Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcdc!hpfclp!diamant
From: diamant@hpfclp.SDE.HP.COM (John Diamant)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.headers
Subject: Re: Return-view-to:
Message-ID: <7260009@hpfclp.SDE.HP.COM>
Date: 13 Jun 89 01:06:38 GMT
References: <3990@slxsys.specialix.co.uk>
Organization: HP SESD, Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 22

> In article <3990@slxsys.specialix.co.uk> jpp@specialix.co.uk (John Pettitt) writes:
> > Is the `Return-view-to:' header legal ?  If so what should a user
> > agent do with it ?    
> a User Agent?  Don't you mean the Transport Agent?  User agents don't deal
> with things like retrun-reciept-to, etc... MTAs to.

That's an interesting point, and it may be that the relevant mail standards
say that (I don't know; I'm not familiar with either of the above mentioned
headers), but it wouldn't be a very useful interface if the MTA implemented
return-receipt-to.  A return receipt is analagous to a registered letter.
A receipt should only be generated when the recipient has actually seen
the letter.  To have the MTA supply the receipt would be misleading at best.
All it would tell you is that the mail arrived on the destination host.

This is unfortunate as UAs aren't supposed to have to deal with things like
that, but really, it's the only way to implement a return receipt correctly.


John Diamant
Software Engineering Systems Division
Hewlett-Packard Co.		ARPA Internet: diamant@hpfclp.sde.hp.com
Fort Collins, CO		UUCP:  {hplabs,hpfcla}!hpfclp!diamant