Chapter 5: Mail Structure

Chapter 5: Mail Structure

Overview

In previous chapters, I covered the ways in which messages can be sent over a network and how messages are addressed. In this chapter, I cover the structure of the content of messages. If you plan to integrate different mail standards, you should understand how the message structures differ. In addition, many message structures have changed as the standard has developed. This causes problems for administrators connecting different generations of software.

Message Structure

The internal structure of a mail message defines a whole range of characteristics about the message. For a start, it defines the header information that includes the destination address and routing information. There often also is extra information about any attachments and binary file formats, and finally, there is the message itself.

To allow everyone to read every message, it would have to be sent in seven-bit ASCII. This is fine for plain text, but it will not support foreign languages or users that want to add formatting to text. The differences in header information can be solved using a plug-in connector to your post office that will translate the address and header details. However, the differences in coding for message text can cause great problems. If the MTA or client does not support the coding system used, it probably will have to return the message to the sender or make a poor and usually lossy conversion.

The problems of integrating mail systems often are concentrated on getting the systems to actually...

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Integrating E-mail: From the Intranet to the Internet

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