Errors-to: owner-drums@CS.UTK.EDU
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 01:12:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mark Crispin <MRC@Panda.COM>
Sender: Mark Crispin <mrc@Ikkoku-Kan.Panda.COM>
Subject: here's another one for the list
To: drums@CS.UTK.EDU
Message-Id: <MailManager.801994332.19114.mrc@Ikkoku-Kan.Panda.COM>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII

I want explicit wording in the SMTP document to forbid treating the RSET
command as being equivalent to QUIT.  There are still a few SMTP servers out
there that do this.

Actually, RFC-821 already forbids this heinous practice; 221 is not available
as a response to RSET, and the description of QUIT says that only QUIT can
cause the server to close the connection.  Unfortunately, this is too esoteric
for certain individuals, so explicit text is needed.

Why is this a problem?  SMTP clients that support multiple transactions per
SMTP session generally find it to be in their interest to send a RSET between
transactions.  This makes sure that some failure in the previous transaction
doesn't cause lingering effects in the next transaction.  One way of doing
this is to begin each SMTP transaction with RSET, that is,
 HELO -> RSET -> MAIL -> RCPT -> DATA -> RSET -> MAIL -> RCPT -> DATA -> QUIT

Strictly speaking, the RSETs shouldn't be needed, but they shouldn't hurt
either.

-- Mark --

DoD #0105, R90/6 pilot  FAX: (206) 842-0758  ICBM: N 47.36'24" W 122.34'08"
TOPS-20: A Great Improvement Over Its Successors