Re: [MacPerl] Find SMTP server(s): nslookup?

["Paul J. Schinder" <schinder@pobox.com>]

At 3:49 PM +0200 3/31/99, Milivoj Ivkovic wrote:

} >there be a "/etc/resolv.conf", which isn't a real problem, except MacPerl
} >users don't usually have one.  You have to construct one and point Net::DNS
} >at it.
}
} Not sure what you mean by construct one. You mean that if the user
}doesn't have a "/etc/resolv.conf" file, I have to tell Net::DNS which DNS
}to use? Would make sense. Any way to get the info out of the system? If
}there is, it probably should be part of Net::DNS, actually.

MacOS uses a completely different way of getting the nameserver(s) than
Unix.  There isn't a file named /etc/resolv.conf lying around, and there's
no text file with lines "domain this" "nameserver that" that can be used as
a substitute.  Anyone on MacOS that wants to use Net::DNS has to find out
what the format of an /etc/resolv.conf and roll their own.  I simply copied
the one off my Sun workstation and edited it, and then changed
Net::DNS::Resolver to point to that file.  Chris' experience this morning,
though, may mean that I didn't have to do this.  I don't remember why I
did, but I vaguely remember the module throwing up because I didn't have
one when I tried to use it.

}
} >} Would some Macs have environment variables like $ENV{MAILHOST} set?
} >
} >Mine does, but that's because I use MailTools.  In general, no.
}
} So I guess that if there is one, it should also get a high priority. I
}wonder whether it is usually correctly set on Unix systems.

I don't think it's in my environment on any of my Unix boxen.  All of them
run SMTP servers (even my Mac when running Linux), so "localhost" is right
for all of them.

}
} >} Or would some Macs have such a command (I read something about Unix tools
} >}in a new Mac OS)?
} >
} >Sure, on Mac OS X server.  But the number of people willing to spend $500
} >to run it on the limited number of models that will run it are few.  And
} >they're probably running 5.005_03 or 5.005_5? rather than MacPerl in the
} >blue box anyway.  Those you treat as BSD boxes, because in essence that's
} >what they are.
}
} So I can still try `nslookup`. It would just print an error message if
}it's not there? Or would it be smarter to first check whether this is an X
}server? Anything different in $^O from a "plain" Mac?

If it's in BSD, MacOS X will probably have it.  I don't see it by name at
<http://www.publicsource.apple.com/projects/darwin/>, but it's probably in
one of the packages, maybe "network_cmds".  (Darwin is the free/incomplete
version of MacOS X server.)


}
} >Since I've tested Mail::Sendmail multiple times, and edited test.pl, I've
} >always thought what you should do is have the test simply prompt the user
} >and ask for the address to send the test to and the server address.  The
}
} Yes, these goodies have been postponed too long. Still, I feel it would
}be cool finding the SMTP server(s) first, and prompting the user with good
}defaults. I hate having to type these names over and over. It would also
}be nice to figure the user's e-mail address, but that would be far too
}much trouble for something that would only work occasionally. But the SMTP
}servers I'll try.

Good luck.

}
} >software.  Ordinarily I hate prompting software, but here you need only two
} >things, and the test is run only once for each release.
}
} It has been 3 releases in 2 days this time, but it should stay quiet
}again now :-)...
}
} Milivoj
}


-----
Paul J. Schinder
schinder@pobox.com

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