Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!rutgers!sri-unix!hplabs!decwrl!pyramid!prls!philabs!micomvax!musocs!mcgill-vision!mouse From: mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.mail.headers Subject: Re: Routing using @host1:@host2:user@host3 Message-ID: <649@mcgill-vision.UUCP> Date: Wed, 11-Feb-87 21:32:59 EST Article-I.D.: mcgill-v.649 Posted: Wed Feb 11 21:32:59 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 15-Feb-87 01:01:39 EST References: Organization: McGill University, Montreal Lines: 46 In article , cfe#@andrew.cmu.edu (Craig F. Everhart) writes: > Neither > @host1:@host2:user@host3 > nor > @host1,@host2:user@host3 > is correct. The correct form is > <@host1,@host2:user@host3> > > But then again, we can ask why you're looking for ways to bend > standards? Why not generate the correct form? Because too much existing software barfs on it. I've run into this problem here. I redid our sendmail configuration so that it generates RFC-style routes (I won't call them compliant because they contain internal pseudo-domains). However, when the route gets long enough to contain a comma, there are problems. Problem 1 is that, as you point out, there must be <>s around it. So we add <>s. But someone, somewhere, insists on adding another set, resulting in an address like <<@foo,@bar:user@baz>> which is rather distasteful, even though I have managed to make the software accept it (does such a mess Conform to the Standard?). This way we don't get things like From: @bar:user@baz, @foo out of sendmail. But wait, there's a worse problem: /usr/ucb/Mail takes the above <<@a,@b:c@d>> and strips off both angle brackets and then insists on treating the comma as a separator, resulting in (again!) two separate addresses. I'm about ready to go to percent signs, which at least work. I don't like to though, the Conforming addresses should work (and I shouldn't have those stupid double <<>>!!). Does anybody have any suggestions for a way out of this mess? der Mouse USA: {ihnp4,decvax,akgua,utzoo,etc}!utcsri!mcgill-vision!mouse think!mosart!mcgill-vision!mouse Europe: mcvax!decvax!utcsri!mcgill-vision!mouse ARPAnet: think!mosart!mcgill-vision!mouse@harvard.harvard.edu