Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!husc6!necntc!adelie!cdx39!jc From: jc@cdx39.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.mail.headers Subject: Re: Routing using @host1:@host2:user@host3 Message-ID: <643@cdx39.UUCP> Date: Wed, 4-Feb-87 14:09:23 EST Article-I.D.: cdx39.643 Posted: Wed Feb 4 14:09:23 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 7-Feb-87 18:28:19 EST References: <4611@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU> <837@astrovax.UUCP> <1322@ncr-sd.UUCP> <608@brl-sem.ARPA> Organization: Codex Corp, a division of Motorola; Canton, MA, USA Lines: 83 Keywords: routed addresses RFC-822 Summary: Where are the commas? In article <608@brl-sem.ARPA>, dpk@brl-sem.ARPA (Doug Kingston ) writes: > In article <1322@ncr-sd.UUCP> matt@ncr-sd.UUCP (Matt Costello) writes: > >What is the status of using > > @host1:@host2:user@host3 # 1 > >versus the 'correct' but ugly > > @host1,@host2:user@host3 # 2 > > Only the second form (#2) is correct and only if the address above > is preceded by a phrase and enclosed in angle brackets. See RFC-822 for > details and read the grammer. It's quite explicit. In an SMTP transaction > the phrase and angles can be dropped as the address is enclosed in angles > already. To quote the standard (page 27 of RFC-822): > Standard for ARPA Internet Text Messages > 6. ADDRESS SPECIFICATION > 6.1. SYNTAX > address = mailbox ; one addressee > / group ; named list > group = phrase ":" [#mailbox] ";" > mailbox = addr-spec ; simple address > / phrase route-addr ; name & addr-spec > route-addr = "<" [route] addr-spec ">" > route = 1#("@" domain) ":" ; path-relative > =====================^ Indicates a comma separated list (see section 2.7) > addr-spec = local-part "@" domain ; global address > local-part = word *("." word) ; uninterpreted > ; case-preserved > domain = sub-domain *("." sub-domain) > sub-domain = domain-ref / domain-literal > domain-ref = atom ; symbolic reference Say what? According to my eyeballs, and to this editor (vi), there are no commas at all within these lines. Note that the original message wasn't asking for the syntax of things like routes or domains; he was asking for the part that described commas. You seem to have quoted all the relevant stuff except the answer to his question. BTW, what does the comma notation *mean*? Is it a list of hosts to send the mail to, i.e., a route? Is is a list of alternatives? Is it a list of other places the mail can be delivered to if host3 isn't available? To use it correctly, you have to know more than the syntax; you have to understand the semantics. So far, I have seen a lot of people toss the syntax around, without any hint as to what it means. How about someone posting that portion of the RFC? > I am certainly not going to defend it as being the most elegant standard > that could have been chosen, but its the one we have and it must be > conformed with as it exists. One quibble: "must" should be replaced with "should". It's clear from the plethora of mailers out there that there is nothing that they *must* do (except reject or drop my mail:-). In fact, I have yet to see the above syntax in even a single piece of mail that I've ever received. Has anyone out there implemented it? If so, please send me some mail, so I won't be able to make the above claim anymore (;-). [To satisfy the requirement that my text lines outnumber the quoted lines.] -- John M Chambers Phone: 617/364-2000x7304 Email: ...{adelie,bu-cs,harvax,inmet,mcsbos,mit-eddie,mot[bos]}!cdx39!{jc,news,root,usenet,uucp} Smail: Codex Corporation; Mailstop C1-30; 20 Cabot Blvd; Mansfield MA 02048-1193 Clever-Saying: Uucp me out of here, Scotty; there's no AI on this node!