> On Sunday 05 May 2019 09:10:45 pm Steven D'Aprano wrote: > > > On Sun, May 05, 2019 at 07:00:14AM -0400, Gene Heskett wrote: > > > Nomenclature fail, I want to include an image inline so that I can > > > describe what the image is in the following text. > > > > You want an embedded image? > > > > # === begin message === > > > > Hi, we've just got back from holidays in sunny Aleppo, we had > > a wonderful time. Apparently the local government doesn't like > > tourists, we had a devil of a time getting to the city, but we > > made it eventually. > > > > <embedded picture> > > > > That's us with a lovely gentleman who helped us get into the > > city. We're standing by the side of his pickup. He must be some > > kind of hunter, judging by the number of guns he was carrying. > > > > <embedded picture> > > > > Here we are in the main street. The city must be having a > > construction boom, everywhere we went we saw buildings in the > > process of being demolished. I must say we weren't impressed > > by the worker's slack attitude to carting away the rubble. > > > > # === end message === > > > > Something like that? > > > > > Attachments have > > > worked fine for yonks, but I am refering to the "message->insert > > > file", and "message->insert file recent" pulldowns. > > > > The Insert File commands are used to insert text files into the body > > of a text email. Alas in the version of Kmail I have, it makes no > > attempt to distinguish between text files and arbitrary binary files, > > and will make a (very ineffective) attempt to embed the binary data > > into the message, with useless results. > > > > As far as I can see, it doesn't do what you want. > > > > > > [...] > > > > > Seems like this should be properly handled by mime? Not (spit) html. > > > > I think you misunderstand the technology. > > > > An email consists roughly of a bunch of header lines (text), followed > > by one or more chunks of data (attachments). The body of the email is > > itself an attachment. MIME is the mechanism used to announce what kind > > of data each attachment is: text, JPEG, HTML, something else. > > > > You can't embed an binary image (say, a JPEG) in the middle of a text > > file, because "plain text" has no internal structure to say "this is > > an image, this is a PDF, this is bold text, this line is centered". > > You can't open a text file in, say, KWrite, and tell it to embed a > > JPEG in the middle of the text. That's bit a failure of KWrite, that's > > a limitation of the plain text format, and that applies equally to > > plain text attachments in emails. > > > > To embed an image within a body of text, you need some kind of "rich > > text format" like a Word or LibreOffice document, or Microsoft's RTF, > > or the dreaded HTML. > > > > Word and LibreOffice docs are themselves binary format, so they can > > literally embed the image within the document itself, giving you a > > single file. But HTML is a plain text format, so it cannot (or at > > least not efficiently), so you need a seperate image attachment, while > > the HTML simply says "use this attached image here". > > > > There are other plain text formats capable of displaying images > > inline, such as ReST (ReStructured Text) but no email client I know of > > supports them. > > > > If you expect people reading the document to read it inside their mail > > client, rather than to save the file and open it in an external > > application, it needs to be a format which most mail clients > > understand. And that, I think, limits you to HTML. > > > > (There may be proprietary formats only understood by certain mail > > clients, e.g. Lotus Notes, Exchange, etc. but if you want a de facto > > standard, that means HTML.) > > > > In order to get the effect you want, you need a mail client capable of > > both of these: > > > > 1. Using HTML (or, theoretically, some other format); > > > > 2. Embedding an image inside the HTML. > > > > (To be precise: the image itself is an attachment, part of the email > > but not physically embedded inside the HTML; but a reference to the > > attachment is embedded in the HTML. In a manner of speaking, the HTML > > says "See here for image" and the mail client displays that image in > > place.) > > > > As far as I can tell, Kmail supports 1 but not 2 so you're out of luck > > unless you want to hand-craft a valid HTML file (good luck with > > that!), or use another mail client. Perhaps Thunderbird? > > Not so easy to learn as it does almost everything bass ackwards from what > I am used to. I know folks who've gotten used to it and are quite > productive with it. I've even used it when out on the road playing > visiting fireman at some other tv station where it took some time to > make sure the fixes I put in place, stayed in place because I taught > them how to do it better. I don't know if t-bird can do #2, but it seems > to me a mime break and a new treatment for the binary data being loaded > could be written, the mimetype already exists and has for 2 decades and > it would never have to be in the same room as html. > > IMO m$ and html have wrecked email by convincing todays generation that > html, with its 5x multiplication of message size, is the only game in > town. It should not be. A mime boundary break is rarely over 250 chars, > adding maybe 500 bytes to ID to the mail agent what the next block of > binary is. But a couple of 250 byte mime boundary's can surround a 4 > megabyte jpeg straight out of my camera, very high def, and an expansion > of the total message size for the boundary strings isn't even pocket > change compared to the cost of html for the same thing. > > I guess that displays my age. > > Cheers, Gene Heskett > -- > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- I've never actually used html email. It seems like such an unnecessary thing. Kate