Diesel Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 When you attach a file to an email, what actually happens? Is the file kept in a temp directory on the server? How come attachment limits are so low? Quote
HJB417 Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 The file is embedded in the mail message. So if you have a 5mb attachment, depending on the encoding, you'll have at least a 5mb email message. Attachment limits are probably used to conserve HD space. Quote
Diesel Posted May 17, 2005 Author Posted May 17, 2005 And where is the mail message kept? Details Quote
HJB417 Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 depends on server implementation =/ from the 2 I've seen, each folder represents a user account, and the filename of each email is a timestamp, e.x.: 20050517134556.eml Quote
Diesel Posted May 17, 2005 Author Posted May 17, 2005 Yeh, similar to what I've seen. How is the attachment imbedded into the message? Any encryption or compression? Quote
patrick24601 Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 I thought it was done the same way you see attachments on things in UseNet. It is a Mime block of data with a header and footer. The header specifies the mime type and file name. This is all theory - but it would make sense. Quote
Administrators PlausiblyDamp Posted May 17, 2005 Administrators Posted May 17, 2005 Attachments are encoded either as UUENCODE (old method, not as common these days), or as MIME. Both encodings take an 8-bit binary stream and convert it into a valid 7-bit stream as per the relevant RFC (IIRC RFC 822) Quote Posting Guidelines FAQ Post Formatting Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them. -- Albert Einstein
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