Whenever OpenVMS MAIL is used to send a MIME encoded file, if the
    address in not a TCP/IP mail address, MAIL will add an extra blank
    line between it's mail headers and the message. This is standard
    for OpenVMS MAIL to separate its mail headers from the message.
    Consequently, this blank line may pose a problem to most MIME
    capable applications because it separates the MIME headers as well.

    However, if a TCP/IP mail address is used, the TCP/IP for OpenVMS
    SMTP service will send the MIME encoded mail with the properly
    formatted (RFC822) mail message and MIME headers. A blank line
    will properly separate the mail/MIME headers from the message body.

    An alternative is to use the DCL command line to send the mail, (e.g.):

    $ MAIL/NOSELF MimeFile.TXT smtp%"user@domain.com" /subject="Sending MIME"

    Note that using SMTP for MIME mail requires TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS
    5.0A + an SMTP patch or a later version.

    There are other problems with SMTP HEADER position that can affect
    MIME mail, please see Restrictions section for further information.

1  –  Restrictions

    On some SMTP/MIME mail systems, the message headers can be moved
    from the beginning of the message, where they would normally
    appear, to the end of the  message, as a convenience  to the
    reader. Unfortunately, this makes it impossible for MIME
    interpreters such as  the MIME utility to interpret the contents
    of the message. If SMTP  messages are reformatted in this
    manner, see the system administrator  about disabling this
    feature so that SMTP headers appear in their  original position
    at the beginning of the message. For TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS,
    you can disable this feature using the command:

 	SET CONFIGURATION SMTP/OPTIONS=TOP

    The MIME utility does not fully integrate with the VMSMAIL
    user interface to send MIME messages over the internet. You can
    use VMSMAIL to send MIME messages created and saved with the MIME
    utility. Those messages can then be interpreted using MIME at the
    destination OpenVMS host or with a MIME capable reader on another
    system platform.

    As of TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS version V5.0A, a known problem
    exists where an extra NEWLINE character corrupts the MIME message
    sent with SMTP. MIME messages sent with TCP/IP V5.0A and prior may
    not be interpreted correctly by MIME programs other than the
    OpenVMS MIME Utility. This problem was corrected in later versions
    of TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS or with a patch to V5.0A.

    SFF could be used as an alternative on systems prior to TCPIP
    V5.0A and the SMTP Patch.

        $ r TCPIP$SYSTEM:TCPIP$SMTP_SFF.EXE
        Usage: SMTP_SFF infile_name [-log logfile_name] [-loglevel log_level]
        infile_name     : Name of text input file containing SMTP mail to send.
        logfile_name    : Name of text log file to log diagnostics to.
    			 (Default SYS$OUTPUT).
        log_level       : Debug log level. 1 or 0 at this time. (Default 0)

    See the TCP/IP Service release notes and documentation for more
    information.