I am a simple user (you can read that both ways)
In my mind there are two points here:
1) To include (or not to include) predefined macros
2) The overheads of processing additional macros
I am assuming that these "predefined macros" relate to the exim
environment itself and can be set at startup/restart. By this I mean
that each macro will only have one value at any particular time and that
we can determine that value when exim starts, and that these macro
values are not not going to change value per message, or per delivery
IN THEORY: How about adding options that wouldn't fundamentally change
the way exim operates if you don't use them, but modifies *some* parts
of exims behavior slightly if you do, e.g.
1)option-1: "include_predefined_macros"
A boolean which will or will not include any predefined macros. Easy to
understand. Use it or don't use it, your call.
2) option-2: create_exim_runtime_configuration
When exim starts parse exim.conf (or exim4.conf) and replace/expand any
items that can be expanded when exim starts (including predefined
macros) and let exim use this as its new "runtime" config. You could
also strip out spaces, comments, linewraps etc..etc..
I assume that this would actually improve the speed at which the exim
config is parsed, might allow the system to use less memory and might
actually make it easier to spot expansion errors or typos when things go
wrong.
I COULD BE COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT THIS. THIS IS JUST A POINT FOR DISCUSSION.
I await your replies.
I'm putting on my "ACME flame-retardant underpants" NOW!
Jason_Meers
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