meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?

[Matus UHLAR - fantomas <uh...@fantomas.sk>]

Hello,

what's the real meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?
should it match without the Subject: header, or even message with empty
Subject: header?

the description says it's about missing subject header, but it seems to
match even when there's "empty" line containing the string "Subject: "
in headers.


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Re: meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?

[Matus UHLAR - fantomas <uh...@fantomas.sk>]

> On Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 03:20:12PM +0200, Matus UHLAR - fantomas wrote:
> > On 13.07.07 09:15, Matt Kettler wrote:
> > > It should only match a missing header.
> 
> "missing header" doesn't mean "the header doesn't exist", btw.  It's a
> subtle difference, please see below.
> 
> > bug 5207 should be reopened then...
> 
> Nope.
[...]
> The header "exists:header_name" test really converts into:
>   header_data =~ /./
> 
> which requires that there be a character in the header_data.

aha. 

On 13.07.07 12:51, Theo Van Dinter wrote:
> I'll put this in the bug for future reference. :)

good, thanks. Could you also please change the description to
"missing or empty" to avoid confusion for next time?

(maybe Missing subject would help too, but the "Missing Subject: header" is
really confusing imho)
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Re: meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?

[Theo Van Dinter <fe...@apache.org>]

On Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 03:20:12PM +0200, Matus UHLAR - fantomas wrote:
> On 13.07.07 09:15, Matt Kettler wrote:
> > It should only match a missing header.

"missing header" doesn't mean "the header doesn't exist", btw.  It's a subtle
difference, please see below.

> bug 5207 should be reopened then...

Nope.

I'll try to keep it short, but here's what's going on:

A header is parsed as:
  "[header_name]:[optional_whitespace][header_data]"

The header "exists:header_name" test really converts into:
  header_data =~ /./

which requires that there be a character in the header_data.

MISSING_SUBJECT is the inverse of the "exists:Subject" rule, made using
a meta rule.

If the Subject header is actually missing, then there is no header_data, and
therefore the "/./" test fails.

If the Subject header exists, but has nothing but whitespace after the
colon ... there's no header_data, and therefore the "/./" test fails.


I'll put this in the bug for future reference. :)

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Re: meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?

[Matus UHLAR - fantomas <uh...@fantomas.sk>]

> Matus UHLAR - fantomas wrote:
> > what's the real meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?
> > should it match without the Subject: header, or even message with empty
> > Subject: header?
> >
> > the description says it's about missing subject header, but it seems to
> > match even when there's "empty" line containing the string "Subject: "
> > in headers.

On 13.07.07 09:15, Matt Kettler wrote:
> It should only match a missing header.

then it's a bug, the header is there. 

> However, one thing to realize is that your mail client may insert a
> blank subject if it's missing. So, if you're looking at it after your
> mail client has read it, it might not have been there at all when SA
> scanned it.

that's why I re-sent that mail by telnetting to SMTP port (both ways) and
checked that explicitly over text file. In both cases, there was "Subject: "
header.

bug 5207 should be reopened then...

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Re: meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?

[Matt Kettler <mk...@verizon.net>]

Matus UHLAR - fantomas wrote:
> Hello,
>
> what's the real meaning of MISSING_SUBJECT ?
> should it match without the Subject: header, or even message with empty
> Subject: header?
>
> the description says it's about missing subject header, but it seems to
> match even when there's "empty" line containing the string "Subject: "
> in headers.
>
>
>   
It should only match a missing header.

However, one thing to realize is that your mail client may insert a
blank subject if it's missing. So, if you're looking at it after your
mail client has read it, it might not have been there at all when SA
scanned it.