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1d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<HTML>
2d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<HEAD>
3d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TITLE>Technical Overview</TITLE>
4d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</HEAD>
5d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<BODY>
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940266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
10d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<H1>Technical Overview</H1>
1140266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
12d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<H2>Contents</H2>
1340266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
14d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<UL>
15d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI><A HREF="#Initialization">Initialization</A>
16d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI><A HREF="#ControlFlow">Control Flow</A>
17d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI><A HREF="#Multithreading">Multithreading</A>
18d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI><A HREF="#ResourceManagement">Resource Management</A>
19d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI><A HREF="#SignalHandling">Signal Handling</A>
20d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</UL>
2140266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
22d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<H2><A NAME="Initialization">Initialization</A></H2>
2340266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
24d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroIn addition to its own initialization,
25d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirolibmilter expects a filter to initialize several parameters
26d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirobefore calling <A HREF="smfi_main.html">smfi_main</A>:
27d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<UL>
28d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI>The callbacks the filter wishes to be called, and the types of
29d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    message modification it intends to perform (required, see
30d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <A HREF="smfi_register.html">smfi_register</A>).
3140266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
32d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI>The socket address to be used when communicating with the MTA
33d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    (required, see <A HREF="smfi_setconn.html">smfi_setconn</A>).
3440266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
35d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <LI>The number of seconds to wait for MTA connections before
36d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    timing out (optional, see
37d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro    <A HREF="smfi_settimeout.html">smfi_settimeout</A>).
38d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</UL>
39d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<P>
40d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroIf the filter fails to initialize libmilter,
41d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroor if one or more of the parameters it has passed are invalid,
42d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroa subsequent call to smfi_main will fail.
4340266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
44d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<H2><A NAME="ControlFlow">Control Flow</A></H2>
4540266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
46d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<P>
4740266059SGregory Neil ShapiroThe following pseudocode describes the filtering process from the
48d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroperspective of a set of <CODE>N</CODE> MTA's,
49d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroeach corresponding to a connection.
50d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroCallbacks are shown beside the processing stages in which they are invoked;
51d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroif no callbacks are defined for a particular stage,
52d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirothat stage may be bypassed.
53d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroThough it is not shown,
54d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroprocessing may be aborted at any time during a message,
55d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroin which case the
56d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_abort.html">xxfi_abort</A> callback is invoked and control
57d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroreturns to <CODE>MESSAGE</CODE>.
58d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<P>
59d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<PRE>
6040266059SGregory Neil ShapiroFor each of N connections
6140266059SGregory Neil Shapiro{
6240266059SGregory Neil Shapiro	For each filter
63d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro		process connection/helo (<A HREF="xxfi_connect.html">xxfi_connect</A>, <A HREF="xxfi_helo.html">xxfi_helo</A>)
6440266059SGregory Neil ShapiroMESSAGE:For each message in this connection (sequentially)
6540266059SGregory Neil Shapiro	{
6640266059SGregory Neil Shapiro		For each filter
67d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro			process sender (<A HREF="xxfi_envfrom.html">xxfi_envfrom</A>)
6840266059SGregory Neil Shapiro		For each recipient
6940266059SGregory Neil Shapiro		{
7040266059SGregory Neil Shapiro			For each filter
71d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro				process recipient (<A HREF="xxfi_envrcpt.html">xxfi_envrcpt</A>)
7240266059SGregory Neil Shapiro		}
7340266059SGregory Neil Shapiro		For each filter
7440266059SGregory Neil Shapiro		{
75d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro			process DATA (<A HREF="xxfi_data.html">xxfi_data</A>)
7640266059SGregory Neil Shapiro			For each header
77d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro				process header (<A HREF="xxfi_header.html">xxfi_header</A>)
78d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro			process end of headers (<A HREF="xxfi_eoh.html">xxfi_eoh</A>)
7940266059SGregory Neil Shapiro			For each body block
80d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro				process this body block (<A HREF="xxfi_body.html">xxfi_body</A>)
81d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro			process end of message (<A HREF="xxfi_eom.html">xxfi_eom</A>)
8240266059SGregory Neil Shapiro		}
8340266059SGregory Neil Shapiro	}
8440266059SGregory Neil Shapiro	For each filter
85d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro		process end of connection (<A HREF="xxfi_close.html">xxfi_close</A>)
8640266059SGregory Neil Shapiro}
87d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</PRE>
8840266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
8940266059SGregory Neil Shapiro<P>Note: Filters are contacted in order defined in config file.</P>
9040266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
9140266059SGregory Neil Shapiro<P>
9240266059SGregory Neil ShapiroTo write a filter, a vendor supplies callbacks to process relevant
93d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroparts of a message transaction.
94d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroThe library then controls all sequencing, threading,
95d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroand protocol exchange with the MTA.
96d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="#figure-3">Figure 3</A> outlines control flow for a filter
9740266059SGregory Neil Shapiroprocess, showing where different callbacks are invoked.
98d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</P>
99d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro
100d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<DIV ALIGN="center"><A NAME="figure-3"></A>
101d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TABLE border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 width="70%">
102d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR bgcolor="#dddddd"><TH>SMTP Commands</TH><TH>Milter Callbacks</TH></TR>
103d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>(open SMTP connection)</TD><TD>xxfi_connect</TD></TR>
104d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>HELO ...</TD><TD>xxfi_helo</TD></TR>
105d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>MAIL From: ...</TD><TD>xxfi_envfrom</TD></TR>
106d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>RCPT To: ...</TD><TD>xxfi_envrcpt</TD></TR>
107d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>[more RCPTs]</TD><TD>[xxfi_envrcpt]</TD></TR>
108d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>DATA</TD><TD>xxfi_data</TD></TR>
109d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>Header: ...</TD><TD>xxfi_header</TD></TR>
110d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>[more headers]</TD><TD>[xxfi_header]</TD></TR>
111d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>&nbsp;</TD><TD>xxfi_eoh</TD></TR>
112d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>body... </TD><TD>xxfi_body</TD></TR>
113d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>[more body...]</TD><TD>[xxfi_body]</TD></TR>
114d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>.</TD><TD>xxfi_eom</TD></TR>
115d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>QUIT</TD><TD>xxfi_close</TD></TR>
116d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<TR><TD>(close SMTP connection)</TD><TD>&nbsp;</TD></TR>
117d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</TABLE>
118d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<B>Figure 3: Milter callbacks related to an SMTP transaction.</B>
119d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</DIV>
120d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro
121d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<P>
12240266059SGregory Neil ShapiroNote that although only a single message is shown above, multiple
123d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiromessages may be sent in a single connection.
124d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroNote also that a message or connection may be aborted by
125d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroeither the remote host or the MTA
126d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroat any point during the SMTP transaction.
127d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirof this occurs during a message (between the MAIL command and the final "."),
128d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirothe filter's
129d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_abort.html">xxfi_abort</A> routine will be called.
130d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_close.html">xxfi_close</A> is called any time the
13140266059SGregory Neil Shapiroconnection closes.
13240266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
133d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<H2><A NAME="Multithreading">Multithreading</A></H2>
13440266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
135d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<P>
13640266059SGregory Neil ShapiroA single filter process may handle any number of connections
137d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirosimultaneously.
138d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroAll filtering callbacks must therefore be reentrant,
13940266059SGregory Neil Shapiroand use some appropriate external synchronization methods to access
140d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroglobal data.
141d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroFurthermore, since there is not a one-to-one correspondence
142d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirobetween threads and connections
143d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro(N connections mapped onto M threads, M &lt;= N),
144d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroconnection-specific data must be accessed
145d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirothrough the handles provided by the Milter library.
146d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroThe programmer cannot rely on library-supplied thread-specific data blocks
147d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro(e.g., <CODE>pthread_getspecific(3)</CODE>) to store connection-specific data.
148d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroSee the API documentation for
149d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="smfi_setpriv.html">smfi_setpriv</A> and
150d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="smfi_getpriv.html">smfi_getpriv</A> for details.
15140266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
152d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<H2><A NAME="ResourceManagement">Resource Management</A></H2>
15340266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
154d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroSince filters are likely to be long-lived,
155d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroand to handle many connections,
156d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroproper deallocation of per-connection resources is important.
157d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroThe lifetime of a connection is bracketed by calls to the
158d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirocallbacks <A HREF="xxfi_connect.html">xxfi_connect</A> and
159d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_close.html">xxfi_close</A>.
160d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroTherefore connection-specific
161d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroresources (accessed via <A HREF="smfi_getpriv.html">smfi_getpriv</A>
162d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroand <A HREF="smfi_setpriv.html">smfi_setpriv</A>) may be allocated in
163d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_connect.html">xxfi_connect</A>,
164d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroand should be freed in
165d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_close.html">xxfi_close</A>.
166d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroFor further information see
167d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirothe <A HREF="api.html#conn-msg">discussion</A> of message- versus
168d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroconnection-oriented routines.
169d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroIn particular,
170d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapironote that there is only one connection-specific data pointer per connection.
171d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<P>
17240266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
173d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroEach message is bracketed by calls to
174d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_envfrom.html">xxfi_envfrom</A> and
175d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_eom.html">xxfi_eom</A> (or
176d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_abort.html">xxfi_abort</A>),
177d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroimplying that message-specific resources can be allocated
178d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroand reclaimed in these routines.
179d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroSince the messages in a connection are processed sequentially by each filter,
18040266059SGregory Neil Shapirothere will be only one active message associated with a given
181d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroconnection and filter (and connection-private data block).
182d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroThese resources must still be accessed through
183d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="smfi_getpriv.html">smfi_getpriv</A> and
184d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="smfi_setpriv.html">smfi_setpriv</A>,
185d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiroand must be reclaimed in
186d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_abort.html">xxfi_abort</A>.
18740266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
188d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<H2><A NAME="SignalHandling">Signal Handling</A></H2>
18940266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
190d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirolibmilter takes care of signal handling,
191d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapirothe filters are not influenced directly by signals.
19240266059SGregory Neil ShapiroThere are basically two types of signal handlers:
19340266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
194d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<OL>
195d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<LI><TT>Stop</TT>: no new connections from the MTA will be accepted,
19640266059SGregory Neil Shapirobut existing connections are allowed to continue.
197d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<LI><TT>Abort</TT>: all filters will be stopped as soon as the next
19840266059SGregory Neil Shapirocommunication with the MTA happens.
199d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</OL>
20040266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
201d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroFilters are not terminated asynchronously
202d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro(except by signals that can't be caught).
20340266059SGregory Neil ShapiroIn the case of <TT>Abort</TT> the
204d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<A HREF="xxfi_abort.html">xxfi_abort</A> callback is invoked.
20540266059SGregory Neil Shapiro
206d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<HR size="1">
207d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<FONT size="-1">
208d0cef73dSGregory Neil ShapiroCopyright (c) 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006 Sendmail, Inc. and its suppliers.
20940266059SGregory Neil ShapiroAll rights reserved.
210d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro<BR>
21140266059SGregory Neil ShapiroBy using this file, you agree to the terms and conditions set
2125ef517c0SGregory Neil Shapiroforth in the LICENSE.
213d0cef73dSGregory Neil Shapiro</FONT>
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