[Dovecot] v2.0 configuration parsing

[Steffen Kaiser]

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On Mon, 10 Aug 2009, Timo Sirainen wrote:

> I'm trying to figure out how exactly v2.0 should be parsing

IMO, "most specific" won't work as you pointed out several times, because 
Dovecot cannot know, which precendence the zillion configuration options 
and conditionals have in the particular setup.

In my view, "first match" is good, if one needs quick processing time and 
can cut, once the match is found. E.g. in firewalls and routers. Or when 
the options are not _conditionally_ assigned, e.g. in sendmail cf, you do 
not have no way to have a config option _not_ apply.

Most conf files/system I know, that split between common (or default) 
setting and specific overrides work in last match. They bundle the default 
settings on top and specify the overrides below, just like a program, as 
already pointed out. Moreover, because most programs parse the config file 
til its end anyway.
It is more work to debug problems, but in my eyes the conf files look 
cleaner.

There are a few, where you can "fix" a setting, so it cannot be 
overwritten later, but mostly because first the system conf file is parsed 
and should be able to fix some settings against user override.

Maybe a dovecot debug mode can issue the line number when a setting is 
assigned.

Bye,

- -- 
Steffen Kaiser
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