Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!MIRSA.INRIA.FR!Christian.Huitema
From: Christian.Huitema@MIRSA.INRIA.FR (Christian Huitema)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400
Subject: Re: concise format
Message-ID: <8911060814.AA08384@jerry.inria.fr>
Date: 6 Nov 89 08:14:53 GMT
References: <[A.ISI.EDU].4-Nov-89.09:08:47.CERF>
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Approved: post-x400@tis.llnl.gov

Vint, 

This discussion has merely an historical relevance, for I dont think
that anybody is likely to subvert RFC-822 by anything but perhaps X.400
for usage within the Internet. However, when you state that "it would
be awkward to receive a communication of the form:

To: 357-1234
CC: 895-7896,1-800-456-7892,011-44-236-4456"

you may be interested to note that one of the biggest messaging
network, perhaps the most extended in the world, is using something
very similar. SITA carries messages all over the world for the airlines
companies, and a message looks like:

destinations(to)|QAZZTYC ZTMNOOQ
source + ref	|.PARPCXS 123456
STX		|
text		|<and here comes the text>
ETX		|

The fact that it is widely used seems to indicate that users can cope
with ``abstract addresses'', 7 letters in this case... 

To come back to your example, you are certainly aware that the header
could as well be a bit more user friendly, e.g.:

To: Joe Smith <357-1234>
CC: Pieter Mueller <895-7896>,
    Michel Dupond <1-800-456-7892>,
    Felipe Ramirez Escobas <011-44-236-4456>

This, by the way, looks very much like a formatted telex header.

Christian Huitema