Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!atha!aupair.cs.athabascau.ca!lyndon From: lyndon@cs.athabascau.ca (Lyndon Nerenberg) Newsgroups: comp.mail.headers Subject: Re: Header stripper Message-ID: Date: 15 Apr 91 18:02:19 GMT References: <1991Apr2.063227.25582@engin.umich.edu> <10712@rls.UUCP> <1621@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca> <10715@rls.UUCP> Organization: Athabasca University Lines: 29 randy@rls.UUCP (Randall L. Smith) writes: >Quite right. See my follow up posting with corrections. I didn't read >the RFC's for this information. I simply looked at the actual headers of >news and mail. Mail consistantly has "From " on the first line and news >has "Path:" on the first line, both in the first 5 characters. My guess >is the RFC's somewhere define this. The followup posting was also incorrect (see my second folowup to it :-) "The RFC's" don't define the headers in the manner you allude to. The "Path:" header is defined in the NNTP RFC. That definition places no restrictions on where it is located in the message headers. It can be located anywhere, so depending on it being the first header is incorrect. The "From_" header is not defined in any of the RFC's, although references are made to it in RFC976. The "From_" header is specific to the UUCP *transport*, and *some* UNIX mail UA's. However there is no *requirement* that that header be present. For example, all of my incoming mail does not have a "From_" header - it gets stripped out during delivery into my mailbox. (I use MH under smail3.1 on a Sparcstation.) -- Lyndon Nerenberg VE6BBM / Computing Services / Athabasca University atha!cs.athabascau.ca!lyndon || lyndon@cs.athabascau.ca Packet: ve6bbm@ve6bbm.ab.can.noam The only thing open about OSF is their mouth. --Chuck Musciano