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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Hi,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I’m writing spam filtering service for the “free”
email services bundled with Windows server 2003. (Which consist of just SMTP
and pop3 services.) I would like to leverage the client side spambayes
database to provide server side filtering. The approach I would like to
take is to leave spambayes intact on the client and leverage its (superb)
efforts, and have the (email) server updated with the results.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Here is what the server will do:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Receive email<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Check for spam based on the recipient’s individual (spambayes)
database<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>If spam, take preconfigured action (move, delete, tag, etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>If not spam, cache the results for a preconfigured amount of
time (say, a day) and wait for a ham/spam report from the client<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>If a ham/spam report arrives, update the database
accordingly<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>If no report arrives within timeout period, take a
preconfigured course of action (update db based on current results, assume good/bad,
ignore, etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Forward email to the next hop as appropriate<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Listen for updates from spambayes clients via web service<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Here is what the client would do, without an update to
spambayes<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Receive email<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Allow spambayes to process<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Forward results (clues?) for the current email to the server;
or send copy of db to server and let server digest the entire db; each via
additional Outlook plug-in<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>-or-<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Forward db to sever as a manual/calendar update (i.e. not on
arrival of each email)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Here is what the client could do with an update to spambayes
(presumptuous, I know and apologize)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Receive email<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Process<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Connect to server via web services (xml/soap) and upload
results for the current email<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Yes, this would mean a separate db per user on the server which
I think is a good thing, but may cause scalability issues. However, I would
like to get started ‘somewhere’. I also realize that I could
forgo the web services and just have the xml package emailed to a service
account inbox on the server, but I’m not too keen on the idea of
automating the sending of email from Outlook or otherwise. Also, by using
a web service, this would leave the door open to many options and features.
One would be a single interface by which a user can update preferences on the
server, regardless of the client (web page, binary, from within spambayes
itself).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>My question is: Can someone help me with a utility to export
or convert the spambayes db to text? The reason I’m asking for help
is due to a desire to code this in VB.NET. I took some classes in C many
years ago, but ended up spending all my time “growing up” with
VB. I could learn python and figure this out, but I’m hoping to
focus on the areas I know best. Not to step on anyone’s pickle, but
how about an option in spambayes to choose whether to use a db, or xml for
storage. Drive space is cheap, I wouldn’t mind a larger database if
it meant that I could parse it from another application (OS, etc.) XML would
make sharing the db a lot easier. Just a thought.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>By the way, I may even develop a script version whereby the
xml package can be copied to a share or emailed to a special inbox on the server
that a script will monitor, digest and update config/db files for each user
accordingly. Currently I’m using a simple VB script on the server,
implementing some WMI calls (cpu friendly way to monitor folder for new files),
and a white/black list. Of course I understand this to be very rudimentary.
But it is a surprisingly effective (and free) way to handle some of the more
obvious spam. The white list is based on email addresses, and the black
list is comprised of keywords (such as viagra, etc.) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Any thoughts, comments, encouragement, and/or assistance would
be greatly appreciated.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Thanks,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Robert<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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