Copyright 1998-1999, Double Precision Inc.
This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. See COPYING for additional information.
I've started a list of "tips and tricks" for writing mail filters with maildrop.
The HTML version of the maildrop README is located at
http://www.flounder.net/~mrsam/maildrop/. Although the following
files may also be found there, please check your favorite archive for any
local copies:
maildrop-0.64.tar.gz -
the source code tarball.
maildrop-0.64-1.src.rpm - the distribution source code in the RPM format. To build a binary RPM run the command rpm --rebuild maildrop-0.64-1.src.rpm. maildrop-0.64-1.i386.rpm - pre-built binary RPM for Red Hat 5.1 i386. Please note that the binary RPM's configuration includes the --enable-restrict-trusted=0 flag: a relaxed security level which allows all users to use the -d option to maildrop. Maildrop's default, strict, security model may result in sendmail temporarily deferring local mail (it will be eventually delivered). See INSTALL for more information. If your system does not require relaxed security, you may rebuild the source RPM (after making the appropriate adjustment to the .spec file).
Previous version of maildrop: |
The RPMs are signed with my PGP key: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/5799/PGPKEY.txt.
maildrop includes documentation in HTML, as well as traditional man
pages. The HTML versions may also be found at http://www.flounder.net/~mrsam/maildrop/maildrop.html.
maildrop will optionally read instructions from a file, which describes how to filter incoming mail. Instructions can be provided having mail delivered to alternate mailboxes, or forwarded somewhere else. Unlike procmail, maildrop uses a structured filtering language.
maildrop is written in C++, and is significantly larger than procmail in compiled form. However, it uses resources much more efficiently. Unlike procmail, maildrop will not read a 10 megabyte mail message into memory. Large messages are saved in a temporary file, and are filtered from the temporary file. Temporary files are saved in the user's home directory. If the standard input to maildrop is a file, and not a pipe, a temporary file will not be necessary.
maildrop checks the syntax of the mail delivery instructions the filter file, before attempting to deliver a message. Unlike procmail, if the filter file contains syntax errors, maildrop terminates without delivering the message. The user can fix the typo without causing any mail to be lost.
maildrop uses the GNU autoconf configure script.
Mlocal, P=/usr/local/bin/maildrop, F=lsAw5:/|@SPfhn, S=10/30, R=20/40, T=DNS/RFC822/X-Unix, A=maildrop -d $uYou may also consider including the D, F, and M flags as well.
V0.64 - reformime fix - handle systems with broken pipe fseeks semantics.
rfc822 library sync. Standardized names of some legacy .h files. Red Hat RPMs
changed to install a tiny sh/bash/csh login script (from maildroptips) to
purge $HOME/.tmp. makegdbm can now read from standard input.
Some obscure fixes to rfc822 functions. Moved reformime to rfc2045
subpackage - it belongs there, and can be shared by other projects.
V0.63 - maintenance. Minor enhancements and bug fixes to the reformime
utility. reformime can now convert 8-bit messages to or from quoted-printable
encoding. reformime can now also add missing MIME headers to a message.
V0.62 - array out of bounds bug fix in rfc822.c. Some additional options to
configure to specify various directories. Option to configure to use
/usr/local/etc instead of /etc.
V0.61(prerelease) - rfc822 library sync. Added reformime standalone utility.
Added support for GDBM database files. Because GDBM support adds significant
amount of code to maildrop, GDBM support can be optionally disabled during
installation. Added the time function. Changed how maildrop automatically
converts results of floating point mathematical operation back into text -
should not affect any existing filters.
.
V0.60 - no changes to the main maildrop code from version 0.55c, except for
cosmetic changes to some shared modules in order to accomodate the new
reformime utility. The main maildrop code appears to be stable. Edited the
documentation, and changed the flags that the RPM is built with. NEW:
Experimental set of MIME functions, which are implemented as a separate
program for now. The reformime program can be used to decode the MIME
structure of a message, and extract different parts of it. At some point
later, this functionality will be added as native functions in the maildrop
filtering language. See reformime.html
for more information.