Philip Hazel wrote: > On Tue, 4 Jul 2006, Marc Perkel wrote: > > >> It would be nice if the Exim syntax were consistent between the ACLs and >> the transport/routers >> >> For example - ACLs allow multiple condition lines, routers don't. ACLs >> allow !condition - routers don't. Exim would be far easier to work with >> if the router and ACL commands were more consistent. >> >> Not trying to complain - just making a suggestion for improvement. >> > > It's partly history (routers have been there since the start of Exim; > ACLs were not there until Exim 4), and partly because > > (a) In a router, "condition", is an option. Options have one value; > therefore you can set it only once. All the options in a router are set > (though not necessarily evaluated) when the config is read. They may be > given in (almost) any order. > > (b) An ACL is more like a script. The order in which things are listed > matters, because they are obeyed in order. That is why you can have more > than one of anything. > > Now, we could extend some options in routers to be vectors rather than > scalars, and allow multiple occurrences to set multiple values, but for > many router options (e.g. "driver"), it would not make sense. It would > also introduce some notion of order, which would be a new thing. I am > not convinced that it would actually reduce the diffences very much, and > it could be equally confusing. > > One would have to change the notion of routers to be more script-like - > which is a large, very incompatible change, to achieve anything like > consistency. >
I understand that as software grows it not always harmonious. Sometimes it's worth going back and rewriting things so that you get back to a solid foundation so that when you need to add new features you aren't fighting old code. I used to go through building phases where I added new capabilities and then cleanup phases where I went back and did things right so that the next time I wanted to build I had a solid foundation in code. From a user's perspective Exim is like having several different languages that are similar enough to create an expectation that they should be the same while different enough to be very frustrating. I find myself spending a lot of time fighting the syntax that I think is necessary to get the job done. So - this it just something on my wish list. -- ## List details at http://www.exim.org/mailman/listinfo/exim-users ## Exim details at http://www.exim.org/ ## Please use the Wiki with this list - http://www.exim.org/eximwiki/
