>> Since no one has replied to this I gather the answer is not obvious?
>
>I replied a few hours ago.
Sorry I did not receive a reply, maybe something to do with the mailing list
problems Nigel has mentioned?
Apollogies also if my reply is somewhat disconnected, but it has been
rewritten several times as I do more testin, and is now (mercifully) much
shorter than when it started out.
>If you were to say
>
> deliver a@???
> deliver a@???
>
>the -bf output would say that the message would be delivered twice, but
>in fact the de-duplication would ensure that only one copy was sent. I
>don't really want to have to replicate the de-duplication code inside
>the filter.
I can see that, so it is a feature rather than a bug. It is better to avoid
code duplication wherever possible, so now I know the problem I won't worry
about that bit.
I am however still confused as to why the filter doesn't work(*). As
vacation is only producing a message under some circumstances it cannot be
the de-duplication code that is removing the extra message, as most of the
time there is only one message. It can't be a duplicate but it is removed. I
do notice that if I put two mail commands in, to send different mails to
different people then what actually happens is the same mail goes to both
people (The one specified by the later mail command). I don't know if this
is also a known feature, but I can't find either of them in the spec.txt
file.
Is it just a general case that only one mail command is allowed in a filter
file, and that the addition of others will produce undefined results? Am I
right in thinking there is no way I can check what, if anything, a given
mail command has sent, from within a filter?
So if I want to send an acknowledgement of receipt for all messages
received, but only want to send the contents guide to first time users the
easiest thing it to set up a vacation on one account and 'deliver' the
message to another account that sends out acknowledgements. The sensible
thing, on the other hand, is probably for me to pipe the whole thing to a
program that pretty much duplicates the functionality of vacation but sends
a differnt message instead of none if the user has sent previously.
I think I shall set up the former first, as it will be quicker, and work on
the latter when I have a spare moment. I guess my one item for the wish
list, therefore is a thereafter for vacation/mail that allows you to set an
alternate file to be sent after the first time. I can think of a few
applications for this, such as telling repeat users about a 'fastlane' email
address, or refusing mail with more finality the second time, etc, as well
as my current use. I shall look into it. Thanks again.
Rufus
(*) if this is all answered in the reply I did not receive, then, more
profuse apollogies, but could a copy be sent on to me?
>
>
>--
>Philip Hazel University Computing Service,
>P.Hazel@??? New Museums Site, Cambridge CB2 3QG,
>ph10@??? (sic) England. Phone: +44 1223 334714
>
>
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