Re: [EXIM] Exim error messages

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Author: Georg v.Zezschwitz
Date:  
To: exim-users
Subject: Re: [EXIM] Exim error messages
On Tue, Feb 24, 1998 at 05:23:45PM +0200, Eelco Vriezekolk wrote:
> Nigel Metheringham wrote:
> > In particular the section starting "The following address(es) failed:"
> > gives too much information, and confuses people.
> >
> > I am considering changing this so that the message would look like this:-
>
> I would like to have the error message simpler and friendlier, too.
> Ideally you would be able to provide a template error message for Exim
> to use, so that you could include, for example, contact details for your


Beneath considering how the message should look like that a
novice understands it best, the existing (proposed?) standart
"Delivery status notification" (DSN) as described by RFC 1891
should be kept in mind.

I don't know if this is the actual definition, but those DSNs look
a bit different than the current messages.

They seem to consist of MIME-messages with three parts:

- a "user explaining" part that is targeted at the (probably
novice) reader

- a "message/delivery-status"-typed part with a formal syntax
which mail to whom failed why

- a citation-part (headers/message).

If a nice guy should implement a new interface for responses,
it might be great to take care of this aspect.

sendmail produces conforming error messages in its current
versions, and you might have already seen the one or the other.

In RFC1891 one example for such a DSN is given, that I attach
below.

Greetings,


Georg

> To: Alice@???
> From: postmaster@???
> Subject: Delivery Notification (failure) for Carol@???
> Content-Type: multipart/report; report-type=delivery-status;
>               boundary=bcdef
> MIME-Version: 1.0

>
> --bcdef
> Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Your message (id QQ314159) could not be delivered to
> Carol@???.
>
> A transcript of the session follows:
>
> (while talking to Ivory.EDU)
> >>> RCPT TO:<Carol@???> NOTIFY=FAILURE
> <<< 550 error - no such recipient
>
> --bcdef
> Content-type: message/delivery-status
>
> Reporting-MTA: dns; Pure-Heart.ORG
> Original-Envelope-ID: QQ314159
>
> Original-Recipient: rfc822;Carol@???
> Final-Recipient: rfc822;Carol@???
> SMTP-Remote-Recipient: Carol@???
> Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 550 error - no such recipient
> Action: failed
> Status: 5.0.0
>
> --bcdef
> Content-type: message/rfc822
>
> (headers of returned message go here)
>
> --bcdef--



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