MIME encoders allow you to send documents written within a specific application through email without causing readability or formatting problems. For example, you can send a letter created in MSWord with and be certain that it arrives at its destination in the same format by encoding it with MIME first. The recipient then decodes it back into the original MSWord format.

Mpack works well inconjunction with email clients like pine. Some email clients, most notably Eudora, encode and decode your email automatically, so you should not use Mpack with this client.

Preferences

Internet Host: the name of the computer you're at. For example, desire.harvard.edu.

E-mail address: your personal e-mail address: jschmoe@wjh.harvard.edu

Mail Host: smtp.wjh.harvard.edu

Encoding: hit the radio button which says Appledouble

Be sure to hit the Set button to set these preferences correctly!

Encoding Files:

Subject: This is the subject for the email message.

Save Email to File / Email To:
Use these radio buttons to select whether you want to save the results or send the file via standard Internet email.

Email To:
This is the Internet email address to which the encoded message will be sent.

Split into parts...
This gives you the option of breaking the file into several smaller email messages. You may want to do this if the file is quite large.

Description:
You may type a longer description of the file here. It would be helpful to type in what type the file is (i.e., a JPEG or GIF graphic, a Microsoft Word text document, a System-7 sound file, etc.) because the transmitted files sometimes lose their custom icons that tell the user what program they are from.

Encode:
This will begin encoding the file. If you have selected Email To: and typed an Internet Email address, this will also open MacTCP and send the email. Otherwise you will be prompted for the filename for the resulting email message(s).

Receiving and Decoding MIME-encoded messages:

[Part 1, Application/APPLEFILE 104KB]
[Can not display this part. Use the "V" command to save in a file]

As it says, you will type V to save into a file. It will prompt:
Enter attachment number to view or save (1 - 1) :

Type 1 and it will ask:
Save or View attachment 1 ? (s/v) [s]

Type s for save, because you will not be able to view the file. Now the file is saved into your account. The easiest way to retrieve it is by using the program Fetch.

To get the file, launch the program Fetch and open wjh with your login name and password. Select the option binary and highlight the attachment file. Hit Get File and you will see a dialogue box asking "Save file as...?" Rename the file if you wish, and hit Return.

The file you retrieve will probably have a generic icon, like this:
and when you double-click on it, will give the message "Filename" could not be opened, because the application which created it can not be found.

If so, launch the program that the file should have come from : (for example, a file named Picture.jpeg is probably a JPEG file, and should be read by JPEGView; just as document.txt is probably a text file read by Microsoft Word or SimpleText)

and from that program, select Open... from the File menu, highlight the name of the file you have just downloaded, and hit Return. That should open your file.