[comp.mail.misc] You can't get to Austria from here!

stealth@caen.engin.umich.edu (Mike Pelletier) (12/08/90)

In article <1990Dec5.145056.24286@mp.cs.niu.edu>
	rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) writes:
>In article <1990Dec5.073026.2121@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>
	xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG writes:
>>1) Some kind soul fixed news software so that those with an ancient Unix
>>that treats an "@" as a line kill character as a starting default, and
>>never change the default, could type the "@" sign of a domain address as
>>a field containing "at", and it would get translated to the appropriate
>>"@" sign.
>>
>>2) Some other kind standards body designating two letter names for
>>domain nation identifiers decided that "at" would be the tag for
>>Austria.
>>
> Most mailers do not do this.  Some do.  If the offending mailer is 'sendmail',
>look for a rule something like the following in 'sendmail.cf':
>
>R$+ at $+	$:$1@$2
>
>and simply remove that rewrite rule.

That rule would work properly when given a host.at address, wouldn't it?
It's a rule like:

R$*at$*	$:$1@$2

that would mess things up.  The dot just before the "at" wouldn't match
the space in the first rewrite rule.
--
	Mike Pelletier - Usenet News Admin & Programmer
"Wind, waves, etc. are breakdowns in the face of the commitment to getting
 from here to there.  But they are the conditions for sailing -- not
 something to be gotten rid of, but something to be danced with."

rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) (12/08/90)

In article <1990Dec7.172826.2643@engin.umich.edu> stealth@caen.engin.umich.edu (Mike Pelletier) writes:
>In article <1990Dec5.145056.24286@mp.cs.niu.edu>
>	rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) writes:
>>look for a rule something like the following in 'sendmail.cf':
>>
>>R$+ at $+	$:$1@$2
>>
>>and simply remove that rewrite rule.
>
>That rule would work properly when given a host.at address, wouldn't it?
>It's a rule like:
>
>R$*at$*	$:$1@$2
>
>that would mess things up.  The dot just before the "at" wouldn't match
>the space in the first rewrite rule.

  I am afraid you are confused on this one.  Spaces are not technically part of
addresses, so 'sendmail' never 'matches' a space.  The space is treated only
as a token separator in tokenizing an address, but is never incorporated into
any of the tokens.

Any address which is rewritten by:

R$*at$*		$:$1@$2

will be rewritten in exactly the same way by

R$* at $*	$:$1@$2

In fact both rewrite rules have the identical internal representation
once 'sendmail.cf' has been read and converted to internal form.

Just remove all such rules.  They cause more problems than they solve, and
today mail entering the internet with 'at' addresses is quite uncommon.
You don't need those rules any more.

-- 
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
  Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science               <rickert@cs.niu.edu>
  Northern Illinois Univ.
  DeKalb, IL 60115.                                  +1-815-753-6940

Andy.Linton@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Andy Linton) (12/10/90)

In article <1990Dec7.180244.13049@mp.cs.niu.edu>, rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu
(Neil Rickert) writes:

|> Just remove all such rules.  They cause more problems than they solve, and
|> today mail entering the internet with 'at' addresses is quite uncommon.
|> You don't need those rules any more.

I agree and if you want a reference to justify your decision for not
supporting the 'at' addresses:

In RFC 822, Appendix C.  DIFFERENCES FROM RFC #733,

C.5.5.  AT-SIGN

        The string " at " no longer is used as an  address  delimiter.
        Only at-sign ("@") serves the function.

This is dated August 13, 1982 - how long does it take to get this out of
the sytem? (:-)

andy

jbaltz@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Jerry B. Altzman) (12/11/90)

In article <1990Dec09.211009.6633@comp.vuw.ac.nz> Andy.Linton@comp.vuw.ac.nz writes:
>
>In RFC 822, Appendix C.  DIFFERENCES FROM RFC #733,
>
>C.5.5.  AT-SIGN
>
>        The string " at " no longer is used as an  address  delimiter.
>        Only at-sign ("@") serves the function.
>
>This is dated August 13, 1982 - how long does it take to get this out of
>the sytem? (:-)

Until IBM decides to unsupport "user AT host" nje addresses  :-)


>andy
//jbaltz
--

jerry b. altzman  "I didn't do it, and when I did I wasn't"      212 854 8058
jbaltz@columbia.edu   "there, and you deserved it."      jauus@cuvmb (bitnet)
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