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dot-forward(1)		    General Commands Manual		dot-forward(1)

NAME
       dot-forward - read a .forward file under	qmail

SYNOPSIS
       in ~/.qmail: | dot-forward [ -nN	] file ...

OVERVIEW
       dot-forward  forwards incoming messages according to sendmail-style in-
       structions in file, if file exists.  Normally file is .forward.

       WARNING:	If you create a	.qmail file to enable dot-forward,  make  sure
       to  add	a second line specifying delivery to your normal mailbox.  For
       example:

	  |dot-forward .forward
	  ./Mailbox

       COMPATIBILITY WARNING: dot-forward does not support :include:  or  mbox
       deliveries.   You  can  use  the	 delivery  mechanism described in dot-
       qmail(5)	instead.

OPTIONS
       -N   (Default.)	Read and forward a message.

       -n   Parse file and print the forwarding	instructions in	 it,  one  per
	    line;  do  not  follow  the	instructions.  You can use this	option
	    from the command line to see how your .forward file	will be	inter-
	    preted:

	       dot-forward -n .forward

FILE HANDLING
       When a message arrives, dot-forward opens file and handles it  as  dis-
       cussed below.  It exits 99, so qmail-local will ignore further instruc-
       tions  in  .qmail.   Exception:	If file	specifies delivery directly to
       you, dot-forward	exits 0, so qmail-local	will read further instructions
       in .qmail.

       If file does not	exist, dot-forward exits  0.   You  can	 list  several
       files;  then dot-forward	will try each one in turn, using the first one
       that exists, or exiting 0 if none exist.

       COMPATIBILITY WARNING: dot-forward treats an empty file as  if  it  did
       not  exist.  Versions of	sendmail before	V8 would throw away the	incom-
       ing message.

       COMPATIBILITY WARNING: If  dot-forward  encounters  a  temporary	 error
       opening	file,  it exits	111, so	that qmail-local will try again	later.
       sendmail	assumes	incorrectly that file does not exist.

       COMPATIBILITY WARNING: file must	be readable by dot-forward,  which  is
       normally	running	as the user.  sendmail places different	constraints on
       its .forward permissions, since it is normally running as root.

FORWARDING
       Normally	file contains an address.  dot-forward forwards	the message to
       that address.

       The  address  is	 parsed	 as  if	 it were in an RFC 822 message header.
       Parenthesized comments and bracketed addresses are permitted:

	  bob (Bob, the	postmaster) @heaven.af.mil

       Addresses with special characters must be quoted:

	  "spaced out mailbox"@heaven.af.mil

       Address groups are not permitted.

       file can	contain	any number of lines, each line containing  any	number
       of addresses.  dot-forward forwards the message to each address:

	  bob, fred, susan
	  Joe Shmoe <shmoe@heaven.af.mil>

       An  address  without  a	fully  qualified domain	name is	handled	as de-
       scribed in qmail-header(5).  Exception: Certain addresses  without  do-
       main names are handled specially, as described below.

DIRECT DELIVERY
       If  an address does not contain a domain	name, and matches the environ-
       ment variable $USER (without regard to case), it	specifies delivery di-
       rectly to you.

       If an address matches $USER@$HOST (without regard to case),  it	speci-
       fies delivery directly to you.

       COMPATIBILITY  WARNING:	sendmail's  handling of	quotes and backslashes
       violates	RFC 821	and RFC	822, and  is  not  supported  by  dot-forward.
       dot-forward  treats  \joe  the same way as joe.	The dot-qmail delivery
       mechanism lets each user	manage several addresses, so there is no  need
       for a special syntax to get around forwarding.

COMMANDS
       If  an address does not contain a domain	name, and begins with a	verti-
       cal bar,	dot-forward takes the rest of the address as a command to run:

	  bob, "|vacation bob"

       dot-forward feeds the message to	the command, preceded by the  environ-
       ment variables $UFLINE, $RPLINE,	and $DTLINE.

       COMPATIBILITY WARNING: Internet addresses can legitimately start	with a
       slash  or vertical bar.	dot-forward treats anything with an unquoted @
       as an address.  sendmail	appears	to have	various	problems  coping  with
       these addresses,	and with commands that contain @ signs.

COMMENTS
       Any line	in file	that begins with # is ignored:

	  # this is a comment

       COMPATIBILITY  WARNING:	Versions  of  sendmail before V8 did not allow
       comments	in .forward files.

VERSION
       This   is   dot-forward	 0.71.	  The	dot-forward   home   page   is
       http://pobox.com/~djb/dot-forward.html.

SEE ALSO
       qmail-header(5),	dot-qmail(5)

								dot-forward(1)

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