decoder:
> On 12/16/2012 01:22 AM, Wietse Venema wrote:
> > decoder:
> >> Hello Wietse,
> >>
> >> the documentation on this (the comment in the main.cf file also) says
> >> that foo-test will first be checked and only if that doesn't exist it
> >> will use foo. Is the documentation wrong then?
> > Which comment? I don't recall that Postfix documentation promises
> > this for UNIX system account lookups.
>
> This one:
>
> # Basically, the software tries user+foo and .forward+foo before trying
> user and .forward.
>
> And it mentioned local(8) immediately before that. Isn't that the kind
> of delivery we're talking about? Or is that a layer inbetween?
Perhaps you mean the text in the postconf(5) manpage (which also
appears in the stock main.cf file).
recipient_delimiter
The separator between user names and address extensions (user+foo).
See canonical(5), local(8), relocated(5) and virtual(5) for the
effects this has on aliases, canonical, virtual, relocated and
on .forward file lookups. Basically, the software tries user+foo
and .forward+foo before trying user and .forward.
The above text defines recipient_delimiter as "The separator between
user names and address extensions." In other words user names must
not contain the delimiter.
I don't recall over the 14 years since the Postfix release that this
has ever been a source of confusion or disappointment.
The definition is followed with additional text that points to
specific manpages for how the delimiter works in specific usage
contexts. That is a lot of text, and to help the reader it summarizes
those pointers as "Basically, the software tries user+foo and
.forward+foo before trying user and .forward." That summary doesn't
discharge you of the responsibility to read the specific manpages
that apply to your usage context.
As mentioned before I don't recall that the documentation for the
local delivery agent promises that it will look up user+foo (or
whatever the delimiter is) in the UNIX system account database.
Wietse
