lost headers (was Re: script to break up mp3s)

[Jeremy C. Reed]

On Wed, 3 Aug 2005, Joseph Sinclair wrote:

> The User Agent isn't the only actor here.  The intervening mail servers are 
> permitted to interpret the headers of the message as provided under section 
> 4.2 of RFC 2822, and they're permitted to modify those headers to add trace 
> information, reorder fields,, etc...  This is what's happening for me, and 
> probably for some other people as well.
> One of more servers between you and me (at least 7 for the message below) is 
> removing the blank line before your "fake" headers, and Thunderbird sees it, 
> properly, as part of the header block.  According to the RFC 2822 spec, all 
> conforming UA's SHOULD accept messages with blank lines between headers to 
> accommodate sending UA's that are designed to the RFC 822 spec (which allowed 
> this behavior).

4.2 is the wrong section (unless different rfc2822 are sectioned 
differently).

The problem is that my two extra lines are not part of the header :)

Please quote the specific section that allows putting "a line with nothing 
preceding the CRLF" between the real headers and more headers.

I'll admit that I don't know the mail specs perfectly. But I do have 
experience with email message parsing: I have done POP3 server development 
for around six years and have maintained vm-pop3d for over four years; 
taught mail server administration for over four years; and I have read a 
lot of exim, postfix and sendmail MTA code and mail.local MDA code (and 
other SMTP mailers) and wrote and use "mailout" SMTP-out sendmail 
replacement.

> Note, the replied messages below are NOT modified in any way, and your "fake" 
> headers are not shown.  I don't just make this stuff up, and I rather resent 
> your implication that I did.

We should track down specifically what mail *tool* lost my important :) 
email message. I agree with Kurt: it's a bug that needs to be reported.

Please see 
http://lists.plug.phoenix.az.us/lurker/message/20050804.005401.9719e855.en.html
and
http://lists.plug.phoenix.az.us/lurker/message/20050804.013243.964e82c1.en.html

Does anyone know where the lines were lost?

I am interested in solving this. Other readers: please let me know if my 
two lines were missing for you.

  Jeremy C. Reed

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