Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!sun!eureka!argv From: argv%eureka@Sun.COM (Dan Heller) Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc Subject: Re: binmail vs MMDF mail file format Message-ID: <113918@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> Date: 6 Jul 89 06:37:57 GMT Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM Reply-To: island!argv@sun.com (Dan Heller) Lines: 36 In article wisner@mica.Berkeley.EDU (Bill Wisner) writes: > On the other hand, I see "^From " in messages > quite frequently. Well, actually, it's "^>From " that I see frequently. > UNIX's stoopid mail format insures that no line which starts with the word > From will survive intact. This mangling of mail is completely unwarranted. > This sorry excuse for a mailbox format should have been retired years ago. Several problems with your observations I think. 1) Any line that starts with "From " will turn into a ">From" line as soon as a sendmail system finds it. You're blaming an MUA for a fault of the MTA. This has nothing to do with Mail, Mush or MH. 2) "From " is not the message separator -- the message separator is: "From
\n" Mush, unlike mail, will let From_ lines go and not assume a new message unless the From_ line meets the above criteria. While it's true that you won't see 4 ^A's in a row, chances are also likely that you won't see the above format -unless- you are mailing a folder. In both cases, (^A's and From_), you must prefix the string with something ('>' for example) to delineate it from being another message. I have just pointed out that logistically, the two formats are functionally the same. The advantage that unix-mail format has over MMDF format is the fact that you can't send ^A's in mail messages. As a result, you can't mail MMDF folders to another site any more easily than you can send a unix-format folder. In both cases, the folder has to be modified somehow. dan ----- My postings reflect my opinion only -- I represent no company's opinions.