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 instructions 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 interpreted:

	       dot-forward -n .forward

FILE HANDLING

       When a message arrives, dot-forward opens file and handles it as discussed 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 described in qmail-header(5).  Exception: Certain addresses  without  domain
       names are handled specially, as described below.

DIRECT DELIVERY

       If  an  address	does not contain a domain name, and matches the environment variable $USER (without regard to case), it specifies delivery
       directly to you.

       If an address matches $USER@$HOST (without regard to case), it specifies 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 vertical 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 environment 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)