Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site hou3c.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!hou3c!wcwells%ucbopal.CC@Berkeley.ARPA From: wcwells@ucbopal.CC.Berkeley.ARPA (William C. Wells) Newsgroups: net.mail.headers Subject: Re: user-editable mail headers Message-ID: <8408251744.AA10519@ucbopal.CC.Berkeley.ARPA> Date: Sat, 25-Aug-84 13:44:18 EDT Article-I.D.: hou3c.803 Posted: Sat Aug 25 13:44:18 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 29-Aug-84 01:21:14 EDT Sender: ka@hou3c.UUCP (Kenneth Almquist) Lines: 50 To: MRC@SU-SCORE.ARPA Cc: header-people@mit-mc.ARPA In reply to: Date: Sat 25 Aug 84 09:12:21-PDT From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: user-editable mail headers .... I feel it violates all concepts of modularity to have the mail delivery agent know about whatever is inside the message. Part of the problem is that the Internet mail protocols still insist upon having syntax-checking of this thing called a "message header" inside the message, instead of having all that stuff be external and/or obtained from the envelope at the transport level where it belongs. ------- Lets be clear about whether you are talking about mail user agent or mail transport agent functions. A message composed by a user should have its headers validated before it is passed to a mail transport agent to be transmitted. That is, the header should be full and complete before it is passed to the envelope builder. I concur that the envelope should contain the information it needs to the job. For example, Precedence and Classification should be part of the SMTP envelope. But since those fields are user defined (in the DOD community), they first have to be in the "contents" header. Within the same mail system, it should not be necessary for intermediate mail agent program to check or modify the "contents" message header (with the exception of adding the "Received" audit trail). However, when the message is gatewayed into another mail system, format and address conversion may need to be preformed. I think some of the problems we have been having are a result of the unofficial policy of making mail programs liberal in what they are willing to receive and (hopefully) strict about what they transmit. I would like to suggest that gateway mail agents enforce the rules. If you are a gateway into the Internet mail community, you should have a syntax and address checker between the Internet mail agent program and the non-Internet mail system. Of course, if you want to be kind to your non-Internet neighbor, you can put a conversion program between the non-Internet mail system and the check program. Bill Wells wcwells@Berkeley.ARPA ucbvax!wcwells WCWELLS@UCBJADE.BITNET