NAME
Mail::ExpandAliases - Expand aliases from /etc/aliases files
SYNOPSIS
use Mail::ExpandAliases;
my $ma = Mail::ExpandAliases->new("/etc/aliases");
my @list = $ma->expand("listname");DESCRIPTION
I've looked for software to expand aliases from an alias file for a while, but have never found anything adequate. In this day and age, few public SMTP servers support EXPN, which makes alias expansion problematic. This module, and the accompanying expand-alias script, attempts to address that deficiency.
USAGE
Mail::ExpandAliases is an object oriented module, with a constructor named new:
my $ma = Mail::ExpandAliases->new("/etc/mail/aliases");new takes the filename of an aliases file; if not supplied, or if the file specified does not exist or is not readable, Mail::ExpandAliases will look in a predetermined set of default locations and use the first one found. See "ALIAS FILE LOCATIONS", below, for details on this search path and how to modify it.
Lookups are made using the expand method:
@aliases = $ma->expand("listname");expand returns a list of expanded addresses, sorted alphabetically. These expanded addresses are also expanded, whenever possible.
A non-expandible alias (no entry in the aliases file) expands to itself, i.e., does not expand.
In scalar context, expand returns a reference to a list. Note that this list may have 1 item in it.
Note that Mail::ExpandAliases provides read-only access to the alias file. If you are looking for read access, see Mail::Alias, which is a more general interface to alias files.
Mail::ExpandAliases make a resonable attempt to handle aliases the way sendmail does, including loop detection and support for escaped named. See chapter 24, "Aliases", in Sendmail (<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/sendmail/>) for full details about this process.
As of version 0.48, support exists for non-recursive alias expansions, i.e., returning what's listed in the alias file. This is done with the check method:
@aliases = $ma->check($alias);In list context, check returns a list of matches, and in scalar context, check returns a reference to a list.
There is also an exists method, which will indicate if a particular alias is defined in the file:
if ($ma->exists($alias)) {
....ALIAS FILE LOCATIONS
Paths to the aliases file can be added globally at compile time:
use Mail::ExpandAliases qw(/etc/exim/aliases);Alias file locations can also be specified to instances when they are constructed:
my $ma = Mail::ExpandAliases->new("/etc/exim/aliases");Alias file locations are stored in the package global @POSSIBLE_ALIAS_FILES, which can be assigned to directly if you're not impressed with encapsulation:
@Mail::ExpandAliases::POSSIBLE_ALIAS_FILES = ("/etc/aliases");By default, @POSSIBLE_ALIAS_FILES contains /etc/aliases, /etc/mail/aliases, /etc/postfix/aliases, and /etc/exim/aliases. If your alias file is ones of these, the filename can be omitted from the constructor; Mail::ExpandAliases will look in @POSSIBLE_ALIAS_FILES until it finds a file that exists.
Note that it is not (necessarily) an error if none of these files exists. An alias file can be added by passing a filename to the init() method:
my $ma = Mail::ExpandAliases->new();
# Write a temporary aliases file in /tmp/aliases-$<
$ma->init("/tmp/aliases-$<");Calling expand before setting an alias file will, of course, produce no useful expansions.
If the constructor is called with the name of a file that exists but cannot be opened, Mail::ExpandAliases will die with an error detailing the problem.
BUGS / SHORTCOMINGS
If you were telnet mailhost 25, and the server had EXPN turned on, then sendmail would read a user's .forward file. This software cannot do that, and makes no attempt to. Only the invoking user's .forward file should be readable (if any other user's .forward file was readable, sendmail would not read it, making this feature useless), and the invoking user should not need this module to read their own .forward file.
Any other shortcomings, bugs, errors, or generally related complaints and requests should be reported via the appropriate queue at <http://rt.cpan.org/>.
AUTHOR
darren chamberlain <darren@cpan.org>