cpython/Doc/library/quopri.rst
2009-09-02 20:34:52 +00:00

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:mod:`quopri` --- Encode and decode MIME quoted-printable data
==============================================================
.. module:: quopri
:synopsis: Encode and decode files using the MIME quoted-printable encoding.
.. index::
pair: quoted-printable; encoding
single: MIME; quoted-printable encoding
This module performs quoted-printable transport encoding and decoding, as
defined in :rfc:`1521`: "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One:
Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the Format of Internet Message Bodies".
The quoted-printable encoding is designed for data where there are relatively
few nonprintable characters; the base64 encoding scheme available via the
:mod:`base64` module is more compact if there are many such characters, as when
sending a graphics file.
.. function:: decode(input, output, header=False)
Decode the contents of the *input* file and write the resulting decoded binary
data to the *output* file. *input* and *output* must either be file objects or
objects that mimic the file object interface. *input* will be read until
``input.readline()`` returns an empty string. If the optional argument *header*
is present and true, underscore will be decoded as space. This is used to decode
"Q"-encoded headers as described in :rfc:`1522`: "MIME (Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions) Part Two: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text".
.. function:: encode(input, output, quotetabs, header=False)
Encode the contents of the *input* file and write the resulting quoted-printable
data to the *output* file. *input* and *output* must either be file objects or
objects that mimic the file object interface. *input* will be read until
``input.readline()`` returns an empty string. *quotetabs* is a flag which
controls whether to encode embedded spaces and tabs; when true it encodes such
embedded whitespace, and when false it leaves them unencoded. Note that spaces
and tabs appearing at the end of lines are always encoded, as per
:rfc:`1521`. *header* is a flag which controls if spaces are encoded as
underscores as per :rfc:`1522`.
.. function:: decodestring(s, header=False)
Like :func:`decode`, except that it accepts a source string and returns the
corresponding decoded string.
.. function:: encodestring(s, quotetabs=False, header=False)
Like :func:`encode`, except that it accepts a source string and returns the
corresponding encoded string. *quotetabs* and *header* are optional
(defaulting to ``False``), and are passed straight through to :func:`encode`.
.. seealso::
Module :mod:`base64`
Encode and decode MIME base64 data