extcompose(1)

extcompose -- compose reference to external data for inclusion in a mail message

Synopsis

extcompose filename

Description

extcompose allows a user on a properly-equipped workstation to enter the appropriate data that will enable a mail message to be sent with a reference to external data, that is, data that is not included in the mail message itself but is otherwise available on the network via a suitable mechanism.

The filename specifies the external file. The user is prompted for all other necessary information. External data may be referenced as local or AFS files, as files available for FTP (anonymous or authenticated), or as data available via a mail server mechanism. The user is asked to provide a MIME content-type value to describe the type of data being referenced, and to specify whether or not the data has been encoded with one of the algorithms for encoding data for email. (Such encoding is not recommended when used with externally referenced data.)

This program is intended primarily to be called from mailcap files by programs like mailto.

References

mailcap(4), mailto(1), metamail(1), showexternal(1M)

Notices

Author is Nathaniel S. Borenstein, Bell Communications Research, Inc. See copyright page for further information.