Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
5.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH

Up: Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
Up: Requests For Comments
Up: RFC 1123
Up: 5. ELECTRONIC MAIL -- SMTP and RFC-822
Prev: 5.1 INTRODUCTION
Next: 5.2.1 The SMTP Model: RFC-821 Section 2

5.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH

5.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH

This section covers both RFC-821 and RFC-822.

The SMTP specification in RFC-821 is clear and contains numerous examples, so implementors should not find it difficult to understand. This section simply updates or annotates portions of RFC-821 to conform with current usage.

RFC-822 is a long and dense document, defining a rich syntax. Unfortunately, incomplete or defective implementations of RFC-822 are common. In fact, nearly all of the many formats of RFC-822 are actually used, so an implementation generally needs to recognize and correctly interpret all of the RFC-822 syntax.


Next: 5.2.1 The SMTP Model: RFC-821 Section 2

Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
5.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH