procmail
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Re: Question about user-name+xxxx(_at_)host style addresses

1997-03-28 20:21:28
"Simeon ben Nevel" <Simeon(_dot_)Nevel(_at_)Schwab(_dot_)COM> writes:
Awhile ago I remember a discussion of using a style of To: addresses like 
so:

   username+xxxx(_at_)host(_dot_)name

i.e.
   
   snevel+getfile(_at_)wco(_dot_)com

Where the SMTP daemon will automagically know to deliver to my 
snevel(_at_)wco(_dot_)com mailbox.

How is this set-up?  Is it a function of a particular mail-server?  Is it 
hard to administer?

The username+detail(_at_)host syntax is supported both by sendmail and qmail.
I don't enough about qmail to say how the "+detail" affects how it
processes the message.

I do know that if your site is using sendmail version 8 with a newish
config file and procmail is the local mailer (i.e., you don't need a
.forward file to use procmail) then it's already enabled for you.
sendmail passes the "detail" to procmail via the '-a' argument.  This
shows up in your procmailrc as $1 which can then be tested with
something like:


        # Save the +detail in a "real" variable.
        ARG = $1

        # Does $ARG == "getfile"?
        :0
        * ARG ?? ^^getfile^^
        {
           # do whatever...
        }


I can see *lots* of utility for this as a budding procmail user and would 
like to ask my ISP about it, but I don't know what to ask them about.

Well, I'd give it a shot first to see whether it's already enabled.
If it isn't then I'd suggest you explain what you want to them, perhaps
refering to the cf/README file from the sendmail source distribution,
in particular the description of FEATURE(local_procmail) and the following
quote:

        The local mailer accepts addresses of the form
        "user+detail", where the "+detail" is not used for mailbox
        matching but is available to certain local mail programs
        (in particular, see FEATURE(local_procmail)).  For example,
        "eric", "eric+sendmail", and "eric+sww" all indicate the
        same user, but additional arguments <null>, "sendmail", and
        "sww" may be provided for use in sorting mail.

Philip Guenther