Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!orion.oac.uci.edu!ucivax!gateway From: NTIN36@gec-b.rutherford.ac.UK (Jim Craigie) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400 Subject: Order of fields in business card printed O/R-address format Message-ID: <05APR199101:21:59NTIN36@UK.AC.RUTHERFORD.GEC-B> Date: 5 Apr 91 00:23:03 GMT Reply-To: Nigel Bevan Lines: 53 Approved: usenet@ICS.UCI.EDU In-reply-to: <675707*JPALME@QZ.qz.se> ---- Start of forwarded message. Via: [+JANET.00000511168030.UCL-CS.FT]; Tue, 2 Apr 91 09:34 BST (V39 at UK.AC.RUTHERFORD.GEC-B) Date: Tue, 2 Apr 91 9:27:32 BST From: Nigel Bevan To: jpalme@se.qz.qz cc: craigie@uk.ac.rutherford, nbevan@uk.ac.ucl.cs.ess Subject: Order of fields in business card printed O/R-address format The standards group gave long and exhausive consideration to different possible orders for the representation of fields. One point was clear - most ordinary users expect (and find it convenient for) an address to start with the person's name. For example the Retix X.400 interface on the PC uses a form-fill layout which starts with the person's name. (Which, incidentally, is a vast improvement on earlier Retix interfaces!) The standards group concluded that you need to associate a person's name with organisational information, so that after G and S you need O or OU information. The reason for deciding to put the OUs in ascending order after the O, is that: - OUs need to be numbered top-down so that the optional more detailed OUs which can be omitted have higher numbers, and then - G, S, O, OU1, OU2, OU3, OU4 seems a better order for the user than G, S, OU4, OU3, OU2, OU1, O, as for the user the G, S, O combination will in most cases itself be unique and the OUs are then given in ascending numerical order. (Analogous conventions can be found in postal addresses.) The reasons for recommending an order at all are: - to increase consistency in the representation of addresses, so that they are easier to recognise - to simplify the task for the user, particularly when copying from one representation to another (eg one-line labelled format to a form-fill user interface) Note that the standard requires the syntax to be used, but only recommends that the order is followed. Another point about the standard representation is that it prohibits use of A=" ". If no ADMD is specified it should be omitted from the address. User interfaces are required to interpret the omission of the ADMD as meaning that the value " " should be used (provided this convention is valid for the country specified). ---- End of forwarded message.