diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | mboxu.5 | 60 |
1 files changed, 32 insertions, 28 deletions
@@ -4,51 +4,55 @@ . .Sh NAME .Nm mboxu -.Nd mbox in UTF-8 +.Nd readable mbox format . . .Sh DESCIPTION .Pp .Nm -is a simple and readable mbox-like format, in which messages are encoded directly in UTF-8. +is a simple and readable mbox-like format, in which messages are encoded in UTF-8. -Messages are differentiated from one another via a line beginning with -.Ql From\ , -.Em followed by at least one header line . - -Otherwise, +In addition, +.Nm +forbids the inclusion of multipart messages inside the mbox database. +Only the +.Em canonical +part, formatted in plain-text UTF-8, is included inside the mbox file. +Other parts, such as images, should be stored in separate local files and referenced via an +.Ql Attachment +header: +. +.Bd -literal -offset indent +Attachment: att/review.pdf +.Ed +. +.Pp +Paths in the +.Ql Attachment +header are relative to the location of the mbox database, unless they begin with a forward slash. +.Pp .Nm -is identical to traditional mbox. +is readable by most modern mail readers. +Attachments are not directly visible, but can be accessed manually through the +.Ql Attachment +headers. . .Sh RATIONALE .Pp +RFC 4155 requires messages stored in mbox databases to follow the standard syntax and format of e-mail messages defined in RFC 2822 (but without the carriage return). +It also requires messages to be seven-bit text, such as ASCII or presumably UTF-7. +.Pp +This makes it difficult to use mbox for anything other than storing received mail on an internet mail server. +.Pp .Nm -has two goals: +simplifies the mbox format in order to expand its usage to the storage of other data than real internet mail. +It has two goals: .Bl -enum .It to be easily writable and readable by humans, and .It to be easily generated and parsed by machines. .El -.Pp -Normally, non-ASCII e-mail messages must be encoded in base64 or quoted-printable, rendering them more or less unreadable in raw form. -Mailboxes using -.Nm , -on the other hand, do not require any decoding to be read by a human. - -Likewise, -.Nm -is much easier to generate and manually write than standard mbox. -. -.Sh FUTURE -.Pp -In the future, a readable alternative to multipart messages may be added, where non-canonical parts are stored in separate files and referenced via some -.Ql Attachment: -header. -.Pp -If that is added, a translator between -.Nm -and standard mbox might be desirable. . .Sh AUTHORS .Pp |