HOW EPA WORKS

DOMAIN E-MAIL MANAGEMENT FILTERING OVERVIEW

E-mails are managed by filtering e-mail content against mailbox-local criteria established by the mailbox owner and - if assigned - the system administrator.

An e-mail can enter the domain only if it satisfies one of the "accept and deliver?" criteria established for the addressed mailbox. An e-mail which fails to satisfy any criteria is - at addressee's option - burned, bounced, forwarded or safe-warehoused for later inspection.

An e-mail can leave the domain only if it satisfies one of the "transmission authorized?" criteria established for the mailbox from which the mail is sent.

'Accept and deliver?' criteria (in order of application):

1. Is the e-mail sender one of the listed system administrators? **
2. Will the system administrator apply special processing based on the e-mail's sender? **
3. Will the system administrator apply special processing based on the e-mail's text content? **
4. Is the e-mail sender one of the listed trusted correspondents?
5. Does the e-mail text contain one of the wanted character strings listed?
6. Is the addressed mailbox used for communication with the general public?
   ** Applied only if System Administrator assigned.

'Transmission authorized?' criteria (in order of application):

1. Is the e-mail addressee one of the listed system administrators? **
2. Will the system administrator apply special processing based on the e-mail's addressee? **
3. Will the system administrator apply special processing based on the e-mail's text content? **
4. Is the e-mail addressee one of the listed trusted correspondents?
5. Is the sending mailbox used for communication with the general public?
6. Is the sending mailbox used for communication with new(not previously contacted) correspondents?
   ** Applied only if System Administrator assigned.

PROCESS COMPONENT OPERATIONS OVERVIEW

The EPA process consists of two software components - the EPA Mail Clerk and the EPA Window Clerk - that coordinate their operations via a shared information structure - the EPA Preferences Set - associated with your mailbox UserName.

Residing in the domain mail server's system, the Mail Clerk operates as a plug-in extension of the domain's mail server software in the EPA Mail Room.

When the mail server software has assembled an e-mail arriving from the Internet or is preparing an e-mail for Internet/intranet-transmission, the Mail Clerk examines each of the e-mail's fields.

The Mail Clerk identifies the mailbox UserName associated with the email being processed. It retrieves the associated criteria and instructions - the EPA Preferences Set - you supplied to govern the mail's processing.

Using the Preferences Set content, the Mail Clerk performs the EPA E-mail Filtering Process to classify the mail and select appropriate onward processing actions to be performed by the mail server.

The Mail Clerk maintains the domain's and the mailbox's transaction operations records generated by each e-mail's processing.

Putting it all together, the Mail Clerk's Processing Cycle looks like this.

A single Mail Clerk can service one or more EPA Mail Rooms as required.

At your e-mail client system, the EPA Window Clerk process provides you with the facilities needed to define your Preferences Set and to transmit it to the Mail Clerk; and, will also retrieve your mailbox's operational records for your inspection.

From your client system, the Window Clerk will provide you with access to as many EPA Mail Rooms as you require.

Here's a detailed explanation of the EPA process. This slideshow was created to serve as the script/storyboard for the flash movie.

The EPAmail Service User's Manual provides a more detailed explanation of the EPA Process in its' "Introduction to EPA" chapter. The Manual's "EPAmail Crash Course" chapter discusses the EPAmail Service implementation of the EPA Process. In this chapter's "EPAmail Window Clerk Operation" subchapter, there's an interactive training demonstration of each/every/all typical EPA Window Clerk dialogues.

User's Introduction

System/E-mail Administrator's Introduction

Software Engineer's Introduction

If you are a interested in integrating EPA into an existing or future e-mail product, e-mail service or legacy e-mail software, here's a detailed technical look at the EPA software design internals.