NAME

       tnef - decode Microsoft's Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format

SYNOPSIS

       tnef [options] [FILE]

       tnef {--help | --version}

DESCRIPTION

       This  manual  page  documents the tnef filter.  tnef decodes e-mail attachments encoded in
       Microsoft's Transport  Neutral  Encapsulation  Format  (hereafter,  TNEF),  which  "wraps"
       Microsoft e-mail attachments.

       Unfortunately, these "wrapped" attachments are inaccessible to any e-mail client that does
       not understand TNEF.  Fortunately, the tnef filter can be used by any MIME-aware client to
       unpack these attachments.

OPTIONS

       -f FILE,  --file=FILE
              use  FILE  as  input  ('-' denotes stdin).  When this option is omitted, tnef reads
              data from stdin.

       -C DIR,  --directory=DIR
              unpack file attachments into DIR.

       -x SIZE, --maxsize=SIZE
              limit maximum size of extracted archive (bytes)

       -t,  --list
              list attached files, do not extract.

       -w,  --interactive,  --confirmation
              ask for confirmation for every action.

       --overwrite
              when extracting attachments, overwrite existing files.

       --number-backups
              when extracting attachments, if file FOO will be overwritten, create FOO.n instead.

       --use-paths
              honor file pathnames specified in the TNEF attachment.  For security reasons, paths
              to attached files are ignored by default.

       --save-body FILE
              Save  message  body  data found in the TNEF data.  There can be up to three message
              bodies in the file, plain text, HTML encoded, and RTF encoded.  Which are saved  is
              specified  by the --body-pref option.  By default the message bodies are written to
              a file named message with an extension based upon the type (txt, html, rtf).

       --body-pref PREF
              Specifies which of the possibly three message body formats will be saved.  PREF can
              be  up  to three characters long and each character must be one of 'r', 'h', or 't'
              specifying RTF, HTML or text.  The order  is  the  order  that  the  data  will  be
              checked, the first type found will be saved.  If PREF is the special value of 'all'
              then any and all message body data found will be saved.  The default is 'rht'.

       --save-rtf FILE
              DEPRECATED.  Equivalent to --save-body=FILE --body-pref=r

       -h,  --help
              show usage message.

       -V,  --version
              display version and copyright.

       -v,  --verbose
              produce verbose output.

       --debug
              enable debug output.

EXAMPLE

       The following example demonstrates typical tnef usage with  a  popular  Unix  mail  client
       called "mutt".

   Step 1 -- Configure ~/.mailcap
       Mutt  can't use tnef for its intended purpose until an appropriate content type definition
       exists in ~/.mailcap .  Here's a sample definition:

              application/ms-tnef; tnef -w %s

       This mailcap entry says that whenever the MIME content type:

              application/ms-tnef

       is encountered, use this command to decode it:

              tnef -w %s

       The latter command string invokes tnef, specifying both the -w option and  the  attachment
       (created as a temporary file) as command line arguments.

   Step 2 -- Add The Filter To $PATH
       Mutt can't invoke tnef if the filter isn't accessible via $PATH.

   Step 3 -- Test Mutt
       Use  mutt  to  read  a  message  that  includes a TNEF attachment.  Mutt will note that an
       attachment of type "application/ms-tnef is unsupported".

       Press the "v" key to open mutt's "view attachment" menu.

       Move the cursor over the TNEF attachment and press the enter key to "view" the attachment.
       Mutt  will launch tnef and invoke it using the command line syntax specified in ~/.mailcap
       (step 1).  tnef then decodes all file(s) included in the TNEF  attachment,  prompting  for
       confirmation  prior  to  creating  an  individual  file (refer to -w option above).  -w is
       useful here because it gives the end user a chance to view the filename(s) included in the
       mail message.

       Note  that  Mutt's  attachment menu also supports a pipe option, which permits the user to
       pipe attachments to an external filter (how convenient).  So, to list the  contents  of  a
       TNEF attachment prior to decoding it, press the "|" key and enter this command:

              tnef -t

SEE ALSO

       metamail(1), mailcap(4), mutt(1), other email clients.

AUTHOR

       Mark Simpson.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to Mark Simpson <verdammelt@users.sourceforge.net>

OTHER REFERENCES

       This web page:

       http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q136/2/04.asp

       describes  how  to  configure  Microsoft email clients so that the TNEF format is disabled
       when sending messages to non-TNEF-compatible clients.