Interpret and display different Encodings for email bodies in ruby: - ruby

Question

I am using the Email gem in my rails app but I am encountering some problems with encoding:
I am working on a mail that presents itself this way:
....
Message-ID: <22D41F1A16CD5A5719309A96F8C95D50#vcrfnyjsz>
From: "=?utf-8?B?IOWFqOWbvealvOWHpOWFvOiBjOWwj+WnkOS/oeaBrw==?=" <info#nks-media.ru>
To: ...
...
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
X-Priority: 5
X-MSMail-Priority: Low
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.5512
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5512
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Rk9OVD48L0ZPTlQ+PC9CT0RZPjwvSFRNTD4NCg==
(I have omitted not inherent parts)
I fetch it with the Net::IMAP class of ruby an pass it as a string to the
Email.read_from_string
method of the gem.
It return me an object, call it msg. I now call msg.body and have this answer:
<Mail::Body:0x007f0045976ea8 #boundary=nil, #preamble=nil, #epilogue=nil, #charset="US-ASCII", #part_sort_order=["text/plain", "text/enriched", "text/html"], #parts=[], #raw_source="PCFET0NUWVBFIEhUTUwgUFVCTElDICItLy9XM0MvL0RURCBIVE1MIDQuMCBUcmFuc2l0aW9uYWwv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\r\nRk9OVD48L0ZPTlQ+PC9CT0RZPjwvSFRNTD4NCg==\r\n\r\n\r\n", #encoding="base64">
so everything seems right.
I do:
msg.body.encoding # return "Base64"
and its right again, but here the strange, when I do:
msg.body.only_us_ascii? # return True
Should not this be false? The content type in the header of the email is 'utf-8'.
In fact, if I try to do
msg.body.decoded
here is:
"<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN\">\r\n<HTML xmlns:o = \"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office\"><HEAD>\r\n<META content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=Content-Type>\r\n<META name=GENERATOR content=\"MSHTML 8.00.6001.23588\"></HEAD>\r\n<BODY bgColor=aqua>\r\n<P><FONT color=gray size=6>\xE5\x85\xA8\xE5\x9B\xBD\xE5\xB0\x8F\xE5\xA7\x90\xE4\xBF\xA1\xE6\x81\xAF\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE5\xAD\xA6\xE7\x94\x9F\xE5\xA6\xB9\xE4\xBF\xA1\xE6\x81\xAF\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE6\xA5\xBC\xE5\x87\xA4\xE5\x85\xBC\xE8\x81\x8C\xE5\xA5\xB3\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE8\x89\xAF\xE5\xAE\xB6\xE4\xBF\xA1\xE6\x81\xAF\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE5\x85\xBC\xE8\x81\x8C\xE4\xBF\xA1\xE6\x81\xAF\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE5\xA4\xA7\xE4\xBF\x9D\xE5\x81\xA5\xE4\xBF\xA1\xE6\x81\xAF</FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ffff\" color=#00ffff size=6><A \r\nhref=\"http://www.hnhn.club/xinxi.htm\">hthttp://www.hnhn.club/xinxi.htmhttp://www.hnhn.club/xinxi.htm</A></FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #00ffff\" color=#00ffff \r\nsize=6></FONT> </P>\r\n<P><FONT color=#808080 size=6><FONT size=6><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: aqua\" \r\ncolor=aqua>\xE4\xBA\xBA\xE5\x8F\xAF\xE4\xBB\xA5\xE6\x8A\xA2\xE8\xB5\xB0\xE4\xBB\x96\xE5\x94\xAF\xE4\xB8\x80\xE6\x83\xB3\xE8\xA6\x81\xE7\x9A\x84\xE5\xA5\xB3\xE4\xBA\xBA\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE5\xA5\xB9\xE5\x8F\xAA\xE8\x83\xBD\xE5\xB1\x9E\xE4\xBA\x8E\xE4\xBB\x96\xE3\x80\x82</FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT size=6><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: aqua\" \r\ncolor=aqua>\xE3\x80\x80\xE3\x80\x80\xE6\x96\xB9\xE7\x93\xB7\xE9\x97\xAD\xE4\xB8\x8A\xE7\x9C\xBC\xE6\xB7\xB1\xE5\x90\xB8\xE4\xBA\x86\xE4\xB8\x80\xE5\x8F\xA3\xE6\xB0\x94\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE7\x84\xB6\xE5\x90\x8E\xE5\xB0\x86\xE5\xA5\xB9\xE7\x9A\x84\xE6\x95\xB4\xE4\xB8\xAA\xE8\x84\xB8\xE5\x9F\x8B\xE5\x9C\xA8\xE8\x83\xB8\xE5\x89\x8D\xE3\x80\x82\xE4\xBB\x96\xE8\x8E\xAB\xE6\x89\x8E\xE7\x89\xB9\xE7\x9A\x84\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE8\xBF\x99\xE4\xB8\xAA\xE5\xA6\x96\xE5\xAD\xBD\xEF\xBC\x81\xE7\x9B\xB4\xE6\x8E\xA5\xE9\x97\xB7\xE6\xAD\xBB\xE5\xBE\x97\xE4\xBA\x86\xEF\xBC\x81</FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT size=6><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: aqua\" \r\ncolor=aqua> \xE6\xB8\x85\xE6\xBA\x9F\xE6\x88\x91\xE7\x9F\xA5\xE9\x81\x93\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE6\x98\xAF\xE9\x82\xA3\xE5\x8F\xAA\xE5\xAE\x9E\xE5\x8A\x9B\xE5\xB9\xB3\xE5\xB9\xB3\xE7\x9A\x84\xE8\x85\xBE\xE8\x9B\x87\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE7\xA9\x86\xE8\x8D\xBB\xE5\x8F\x88\xE6\x98\xAF\xE8\xB0\x81\xE5\x95\x8A\xEF\xBC\x9F\xE6\x98\xAF\xE4\xBB\x96\xE5\x90\x8E\xE6\x9D\xA5\xE6\x94\xB6\xE6\x9C\x8D\xE7\x9A\x84\xE5\xA6\x96\xE9\xAD\x94\xE5\x90\x97\xEF\xBC\x9F</FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT size=6><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: aqua\" \r\ncolor=aqua> \xE5\x85\xAD\xE9\x81\x93\xE5\x98\xB4\xE8\xA7\x92\xE6\xB5\xAE\xE5\x87\xBA\xE4\xB8\x80\xE6\x8A\xB9\xE8\xAF\xA1\xE5\xBC\x82\xE9\x98\xB4\xE6\xA3\xAE\xE7\x9A\x84\xE7\xAC\x91\xE6\x84\x8F\xEF\xBC\x9A\xE2\x80\x9C\xE6\x8D\x85\xE7\xA0\xB4\xE5\xA4\xA9\xE3\x80\x82\xE2\x80\x9D</FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT size=6><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: aqua\" \r\ncolor=aqua> \xE2\x80\x9C\xE9\x82\xA3\xE5\xA5\xB9\xE6\x80\x8E\xE4\xB9\x88\xE4\xBC\x9A\xE9\x94\x99\xE4\xBA\x86\xE9\x97\xA8\xEF\xBC\x9F\xE6\x97\xA2\xE7\x84\xB6\xE6\x9C\x89\xE4\xB8\x80\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE6\x88\x91\xE6\x80\x8E\xE4\xB9\x88\xE8\x83\xBD\xE4\xB8\x8D\xE8\xAE\xA4\xE4\xB8\xBA\xE8\xBF\x98\xE4\xBC\x9A\xE6\x9C\x89\xE4\xBA\x8C\xEF\xBC\x9F\xE5\xA6\x82\xE6\x9E\x9C\xE6\x88\x91\xE8\xAF\xB4\xE4\xBD\xA0\xE7\x8E\xB0\xE5\x9C\xA8\xE6\xAD\xA3\xE5\xA4\x84\xE4\xBA\x8E\xE5\xA4\xB4\xE8\x84\x91\xE6\xB7\xB7\xE4\xB9\xB1\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE6\x80\x9D\xE8\xB7\xAF\xE4\xB8\x8D\xE6\xB8\x85\xE7\x9A\x84\xE7\x8A\xB6\xE6\x80\x81\xE4\xB8\x8D\xE8\xBF\x87\xE5\x88\x86\xE5\x90\xA7\xEF\xBC\x9F\xE2\x80\x9D\xE5\xB9\xB4\xE8\xBD\xBB\xE6\xB0\x91\xE8\xAD\xA6\xE9\x97\xAE\xE7\x99\xBD\xE4\xB8\xBD\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE7\x99\xBD\xE4\xB8\xBD\xE7\x82\xB9\xE5\xA4\xB4\xE6\x89\xBF\xE8\xAE\xA4\xE3\x80\x82</FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT size=6><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: aqua\" \r\ncolor=aqua> \xE6\x9E\x97\xE5\x8D\x97\xE6\x9C\xAC\xE5\xB0\xB1\xE6\x98\xAF\xE7\x9B\x97\xE7\x94\xA8\xE4\xBA\x86\xE5\x90\x8E\xE4\xBA\xBA\xE7\x9A\x84\xE7\x9F\xA5\xE8\xAF\x86\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE6\x89\x80\xE4\xBB\xA5\xE4\xB9\x9F\xE6\xB2\xA1\xE4\xBB\x80\xE4\xB9\x88\xE5\x8F\xAF\xE9\xAA\x84\xE5\x82\xB2\xE7\x9A\x84\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE4\xBE\xBF\xE7\xAC\x91\xE7\x9D\x80\xE4\xBB\xA4\xE4\xBC\x97\xE4\xBA\xBA\xE5\xB9\xB3\xE8\xBA\xAB\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE5\x8F\x88\xE5\xAF\xB9\xE9\xAD\x8F\xE5\xBE\x81\xE9\x97\xAE\xE9\x81\x93\xEF\xBC\x9A\xE2\x80\x9C\xE9\xAD\x8F\xE5\x8D\xBF\xE5\xAE\xB6\xE5\x9C\xA8\xE6\x9C\x9D\xE5\xA0\x82\xE4\xB9\x8B\xE4\xB8\x8A\xE4\xB8\x93\xE9\x97\xAE\xE6\xAD\xA4\xE4\xBA\x8B\xEF\xBC\x8C\xE6\x83\xB3\xE6\x9D\xA5\xE5\xBF\x85\xE6\x98\xAF\xE6\x9C\x89\xE4\xBB\x80\xE4\xB9\x88\xE6\xB7\xB1\xE6\x84\x8F\xE7\xBD\xA2\xEF\xBC\x9F\xE2\x80\x9D</FONT></P>\r\n<P><FONT style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: aqua\" color=aqua \r\nsize=6>\xE3\x80\x80\xE3\x80\x80</FONT></P></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>\r\n"
Not utf-8 as I expected but ASCII-8BIT, and I don't know hot to use it, or see it in the browser.
Any help?

Answer 1

It's Base64, as revealed by msg.body.encoding # return "Base64". I'm no email format expert, but I'd guess the Base64 nature of the body was revealed in some header you didn't include in your paste. (After all msg.body.encoding must be getting it from somewhere).
Base64 isn't actually a character encoding like UTF-8. It's instead a conversion of binary data to ascii.
I think it's unfortunate that the Email gem doesn't take care of this for you.
But if what you have is Base64, you can decode it using the stdlib Base64 class.
data = Base64.decode(msg.body)
However, if it's Base64-encoded in the first place, what comes out the other side might not be plain text, but some kind of binary file format (an MS Word document? I dunno), so might still not make sense read directly even once decoded