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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!trwrb!trwspp!spp2!urban
From: urban@spp2.UUCP (Mike Urban)
Newsgroups: net.mail
Subject: Yet another Sendmail problem
Message-ID: <535@spp2.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 10-Apr-85 16:44:09 EST
Article-I.D.: spp2.535
Posted: Wed Apr 10 16:44:09 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 14-Apr-85 02:21:22 EST
Reply-To: urban@spp2.UUCP (Mike Urban)
Organization: TRW, Redondo Beach  CA
Lines: 45

Yes, it's another query for the Group Mind regarding the
vagaries of Sendmail.  We have a semi-complex configuration
file that knows about our local ethernet, UUCP, and even
does automatic routing to places like "ihnp4" (who insist
on putting `From: site!person@ihnp4' in the header).  This
is on a 4.2bsd system, BTW.

But, there's something weird going on.  When we send mail via
UUCP among our machines, the information on the sender fails
to get turned into a `From:' header line on delivery.  Some
investigation showed that if `rmail' hands `sendmail' a
message like:

	Date: whatever
	Subject: whatever else
	body of message

and supplies the sender in the -f option to sendmail, the
sender information only gets placed in a "mail"-format (not
rfc822) "from" header line in the /usr/spool/mail file,  and no
"From:" header is created.  BUT, if the "Date:" line is
omitted, sendmail *will* create the "From:" line on the basis
of the -f information (and the Full-name: option and all that
stuff).

Evidently(?), something is assuming that if there's a "Date:"
line, there's going to be a "From:" line as well, and none gets
created.  But a quick glance through the code didn't shed any
light on this behavior.  I would rather that our news-sending
programs (MH) be permitted to place "Date:" lines, but don't
want them to place "From:" lines since such lines tend to
confuse far-away mail programs much more than they help (what
do YOU do when you see one of those "From: foo!bar@ihnp4.UUCP"
lines, assuming you're not a direct neighbor of ihnp4?).

  Can someone give me a clue?

	Mike

-- 

   Mike Urban
	{ucbvax|decvax}!trwrb!trwspp!spp2!urban 

"You're in a maze of twisty UUCP connections, all alike"