Newsgroups: vmsnet.mail.pmdf
Subject: RE: PMDF protocol error
From: Ned Freed <ned@sigurd.innosoft.com>
Date: 05 Nov 1992 03:23:59 -0800 (PST)
Organization: The Internet
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> The VMS-mail-limit of 255 characters is not the problem !!!

That remains to be seen. See below.

> I  put a mail into a save_set, mailed it through VMS-mail (foreign) to
> another  PMDF-WEP-system  with no problems (VMS V5.5-1), restored  the
> save_set  and editted the PMDF-mail-file so that it would deliver this
> mail to  me.
> Using  the  command, "$ MAIL/PROT=PMDF_MAILSHR 'filename'",  delivered
> the mail correctly.   The same PMDF V3.1 version is used here.

Delivering the mail to yourself on the local node proves absolutely nothing. In
particular, the line length limitation in VMS MAIL only applies when delivering
messages to remote MAIL-11 users.

Avoiding the network transfer is not the issue either. Since the error is being
reported from the local channel all indications are that the message made it to
the final PMDF system just fine. You are avoiding a network transfer which, as
far as I can tell, has absolutely nothing to do with the problem at hand.

> Furthermore,  I  was not able to find a file that had  strings  longer
> than appr. 80 characters.

I don't know what this means. Do you mean that your sample message had no long
lines in it? If so, this is all the more reason for your test to have worked
out fine. The issue is what's in the message that's failing on the system where
it is failing.

Despite the fact that PMDF V3.1 is totally obsolete and hence we don't support
it at all, I'm willing to try and help you figure out what's happening here.

First of all, it is absolutely imperative that you be able to isolate the exact
message file that is failing on the exact system where the problem is
happening. Nothing else will suffice. Once you have obtained a copy of this
message please send it to me and I check it out.

Second, you should enable slave_debug on your l channel. This will produce
a more detailed trace in the L_MASTER.LOG file. Please send that to me as well.

Third, please check all the recipient addresses in the message and determine
whether or not they are local. These addresses appear on the second and
subsequent lines of the message file. A line containing two control-a
characters separates the recipient list from the message header. At a
minimum you should check each of the recipient with a SHOW FORW/USER=
command in VMS MAIL and see if forwarding is set for any of them.

Finally, if you have installed a new version of VMS or VAX PSI you may have
introduced some bugs into VMS MAIL. Please indicate if you have done this.

Send the results of all this to service@innosoft.com. (This is not a topic of
any real interest to the info-pmdf list.) I'm still betting on a line length
problem.

				Ned