Updated: 24-SEP-2003 (Use your browsers' Reload button to ensure you're viewing the most recent version)
ALPMAIL02_070 Alpha V7.0 MAIL ECO Summary
Copyright (c) Digital Equipment Corporation 1997. All rights reserved.
PRODUCT: OpenVMS Alpha
COMPONENTs: MAILSHR.EXE
MAILSHRP.EXE
MAIL_OLD.EXE
MAIL_SERVER.EXE
MAILHELP.HLB
MAIL.EXE
SOURCE: Digital Equipment Corporation
ECO INFORMATION:
ECO Kit Name: ALPMAIL02_070
ECO Kits Superseded by This ECO Kit: ALPMAIL01_070
ECO Kit Approximate Size: 2329 Blocks
Saveset A - 2304 Blocks
Kit Applies To: OpenVMS Alpha V7.0
System/Cluster Reboot Necessary: No
Installation Rating: 2 - To be installed on all systems running
the listed version(s) of OpenVMS and
using the following feature:
MAIL
ECO KIT SUMMARY:
An ECO kit exists for MAIL on OpenVMS Alpha V7.0. This kit addresses the
following problems:
PROBLEMS ADDRESSED IN ALPMAIL02_070 KIT:
o The TO line in a received message can become so skewed that
passwords for remote distribution lists may be visible in a
received message.
o The TO line in a received message can become so skewed that
passwords for remote distribution lists may be visible.
o When calling MAIL$MAILFILE_PURGE_WASTE from a detached process,
the image was aborting with a LIB$_NOCLI message.
o When using MAIL$MESSAGE_COPY to copy messages from one mail
file to another version of the same file, the messages are not
copied to the target file, but rather are copied to the source
file.
o A program using callable mail routine MAIL$USER_GET_INFO will
receive an EXEC mode access violation and the process is
deleted. A non-fatal SSRVEXCEPTN bugcheck is generated.
o Programs using callable MAIL routines from AST level code will
often receive ACCVIOs when RMS errors are signaled.
o A program using callable mail routine MAIL$USER_GET_INFO will
receive an EXEC mode access violation and the process is
deleted when the MAIL$_USER_NEXT item code is used before
MAIL$_USER_FIRST or MAIL$_USER_USERNAME. A non-fatal
SSRVEXCEPTN bugcheck is generated.
o When using callable mail to send messages, it will eventually
run out of virtual memory. There is a memory leak in both
MAIL$SEND_BEGIN and MAIL$SEND_END routines.
o Defining a Logical for Username in the following manner
produces forward loop in MAIL.
$DEFINE/TRANSLATION_ATTRIB=TERMINAL name node::name
$ define/tran=terminal system quebit::system
MAIL> send
To: system
%MAIL-E-FORWLOOP, infinite forwarding detected sending to user netaly
o Strange <NULL> characters are displayed in DIR command when a
user has no mail messages and no folders.
$ mail
MAIL> dir
%MAIL-E-NOTEXIST, folder MAIL<NULL><NULL>...<NULL> does not exist
o The size of the return length for a given item, pointed to by
the "Return Length Address" item field of callable mail
routines, is inconsistent. It is a word sized length returned
for certain calls and a longword sized length returned for
other calls. The convention for called VMS routines is to
return the size of the item in a word, with the address of the
word in a longword.
There is also an inconsistency in the Mail documentation
regarding the size of the returned value. While the
introductory paragraph documents the size to be a longword, the
individual mail routines describe the item lists to be of the
type itmlst_3, which in turn describes the size as a word.
o Mail Callable Routine MAIL$SEND_MESSAGE returns an incorrect
status when a signature file is declared.
o Two different SSRVEXCEPTION crashes in MAILSHRP can occur when
running LBN disk I/O or UETP, in the context of the image DTWM,
when SYS$SYSTEM:VMSMAIL_PROFILE.DATA is inaccessible.
In addition, this same change resolves MAILSHRP ACCVIOs, when
called by the UCX POP server as it processes VFC type message
files.
o When entering an exclamation point (!) at the CC prompt to
'disable' the COPY_SELF profile setting, MAIL was returning to
the MAIL> prompt with no message.
o The use of the EDIT qualifier used with MAIL on the command
line, with REPLY set to EXTRACT, is not implying the use of
EDIT on REPLY "file" syntax.
o Sending a mail message to a large distribution list
intermittently signals a nonfatal SSRVEXCEPTN bugcheck for the
sending process.
When setting the memory bounds, membound[2], we are taking the
address of MMG$GL_PAGE_SIZE instead of the contents (which is
2000 hex, ie., 2 alpha pages).
o When using the TPU or LSE editor from MAIL, with either the
SEND, REPLY or FORWARD command, write the buffer to disk with a
WRITE command, and then QUIT the editor, the mail message gets
sent instead of aborting with the message
"%MAIL-E-SENDABORT, no message sent".
o In V7.0, on sending foreign format file with the command
MAIL> send <foreign file>
the message does not get tagged with the "foreign message
format" flag.
o The MAIL command NEXT, issued after a message at the end of
list, reads the first message, instead of continually
displaying the error message:
%MAIL-E-NOMOREMSG, no more messages
o ANSWER/LAST/EDIT command does not include the contents of the
last sent mail into the current reply text.
o MAIL no longer processes compound document files.
o ANSWER/LAST & SEND/LAST fail on the second attempt to send the
reply of the same contents with the error message
"%MAIL-E-OPENIN, error opening
DISK$USERS:[user1]MAIL_202001C0_S.TXT as input"
o In case a new user (one who did not receive any mail message
and does not have MAIL.MAI file) attempts to execute SET MAIL
command, the "file not found" message is displayed.
o SET EDITOR allows the editor to be set with wildcard in the
name without an error message, which causes SEND and other
operations to fail.
o MAIL Utility does not invoke edtini.edt when a send/edit is
issued.
o The MAIL command DEFINE /KEY does not return an error message
on an attempt to redefine function keys F1 to F16. eg.
user_disk:[user1]>mail
MAIL> sh key f7
MAIL> def/key f7 "mail"
MAIL> sh key f7
DEFAULT keypad definitions: F7 = "mail" (echo)
MAIL> --- no any reaction on the key pressing ----
No error message is signaled on an attempt to define an invalid
keyname.
When MAIL prompts for the required parameters of the command
DEFINE/KEY, the command fails with an error message. eg.
MAIL> define/key
_Key name: f10
_Translation: read
%MAIL-E-PARSEFAIL, error parsing DEFINE/KEY
-CLI-W-INSFPRM, missing command parameters -
supply all required parameters
o MAIL displays an extra message when using the EDT editor to
send messages.
o The output of the BACK command typed after the DIR/PAGE
command, is greater than terminal page width, and the message
wraps around the screen.
o Powerpoint and MS Doc files, sent via MAIL and extracted using
the command EXTRACT/FOREIGN, cause an ACCVIO when accessed.
o Full file specification is not passed to routine
cctmail$extract_ddif.
o Password not replaced by clear text in second address in a TO
line.
o In the event of an invalid or nonexistent SYSUAF.DAT, or an
error reading SYSUAF.DAT, the user is unaware of any error and
MAIL either continues, or exits. If an error is signaled at
all, the error message is often meaningless.
o Users of some POP servers, as well as a third party MAIL UI
(PMDF)were seeing access violations in MAILSHRP. These
occurred primarily in the event of a locked SYSUAF record and
subsequent signaling of MAIL$_UAFGETERR. Sites typically
seeing this to date have been universities where 10,000 to
11,000 simultaneous mail users is the norm.
PROBLEMS ADDRESSED IN ALPMAIL01_070 KIT:
o Programs using callable MAIL routines from AST level code will
often receive ACCVIOs when RMS errors are signaled.
o This kit contains an updated help file.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Detailed articles describing the problems listed above may exist in
the OPENVMS database. To view these articles, open the appropriate
product database and perform a query using either of the following
search strings: 'ALPMAIL02_070' or 'ALPMAIL'.
ECO KIT ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS:
If after an evaluation you wish to obtain this kit, request it
electronically using the appropriate Advanced Electronic Services
(AES) Service Tool. If you are not familiar with how to request
kits electronically, open the DIA, WIS or DSNLINK database and
review the article entitled:
[AES] How To Electronically Request ECO Kits Using Service Tools
INSTALLATION NOTES:
The system does not need to be rebooted after this kit is installed.
However, if you have other nodes in your OpenVMS VMScluster, they should
be rebooted or you should install this kit on each system in order to
make use of the new images.
==========================================================================
| Table of Kit Image Information |
+----------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------------+
| | Overall | Image File | Image Link |
| Image Name | Checksum | Identification | Date/Time |
+----------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------------+
| MAIL.EXE | 2D2EE4F0 | V1.06 | 28-JUL-1997 |
| | | 12:52:52.32 |
+----------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------------+
| MAILSHR.EXE | C0B07AB7 | X-3 | 16-JUL-1997 |
| | | 11:26:22.17 |
+----------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------------+
| MAILSHRP.EXE | C9D9AF28 | X-3 | 16-JUL-1997 |
| | | 11:26:27.72 |
+----------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------------+
| MAIL_OLD.EXE | 82573F5F | X-14 | 16-JUL-1997 |
| | | 11:26:36.56 |
+----------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------------+
| MAIL_SERVER.EXE | 3548D5C4 | X-11 | 16-JUL-1997 |
| | | 11:26:38.81 |
+----------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------------+
|
