> I have an account:
>
> erdem(_at_)world(_dot_)std(_dot_)com
>
> which I use only for forwarding.
>
> Is it possible to set procmail so that additional characters in my
> address designate different destinations for mail being forwarded?
Well, your wording is not exactly correct (I'll explain), but in
*essence*, what you wish to do is possible.
First, with regards to email addresses, there is no such thing as "extra
characters in an email address". The entire, non-comment portion *is*
the email address, and must be valid as it is, and not a portion of it
(except for sendmail.cf hacking -- see below).
For example, "erdem(_at_)world(_dot_)std(_dot_)com" and
"erdema(_at_)word(_dot_)std(_dot_)com" are not the
same address, with the latter having an "extra" 'a' character. They are
both distinct email addresses, each of which must be valid in order to
be used.
As for creating "virtual users", like "ural.erdem", and "x2.erdem", and
"v5.erdem", this can be done in three ways on most Unix systems (in
decreasing order of desireability):
a. using a system-wide aliases file, such as /etc/aliases (or
/usr/etc/aliases or /usr/lib/aliases, depending upon the vendor).
b. creating a separate login by those names, for the sole purpose of
forwarding their mail as you specify.
c. modify the rules for the incoming mail transport agent so that the
"virtual users" are rewritten as the forwarded addresses. With most
Unix systems using Sendmail as the MTA, this would mean modifying
"sendmail.cf" to rewrite "ural(_dot_)erdem(_at_)world(_dot_)std(_dot_)com" as
"erdem(_at_)aol(_dot_)com".
Actually, with sendmail.cf hacking, you *can* make portions of an
email address be used for routing. For example, CMU's Andrew Message
System uses the "+" sign as a flag character to indicate an AMS
address, and not part of the actual user name.
In any case, solution (a) is by far the easiest.
> For example, set it so that:
>
> ural(_dot_)erdem(_at_)world(_dot_)std(_dot_)com is forwarded to
erdem(_at_)aol(_dot_)com
> x2(_dot_)erdem(_at_)world(_dot_)std(_dot_)com is forwarded to
erdem(_at_)msn(_dot_)com
> v5(_dot_)erdem(_at_)world(_dot_)std(_dot_)com is forwarded to
ural(_at_)aol(_dot_)com
>
> If yes, how do I do it on a UNIX machine.
In "/etc/aliases", add these aliases:
ural.erdem: erdem(_at_)aol(_dot_)com
x2.erdem: erdem(_at_)msn(_dot_)com
v5.erdem: ural(_at_)aol(_dot_)com
Then, refreeze and/or restart sendmail.
> If not, is there another product that can handle this?
> regards.
> please do not use "reply" function.
Why not? I am curious to see if the X-400 address works. :^)
> Please respond to:
> erdem(_at_)world(_dot_)std(_dot_)com
This is already part of the Cc: list, so you should see it in any case.
___________________________________________________________
Alan Stebbens <aks(_at_)sgi(_dot_)com> http://reality.sgi.com/aks