Rails core - May 2011 - problems with ActionMailer & multipart emails, works in OS X Mail but not in other mail readers

I''m on Rails 3.0.7 and having problems with the ActionMailer &
multipart emails -- has anyone verified that when sending multipart
emails they work correctly in several email readers?

Here''s my mailer:

 def feature_announce(user)
   @user = user
   mail(:to => "#{user.name} <#{user.email}>",
        :subject => "Test Feature Announcement")
 end

I have a template for feature_announce.html.erb and another
feature_announce.text.erb

This syntax is taken straight from the ActionMailer guide for Rails 3.

The email works fine (plain text & html) in Apple Mail, but doesn''t
appear correctly on Gmail (web browser interface) or on iPhone.

When I open the message in Gmail, I see this (I''ve obscured the sender
name)

http://screencast.com/t/V6zNUhjsE8A

If I click on the "noname" file and download it to my desktop, then
open it in a text editor I see the HTML that was supposed to make up
the body of the message.


When looking at the raw headers of the email, they appear a little
odd...

in the header:

Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
 boundary*="utf8''en''--==_mimepart_4dc028b2f0d86_2dc7800d21b03013b";
 charset*=utf8''en''UTF-8


But then I see 3 boundaries, like so:

----==_mimepart_4dc028b2f0d86_2dc7800d21b03013b
Date: Tue, 03 May 2011 12:09:22 -0400
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
 charset*=utf8''en''UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-ID: <4dc028b2f392a_2dc7800d21b0302dc@Fleetwoods-
Mac.local.mail>

.... some plain text content (ommitted) ......

----==_mimepart_4dc028b2f0d86_2dc7800d21b03013b
Date: Tue, 03 May 2011 12:09:23 -0400
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
 charset*=utf8''en''UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-ID: <4dc028b38ae_2dc7800d21b03039e@Fleetwoods-Mac.local.mail>


.... some HTML content (ommitted) ....


----==_mimepart_4dc028b2f0d86_2dc7800d21b03013b--

--utf8''en''--==_mimepart_4dc028b2f0d86_2dc7800d21b03013b--

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I''ve identified the problem although I''m not sure where it is
coming
from.

there appears to be a feature in Rails 3 that auto-detects UTF-8
characaters somewhere in your email and encodes your headers
appropriately.

When I started with a fresh Rails 3.0.7 project, I''m able to do the
most simple html/plain email and get a content-type header that looks
like this:

Content-Type: 	multipart/alternative; boundary="--
==_mimepart_4dc1cf5d84985_1fc7800d21b0517aa"; charset=UTF-8

I notice that these emails -- which work find in Gmail -- don''t have
odd-looking =?UTF8?Q? symbols scattered throughout the headers

Then, on my project which is already started, when I go to generate an
email with what looks like is the exact same settings & content, I get
this:

Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
 boundary*="utf8''en''--==_mimepart_4dc1d4f8459fb_22ab800d21b083558";
 charset*=utf8''en''UTF-8


It appears that something is malformed here, and Gmail is hiccuping on
that weird-looking boundary marker I think.

The trouble is, I''m not sure how to turn off the UTF-8 encoding thing
or to keep it from kicking in. Actually I''m not sure what is making it
kick in here and not on a brand new, from-scratch project.

Still investigating, but is it these UTF markers inside the headers
that seems to be causing the problem.

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I''ve identified the problem although I''m not sure where it is
coming
from.

there appears to be a feature in Rails 3 that auto-detects UTF-8
characaters somewhere in your email and encodes your headers
appropriately.

When I started with a fresh Rails 3.0.7 project, I''m able to do the
most simple html/plain email and get a content-type header that looks
like this:

Content-Type: 	multipart/alternative; boundary="--
==_mimepart_4dc1cf5d84985_1fc7800d21b0517aa"; charset=UTF-8

I notice that these emails -- which work find in Gmail -- don''t have
odd-looking =?UTF8?Q? symbols scattered throughout the headers

Then, on my project which is already started, when I go to generate an
email with what looks like is the exact same settings & content, I get
this:

Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
 boundary*="utf8''en''--==_mimepart_4dc1d4f8459fb_22ab800d21b083558";
 charset*=utf8''en''UTF-8


It appears that something is malformed here, and Gmail is hiccuping on
that weird-looking boundary marker I think.

The trouble is, I''m not sure how to turn off the UTF-8 encoding thing
or to keep it from kicking in. Actually I''m not sure what is making it
kick in here and not on a brand new, from-scratch project.

Still investigating, but is it these UTF markers inside the headers
that seems to be causing the problem.

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Got the problem isolated down to one particular gem (Yes, I had to do
a split-half search turning them off & on to figure this out).

The conflict is with a gem called writeexcel. I have no idea what this
is a conflict -- this gem has nothing to do with sending out mail and
it is used in an unrelated part of my app, but as you an see, when
this gem is activated I get this in the outgoing email header:

<Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=utf8''en''--
==_mimepart_4dc305ed68008_8473800d21b024556;
charset=utf8''en''UTF-8>,
<Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit>>

When uninstalled, I get this:

<Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="--==_mimepart_4dc3056f27a84_83df800d21b07422d";
charset=UTF-8>, <Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit>>

As far as I can tell the latter one is the correct one, not the former
one.

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Got the problem isolated down to one particular gem (Yes, I had to do
a split-half search turning them off & on to figure this out).

The conflict is with a gem called writeexcel. I have no idea what this
is a conflict -- this gem has nothing to do with sending out mail and
it is used in an unrelated part of my app, but as you an see, when
this gem is activated I get this in the outgoing email header:

<Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=utf8''en''--
==_mimepart_4dc305ed68008_8473800d21b024556;
charset=utf8''en''UTF-8>,
<Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit>>

When uninstalled, I get this:

<Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="--==_mimepart_4dc3056f27a84_83df800d21b07422d";
charset=UTF-8>, <Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit>>

As far as I can tell the latter one is the correct one, not the former
one.

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