ehrlich@cs.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) (05/11/91)
After many hours of debate with others here at Penn State we still have not resolved the following: Are free standing periods allowed in a mailbox specification? For example, most sendmails will happily accept John Q. Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu> Rayan Zachariassen's ZMailer on the other hand complains loudly that free standing periods can only occur inside a quoted string. Here is an example: Illegal-Object: Syntax error in From: address found on cs.psu.edu: From: John Q.Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu> ^ ^-illegal period in phrase \-phrases containing '.' must be quoted After pouring over RFC822 and RFC1123 a few times I have come to the conclusion that this case is not clearly covered. I would appreciate hearing what others have to say on this matter. Another question. Is there an official 'interpreter' of RFCs or is it just left up to the concensus of the majority? Thanks in advance. -- Dan Ehrlich - Sr. Systems Programmer - Penn State Computer Science <ehrlich@cs.psu.edu>/Voice: +1 814 863 1142/FAX: +1 814 865 3176
rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) (05/11/91)
In article <ne1H#ou@cs.psu.edu> ehrlich@cs.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) writes: >After many hours of debate with others here at Penn State we still have not >resolved the following: Are free standing periods allowed in a mailbox >specification? For example, most sendmails will happily accept > > John Q. Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu> > >Rayan Zachariassen's ZMailer on the other hand complains loudly that free >standing periods can only occur inside a quoted string. Here is an example: Just because 'sendmail' tolerates this does not imply it is correct. Here are some excerpts from RFC822. The address you have given approximately matches the 'phrase route-addr' specification, with "John Q. Public" the phrase. phrase = 1*word ; Sequence of words word = atom / quoted-string mailbox = addr-spec ; simple address / phrase route-addr ; name & addr-spec atom = 1*<any CHAR except specials, SPACE and CTLs> specials = "(" / ")" / "<" / ">" / "@" ; Must be in quoted- / "," / ";" / ":" / "\" / <"> ; string, to use / "." / "[" / "]" ; within a word. It looks pretty clear to me. The 'phrase' is made up of words, and the words may not include an unquoted period. -- =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science <rickert@cs.niu.edu> Northern Illinois Univ. DeKalb, IL 60115 +1-815-753-6940
mdb@ESD.3Com.COM (Mark D. Baushke) (05/11/91)
On 10 May 91 18:14:49 GMT, ehrlich@cs.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) said:
Dan> After many hours of debate with others here at Penn State we
Dan> still have not resolved the following: Are free standing periods
Dan> allowed in a mailbox specification? For example, most sendmails
Dan> will happily accept
Dan> John Q. Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu>
Dan> Rayan Zachariassen's ZMailer on the other hand complains loudly
Dan> that free standing periods can only occur inside a quoted string.
Dan> Here is an example:
Dan> Illegal-Object: Syntax error in From: address found on cs.psu.edu:
Dan> From: John Q.Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu>
Dan> ^ ^-illegal period in phrase
Dan> \-phrases containing '.' must be quoted
Dan> After pouring over RFC822 and RFC1123 a few times I have come to
Dan> the conclusion that this case is not clearly covered.
In RFC822, in section 3.3 LEXICAL TOKENS we see the following:
specials = "(" / ")" / "<" / ">" / "@" ; Must be in quoted-
/ "," / ";" / ":" / "\" / <"> ; string, to use
/ "." / "[" / "]" ; within a word.
atom = 1*<any CHAR except specials, SPACE and CTLs>
phrase = 1*word ; Sequence of words
word = atom / quoted-string
Since 'specials' includes '.' and has the comment that it must be in a
quoted string to use within a word, I believe that the ZMailer
interpretation appears to be legally correct.
Also note that MH (6.7 w/o the BERK option) will complain about names
like 'J. Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu>' (sans the quotes) being illegal
even though it accepts 'John Q. Public <jpublic@cs.psu.edu>'.
Some versions of sendmail (like IDA Sendmail) will automatically quote
the users name if it contains a '.' in it.
Dan> I would appreciate hearing what others have to say on this
Dan> matter. Another question. Is there an official 'interpreter' of
Dan> RFCs or is it just left up to the concensus of the majority?
Good question.
Dan> Thanks in advance.
Dan> --
Dan> Dan Ehrlich - Sr. Systems Programmer - Penn State Computer Science
Dan> <ehrlich@cs.psu.edu>/Voice: +1 814 863 1142/FAX: +1 814 865 3176
Enjoy!
--
Mark D. Baushke
mdb@ESD.3Com.COM