Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!pacbell!pbhyf!rob
From: rob@PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: Message Headers
Keywords: RFC822
Message-ID: <5133@pbhyf.PacBell.COM>
Date: 26 Apr 89 04:57:21 GMT
References: <2308@lethe.UUCP>
Reply-To: rob@PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo)
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
Lines: 29

In article <2308@lethe.UUCP> drew@lethe.UUCP (Drew Sullivan) writes:
+I was testing some auto-mated mailer script and noticed that
+elm was generating the headers for mail messages in the wrong order.
+[Based on RFC822 dated Aug 13, 1982, Page 17 -- (4.) Message Specification]

I quote from the elm known buglist:

    RFC822 should be obeyed with regards to the recommended (but not 
    obligatory) order of message header lines. Currently filter(1) and 
    elm(1) put Subject: first because of a problem with some USG versions 
    of rmail(1). Some USG versions of rmail(1) will put a null line 
    before the header lines, thereby making them text body instead of 
    header, if either the Subject: header line is not first or rmail(1) 
    isn't called with a -s flag. The set of rmail(1)'s that tolerate the 
    -s flag is a superset of the rmail(1)'s with this ``Subject: first'' 
    requirement, but not all rmail(1)'s tolerate -s. Therefore we need to 
    find a way that Configure can determine if the rmail(1) on the system 
    will tolerate the -s flag. 

In other words:
	1. It is only a recommendation in RFC822.
	2. We know about the problem.
	3. We don't have a good way of dealing with complications posed by
	   rmail.
-- 
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell UNIX/C Reusable Code Library
Email:     ...![backbone]!pacbell!pbhyf!rob   OR  rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM
Office:    (415) 823-2417  Room 4E850O San Ramon Valley Administrative Center
Residence: (415) 827-4301  R Bar JB, Concord, California