MIME

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) Protocol moz-extension://ed906d0d-6bc0-4c0e-a490-37c8468a0c70/re...
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Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME)

Protocol
GeeksforGeeks
6 - 8 minutes
Last Updated : 19 Dec, 2023
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) is a standard that was

proposed by Bell Communications in 1991 in order to expand the limited
capabilities of email.
MIME is a kind of add-on or a supplementary protocol that allows non-
ASCII data to be sent through SMTP. It allows the users to exchange
different kinds of data files on the Internet: audio, video, images,
application programs as well.
Why do we need MIME?

Limitations of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP):
1. SMTP has a very simple structure

2. Its simplicity however comes with a price as it only sends messages
in NVT 7-bit ASCII format.
3. It cannot be used for languages that do not support 7-bit ASCII
format such as French, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese, etc.
so it cannot be transmitted using SMTP. So, in order to make SMTP
more broad, we use MIME.
4. It cannot be used to send binary files or video or audio data.
Purpose and Functionality of MIME –

Growing demand for Email Messages as people also want to express
themselves in terms of Multimedia. So, MIME another email application
is introduced as it is not restricted to textual data.
MIME transforms non-ASCII data at the sender side to NVT 7-bit data and
delivers it to the client SMTP. The message on the receiver side is
transferred back to the original data. As well as we can send video and
audio data using MIME as it transfers them also in 7-bit ASCII data.
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Features of MIME –
1. It is able to send multiple attachments with a single message.

2. Unlimited message length.
3. Binary attachments (executables, images, audio, or video files) may
be divided if needed.
4. MIME provided support for varying content types and multi-part
messages.
Working of MIME –
Suppose a user wants to send an email through a user agent and it is in a
non-ASCII format so there is a MIME protocol that converts it into 7-bit
NVT ASCII format. The message is transferred through the e-mail system
to the other side in the 7-bit format now MIME protocol again converts it
back into non-ASCII code and now the user agent of the receiver side
reads it and then information is finally read by the receiver. MIME
header is basically inserted at the beginning of any e-mail transfer.
MIME with SMTP and POP –

SMTP transfers the mail being a message transfer agent from the
sender’s side to the mailbox of the receiver side and stores it and MIME
header is added to the original header and provides additional
information. while POP being the message access agent organizes the
mails from the mail server to the receiver’s computer. POP allows the
user agent to connect with the message transfer agent.
MIME Header:
It is added to the original e-mail header section to define transformation.
There are five headers that we add to the original header:
1. MIME-Version – Defines the version of the MIME protocol. It must

have the parameter Value 1.0, which indicates that message is
formatted using MIME.
2. Content-Type – Type of data used in the body of the message. They
are of different types like text data (plain, HTML), audio content, or
video content.
3. Content-Type Encoding – It defines the method used for encoding
the message. Like 7-bit encoding, 8-bit encoding, etc.
4. Content Id – It is used for uniquely identifying the message.
5. Content description – It defines whether the body is actually an
image, video, or audio.
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Advantages of MIME:
• It has the ability to transfer text, audio, and video files, among other
sorts of data, in a message.
• Additionally, it allows for the sending and receiving of emails in a
variety of languages, including Hindi, French, Japanese, Chinese, and
others.
• Additionally, it gives users the option to connect HTML and CSS to
email, enabling them to customise and beautify email according to
their preferences.
• Regardless of how long an email is, it can convey the information
inside.
• It gives each email a special ID.
Disadvantages:
• The receiving system’s interpretation of MIME media types may not

always be accurate, which might cause issues with how the content is
handled or displayed.
• Because they call for additional headers to be provided along with
the information, MIME media types can increase the overhead
associated with content transmission. This might lead to larger
transferred data files and slower transfer rates.
• Consumers frequently lack a solid understanding of MIME media
types, and the use of several media types can make it even more
challenging for consumers to comprehend the content being
transferred.
• Some systems might not always support MIME media types, which
might cause issues with the transmission of specific kinds of content.
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Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) Protocol moz-extension://ed906d0d-6bc0-4c0e-a490-37c8468a0c70/re...

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME)

Last Updated : 19 Dec, 2023

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) is a standard that was

Why do we need MIME?

1. SMTP has a very simple structure

Purpose and Functionality of MIME –

1. It is able to send multiple attachments with a single message.

MIME with SMTP and POP –

1. MIME-Version – Deﬁnes the version of the MIME protocol. It must

• The receiving system’s interpretation of MIME media types may not

"GeeksforGeeks helped me ace the GATE exam! Whenever I had any

Over 125,000+ students already trust us to be their GATE Exam guide.

Share your thoughts in the comments

Please Login to comment...

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