[Info-vax] bizarre SMTP problem

[Richard B. Gilbert]

Michael Moroney wrote:
> helbig at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de (Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply) writes:
> 
>>> aka: the + seems to be used as a "," to delimit multiple destinations
> 
>> That's what I guessed.  Is this documented anywhere?
> 
> I'll guess that MAIL uses a DCL parsing routine to parse that To: line.
> In DCL, the "+" works similar to a ",", but they don't always mean the same
> thing.  Some DCL commands treat the "+" as combining the inputs into one,
> but offhand I can't think of any.
> 
> So, it's a matter of using the wrong tool for the job, although it wasn't
> "wrong" decades ago when SMTP simply didn't exist, at least not on VMS.
> SMTP address parsing doesn't follow DCL rules.
> 
> VMS desperately needs a new email client.

So write one!  I can practically guarantee that H-P won't!