Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

[Peter Edstrom]

Hello!

Procmail has of some reason stopped filtering my linux-newbie mail. It
occured as I cleaned up my .procmailrc-file. This is how the
linux-newbie entry looks like:

  :0
  * ^X-Mailing-List:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
  IN.linux-newbie

I've also tryed with the following condition just before the
X-Mailing-List one, but without success:

  * ^(To|Cc):.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org

I have tons of mailing list filters that all work with this principle,
but this one don't. Does anyone have any ideas on what's causing the
problem?

Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Peter
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Re: Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

[Peter]

That's how I have mine working

:0 w :Newbie/$LOCKEXT                   
* ^X-mailing-list:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
| $STORE +Newbie

Regards
-- 
Peter

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Re: Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

[Ray Olszewski]

I have not run procmail here in quite some time, so my memory of these 
things is a bit hazy. But since I saw no other replies, I thought I'd take 
a shot at it, with apologies in advance for any errors.

1. If there is a problem with the first rule matching, adding a second will 
not help, since now *both* rules have to match (rules get ANDed, not ORd).

2. How similarly do the "tons of mailing list filters" employ "this 
principle" Do you use other filters that work with X- headers? Could you 
supply an example that works with an X- header? (X- headers should work 
just fine, so this thought is really a long shot.)

3. From reading over the procmailrc page, this rule block might work better 
than what you are trying:

         :0
         * ^TO:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
         IN.linux-newbie

  4. Are you sure you have quoted the rules you are using EXACTLY? I ask 
because there were several small errors (spelling, grammar, diction) in 
your message, so I do not want to assume you got (for example) the 
whitespace components of the rules transcribed properly.

5. Since you say this happened after you "cleaned up" your .procmailrc file 
... what was the rule prior to the editing you did? Is it possible that you 
did something to the *preceding* rule block that causes a problem with 
interpretation of this one?

I've assumed that "stopped filtering" means that the .procmailrc file used 
to work and no longer does. I also assume that the symptom of the failure 
is that the messages drop through to subsequent rules (and eventually to 
your general INBOX) rather than turning up anyplace stranger. If either of 
these assumptions is wrong, please correct me.

At 11:14 AM 8/31/2003 +0200, Peter Edstrom wrote:
>Hello!
>
>Procmail has of some reason stopped filtering my linux-newbie mail. It
>occured as I cleaned up my .procmailrc-file. This is how the
>linux-newbie entry looks like:
>
>   :0
>   * ^X-Mailing-List:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
>   IN.linux-newbie
>
>I've also tryed with the following condition just before the
>X-Mailing-List one, but without success:
>
>   * ^(To|Cc):.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
>
>I have tons of mailing list filters that all work with this principle,
>but this one don't. Does anyone have any ideas on what's causing the
>problem?



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Re: Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

[Peter Edstrom]

> 1. If there is a problem with the first rule matching, adding a second will 
> not help, since now *both* rules have to match (rules get ANDed, not ORd).

I didn't know that; thanks for the information!

> 2. How similarly do the "tons of mailing list filters" employ "this 
> principle" Do you use other filters that work with X- headers? Could you 
> supply an example that works with an X- header? (X- headers should work 
> just fine, so this thought is really a long shot.)

None of my filtering rules use the X-header; I was referring to the
"^(To|Cc):"-condition. An example, however, of a rule that works with
that condition is the FreeBSD-questions, which looks like this:

  :0
  * ^(To|Cc):.*(freebsd-questions|questions)@freebsd.org
  * ^List-Id:.*(freebsd-questions|questions).freebsd.org
  IN.freebsd-questions

> 3. From reading over the procmailrc page, this rule block might work better 
> than what you are trying:
> 
>         :0
>         * ^TO:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
>         IN.linux-newbie

I've seen this "type" of rule before, but I'm a little confused. Why
is "TO" written with upper-case and not as "To", which is how the
headers appear to be spelled?
 
>  4. Are you sure you have quoted the rules you are using EXACTLY? I ask 
> because there were several small errors (spelling, grammar, diction) in 
> your message, so I do not want to assume you got (for example) the 
> whitespace components of the rules transcribed properly.

What do you mean? Is my text formatted in a weird way, or are you just
complaining about my bad English (I'm from Sweden) ? ;-)
I send the mail in ISO-8859-1 as default. What happens if I send it in
US-ASCII instead (let's try with this one).

> 5. Since you say this happened after you "cleaned up" your .procmailrc file 
> ... what was the rule prior to the editing you did? Is it possible that you 
> did something to the *preceding* rule block that causes a problem with 
> interpretation of this one?

Before it looked like this:

  :0:
  * ^To:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
  IN.linux-newbie

  :0:
  * ^CC:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
  IN.linux-newbie

> I've assumed that "stopped filtering" means that the .procmailrc file used 
> to work and no longer does. I also assume that the symptom of the failure 
> is that the messages drop through to subsequent rules (and eventually to 
> your general INBOX) rather than turning up anyplace stranger. If either of 
> these assumptions is wrong, please correct me.

That's a correct assumption. The linux-newbie mail was put in my default
inbox instead of being filtered into the linux-newbie one.

Thanks for helping me out!
/Peter
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Re: Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

[Ray Olszewski]

Just a few specific, selective comments.

At 04:42 PM 9/1/2003 +0200, Peter Edstrom wrote:
[...]
> > 3. From reading over the procmailrc page, this rule block might work 
> better
> > than what you are trying:
> >
> >         :0
> >         * ^TO:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
> >         IN.linux-newbie
>
>I've seen this "type" of rule before, but I'm a little confused. Why
>is "TO" written with upper-case and not as "To", which is how the
>headers appear to be spelled?

If you read over the man page for procmailrc, you will see that TO is a 
special, semi-wildcard designator that will expand to match To:, Cc:, and a 
bunch of other candidates. The man page covers the details better than I 
can in an e-mail.

>  >  4. Are you sure you have quoted the rules you are using EXACTLY? I ask
> > because there were several small errors (spelling, grammar, diction) in
> > your message, so I do not want to assume you got (for example) the
> > whitespace components of the rules transcribed properly.
>
>What do you mean? Is my text formatted in a weird way, or are you just
>complaining about my bad English (I'm from Sweden) ? ;-)

I wasn't complaining, just explaining why I asked. For a non-native 
speaker, your English is astoundingly good ... so much so that I surmised 
that you were a native speaker writing carelessly, rather than an ESL 
writer making a occasional, minor mistake (e.g., "tryed" for "tried"). In 
any case, when I see small errors in the text of a message, whatever the 
reason, I always wonder if there are similar errors in the critical parts 
of the same message ... in this case, the parts where you quoted the rules. 
Hence my actual question.

[...]
>Before it looked like this:
>
>   :0:
>   * ^To:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
>   IN.linux-newbie
>
>   :0:
>   * ^CC:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
>   IN.linux-newbie

This certainly suggests that your problem relates to trying to use X- 
headers to filter. I'm unclear on why X- headers would not work -- if you 
look at "man procmailex", you should see at least one example that uses an 
X- header -- but it is the only interpretation I can think of.



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Re: Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

[Peter Edstrom]

Sorry for not "RTFM:ing" before posting. I thought I had done that, but
obviously I didn't read so hard.

I believe that the filtering problem is fixed now; thank you all very 
much for the help.

> I wasn't complaining, just explaining why I asked. For a non-native 
> speaker, your English is astoundingly good ... so much so that I surmised 
> that you were a native speaker writing carelessly, rather than an ESL 
> writer making a occasional, minor mistake (e.g., "tryed" for "tried"). In 
> any case, when I see small errors in the text of a message, whatever the 
> reason, I always wonder if there are similar errors in the critical parts 
> of the same message ... in this case, the parts where you quoted the rules. 
> Hence my actual question.

I didn't think you were complaining, either; I was just in an ironic
mood. :-)
It's good to hear that there wasn't any error in the text's coding.
(It's also good to hear that you took me for a native speaker).

/Peter
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Re: Procmail won't filter linux-newbie mail

[Peter]

It does work in procmail. AT least with my setup

:0 w :Newbie/$LOCKEXT                   
* ^X-mailing-list:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
| $STORE +Newbie

Try it by sending a mail to yourself xxxxx@localhost placing "X-mailing-list: 
linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org" above To:
and it will go into the folder you designated.

I am using exmh as mailer BTW.

>   :0
>   * ^X-Mailing-List:.*linux-newbie@vger.kernel.org
>   IN.linux-newbie

Regards
-- 
Peter

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