[net.mail] looking for definition of a USENET mail item

jhall@ihuxu.UUCP (12/15/83)

I'm looking for a definition of a mail item as used as a standard
in the various mail programs on USENET.  I've found that the following
rather naive definition works on the couple of hundred incoming mail
items I've been saving:

A mail item consists of a line beginning with the string "From " starting
in column one, followed by zero or more lines that do not start with
"From ", and ending upon an EOF or upon reaching the start of the next
mail item.

The key point of course is that this assumes that lines in the contents
of the message do not begin with "From ", or more likely have been
prepended with ">" by the mailer before sending.

I suspect that there's a better definition out there, although I am
skeptical about a universal standard for almost anything on USENET.

Please post your replies to the net.
-- 
--John R. Hall, ihuxu!jhall