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From: oberman@rogue.llnl.gov
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: question about SMTP MX records
Message-ID: <1990Oct19.133612.1@rogue.llnl.gov>
Date: 19 Oct 90 20:36:12 GMT
References: <1990Oct18.164200.5699@ecst.csuchico.edu>
Sender: usenet@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV
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In article <1990Oct18.164200.5699@ecst.csuchico.edu>, robin@csuchico.edu (Robin Goldstone) writes:
> I am trying to send a message to someone@applelink.apple.com.  This
> host has no TYPE A record, only an MX record.  My mailer currently
> cannot resolve MX records.  As a workaround, I thought I would just
> send to someone%applelink.apple.com@apple.com.  It is my (limited) 
> understanding that addresses are parsed from right to left, so this
> message would be sent to apple.com, who would then be able to forward
> it to applelink.apple.com.
> 
> Some questions:
> 1) is the syntax of the address I am trying to use valid?
> 2) am I violating any network rules by routing my message through
> another host?
> 3) should this message be getting delivered?  
> I have sent several test messages that have disappeared into a black hole...

The use of the '%' hack is not a part of any standard. But it usually works. So
the syntax of the address is probably OK. APPLE.COM is the mail exchanger for
APPLE and APPLELINK, so it SHOULD work, but only by convention. It does not
violate any "rules", such as they aren't. But this type of routing is quite
undesireable--but very common.

Mail to APPLELINK is staged on APPLE.COM for delivery, so maybe the route
between APPLELINK and APPLE is down.

You should really try to get a mailer that handles MX records some day.

					R. Kevin Oberman
					Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
					Internet: oberman@icdc.llnl.gov
   					(415) 422-6955

Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing
and probably don't really know anything useful about anything.