Subject: Read Rcpt:

From: Nick Boris <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 23:33:23 -0600

We have been having wierd STMP problems with our system (Papaya went on 
vacation -- don't ask!) and managed to go from Turkey Day through 
yesterday with about a 20% mail loss. 

This is not due to Pine (ooh, gotta love it!) but something else. Pine 
saves to sent-mail or wherever and then...IT DISSAPPEARS.

My SysAdmin mentioned that he found a line that you can add to the header 
(user-definable header) that will send a 'Letter Read Receipt' to the 
sender. He blieved that this was recognized by all but SUN/Solaris (ICK!) 
systems. (Hey, we've got BSD, change a letter and you've got....Kind-a 
makes it fun) IF we were ablt to put this in our headers (not 
everyone's...really just mine) we could keep tabs on what is going out 
and what isn't and try to find the problem (which we haven't)

If anyone knows the syntax for this please let me/us know.

Please help and excuse my annoying nature. I spend too much time in front 
of the computer and don't get to talk to enough real people!

Thank you in advance,

Nick

[email-masked]
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~nmboris/

---

From: Ed Greshko <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 1994 22:10:26 -0800 (GMT)

> If anyone knows the syntax for this please let me/us know.

There is no "standard" for either a "delivery receipt" or "read receipt".

Many a sendmail implementation will process the:

Return-Receipt-To:

head which can be thought of as a "delivery receipt"  But you can't
trust that will work all of the time.  The idea of a "delivery receipt"
needs to be implemented on the MTA level since it is the MTA that is
responsible for delivery.

Once a mail is delivered it is the task of the User Agent (UA) to present
the contents of the mail to you.  Thus, if a "read" receipt were to be
implemented it would need to be implemented at the UA level since only
the UA would have a reasonable chance to determine if the letter was
opened.  (Please note that *no* UA or any software can determine if the
letter has been "read".)  Some UAs do implement a "read" receipt.
However, the scheme only works when individuals are using the UA at
both ends.  Even then, some vendors change the way they implement the
feature between versions!  Bottom line....forget "read" receipts.

> of the computer and don't get to talk to enough real people!

	Truer words were never spoken....   :-) :-)

					Ed