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.\" titles (.TH), headers (.SH), subsections (.SS), items (.Ip), and index
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.IX Title "Mail::Message::TransferEnc::Base64 3"
.TH Mail::Message::TransferEnc::Base64 3 2026-04-11 "perl v5.42.2" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
.if n .ad l
.nh
.SH NAME
Mail::Message::TransferEnc::Base64 \- encode/decode base64 message bodies
.SH INHERITANCE
.IX Header "INHERITANCE"
.Vb 3
\& Mail::Message::TransferEnc::Base64
\&   is a Mail::Message::TransferEnc
\&   is a Mail::Reporter
.Ve
.SH SYNOPSIS
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
.Vb 3
\&  my Mail::Message $msg = ...;
\&  my $decoded = $msg\->decoded;
\&  my $encoded = $msg\->encode(transfer => \*(Aqbase64\*(Aq);
.Ve
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
Encode or decode message bodies with base64.  The e\-mail protocol and
user agents can not handle binary data.  Therefore, binary data \-but
even sometimes non\-binary data\- is encoded into ASCII, this is
transportable.
.PP
Base64 re\-groups the bits of bytes, and maps them on characters. The
data contains bytes of 8 bits (an \fIoctet\fR).  These are repacked into
groups of 6 bits, pointing in an array of characters containing
“\f(CW\*(C`[A\-Za\-z0\-9+/]\*(C'\fR”.  This way, three data bytes become 4 base64 bytes.
The encoded data will be trailed by “\f(CW\*(C`=\*(C'\fR” characters to align on
four bytes.
.PP
Extends "DESCRIPTION" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.SH METHODS
.IX Header "METHODS"
Extends "METHODS" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.SS Constructors
.IX Subsection "Constructors"
Extends "Constructors" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.ie n .IP $class\->\fBnew\fR(%options) 4
.el .IP \f(CW$class\fR\->\fBnew\fR(%options) 4
.IX Item "$class->new(%options)"
Inherited, see "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter
.SS Attributes
.IX Subsection "Attributes"
Extends "Attributes" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.SS "The Encoder"
.IX Subsection "The Encoder"
Extends "The Encoder" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.ie n .IP "$class\->\fBaddTransferEncoder\fR($type, $class)" 4
.el .IP "\f(CW$class\fR\->\fBaddTransferEncoder\fR($type, \f(CW$class\fR)" 4
.IX Item "$class->addTransferEncoder($type, $class)"
Inherited, see "The Encoder" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc
.ie n .IP "$obj\->\fBcreate\fR($type, %options)" 4
.el .IP "\f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBcreate\fR($type, \f(CW%options\fR)" 4
.IX Item "$obj->create($type, %options)"
Inherited, see "The Encoder" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc
.ie n .IP $obj\->\fBname\fR() 4
.el .IP \f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBname\fR() 4
.IX Item "$obj->name()"
Inherited, see "The Encoder" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc
.SS Encoding
.IX Subsection "Encoding"
Extends "Encoding" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.ie n .IP "$obj\->\fBcheck\fR($body, %options)" 4
.el .IP "\f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBcheck\fR($body, \f(CW%options\fR)" 4
.IX Item "$obj->check($body, %options)"
Inherited, see "Encoding" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc
.ie n .IP "$obj\->\fBdecode\fR($body, %options)" 4
.el .IP "\f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBdecode\fR($body, \f(CW%options\fR)" 4
.IX Item "$obj->decode($body, %options)"
Inherited, see "Encoding" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc
.Sp
.Vb 2
\& \-Option     \-\-Defined in                \-\-Default
\&  result_type  Mail::Message::TransferEnc  <type of source body>
.Ve
.RS 4
.IP "result_type => CLASS" 2
.IX Item "result_type => CLASS"
.RE
.RS 4
.RE
.ie n .IP "$obj\->\fBencode\fR($body, %options)" 4
.el .IP "\f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBencode\fR($body, \f(CW%options\fR)" 4
.IX Item "$obj->encode($body, %options)"
Inherited, see "Encoding" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc
.SS "Error handling"
.IX Subsection "Error handling"
Extends "Error handling" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.ie n .IP $obj\->\fBAUTOLOAD\fR() 4
.el .IP \f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBAUTOLOAD\fR() 4
.IX Item "$obj->AUTOLOAD()"
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
.ie n .IP $obj\->\fBnotImplemented\fR() 4
.el .IP \f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBnotImplemented\fR() 4
.IX Item "$obj->notImplemented()"
Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
.SS Cleanup
.IX Subsection "Cleanup"
Extends "Cleanup" in Mail::Message::TransferEnc.
.ie n .IP $obj\->\fBDESTROY\fR() 4
.el .IP \f(CW$obj\fR\->\fBDESTROY\fR() 4
.IX Item "$obj->DESTROY()"
Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
.IX Header "DIAGNOSTICS"
.IP "Warning: Base64 line length not padded on 4." 4
.IX Item "Warning: Base64 line length not padded on 4."
While decoding base64 the data in a message body, a string was found which
was not padded into a multiple of four bytes.  This is illegal, and therefore
this data is ignored.
Cast by \f(CWdecode()\fR
.ie n .IP "Error: class $package does not implement method $method." 4
.el .IP "Error: class \f(CW$package\fR does not implement method \f(CW$method\fR." 4
.IX Item "Error: class $package does not implement method $method."
Fatal error: the specific \f(CW$package\fR (or one of its superclasses) does not
implement this method where it should. This message means that some other
related classes do implement this method however the class at hand does
not.  Probably you should investigate this and probably inform the author
of the package.
Cast by \f(CWnotImplemented()\fR
.ie n .IP "Error: decoder for transfer encoding $type does not work: $@" 4
.el .IP "Error: decoder for transfer encoding \f(CW$type\fR does not work: $@" 4
.IX Item "Error: decoder for transfer encoding $type does not work: $@"
Compiling the required transfer encoding resulted in errors, which means
that the decoder can not be used.
Cast by \f(CWcreate()\fR
.ie n .IP "Error: no decoder for transfer encoding $type." 4
.el .IP "Error: no decoder for transfer encoding \f(CW$type\fR." 4
.IX Item "Error: no decoder for transfer encoding $type."
A decoder for the specified type of transfer encoding is not implemented.
Cast by \f(CWcreate()\fR
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
This module is part of Mail\-Message version 4.05,
built on April 10, 2026. Website: \fIhttp://perl.overmeer.net/mailbox/\fR
.SH LICENSE
.IX Header "LICENSE"
For contributors see file ChangeLog.
.PP
This software is copyright (c) 2001\-2026 by Mark Overmeer.
.PP
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.