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From: nbevan@ESS.Cs.Ucl.AC.UK (Nigel Bevan)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400
Subject: Re: Order of fields in business card printed O/R-address format
Message-ID: <9104100343.aa19189@ICS.UCI.EDU>
Date: 10 Apr 91 10:48:42 GMT
Lines: 16
Approved: usenet@ICS.UCI.EDU

If only it were so easy ... one of the frustrations of O/R addresses is that
since there are few restrictions on the characters permitted in fields, many
apparently simple formats are syntactically ambiguous.  Which is the OU and
which the O in Dan Oscarsson,DNA,LTH,se?  (and what about the PRMD and ADMD?)

Another possibility would be an address represented in a format comparable to
internet:

        John.Smith@DP Dept.Bank of Britain.BBANK.Gold 400.GB

Unfortunately "@" is not an at sign on all keyboards (or screens!), "." can
appear in fields, there are ambiguities in the representation of names and
initials, and it is awkward to represent missing fields in this syntax!

(Incidentally, I am editor of the standard for the representation of O/R
addresses, and I am not on the mhsnews list.)