[comp.mail.sendmail] Problems with filter

tombre@crin.fr (Karl Tombre) (01/25/91)

I use the filter tool provided with the elm package on a Convex C201
running Convex OS (i.e. something between UNIX BSD 4.2 and 4.3 as far
as I understand) in the following way :

"| /usr/local/bin/filter -o .filter-errors" in my .forward file
and the filter-rules in $HOME/.elm/filter-rules

Everything works fine except when, occasionnally, **LOCAL** mail is
not immediatly delivered by /usr/lib/sendmail because of too high load
average. In this case, as usually, sendmail spools the mail in
/usr/spool/mqueue and tries to process it later. **BUT** then, the
mail never gets filtered : all I get is a .filter-errors file in
/usr/spool/mqueue (!!!!) with the following content :

filter (paris): Couldn't read user filter rules file!
filter (weinh): Couldn't read user filter rules file!
filter (wrobel): Couldn't read user filter rules file!
filter (giese): Couldn't read user filter rules file!
filter (giese): Couldn't read user filter rules file!
filter (giese): Couldn't read user filter rules file!

Note that these are always local users trying to reach me via mail. I
noted this problem only recently, because

1) somebody told me he sent me a mail I never got
2) fortunately, it does not happen that often that our convex is so
loaded that sendmail rejects local mail.

Does somebody have an explanation and/or a cure for this quite
annoying problem (it means in fact that I have lost the corresponding
mails, doesn't it ?)

Thanks in advance for any help/advise.

--
Karl Tombre - INRIA Lorraine / CRIN
EMAIL : tombre@loria.crin.fr - POST : BP 239, 54506 VANDOEUVRE CEDEX, France