Bug 1492

Summary: Kmail doesn't handle MIME-standard corrrectly
Product: [Unmaintained] kmail Reporter: Unknown <null>
Component: generalAssignee: kdepim bugs <kdepim-bugs>
Status: CLOSED FIXED    
Severity: normal    
Priority: NOR    
Version: unspecified   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: unspecified   
OS: Other   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Birger Langkjer 1999-06-29 20:20:06 UTC
(*** This bug was imported into bugs.kde.org ***)

Package: kmail
Version: 1.0.21

Hello.

My attention was alerted to this fact when I got a mail back from someone
whose email-client (exmh) couldn't read it:

<quote>
My mail handler was unable to handle the last few of your mails. It
seems that I have now identified the cause. The line

  Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

is not allowed in a Content-Type: Multipart/Mixed; message
and leads under MH to the error message

  mhshow: "multipart/mixed" type in message 9999 must be encoded in 7bit
  8bit or binary

I managed to fix it via emacs in the messages that you did already send
to me but it would be nice if you could use an email software that
follows the MIME standard correctly.

Quoted-printable is in general not necessary any more these days
because practically all email systems are 8-bit transparent now. May be
deactivating quoted-printable in your configuration will help?
</quote>

Problem: If you choose 'quoted printable' as your encoding method kmail
doesn't prevent you from using base64 to encode your attachments and this
apparently causes some recipient's clients to choke.

--
Med venlig hilsen/Best regards
Birger Langkjer
http://members.xoom.com/langkjer
Comment 1 Michael Haeckel 2000-08-08 08:37:47 UTC
Hi

I know a long time has passed since you submitted this bug. I try to fix 
that now if it is still there otherwise I mark the bug as done.

I can't find the problem you described even in old versions of KMail. Also 
the mail you sent to bugs.kde.org does not show the error described below.

On Tue 29 Jun 1999 Birger Langkjer wrote:
> Hello.
> 
> My attention was alerted to this fact when I got a mail back from someone
> whose email-client (exmh) couldn't read it:
> 
> <quote>
> My mail handler was unable to handle the last few of your mails. It
> seems that I have now identified the cause. The line
> 
>   Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> 
> is not allowed in a Content-Type: Multipart/Mixed; message
> and leads under MH to the error message

Sorry I can't get KMail to encode the Multipart/Mixed part quoted-printable. 
In the message you sent it is encoded correct with 7 bit.

The only way I could explain that is that the message was autoconverted from 
8 Bit to quoted-printable by a mail server. That happens when your encoded 
message contains somewhere 8 bit characters and the recipient's mail server 
supports only 7 bit. Could that have been the case?

>   mhshow: "multipart/mixed" type in message 9999 must be encoded in 7bit
>   8bit or binary
> 
> I managed to fix it via emacs in the messages that you did already send
> to me but it would be nice if you could use an email software that
> follows the MIME standard correctly.
> 
> Quoted-printable is in general not necessary any more these days
> because practically all email systems are 8-bit transparent now. May be
> deactivating quoted-printable in your configuration will help?
> </quote>
> 
> Problem: If you choose 'quoted printable' as your encoding method kmail
> doesn't prevent you from using base64 to encode your attachments and this
> apparently causes some recipient's clients to choke.

There is nothing wrong with that. When you choose quoted-printable as 
encoding method that is only used for the text/plain part of the mail not 
for the whole message. The text part is encoded quoted printable and the 
attachment base64. Both together are in a Multipart/Mixed that is encoded 7 
Bit.

Could you perhaps send me such a wrong encoded mail?

If I don't get a response within two weeks I close the bug.

Regards
Michael Häckel