XFOR: SMTP Header Discarded with No Message Content

• Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 5.5, 5.0

SUMMARY

When the Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Service receives an inbound Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) message, the message is formatted according to the header information defined in the Data section of the message (that is, Subject:, To:, From:).

If the last header line is not followed by a null line, plus a carriage return/line feed (CR/LF), the last header field will not be displayed to the recipient of the message.

Some SMTP hosts may send out mail in this format when there is no message content, and therefore, the above behavior is expected.

The following excerpt from RFC 822 explains the proper header formatting, so that the message content is separated from the header content consistently.

3.1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION
A message consists of header fields and, optionally, a body. The body is simply a sequence of lines containing ASCII characters. It is separated from the headers by a null line (i.e., a line with nothing preceding the CRLF).

Additional query words:

Keywords : XFOR exc5 exc55
Version : winnt:5.0,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo