ietf-822
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Re: Multipart/Alternate and TEXT/HTML in e-mail

1995-11-03 08:43:50
Larry,

Your first example certainly simplifies and eliminates the problems
in my proposed wrapping.  That was based on my (mis?)understanding
of the problem formulation Jacob provided.  My external-body
references were there to allow both /related alternatives to have the
image w/o having the data twice.

I, on the other hand, don't understand why one would alter the 
the internal URLs.  Having a translation list just moves the location
of the name without resolving the issue of where to put it.
Why not put the same information in a
content-disposition header.  Here's how I would handle your second
example.

1 Content-type: Multipart/Alternative

1.1   Content-Type: Text/plain
      Content-Description: plain text version for those who
        cannot read HTML

1.2   Content-type: Multipart/Related; type=Text/HTML

1.2.1   Content-Type: Text/HTML
        Content-Description: HTML version of the same message,
          which may contain external file references

        <IMG SRC="http://www.dsv.su.se/picture.GIF";>

1.2.2   Content-Type: Image/GIF
        Content-Description: the GIF picture
        Content-Disposition: INLINE;
          filename="http://www.dsv.su.se/picture.GIF";

Rewriting the HTML to substitute cid: urls for other urls makes
message integrity checks difficult.  The original source, for which I
might have a MIC, gets transformed; a new MIC is required.  The
receiver transforms the source again.  The original and the receiver's
final differ and there's no way to go back use the MIC for the
original source.

The cid: urls are useful when your shipping an entity that is
not accessible via any other url, ie. that only exist in the message.

Best.../Ed

On Fri, 03 Nov 1995 00:34:11 PST Larry Masinter wrote:
I don't understand the complexity that comes from putting the
text/plain alternative inside the multipart/related instead of
outside.  I also don't get why the convolution with external-body
references. Why isn't this example just:
...