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Last update: 1997-05-20
9945-2-129
_____________________________________________________________________________
Topic: mail
Relevant Sections: 4.40.7
Defect Report:
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Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 14:05:29 +0200 (DST)
From: "Konrad J. Steinkohl" <[email protected]>
I would like to request an official, binding interpretation from the
WG15 concerning the following point in ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993 (POSIX.2).
POSIX.2 Subclause 4.40.7 specifies the processing of messages, which are in the
system mailbox or in a secondary mailbox:
lines 6347-6356 state:
read The message has been processed by one of the
following commands: ~f, ~m, ~F, ~M, copy,
mbox, next, pipe, print, Print, top, type,
Type, undelete. The delete, dp and dt.
commands may also cause the next message to
be marked as read, depending on the value of
the autoprint variable. Messages that are
in the system mailbox and in state read when<===
mailx quits will be saved in the mbox,
unless the internal variable hold was set.
Messages that are in the mbox or in a
secondary mailbox and in state read when
mailx quits will be retained in their
current location.
and Subclause 4.40.7.2.28, lines 6754-6757, state:
save [file]
save [msglist] file
Save the specified messages in the file named by the pathname file, or
the mbox if the file argument is omitted. The file shall be created if
it does not exist; otherwise, the messages shall be appended to the
file. The messages shall be deleted from the mailbox when mailx
terminates unless keepsave is set.
The issue that I would like resolved is: Shall messages in a secondary
mailbox be deleted, if they have been processed by save.
I note, that 'save' is not one of the commands listed in the first mentioned
statement. I note further, that the second mentioned statement does not
differ between "system" and "secondary" mailboxes.
So I would conclude that messages, which have been written to a file using
'save' are removed also from a secondary mailbox.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Interpretation response
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Since the description of the save command refers to the keepsave internal
variable, but the internal variable keepsave says nothing about secondary
mailbox's, the standard is unclear on this issue, and no conformance
distinction can be made between alternative implementations based on this.
This is being referred to the sponsor.
Rationale
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None.
Forwarded to Interpretations group: Jul 6 1995
Proposed resolution forwarded: Aug 11 1995
Finalized: Sept 12 1995