At 08:22 2004-07-15 -0500, Chuck Campbell wrote:
I've got a problem with a mailing list. Some messages are not being
caught by my .procmailrc recipes, and end up in my main in-box.
Depending upon how much mail you get, it could be a matter of simply
setting up a logfile and setting VERBOSE=YES, then checking the logs after
you find a mis-categorized message. No sandbox.
to set up a sandbox, or can I just use formail to pass the problem messages
through a (modified) procmailrc recipe file with some added logging?
One of the intents of a sandbox is to minimize - and ideally, completely
eliminate - the need for changes to your recipes in order to test them. If
you set up the sandbox framework to match that of your main procmailrc (in
which I don't perform any of my actual mail filing, just perform variable
definitions and other prep work and then use INCLUDERC to bring in the
actual recipes), then you can move recipes from your live configuration
into your sandbox and use formail to throw a reprocessed mailbox at it. My
sandbox redefines SENDMAIL and uses an external script, so anywhere it
might forward or perform an autoreply, no message is actually submitted to
the mail system. The output dir for messages is similarly redefined.
For a sandbox to be a near-transparent testing environ, you'll need to
structure your procmailrc - something from what I've seen, many people
don't spend much time doing. Those who are disciplined enough to maintain
structure have the benefit of fewer problems because the flow through their
procmailrc is clearer.
You should use variables to define directories, so that they can be easily
redefined (then your tests don't dump their output into your regular mail
directory).
I'm off to look at what it takes to set up a sandbox, just to learn. If I'm
correct in what that entails it is a bit of overkill for my current problem.
Check the link in my .sig, which presents a complete sandbox, with
downloadable files. The key thing is that the sandbox needs to mimic your
existing structure (or, if you find that the sandbox defines structure
where you have none, you should consider borrowing some of that structure
so that your own procmailrc is improved - though doing that in the midst of
trying to solve a problem isn't the best idea, since a few wrong changes
can cause more trouble).
---
Sean B. Straw / Professional Software Engineering
Procmail disclaimer: <http://www.professional.org/procmail/disclaimer.html>
Please DO NOT carbon me on list replies. I'll get my copy from the list.
____________________________________________________________
procmail mailing list Procmail homepage: http://www.procmail.org/
procmail(_at_)lists(_dot_)RWTH-Aachen(_dot_)DE
http://MailMan.RWTH-Aachen.DE/mailman/listinfo/procmail