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These test files are Copyright © 2010 Hunny Software, Inc. ↩
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readme.txt↩
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The files in this directory that match the pattern m*.txt are sample↩
messages in MIME format from common email Mail User Agents (MUAs).↩
↩
I created these samples mainly for the purpose of testing my own MIME↩
implementation, particularly for testing the decoding of encoded text↩
in the headers (RFC 2047) and for the extraction of attachments (not↩
covered by any standard).↩
↩
I used four different MUAs to create the messages. You can determine which↩
MUA was used by looking at the file name. The breakdown is:↩
↩
m0*.txt -- Microsoft Outlook 00↩
m1*.txt -- Netscape Communicator 4.7↩
m2*.txt -- Qualcomm Eudora 4.2↩
m3*.txt -- PINE (Linux)↩
↩
Of course, you can also look at the headers of the message to determine the↩
MUA.↩
↩
If you want to contribute to this collection of samples, please do send↩
your contributions. I will evaluate the contributions for inclusion in↩
this collection. The evaluation criteria will include:↩
↩
* Is the MUA a mainstream MUA (not some obscure, rare MUA)?↩
↩
* Are the messages short?↩
↩
* Are the messages useful for testing?↩
↩
* Are the messages genuine? Messages that have been through a relaying↩
SMTP server might have been modified. This might not disqualify a↩
sample message, as it probably still has value for interoperability↩
testing.↩
↩
When you send messages, please zip them or tar them, so that they won't be↩
changed as they pass through the mail system. If I include your messages,↩
I will put your name on a list of contributors, unless you prefer otherwise.↩
↩
I am also considering creating a separate collection of messages designed↩
to stress test MIME implementations. So, if you have any good examples of↩
bad messages (but not bad examples of good messages :-), feel free to send↩
them.↩
↩
Not all the messages are correct to the MIME standard. However, since↩
these messages are from popular MUAs, they can be useful for↩
interoperability testing. Please, if you are creating messages, read and↩
understand the standards documents, rather than imitate what you see in↩
these messages!↩
↩
I have included the files that were used for creating the attachments,↩
so you can test that you have successfully decoded the attachments.↩
↩
I have also included a simple Java program that I used for creating these↩
samples. This program, SmtpServer.java, is a simple SMTP server that will↩
receive the message directly from you MUA. This is important, because if↩
you just route the message through your normal SMTP server, the server↩
might make changes to the message. For example, it seems to be common for↩
some servers to convert quoted-printable encoded text to 8-bit text.[1]↩
This SMTP server program records the entire SMTP client/server dialog,↩
which is great if you are trying to debug your mail system, but it also↩
means that you will have to edit the output of the program to get just↩
the email message.↩
↩
The URL for this collection of messages is↩
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[1] I don't like the fact that this happens, but that's life. I guess the↩
MTA thinks that since it can handle 8-bit text, that quoted-printable↩
encoding is not necessary. However, quoted-printable also makes long lines↩
into short lines, which is something other than converting to 8-bit↩
characters. In general, I think end-to-end transparency is a good thing;↩
anything that interferes with transparency should be avoided.↩