Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!mp.cs.niu.edu!rickert
From: rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.sendmail
Subject: Re: Free standing periods
Message-ID: <1991May10.185147.18869@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Date: 10 May 91 18:51:47 GMT
References: <ne1H#ou@cs.psu.edu>
Organization: Northern Illinois University
Lines: 38

In article <ne1H#ou@cs.psu.edu> ehrlich@cs.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) writes:
>After many hours of debate with others here at Penn State we still have not
>resolved the following:  Are free standing periods allowed in a mailbox
>specification?  For example, most sendmails will happily accept
>
>	John Q. Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu>
>
>Rayan Zachariassen's ZMailer on the other hand complains loudly that free
>standing periods can only occur inside a quoted string.  Here is an example:

  Just because 'sendmail' tolerates this does not imply it is correct.

  Here are some excerpts from RFC822.  The address you have given
approximately matches the 'phrase route-addr' specification, with
"John Q. Public" the phrase.

     phrase      =  1*word                       ; Sequence of words

     word        =  atom / quoted-string

     mailbox     =  addr-spec                    ; simple address
                 /  phrase route-addr            ; name & addr-spec

     atom        =  1*<any CHAR except specials, SPACE and CTLs>

     specials    =  "(" / ")" / "<" / ">" / "@"  ; Must be in quoted-
                 /  "," / ";" / ":" / "\" / <">  ;  string, to use
                 /  "." / "[" / "]"              ;  within a word.


  It looks pretty clear to me.  The 'phrase' is made up of words, and
the words may not include an unquoted period.

-- 
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
  Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science               <rickert@cs.niu.edu>
  Northern Illinois Univ.
  DeKalb, IL 60115                                   +1-815-753-6940