Re: message size

[Chip Old <fold @ bcpl . net>]

On Wed, 6 Jun 2001, Christopher A. Adams wrote:

> I have configured the message size in the configuration file and it
> seems to work fine.Usually, when people send attachments, the message
> bounces because of the size. The size of the attachment plus the size
> of the message don't seem to be near the size that I have configured.
> Does anyone have any insight to this?

If you're using the size of the original file, there's the problem.  File
attachments are MIME-encoded to convert binary data to ASCII text.  The
resulting attachment is always larger than the original file.  It's
impossible to predict how much larger an attachment will be; it depends on
how much of what kind of binary data the original file contains.

> Also, I imagine that the deliverable sized is also somewhat dependant
> on the MTA that I am using, Postfix in this case.

I don't know about Postfix (we use Sendmail), but most MTAs can be
configured to limit the maximum message size that will be accepted for
delivery.

-- 
Chip Old (Francis E. Old)             E-Mail:  fold@bcpl.net
Manager, BCPL Network Services        Phone:   410-887-6180
Manager, BCPL.NET Internet Services   FAX:     410-887-2091
Baltimore County Public Library
320 York Road
Towson, MD 21204  USA