Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!gatech!prism!dali.cc.gatech.edu!keith
From: keith@dali.cc.gatech.edu (keith edwards)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.multi-media
Subject: Re: X Multi-Media Mail, Request for Information
Message-ID: <25725@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Date: 6 Apr 91 19:04:34 GMT
References: <2268@cluster.cs.su.oz.au>
Sender: news@prism.gatech.EDU
Reply-To: keith@cc.gatech.edu (keith edwards)
Organization: software engineering research center / georgia tech
Lines: 42

In article <2268@cluster.cs.su.oz.au> steven@basser.cs.su.OZ.AU (Steven Sommer) writes:
>
>I am currently working on an honours project which involves developing a 
>Multi-Media mailing system to run under X11 and unix. It will need to be
>fully compatible with our current system (ie with RFC-822).
>
>I would appreciate any information you could send me that you think would be
>of value. Eg. Information on current systems, names and sources of definitive
>papers, highly recommended books etc.
>
>Thanks,
>  Steven Sommer

We (the Multimedia Computing Group at Georgia Tech) have developed an X-based
multimedia mail system named Montage.  The system allows the transmission of
compound documents along with a "table of contents" that specifies the types
of the various components of the document.  These types are then used to
index into a user defaults database that retrieves "handlers" specified by
the user for each particular media type.  The system does not specify any
predefined types so Montage is extensible to new media by end users.

Montage uses a packing process to allow the transmission of arbitrary messages
via RFC-822.

Look in the Proceedings of IEEE Tricom '91 (which will be held Apr 17-19
in Chapel Hill, NC) for a paper called, "The Design and Implementation of the
Montage Multimedia Mail System."  This paper gives an overview of the structure
of Montage messages and details how the system was implemented.

Someone also told me (although I haven't seen it yet) that there is a brief
writeup on the system in the Multimedia Supplement in this month's EE Times.

Mail me if you want more info.

Cheers,
Keith

--
keith edwards -- the software engineering research center / multimedia group
  internet:  keith@dali.cc.gatech.edu                       georgia tech
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