Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP

sg has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello,

Net::SMTP's sub auth() begins as:


  sub auth {
    my (\$self, \$username, \$password) = \@_;
  
    eval {
      require MIME::Base64;
      require Authen::SASL;
    } or \$self->set_status(500, ["Need MIME::Base64 and Authen::SASL 
+todo auth"]), return 0;
[download]

In line 117, change Authen::SASL to Authen::SASLX, a non-existant module. One would think that the error message of line 118 would be given to the user. However, the failure is silent! Why?

Code to test is attached below -- need to provide a valid $smtp_host. Output from test is attached also.

Thanks


  #!/use/bin/perl
  BEGIN {(*STDERR = *STDOUT) || die;}
  use diagnostics;
  use warnings;
  use strict;
  $| = 1;
  use Net::POP3;
  use Net::SMTP;
  
  my $smtp_host  = 'smtp.host.com';
  my $src_domain = 'the.org';
  my $user_id    = 'the_user_id'; 
  my $password   = 'the_password'; 

  
  my %smtp_options = ( 
                       Host => $smtp_host, 
                       Hello => $src_domain,
                       Debug   => 4,
                     ); 
  
  
   if(!($mail = Net::SMTP->new(%smtp_options)))
   {
      print "ERROR:  Could not open $smtp_host\n$!\n"; 
      return -1;
   }

   if(!$mail->auth($user_id, $password))
   {
      print "ERROR:  Could not authenticate user $user_id\n$!\n"; 
      $mail->quit();
      return -1;
   }

  __END__

  Net::SMTP>>> Net::SMTP(2.31)
  Net::SMTP>>>   Net::Cmd(2.29)
  Net::SMTP>>>     Exporter(5.60)
  Net::SMTP>>>   IO::Socket::INET(1.31)
  Net::SMTP>>>     IO::Socket(1.30)
  Net::SMTP>>>       IO::Handle(1.27)
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)<<< 220 <smtp.host.com> ESMTP
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)>>> EHLO <the.org>
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)<<< 250-<smtp.host.com>
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)<<< 250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN XYMCOOKIE
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)<<< 250-PIPELINING
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)<<< 250 8BITMIME
  ERROR:  Could not authenticate user <user>
  No such file or directory
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)>>> QUIT
  Net::SMTP=GLOB(0x1b0b964)<<< 221 <smtp.host.com>
[download]

Comment on Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by ikegami (Patriarch) on Sep 05, 2007 at 15:58 UTC
What do you mean by "the failure is silent"? Your output clearly shows `auth` communicated the failure. Do you mean the error isn't in `$!`? `$!`'s content are meaningless unless a system call returned an error. You didn't make any system calls, much less one that returned an error. Perhaps you want `$mail->code` and/or `$mail->message`? (Remember, Net::SMTP objects are descendant of Net::Cmd.)	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by sg (Pilgrim) on Sep 05, 2007 at 17:25 UTC
The message in the output came from user code when auth() returned false. The Net::SMTP module has the set status line: `$self->set_status(500, ["Need MIME::Base64 and Authen::SASL todo auth" +]), return 0;` [download] Why didn't the precise error message "Need MIME::Base64 and Authen::SASL todo auth" get to the end-user? Or what exactly should the user have done differently in the user-code to have gotten that precise, informative error message?	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by menolly (Hermit) on Sep 05, 2007 at 17:53 UTC
Replace `print "ERROR: Could not authenticate user $user_id\n$!\n";` [download] with `print "ERROR: Could not authenticate user $user_id\n$: ".$mail->messa +ge."\n";` [download] or equivalent.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by sg (Pilgrim) on Sep 05, 2007 at 20:12 UTC
Re^3: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by ikegami (Patriarch) on Sep 05, 2007 at 18:02 UTC
Perhaps you should read my entire post instead of focusing on the rhetorical question. It explains why the message isn't returned via `$!`, and where it can be found.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by syphilis (Archbishop) on Sep 05, 2007 at 15:01 UTC
Net::SMTP's sub auth() begins as: `. . sub auth { my (\$self, \$username, \$password) = \@_;` [download] Which version ? I find: `sub auth { my ($self, $username, $password) = @_; . .` [download] And which version of perl ? Cheers, Rob	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by sg (Pilgrim) on Sep 05, 2007 at 15:30 UTC
My mistake in the quote -- the cut and paste I used resulted in the extra '\'. `perl -MNet::SMTP -e "print $Net::SMTP::VERSION" 2.31 Also, ppm query libnet reports libnet version as 1.22` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by syphilis (Archbishop) on Sep 05, 2007 at 15:59 UTC
Aah ... and there's also an extraneous '\' before '$self'. As usual, I don't have a ready (and accurate) answer to your questions :-) Looks to me that `set_status` should have been called. Is `set_status` supposed to print an error message to stdout ? Where is `set_status` defined ? (Sheesh ... I hate inheritance ... ) Cheers, Rob	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Error message not showing up from Net::SMTP by sg (Pilgrim) on Sep 05, 2007 at 15:32 UTC
Regarding perl version: `Binary build 822 [280952] provided by ActiveState http://www.ActiveState.com Built Jul 31 2007 19:34:48` [download]	[reply] [d/l]


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