The Forgotten Art of Email Address Verification: ASP Alliance

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The Forgotten Art of Email Address Verification

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by Joshua Finer
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4. Absolute Validation

This is a theoretical level of email address validation. In this level, email addresses could be validated with 100% accuracy. Currently, this is nearly impossible to achieve. Internet servers run various operating systems, which handle email in various ways. Additionally, due to security considerations, many operating systems are configured in such a way that specific email account validation is impossible. Although this is theoretically the best, it is functionally impossible to implement. The closest way to implement this method is to send the user an email requiring that he reply in order to become registered for the web site.

The bottom line is that any web site that has little or no email address validation is just a victim of lazy developers. These days data is heaping around us at an alarming rate. We must strive to keep it clean and scrubbed if we expect it to be a productive and useful asset. Please visit Component Source, http://www.componentsource.com to see a selection of email address validation components.

Written by Joshua F. Finer September 24, 2000

Joshua is currently a 2nd year MBA student at The Pennsylvania State University, concentrating in Entrepreneurship. Additionally, Joshua is the President of Finer Technologies, a software publisher. Finer Technologies recently released EmailScreen, an email validation developer component that can be found at http://www.email-screen.com. Joshua welcomes anyone to write him: Joshua@finertechnologies.com

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User Comments

Title: Finding, Verifying and Correcting Bad Format email addresses
Name: GeakeIT
Date: 2010-11-22 6:55:59 AM
Comment:
I wrote a script a while ago that finds bad formats and human errors, then corrects them too.

Basically it cross references domains that have email opens recorded against them and corrects several human errors. So homail(missing character)/htomail(swapped character)/jotmail(close proximity keyboard button) are all corrected.

Details are too long to write here really so have a look at this link...

http://www.geakeit.co.uk/2010/07/30/the-ultimate-database-email-address-validatingprocessingcorrecting-script/

Title: Owsem.....
Name: chanchal
Date: 2009-10-14 5:29:21 AM
Comment:
This article could be more easier if ther is snippet.But isnt mean its bad its fine .
Rocks.........

Title: Great & Help Full
Name: Atul Khandelwal
Date: 2007-03-28 3:09:57 AM
Comment:
This is surely a good article but you could have atleast explained the last header width a snippet
this articla is really good and help full

Title: great
Name: Manmeet
Date: 2006-08-04 7:40:50 PM
Comment:
The article is really very good

Title: Good
Name: Gaurav
Date: 2006-06-10 2:36:39 AM
Comment:
This is surely a good article but you could have atleast explained the last header width a snippet

Title: thanks for the info!!
Name: BH
Date: 2006-05-07 11:00:55 AM
Comment:
thanks!

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