking at header Content-Transfer-Encoding. If the header
85 specifies non-8bit encoding (usually base64 or quoted-printable), the body
86 converted to 8bit. Then, if its content type is multipart (multipart/related or
87 multipart/mixed, e.g) every part is recursively decoded. If it is not
88 multipart, mailcap database is consulted to find a way to convert the body to
89 plain text. (I have no idea how mailcap could be configured on said M$ Ophice
90 GUI, please don't ask me; real OS users can consult my example at
91 http://phd.pp.ru/Software/dotfiles/mailcap.html). The decoding process uses
92 first copiousoutput filter it can find. If there is no any filter the body just
97 Then Content-Type header consulted for charset. If it is not equal to
98 current default charset the body text recoded. Finally message headers and body
105 <title>OPTIONS</title>
112 Print brief usage help and exit.
119 <term>--version</term>
122 Print version and exit.
131 Recode different character sets in message body to current default
132 charset; this is the default.
141 Do not recode character sets in message body.
147 <term>-f charset</term>
150 Force this charset to be the current default charset instead of
151 sys.getdefaultencoding().
157 <term>-d header</term>
160 Add the header to a list of headers to decode; initially the list
161 contains headers "From" and "Subject".
170 Clear the list of headers to decode (make it empty).
176 <term>-p header:param</term>
179 Add the (header, param) pair to a list of headers' parameters to
180 decode; initially the list contains header "Content-Disposition",
181 parameter "filename".
190 Clear the list of headers' parameters to decode (make it empty).
199 Append mask to the list of binary content types; if the message to
200 decode has a part of this type the program will pass the part as is,
201 without any additional processing.
210 Append mask to the list of error content types; if the message to
211 decode has a part of this type the program will raise ValueError.
220 Append mask to the list of content types to ignore; if the message to
221 decode has a part of this type the program will not pass it, instead
222 a line "Message body of type `%s' skipped." will be issued.
231 Append mask to the list of content types to convert to text; if the
232 message to decode has a part of this type the program will consult
233 mailcap database, find first copiousoutput filter and convert the
241 The last 4 options (-beit) require more explanation. They allow a user
242 to control body decoding with great flexibility. Think about said mail
243 archive; for example, its maintainer wants to put there only texts, convert
244 Postscript/PDF to text, pass HTML and images as is, and ignore everything
249 <code language="shell">
250 mimedecode.py -t application/postscript -t application/pdf -b text/html
251 -b 'image/*' -i '*/*'
256 When the program decodes a message (or its part), it consults
257 Content-Type header. The content type is searched in all 4 lists, in order
258 "text-binary-ignore-error". If found, appropriate action performed. If not
259 found, the program search the same lists for "type/*" mask (the type of
260 "text/html" is just "text"). If found, appropriate action performed. If not
261 found, the program search the same lists for "*/*" mask. If found,
262 appropriate action performed. If not found, the program uses default
263 action, which is to decode everything to text (if mailcap specifies
268 Initially all 4 lists are empty, so without any additional parameters
269 the program always uses the default decoding.
275 <title>ENVIRONMENT</title>
280 Define current locale settings. Used to determine current default
281 charset (if your Python is properly installed and configured).
289 The program may produce incorrect MIME message. The purpose of the program
290 is to decode whatever it is possible to decode, not to produce absolutely
291 correct MIME output. The incorrect parts are obvious - decoded Subject headers
292 and filenames. Other than that output is correct MIME message. The program does
293 not try to guess whether the headers are correct. For example, if a message
294 header states that charset is iso8859-5, but the body is actually in koi8-r -
295 the program will recode the message to the wrong charset.
301 <title>AUTHOR</title>
303 Oleg Broytman <phd@phd.pp.ru>
309 <title>COPYRIGHT</title>
311 Copyright (C) 2001-2009 PhiloSoft Design
317 <title>LICENSE</title>
325 <title>NO WARRANTIES</title>
327 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
328 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
329 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for
336 <title>SEE ALSO</title>
338 mimedecode.py home page: http://phd.pp.ru/Software/Python/#mimedecode