Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/2] send-email: allow multiple emails using --cc, --to and --bcc

From: Junio C Hamano <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2015 09:52:39 -0700

Junio C Hamano <[email-masked]> writes:

> Remi Lespinet <[email-masked]> writes:
>
>> Accept a list of emails separated by commas in flags --cc, --to and
>> --bcc.  Multiple addresses can already be given by using these options
>> multiple times, but it is more convenient to allow cutting-and-pasting
>> a list of addresses from the header of an existing e-mail message,
>> which already lists them as comma-separated list, as a value to a
>> single parameter.
>>
>> The following format can now be used:
>>
>>     $ git send-email --to='Jane <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]'
>>
>> However format using commas in names doesn't work:
>>
>>     $ git send-email --to='"Jane, Doe" <[email-masked]>'
>
> That looks as if you are doing "Remi, Lespinet", which is not a good
> example.  I think you want "Doe, Jane", the use of comma is when a
> name is spelled in the "LastName, FirstName" order.

Having thought about this topic (not how the example should be
spelled in the log message ;-) a bit more, I do not think the
implementation of split_address_list_items in this patch is
acceptable.

The reason why we have the "verify the input" thing, allow users to
supply multiple --to/--cc/etc., and do not try to split the
addresses ourselves is because we want to avoid mistakenly splitting
a single address like the above into two and producing syntactically
incorrect addresses.  People have relied on the current behaviour
for a long time, without manually dropping comma when they send
their patches with --to='"Jane, Doe" <[email-masked]>'.

Until we can reliably split the address list, accepting this patch
will introduce a regression.

Note that I do agree with the goal of this series and appreciate the
effort.  I am only rejecting the current implementation of
split_address_list_items().

Thanks.