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From: david@twg.COM ("David S. Herron")
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400
Subject: Re:  Printable format (was: Re:  ISO/CCITT meeting report)
Message-ID: <7767@gollum.twg.com>
Date: 22 Aug 90 07:24:08 GMT
References: <9008141714.AA20435@GHOST.STSCI.EDU>
Reply-To: "David S. Herron" <david@twg.COM>
Organization: The Wollongong Group, Palo Alto, CA
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In article <9008141714.AA20435@GHOST.STSCI.EDU> pmbs@stsci.edu writes:
>I suppose that a simple, readable, business-card-printable, E-mail address is
>too much to ask for, but the present suggestion of /x=y/ types of addresses
>that must include the public carrier and other organizational information
>appears to be rather awkward and to warp the user interface to the needs
>of the computer.  All these years I had thought that computers were
>rather wonderful because we could warp them to the needs of humans.  Have
>we lost something in this drive to provide international standards?

Exactly ...

In fact I had been under the impression that the /x=y/ format was
a temporary thing.  That some other `standard format' would come
along or possibly that individual user agents were going to be
free to display it as they wished.

As a data-point I am in the midst of writing a program, part of which
will be inputing O/R names for both MTAs and users.  I am intending
to have the dialog for doing this display the components in a
fairly normal "form" like:

	Country			<country value>
	Administrative Domain	<ADMD value>
	Primary Domain		<PRMD value>
	Organization		<O value>
	Organization Unit	<OU value>
		...

along with a box at the bottom using the current string in the /x=y/ form.

Is this a reasonable thing to do?  I don't see any problem with
it myself with the possible exception of writing the X/Motif necessary
to handle all the different possible types ...
--
<- David Herron, an MMDF weenie, <david@twg.com>
<- Formerly: David Herron -- NonResident E-Mail Hack <david@ms.uky.edu>
<-
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