(PHP ActiveX) MIME Content-Transfer-Encoding Header Field

Explains the Content-Transfer-Encoding header field and how it affects how data is stored in the MIME.

Chilkat ActiveX Downloads ActiveX for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Note: The php_com_dotnet.dll may need to be enabled inside of php.ini.

<?php

// The Content-Transfer-Encoding header field is typically set to one of these values:
// 
//   base64
//   quoted-printable
//   binary
//   8bit
//   7bit

// If the encoding is base64 or quoted-printable, then the bytes of the content are encoded as such.
// The values "8bit", "7bit", and "binary" all imply that NO encoding has been performed.

// Here are some guidelines and hints:
// 
// 1) "8bit", "7bit", and "binary" encodings (i.e. NO encoding) results in the smallest MIME.

// 2) A "binary" encoding implies non-text data.  Binary MIME CANNOT be retrieved as a string.  It can only be retrieved as a byte array.

// 3) "8bit" and "7bit" encodings imply text.  
//    7bit implies that the text is us-ascii (all byte values less than or equal to 0x7F).
//    8bit implies that the text contains non-us-ascii chars.

// 4) Base64 is the best choice for encoding non-text data, such as PDF's, images, etc.

// 5) quoted-printable is the best choice for encoding text data where most chars are going to be us-ascii. This would typically 
//    include all Western European languages.  For Asian, Arabic, Hebrew, etc. where most chars in the text are non-us-ascii,
//    the most efficient encoding would be base64.  

// Let's demonstrate with this small JPG image.

// For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use new COM('Chilkat_9_5_0.Chilkat.StringBuilder')
$sbJpgBase64 = new COM("Chilkat.StringBuilder");
$sbJpgBase64->Append('/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEASABIAAD//gAmRmlsZSB3cml0dGVuIGJ5IEFkb2JlIFBob3Rvc2hvcD8g\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('NC4w/9sAQwAQCwwODAoQDg0OEhEQExgoGhgWFhgxIyUdKDozPTw5Mzg3QEhcTkBEV0U3OFBtUVdf\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('YmdoZz5NcXlwZHhcZWdj/9sAQwEREhIYFRgvGhovY0I4QmNjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2Nj\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('Y2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2Nj/8IAEQgAFAAUAwERAAIRAQMRAf/EABcAAAMBAAAA\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDBAX/xAAYAQADAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEAP/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAB2kZY\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('NNEijWKddfTmLgALWH//xAAbEAACAgMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMRAAQSE//aAAgBAQABBQL0XqN+\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('pM2aqJGMiqFFCyg7z//EABwRAAICAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAERAAIQIQMSUf/aAAgBAwEBPwHqU5aq\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('Axx+y1tMQl4elj//xAAcEQEAAQUBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABEQACEBIhA1H/2gAIAQIBAT8B3Bhqy7Zc\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('enyiwmGgDhiOzj//xAAdEAABAwUBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAIREBIhIkFR/9oACAEBAAY/ArZyn+Cg\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('xtxWuJaoCnqDuin/xAAcEAABBAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABABEhYRAxQVH/2gAIAQEAAT8hkEwPUUR9\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('DYfE4nxtRpIkBTsayuALIiuY/9oADAMBAAIAAwAAABDWPTsf/8QAGhEAAwADAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAA\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('AAEREDFBIf/aAAgBAwEBPxC0DVPcWm+Ce4OesrkE6bjH/8QAGBEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAREA\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('QRD/2gAIAQIBAT8QahMiOc8YgSrnTY3ELclHXn//xAAcEAEBAAIDAQEAAAAAAAAAAAABEQAhMUFx\r\n');
$sbJpgBase64->Append('EFH/2gAIAQEAAT8Qn3igmSZSj+c4N4zapMy9IjFV98wncN2iuLFsCEbDGxQkI6RO/n//2Q==\r\n');

// For versions of Chilkat < 10.0.0, use new COM('Chilkat_9_5_0.Chilkat.Mime')
$mime = new COM("Chilkat.Mime");
$mime->ContentType = 'image/jpeg';
$mime->SetBodyFromEncoded('base64',$sbJpgBase64->getAsString());

print $mime->getMime() . "\n";
print '-' . "\n";

// The result:
// 
// 	Content-Type: image/jpeg
// 	Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
// 
// 	/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEASABIAAD//gAmRmlsZSB3cml0dGVuIGJ5IEFkb2JlIFBob3Rvc2hvcD8g
// 	NC4w/9sAQwAQCwwODAoQDg0OEhEQExgoGhgWFhgxIyUdKDozPTw5Mzg3QEhcTkBEV0U3OFBtUVdf
// 	YmdoZz5NcXlwZHhcZWdj/9sAQwEREhIYFRgvGhovY0I4QmNjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2Nj
// 	Y2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2Nj/8IAEQgAFAAUAwERAAIRAQMRAf/EABcAAAMBAAAA
// 	AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDBAX/xAAYAQADAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEAP/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAB2kZY
// 	NNEijWKddfTmLgALWH//xAAbEAACAgMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMRAAQSE//aAAgBAQABBQL0XqN+
// 	pM2aqJGMiqFFCyg7z//EABwRAAICAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAERAAIQIQMSUf/aAAgBAwEBPwHqU5aq
// 	Axx+y1tMQl4elj//xAAcEQEAAQUBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABEQACEBIhA1H/2gAIAQIBAT8B3Bhqy7Zc
// 	enyiwmGgDhiOzj//xAAdEAABAwUBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAIREBIhIkFR/9oACAEBAAY/ArZyn+Cg
// 	xtxWuJaoCnqDuin/xAAcEAABBAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABABEhYRAxQVH/2gAIAQEAAT8hkEwPUUR9
// 	DYfE4nxtRpIkBTsayuALIiuY/9oADAMBAAIAAwAAABDWPTsf/8QAGhEAAwADAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
// 	AAEREDFBIf/aAAgBAwEBPxC0DVPcWm+Ce4OesrkE6bjH/8QAGBEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAREA
// 	QRD/2gAIAQIBAT8QahMiOc8YgSrnTY3ELclHXn//xAAcEAEBAAIDAQEAAAAAAAAAAAABEQAhMUFx
// 	EFH/2gAIAQEAAT8Qn3igmSZSj+c4N4zapMy9IjFV98wncN2iuLFsCEbDGxQkI6RO/n//2Q==
// 

// Set the Content-Transfer-Encoding to "binary" by setting the Encoding property.
$mime->Encoding = 'binary';

// Try to get the MIME string.  This CANNOT be done.  The bytes of the JPG image do not
// represent chars, and to return a string means that bytes must be interpreted according
// to some character encoding (such as utf-8).  Non-text binary bytes can only be 
// contained in a string IF encoded in some way. Encodings such as Base64, quoted-printable,
// URL, etc. exist to make it possible to represent binary data in string format.   
print $mime->getMime() . "\n";
print '-' . "\n";

// We CAN get the binary MIME as bytes..

$mimeBytes = $mime->GetMimeBytes();

// Regardless of the Content-Transfer-Encoding, the 
// body content can always be retrieved and the body bytes
// decoded from whatever encoding is used..

$jpgBytes = $mime->GetBodyBinary();

// To get the body in base64 format, first make sure
// the Content-Transfer-Encoding is base64, then call GetBodyEncoded.
$mime->Encoding = 'base64';
$jpgBase64 = $mime->getBodyEncoded();
print $jpgBase64 . "\n";
print '-' . "\n";

// Let's go back to "binary" MIME..
$mime->Encoding = 'binary';

// Let's say we have MIME, and it was loaded directly from a file, or from
// a byte array.  (It was not loaded from the contents of a string variable.)
// We don't know whether the MIME contains binary or 8bit encodings, and thus
// we dont' know if the MIME is safe to get as a string.
// The Convert8Bit method can be called to recursively traverse the MIME and set
// all 8bit or binary encodings to "base64".  This makes the MIME safe for storing in
// a string.
$mime->Convert8Bit();
$mimeStr = $mime->getMime();
print $mimeStr . "\n";
print '-' . "\n";

?>