Chapter 9: ADVANCED E-MAIL

     E-mail by itself is a powerful tool, and by now you may be
sending e-mail messages all over the place.  You might even be on a
 mailing list  or two. But there is a lot more to e-mail than just
sending messages.  If your host system does not have access to  ftp , or it
doesn't have access to every ftp site on the Net, you can have programs
and files sent right to your mailbox.  And using some simple techniques,
you can use e-mail to send data files such as spreadsheets, or even whole
programs, to friends and colleagues around the world.

    Files by E-Mail                 
    Encoding program files          
    ftp Mail                        
    Sending files through the mail  

     A key to both is a set of programs known as encoders and decoders.
For all its basic power, Net e-mail has a big problem: it can't handle
graphics characters or the control codes found in even the simplest of
computer programs. Encoders however, can translate these into forms
usable in e-mail, while decoders turn them back into a form that you can
actually use. If you are using a Unix-based host system, chances are it
already has an encoder and decoder online that you can use. These
programs will also let you use programs posted in several Usenet
 newsgroups , such as comp.binaries.ibm.pc.