Autoreply version 2.1

08 August 2003

Modified from the original version 2.0 (by Paul Hethmon) by Lewis Rosenthal.

This version adds code to compare the sender of the message against the intended recipient. If they are the same, this script quietly exits, bypassing the autoreply, and therefore the ensuing endless autoreply loop.

Example:

Assume fred@flintstone.com is away on holiday and has his autoresponder turned on. While on vacation, Fred browses some eBay auctions, and decides to ask a seller a question. Unfortunately, Fred forgets to uncheck the "send a copy of this mail to myself" box, which results in his autoreponder replying to his own message. As the reply comes in, his autoresponder sends another autoreply, ad infinitum.

This script checks to see if the sender and the recipient of the autoreply are indeed one and the same address, and if so, exits without doing anything (e.g., if "fred@flintstone.com" = "fred@flintstone.com" then no autoreply will be sent). So, even if Fred forgets to turn off the "send a copy of this mail to myself," he won't send the server into an endless loop, replying to itself.

To do:

This script hasn't been tested with multi-domain support. While that should work, there isn't any parsing done (at this point) on the addresses, so this code will need some modification in order for multi-domian support to work.

Similarly, domain aliases and mailbox aliases have not been addressed. If, for example, fred@flintstone.com has an alias of ff@flintstone.com, the autoreply will pass the match test and get sent. Likewise, if flintstone.bedrock.com is listed as a domain alias, a message sent from fred@flintstone.bedrock.com to fred@flintstone.com will also pass the match test and an autoreply will get sent.

Finally, there is no blacklisting support yet, e.g., if Fred wants to prevent the autoreply from going to Wilma, there is no control over that at this point.

Look for the above issues to be resolved in future releases.

Wish list:

    * - All of the above issues. :-)
    * - A way to allow users to administer their own autoreplies (on, off, blacklist, auto reply text). Seems I can never remember to turn them off at the correct time.
    * - ??

Lewis Rosenthal
August 8, 2003
Dix Hills, NY, USA

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

lgrosenthal@2rosenthals.com
www.2rosenthals.com