Provided by: postfix_2.11.0-1ubuntu1.2_amd64 bug

NAME

       pcre_table - format of Postfix PCRE tables

SYNOPSIS

       postmap -q "string" pcre:/etc/postfix/filename

       postmap -q - pcre:/etc/postfix/filename <inputfile

DESCRIPTION

       The  Postfix  mail  system  uses  optional  tables for address rewriting, mail routing, or
       access control. These tables are usually in dbm or db format.

       Alternatively, lookup tables can be specified in Perl Compatible Regular Expression  form.
       In  this  case,  each input is compared against a list of patterns. When a match is found,
       the corresponding result is returned and the search is terminated.

       To find out what types of lookup tables your Postfix system supports use the "postconf -m"
       command.

       To test lookup tables, use the "postmap -q" command as described in the SYNOPSIS above.

COMPATIBILITY

       With  Postfix version 2.2 and earlier specify "postmap -fq" to query a table that contains
       case sensitive patterns. Patterns are case insensitive by default.

TABLE FORMAT

       The general form of a PCRE table is:

       /pattern/flags result
              When pattern matches the input string, use the corresponding result value.

       !/pattern/flags result
              When pattern does not match the input string, use the corresponding result value.

       if /pattern/flags

       endif  Match the input string against the patterns between if and endif, if  and  only  if
              that same input string also matches pattern. The if..endif can nest.

              Note: do not prepend whitespace to patterns inside if..endif.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.

       if !/pattern/flags

       endif  Match  the  input  string against the patterns between if and endif, if and only if
              that same input string does not match pattern. The if..endif can nest.

              Note: do not prepend whitespace to patterns inside if..endif.

              This feature is available in Postfix 2.1 and later.

       blank lines and comments
              Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored, as are lines  whose  first  non-
              whitespace character is a `#'.

       multi-line text
              A  logical line starts with non-whitespace text. A line that starts with whitespace
              continues a logical line.

       Each pattern is a perl-like regular expression. The expression delimiter can be  any  non-
       alphanumerical  character,  except  whitespace  or  characters  that  have special meaning
       (traditionally the forward slash is used).  The regular expression can contain whitespace.

       By default, matching  is  case-insensitive,  and  newlines  are  not  treated  as  special
       characters.  The  behavior  is  controlled by flags, which are toggled by appending one or
       more of the following characters after the pattern:

       i (default: on)
              Toggles the case sensitivity flag. By default, matching is case insensitive.

       m (default: off)
              Toggles the PCRE_MULTILINE flag. When this flag is on, the ^ and  $  metacharacters
              match  immediately  after and immediately before a newline character, respectively,
              in addition to matching at the start and end of the subject string.

       s (default: on)
              Toggles the PCRE_DOTALL flag. When this flag is on, the  .   metacharacter  matches
              the  newline  character.  With  Postfix  versions  prior to 2.0, the flag is off by
              default, which is inconvenient for multi-line message header matching.

       x (default: off)
              Toggles the pcre extended flag. When this flag is on, whitespace characters in  the
              pattern  (other  than  in  a character class) are ignored.  To include a whitespace
              character as part of the pattern, escape it with backslash.

              Note: do not use #comment after patterns.

       A (default: off)
              Toggles the PCRE_ANCHORED flag.  When this flag is on, the pattern is forced to  be
              "anchored",  that  is,  it  is constrained to match only at the start of the string
              which is being searched (the "subject string"). This effect can also be achieved by
              appropriate constructs in the pattern itself.

       E (default: off)
              Toggles  the  PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY  flag. When this flag is on, a $ metacharacter in
              the pattern matches only at the end of the subject string.  Without  this  flag,  a
              dollar  also  matches  immediately  before  the  final character if it is a newline
              character (but not before any other newline characters). This flag  is  ignored  if
              PCRE_MULTILINE flag is set.

       U (default: off)
              Toggles  the  ungreedy  matching  flag.  When this flag is on, the pattern matching
              engine inverts the "greediness" of the quantifiers so that they are not  greedy  by
              default,  but  become  greedy if followed by "?".  This flag can also set by a (?U)
              modifier within the pattern.

       X (default: off)
              Toggles the PCRE_EXTRA flag.  When this flag is on, any backslash in a pattern that
              is followed by a letter that has no special meaning causes an error, thus reserving
              these combinations for future expansion.

SEARCH ORDER

       Patterns are applied in the order as specified in the table, until a pattern is found that
       matches the input string.

       Each  pattern  is  applied to the entire input string.  Depending on the application, that
       string is an entire client hostname, an entire  client  IP  address,  or  an  entire  mail
       address.   Thus,  no  parent domain or parent network search is done, and user@domain mail
       addresses are not broken up into their user and domain constituent parts, nor is  user+foo
       broken up into user and foo.

TEXT SUBSTITUTION

       Substitution  of  substrings  (text  that  matches  patterns inside "()") from the matched
       expression into the result string is requested with $1, $2, etc.; specify $$ to produce  a
       $  character as output.  The macros in the result string may need to be written as ${n} or
       $(n) if they aren't followed by whitespace.

       Note: since negated patterns (those preceded by !) return a  result  when  the  expression
       does not match, substitutions are not available for negated patterns.

EXAMPLE SMTPD ACCESS MAP

       # Protect your outgoing majordomo exploders
       /^(?!owner-)(.*)-outgoing@(.*)/ 550 Use ${1}@${2} instead

       # Bounce friend@whatever, except when whatever is our domain (you would
       # be better just bouncing all friend@ mail - this is just an example).
       /^(friend@(?!my\.domain$).*)$/  550 Stick this in your pipe $1

       # A multi-line entry. The text is sent as one line.
       #
       /^noddy@my\.domain$/
        550 This user is a funny one. You really don't want to send mail to
        them as it only makes their head spin.

EXAMPLE HEADER FILTER MAP

       /^Subject: make money fast/     REJECT
       /^To: friend@public\.com/       REJECT

EXAMPLE BODY FILTER MAP

       # First skip over base 64 encoded text to save CPU cycles.
       # Requires PCRE version 3.
       ~^[[:alnum:]+/]{60,}$~          OK

       # Put your own body patterns here.

SEE ALSO

       postmap(1), Postfix lookup table manager
       postconf(5), configuration parameters
       regexp_table(5), format of POSIX regular expression tables

README FILES

       Use "postconf readme_directory" or "postconf html_directory" to locate this information.
       DATABASE_README, Postfix lookup table overview

AUTHOR(S)

       The PCRE table lookup code was originally written by:
       Andrew McNamara
       andrewm@connect.com.au
       connect.com.au Pty. Ltd.
       Level 3, 213 Miller St
       North Sydney, NSW, Australia

       Adopted and adapted by:
       Wietse Venema
       IBM T.J. Watson Research
       P.O. Box 704
       Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA

                                                                                    PCRE_TABLE(5)