Re: Open Issue: Stored strings vs. queries.

Let's wrap at least this issue up ;-)

On Friday 14 February 2003 03:14, Claus Färber wrote:
> Marc Mutz <[email protected]> schrieb/wrote:
> > An interesting issue is what is to be considered stored local-parts
> > and what is a queried local-part.
> >
> > Obvious stored local-parts:
> > - MTA config
> > - address books (e.g. LDAP)
>
> There are two types of address books:
> . Authorative address books, which are run by the same authority as
> the MTA config files. These are cleraly ``stored''.
> . Personal address books, which contain queries (because they are
> used to match against addresses _created_ elsewhere). Otherwise, you
> could not enter an address that was created by someone using a newer
> version of the profile.
>
> > Obvious queries:
> > - address lookups (e.g. LDAP queries)
> > - SMTP commands
> >
> > Non-obvious:
> > - Mail headers
>
> Again, clearly a ``query''. It makes use of names created elswhere.
> Otherwise, you could not send mail to an address that was created by
> someone using a newer version of the profile.
<snip>

I agree. I think there's a need to spell out when to use the 
AllowUnassigned flag in IMAA. So, keeping the "stored" vs. "query" 
terms for IDNA compat's sake, we currently have:

Only unset AllowUnassigned for authorative address books.

...for a certain definition of "authorative address book" (AABs). What's 
that definition? AABs certainly include the config database/files of 
final delivery MTAs. What about MUA identities? Queries, I'd say. What 
about a company's LDAP server that contains the addresses of employees 
and is administered by the same authority that configures the company's 
MTAs? Query? Stored? According to your reply, you'd see them as stored. 
Where to draw the line? And as important: How to spell that out?

Proposed text (cf. rfc2821, 2.3.10, last sentence):
  The AllowUnassigned flag MUST be set except in the following case.
  When the result of the ToAscii operation is to be used as part of the
  MTA configuration on the host specified in the domain part of the
  address, the AllowUnassigned flag MUST NOT be set.

IOW, only the delivery SMTP server responsible for the mailboxes on the 
host specified by the domain part of the address should disallow 
unassigned code points in the part of it's configuration that is used 
to determine the valid local-parts.

What other "authorative address books" are there and need to be 
considered? The LDAP directory that contains the email addresses for 
the employees? There are two scenarios:
1. The MTA reads it's config from LDAP, so the MUST NOT set 
AllowUnassigned is in effect (since the string stored in LDAP is part 
of the MTAs config)
2. The LDAP and the MTA config are fed independently or from a common 
source. In this case, the LDAP tree will contain the same addresses as 
the MTA config, since the addresses have to match for the LDAP 
directory to be useful. So again, the MUST NOT from the MTA config 
implicitly carries over to the LDAP strings.

Fine. However, I think the text could more precisely define what part of 
the MTA config the clause refers to (like adding a "to determine the 
valid local-parts" somewhere in the text). Native speakers?

Marc

-- 
If privacy is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy.
                                                    -- Phil Zimmermann

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