[IMail Forum] OT: Return-Path vs. Reply-To

[Dale McDiarmid]

Hello...my apologies in advance for the off-topic...

I'm writing a database that downloads emails, processes them, and replies. I notice that if I send an email from my Eudora to my gmail account there's a header:
Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
and if I send an email from gmail to my Eudora there's a different header:
Reply-To: My Name <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

RFC 2822 seems to say both are optional, but I'm not clear on the differences, so I have two questions...

Question #1: I'm thinking maybe my database should trap for both of these headers and if there's data in one use it for my reply else use the 'from' address. Is that reasonable?

Question #2: for outgoing messages is it best to use the Return-Path header or the Reply-To?

Any suggestions?

Thx,
D.