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 instructions 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 incoming 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(1qmail)