RFC 2160

Carrying PostScript in X.400 and MIME 🎀

• RFC: 2160
• Author: Harald Tveit Alvestrand (UNINETT) 💅
• Stream: Network Working Group
• Category: Standards Track ✨
• Date: January 1998 📅
• Obsoletes / Updates: The title block doesn't list either one. The text does say RFC 1494 is obsoleted by [BODYMAP], which is the thing this doc picks up from. 🦋

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Status of This Memo 📜

bestie, this one is a standards track protocol doc for the Internet community, and it's literally asking for discussion and suggestions for improvements 🫶 For where this protocol stands on the standardization ladder, check the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1). Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice ⭐

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents 🧚

1 Introduction ............................................    1
2 The PostScript body part ................................    1
3 The PostScript FTBP .....................................    2
4 The Application/PostScript content-type .................    2
5 MIXER conversion ........................................    2
6 MIXER conversion ........................................    2
7 OID Assignments .........................................    3
8 Security Issues .........................................    3
9 Trademark Issues ........................................    3
10 References .............................................    3
11 Author's Address .......................................    4
12 Full Copyright Statement ...............................    5

1. Introduction 💖

okay so this doc explains how to carry PostScript in the two standard mail systems, MIME and X.400, plus how to convert between them 🌸 It uses the notational conventions of [BODYMAP], and the conversion gets more detail in [MIXER].

There are two ways to carry PostScript in X.400. One uses the FTAM Body Part, and the other uses the Extended Body Part that was originally described in RFC 1494.

The FTAM method is recommended. 💅

2. The PostScript body part 🍓

Carrying PostScript in X.400 as an Extended Body Part was first defined in RFC 1494. This spec carries that work forward, since RFC 1494 is now obsoleted by [BODYMAP] 🦋

The Extended Body Part below is defined for PostScript data streams. It has no parameters.

   postscript-body-part EXTENDED-BODY-PART-TYPE
     DATA             OCTET STRING
     ::= mime-postscript-body

   mime-postscript-body OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::=
             { mixer-bp-data 2 }

3. The PostScript FTBP 🎀

The PostScript FTBP is identified by having the FileTransferParameters.environment.application-reference set to id-mime-ftbp-postscript. ✨

The definition is:

 id-mime-ftbp-postscript OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::=
                    { mixer-bp-data 6 }

4. The Application/PostScript content-type 🌈

In MIME, PostScript is carried in the body part "application/PostScript", which is defined in RFC 1521. 🫶

5. MIXER conversion 🔥

X.400 Body Part: Extended Body Part, OID mime-postscript-body
MIME Content-Type: application/postscript
Conversion Type: No conversion

The two representations of PostScript both contain a single stream of octets. This stream can be copied between the representations with no problems. No other data needs to be converted. 💅

6. MIXER conversion 🔥

X.400 Body Part: FTBP, OID mime-ftbp-postscript-body
MIME Content-Type: application/postscript
Conversion Type: No conversion

The two representations of PostScript both contain a single stream of octets. This stream can be copied between the representations with no problems. No other data needs to be converted. 💖

7. OID Assignments 🧚

The first OID is also defined in [BODYMAP].

POSTSCRIPT-MAPPINGS DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN
EXPORTS -- everything --;

IMPORTS
   mixer-bp-data
       FROM MIXER-MAPPINGS

id-mime-postscript-body OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::=
        { mixer-bp-data 2 };
id-mime-ftbp-postscript OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::=
        { mixer-bp-data 6 };

END

8. Security Issues 🙈

The issues around PostScript and security are well discussed in RFC 2046. No additional security issues are identified by this memo. Lowkey a relief, but go read RFC 2046 before you ship anything 💀

9. Trademark Issues 👑

PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. 💜

10. References 📚

[MIXER] Kille, S., "MIXER: Mapping between X.400 and RFC 822/MIME", RFC 2156, January 1998.

[BODYMAP] Alvestrand, H., "Mapping between X.400 and RFC 822/MIME Message Bodies", RFC 2157, January 1998.

11. Author's Address 🌸

Harald Tveit Alvestrand UNINETT Postboks 6883 Elgeseter N-7002 TRONDHEIM

Phone: +47 73 59 70 94 EMail: Harald.T.Alvestrand@uninett.no

12. Full Copyright Statement 📜

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English.

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 🫶