X400: Incoming X.400 Receipt Notifications (129706)

SYMPTOMS

When a Microsoft Mail user requests a return receipt for a message sent to a foreign X.400 user, the receipt is not a standard postcard. Some systems (DEC Mail Works, Memo, Retix Open Mail) return a native X.400 receipt notification. The Microsoft Mail for Windows user will receive a message with the following text:

From: POSTMASTER
To: Admin
Subject:
Date: Friday February 24,1995 14:26

** Receipt Notification **
Receipt: Feb 24 14:26:53 1995 -08:00 relative to GMT

A Microsoft Mail MS-DOS user will receive a message with the following text:

DATE: Feb 24 14:26:54 1995 -08:00 relative to GMT
FROM: POSTMASTER

Reported: 00000261.MAI
Actual Recipient: root [C=us; A=mci; P=msft; O=x400hub

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
** Receipt Notification **
Receipt: Feb 24 14:26:53 1995 -08:00 relative to GMT

Because the message lacks a subject, it is impossible to know which message was answered.

CAUSE

This is the content of the X.400 receipt notification generated by the user agent (UA) of the foreign mail system. The service element called Receipt Notification is a nonessential option of the X.420 CCITT recommendations.

The Receipt Notification element is composed of three parts:

Receipt Time
TypeOfReceipt
Supplementary Info

Most foreign mail systems only include the first field (the Receipt Time). The user agent must make the correspondence between the original message and the return receipt by using the IPMessageID. Microsoft Mail uses the O/R address of the originator and an identifier. This identifier is the name of the file containing the message (00000261.MAI). Because Microsoft Mail does not keep this pointer in memory, there is no way to associate the two messages.

The Microsoft Mail Gateway to X.400 changes the FROM file to POSTMASTER so that the recipient will not receive a nondelivery report if the return receipt does not get delivered. SR# SRM950213000003
Status Closed because customer doesn't want to use StripGatewayHeaders=0
Technical explanation:

The fact that the Windows client does not show the Actual Recipient as in the MS-DOS client is a bug. The StripGatewayHeaders=0 parameter in the MSMAIL.INI file should add this extended information.

Changing incoming native X.400 Receipt Notifications into MS Mail "MicrosoftMailv3.0IPM.MicrosoftMail.ReadReceipt" type messages would not give any more information than the MS-DOS client--i.e., MAI file name, User name, and time read. The foreign X.400 system would have to add the subject field to the Supplementary Info field for this to work.

WORKAROUND

To eliminate incoming receipt notifications, do not use return receipts on mail sent to X.400 users. This solution will not work, however, if the mail is addressed to both Microsoft Mail users and X.400 users. In this case, a third-party product such as WinRules can be used to filter the receipt notification messages.

WinRules is manufactured by Beyond Incorporated, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.