On Sep 8, 2010, at 12:22 AM, Dan Dubovik wrote:
> If you want to know if a specific email address is available, you
> can try to send an email to the address, and note the response code
> after sending it. Using php, you can use the mail() function,
> however, the error message it returns is binary in nature, either it
> sends or not, without a real reason why it failed to send.
That tells you if PHP was able to hand the message off to the local
MTA (sendmail/postfix/etc). It doesn't give any indication of whether
the destination address is valid or not, unfortunately.
Keith: The only sure way I know of to tell if an address is valid or
not is to send a 'please reply to this message' email, and see if you
get a response or not. And (as mentioned by others) that's not a
guarantee that the address you sent to is actually the address which
the email was delivered to. Aliases, catch-all accounts, etc can all
play a part.
alex
---------------------------------------------------
PLUG-discuss mailing list -
PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
(text/plain)