E-Mail [] (of English electronics mail "‚electronic (r) post office/letter `; also briefly Mail) designates, a letter-like message transferred on electronic way in computer networks. Eindeutschungen such as E-letter or E-post office, jokeful also "„current post office "“, meet so far on little acceptance. Unclear finally is the assigned grammatical sex. While in Germany predominantly the feminine form became generally accepted (the Mail), dominated in Austria and in Switzerland the Neutrum (the Mail).

E-Mail is regarded - still before the World Wide Web - as the most important and usually used service of the Internets. Over half of the world-wide E-Mail arising in the Internet is to be due however for approx. 2002 to Spam.

History

Before arising E-Mail messages were conveyed as letter or telegram, later than telexes and fax. End of the 1960er years began then the triumphant advance of the E-Mail - it was one of first applications, which used the possibilities of the ARPANETs. The introduction of E-Mail was planned purposefully, but conquered the network due to the user behavior. This surprised the Arpanet initiators, because still 1967 had said Lawrence Robert, the later leader of IPTO, the possibility of the exchange of messages among the network participants was "„emergency on important motivation for A network OF scientific computer "“(dt.: "„no important motive to develop a network of scientific computers "“). Already 1971 exceeded the total volume of the electronic Mailverkehrs the volume of data, which was completed over telnet and ftp.

As an inventor the computer engineer Ray Tomlinson is considered to the electronic post office. First tests took place 1971, and toward end (November od. Decembers) 1971 had the programs (SNDMSG/READMAIL), developed by it, premiere. At that time with the private research enterprise the BBN (Bolt, Beranek and Newman) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the structure of the ARPANET cannot say busy inventors exactly however according to own data any longer, what contents of the first message were. The first letter row of an American computer keyboard "„QWERTYUIOP "“is however very probable.

Parallel to the Internet years in most networks of systems developed at the beginning of the 1980er, with which messages could be transferred. In addition belonged among other things mailbox systems, X.25, Novell and VTX. These systems were strongly displaced in the middle of the 1990er by the spreading of the Internet. From this time, i.e. from the year 1982, originates also the RFC 822, which for the first time treated the format of text messages in the Arpanet.

In Germany on 2 August 1984 those were received and sent allegedly first Internet enamels: The Karlsruher Internet pioneer Werner anger answered the official welcome greeting of the US-American CSNet, to a manufacturer-spreading platform for electronic communication of scientists.

Today (2006) enamels are transferred predominantly by smtp over Internet and in local area networks, X.400, an open, world-wide standard, are only used beside it still seriously.

The first large group of E-Mail discussions, which developed in the ARPANET, was the SF-LOVERS-list, in that a set of ARPA researchers at public discussions over Science Fiction took part (Rhine gold, 1994). SF-LOVERS emerged in the late 70's in the ARPANET. First one tried to intervene against it because such activities had to do few even during most liberal interpretation with research. For some months the list became therefore closed. Finally the responsible persons the ARPA were convinced however with the argument that SF-LOVERS was an important pilot project for the study of the administration and the enterprise of large mailing lists (hoods, 1993). System engineers had the system repeated changes, so that it could master like an explosion rising the message arising.

Technical details

Structure of a E-Mail

The format of a E-Mail is specified by the RFC 2822. Afterwards enamels consist only of text characters. In order to facilitate for computers the forwarding and/or the representation, enamels are internally divided into two parts. The part with transmitter and receiver lines, substantial for forwarding and/or feed, is called header. The part with actual contents of the message is called Body.

Header - the head of the E-Mail

Major item: Header (E-Mail)

The headers headlines mentioned of a E-Mail give information over the way, which a E-Mail took, and offer referring to senders, receivers, date to the production and stations of the transmission.

Body - contents of the E-Mail

The Body of a E-Mail is separate by a blank line from the header and contains the information which can be transmitted in one or more parts.

A E-Mail may contain indications of the 7-Bit of ASCII character set in accordance with RFC 2822 section 2,3 only. If other indications or data are being transmitted like for example pictures, these must be coded before suitably. By RFC the 2045 FF are regulated (see also MIME and base64). Current Mail Clients codes text and appendices of file (see down) if necessary automatically.

Apart from the classical plain language partial messages are dispatched also as HTML file - partly inadvertently and unconsciously by the pre-setting of the Mail Clients, partly consciously, in order to be able to use writing honors. Many receivers reject HTML Mail however, since these represent a safety risk when using Javascript or use of other resources. Besides the interpretation of the HTML code depends strongly on the user environment of the receiver, whereby optical effects or formatting are frequently not represented in such a way, how this was meant from the sender.

Size

The maximum size of enamels is not limited in principle. In the reality however borders show up by technical or administrative restrictions of the systems, which transfer or receive the E-Mail. Thus at present (2005) with enamels starting from approx. 20 MT size, regularly problems arise. In such cases the sender receives an error message.

Elements of a E-Mail

The E-Mail address

Major item: E-Mail address

A E-Mail address is the indication, which the receiver of a E-Mail clearly designation and so that a feed makes possible to this receiver. A E-Mail address, how it is used for transport by smtp in the Internet, consists of two parts: A local part, in English local part mentioned and a global part, in English domain part mentioned. Both parts are connected by the RK character (@). With the E-Mail address info@wikipedia.org wikipedia.org is the domain part, info. of the local part. Other transportation mechanisms like e.g. UUCP or X.400 use another address syntax.

Appendices of file

An appendix of file (English Attachment) is a file, which is sent away in the Body of a E-Mail. This is made possible by MIME minutes, which regulates the partitioning of the Bodys and coding the file. Appendices of file can contain computer viruses, therefore should be gone around carefully with them. The size of a Attachments is in principle not limited, however in the reality by restrictions of size for the entire E-Mail is limited.

Dispatch

Used minutes

• Smtp is minutes to the Mailversand and - transport.
• POP3 serves for the call of Mails of a Mailserver.
• IMAP serves to access mailboxes which lie on Mailservern.
• SMAP is an advancement of IMAP.
• UUCP is minutes, with which enamels are collected and with the next connection establishment are sent away. It lost today strongly at meaning.

Monitoring

Major item: E-Mail monitoring

In the meantime in many countries E-Mail traffic is supervised by the state. In Germany 2005 Internet service tenderers are obligated to reproach appropriate hard and software in order to be able to respond to a monitoring arrangement immediately, without receiving for the costs arising from it a financial reconciliation for the year. First Internet service tenderers already justified end of 2004 price increases thereby.

Use interface

For production, to the dispatch and to the receipt of enamels there are several possibilities.

Major item: E-Mail program

For the use of E-Mail can be called, used a E-Mail program, also a E-Mail-Client or an Mail user agent (MUA). Such a program is installed and communicated for one or more Mail servers of a Mail Providers on the computer of the user with.

Major item: Webmail

As alternative procedure for the use of a E-Mail program also the use of Webmail was established. Instead of with a locally installed program here the enamels are worked on with a Web Browser on a Web server of the Mail Providers.

Articles in category "E-Mail"

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