I asked Lee to help us out with this thread, and this is what he sent. Lee was kind enough to teach a class on Mailman for us at George Mason University and was involved in writing parts of Mailman years ago.
Thank you, Lee. ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Re: [Hardhats-members] Programatically generate MailMan messages? Date: Tuesday 27 June 2006 07:01 From: "Hirz, Lee J." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Nancy, I just reviewed what the standard VistA MailMan does in terms of being able to deliver Binary Large Objects (BLOBs = images, Word Docs...). The short answer is that when the POP3 server is implemented and POP3 clients are used with MailMan, non-textual attachments work just fine. MailMan's user interface is not compatible with MIME, the Internet standard that is used when non-textual mail is sent. Instead, it allows for files to be FTP'd to the imaging package and recorded in its files structures. The sender and receiver both understand and deal with images and non-textual body parts this way. On the other hand, when MailMan is part of a routing of a standard MIME compatible message, it does not interfere. When the POP3 interface is made live, images, Word Documents, PowerPoint Slide shows... all can flow through MailMan and any POP3 client (Eudora, Pegasus...) can read these messages delivered by MailMan with their separate attachments. In MIME, such body parts are usually recoded into a format called BASE64 and a header is inserted into the text that indicates where the attachment begins and a footer is inserted where the attachment ends. The BASE64 encoding allows attachments to be sent as text. So, MailMan itself, cannot encode the attachments into BASE64, nor decode them from BASE64. But since the attachment flows through the system as text, it does not disturb them. If a MailMan user works with MailMan through a POP3 compliant client, such as Pegasus or Eudora, the client does the encoding of the attachments into BASE64, adds the footer and header and transmits the message through MailMan and another such client can receive it. Regards, Lee Hirz Washington DC VAMC 202-745-8000 X 4018 -----Original Message----- From: Lee Hirz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 9:44 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: [Hardhats-members] Programatically generate MailMan messages? Dear Nancy, The Hard-hats group is very frustrating to me. I find it difficult to follow the backwards discussions. And there are so many people that are trying to pick up business. I haven't been paying much attention. MailMan is perfectly capable of receiving and transmitting BLOBS (Binary Large Objects). There is an API for doing this that I built for the imaging people. I'd have to check to see if it still exists. They took out the POP3 servers you know. I have a copy that I can add back in. Another way to do it would be to build your own MIME message. It is all text. I will check tomorrow at to see if the version at the DC VAMC still has the code and get back to you. Regards, Lee --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Nancy Anthracite <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Lee Hirz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Fwd: Re: [Hardhats-members] Programatically generate MailMan messages? Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:37:07 -0400 There are a lot of questions flying around on the mailing list about Mailman. Do you have any light to shed on this? I can relay a message if you do. You can see the whole thread in the archives at https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Re: [Hardhats-members] Programatically generate MailMan messages? Date: Monday 26 June 2006 18:20 From: "Dan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net Like Greg pointed out, for MIME you need to set two message headers: MIME-Version: and Content-type:. I just checked the MailMan programmer's manual and didn't see any API that would let one add headers to an outgoing message. From a security standpoint I can understand why -- to prevent forged headers. I guess the first thing I'd do is check if your favorite email client will decode a MIME encoded document if those headers are missing (you never know). If not, you'll probably have to implement UUEncoded. Recipients can be specified at send time by a string containing the users email address, so no, they don't have to be in any file. And my test just now confirmed that MailMan can deliver email to non-VA addresses with no DOMAIN file entry. At 05:47 PM 6/26/2006, you wrote: >Can MailMan send email to recipients who are not stored in a FileMan file >(XMY parameter of the XMB routine)? Are the recipients indicated by an >email address, or do they get referenced thru a DUZ? > >When you said "connect to Mailman via SMTP." are you referring to inbound >mail only, or is there some way I should compose a MIME-encoded message than >route it to MailMan so it can send it? > >BTW, the creation of the email is the result of an event in VistA, which is >why I would like to tie it into the VistA architecture somehow rather than >writing something new, externally. > >Thanks, >MailNewbie > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Greg >Woodhouse >Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 2:30 PM >To: hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net >Subject: Re: [Hardhats-members] Programatically generate MailMan messages? >--- Dan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Agreed. I guess the point is that you aren't going to get it done > > with > > MailMan unless you code the attachment requirement yourself. > >True. My point was that in an environment where you'd want to send a >Word document, it probably doesn't make sense to try and compose the >message in Mailman. Better to use your favorite e-mail application and >(if needed) connect to Mailman via SMTP. > >=== >Gregory Woodhouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >"Judge a man by his questions not his answers." >--Voltaire > >Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security? >Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job >easier >Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache Geronimo >http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=12164 2 >_______________________________________________ >Hardhats-members mailing list >Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members > > > > >Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security? >Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job > easier Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache > Geronimo http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642 > _______________________________________________ >Hardhats-members mailing list >Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security? Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job easier Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache Geronimo http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642 _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members ------------------------------------------------------- -- Nancy Anthracite ------------------------------------------------------- -- Nancy Anthracite Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security? Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job easier Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache Geronimo http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642 _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list Hardhats-members@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
