[BUG] git send-email: incorrectly parses email address with comma

[BUG] git send-email: incorrectly parses email address with comma

[Heinrich Schuchardt]

Git send-email allows to combine multiple email addresses in one
parameter, e.g.

--to="a@example.com, b@example.com"

But email addresses may contain commas themselves:

--to="LASTNAME, firstname <firstname.lastname@example.com>"

This may lead to an error:
$ git send-email --to="Schuchardt, Heinrich <xypron.glpk@example.com>" \
0000*.patch0000-cover-letter.patch
(mbox) Adding cc: Heinrich Schuchardt <xypron.glpk@example.com> from
line 'From: Heinrich Schuchardt <xypron.glpk@example.com>'

From: Heinrich Schuchardt <xypron.glpk@example.com>
To: Schuchardt,
        Heinrich <xypron.glpk@example.com>
Subject: [PATCH 0/2] efi_loader: adjust definitions of variable services
Date: Sat, 12 May 2018 10:01:21 +0200
Message-Id: <20180512080121.26620-1-xypron.glpk@example.com>
X-Mailer: git-send-email 2.17.0

Send this email? ([y]es|[n]o|[q]uit|[a]ll): a
Password for 'smtp://xypron.glpk@example.com@mail.example.com:587':
Syntax error in parameters or arguments



Please, implement the following logic,

If the string preceding a comma is not a valid email address do not
split it off.

Best regards

Heinrich Schuchardt

Re: [BUG] git send-email: incorrectly parses email address with comma

[Jeff King]

On Sat, May 12, 2018 at 10:21:46AM +0200, Heinrich Schuchardt wrote:

> Git send-email allows to combine multiple email addresses in one
> parameter, e.g.
> 
> --to="a@example.com, b@example.com"
> 
> But email addresses may contain commas themselves:
> 
> --to="LASTNAME, firstname <firstname.lastname@example.com>"
> 
> This may lead to an error:

If the name contains syntactically relevant metacharacters, it can be
quoted. So as a workaround, you can do:

  --to='"LASTNAME, firstname" <firstname.lastname@example.com>'

I think rfc822 actually requires even names with just spaces in them to
be quoted, but git-send-email and most other mail programs are pretty
lax about allowing just about anything outside of the <>, so people tend
not to bother.

> If the string preceding a comma is not a valid email address do not
> split it off.

That might work as a heuristic, though "is a valid email address" is a
notoriously hard thing to check. Possibly looking for an "@" would catch
most common cases, though.

-Peff

Re: [BUG] git send-email: incorrectly parses email address with comma

[Heinrich Schuchardt]

On 05/12/2018 11:48 AM, Jeff King wrote:
> On Sat, May 12, 2018 at 10:21:46AM +0200, Heinrich Schuchardt wrote:
> 
>> Git send-email allows to combine multiple email addresses in one
>> parameter, e.g.
>>
>> --to="a@example.com, b@example.com"
>>
>> But email addresses may contain commas themselves:
>>
>> --to="LASTNAME, firstname <firstname.lastname@example.com>"
>>
>> This may lead to an error:
> 
> If the name contains syntactically relevant metacharacters, it can be
> quoted. So as a workaround, you can do:
> 
>   --to='"LASTNAME, firstname" <firstname.lastname@example.com>'
> 
> I think rfc822 actually requires even names with just spaces in them to
> be quoted, but git-send-email and most other mail programs are pretty
> lax about allowing just about anything outside of the <>, so people tend
> not to bother.
> 
>> If the string preceding a comma is not a valid email address do not
>> split it off.
> 
> That might work as a heuristic, though "is a valid email address" is a
> notoriously hard thing to check. Possibly looking for an "@" would catch
> most common cases, though.

A more elaborate test would be:
A string matching [\S\s]*<\S+@\S+.\S+>\s* is an email address.
A string matching \s*\S+@\S+.\S+\s* is an email address.
Both may need trimming of whitespace.
Any other string is not an email address.

Regards

Heinrich

> 
> -Peff
>