[spambayes-bugs] [ spambayes-Bugs-2908573 ] spambayes corrupts mailbox (From_ escaping)

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Bugs item #2908573, was opened at 2009-12-04 16:40
Message generated for change (Tracker Item Submitted) made by earth-native
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Category: None
Group: 1.0.4
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Private: No
Submitted By: Owen Cameron (earth-native)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: spambayes corrupts mailbox (From_ escaping)

Initial Comment:
I'm using debian package of spambayes:
Version: 1.0.4-5.1

Messages piped through spambayes are corrupted in their From_ escaping. 

mbox is a poorly defined format, with multiple variations. They are summarised here:
http://homepages.tesco.net/J.deBoynePollard/FGA/mail-mbox-formats.html

/usr/lib/python2.5/email/generator.py appears to be the culprit, and says this:
        Optional mangle_from_ is a flag that, when True (the default), escapes
        From_ lines in the body of the message by putting a `>' in front of
        them.
This is "mboxo" format - which irreversibly corrupts messages. 

My opinions on the correctness (or not) of generator.py's behaviour aside, surely spambayes should surely never need to alter the body at all?

Request that spambayes sets mangle_from_ to false when calling generator.py. 


The following demonstrates the behaviour directly:
----
$ echo -e "From this is a pretend header\n\nFrom a line with no > quotes\n>From a line with one > quote\n>>From a line with two > quotes" | sb_filter.py
>From this is a pretend header
X-Spambayes-Classification: unsure; 0.77

>From a line with no > quotes
>From a line with one > quote
>>From a line with two > quotes
----


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You can respond by visiting: 
https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=498103&aid=2908573&group_id=61702