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From: PALLAS@SUSHI.STANFORD.EDU (Joseph I. Pallas)
Newsgroups: mod.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Formatting Query
Message-ID: <12238683559.11.PALLAS@Sushi.Stanford.EDU>
Date: Sat, 13-Sep-86 16:56:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: Sushi.12238683559.11.PALLAS
Posted: Sat Sep 13 16:56:42 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 14-Sep-86 07:28:36 EDT
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RFC821 says:
            The mail data may contain any of the 128 ASCII character
            codes.

This clearly makes it illegal for SMTP mailers to expand tabs.  On the
other hand, RFC822 says:

        Writers of  mail-sending  (i.e.,  header-generating)  programs
        should realize that there is no network-wide definition of the
        effect of ASCII HT (horizontal-tab) characters on the  appear-
        ance  of  text  at another network host; therefore, the use of
        tabs in message headers, though permitted, is discouraged.

This clearly suggests that mail-agents expand tabs before submitting
them to mailers.

Meanwhile, if you use tabs in formatting such that the width of a tab
stop affects the content of your message (e.g., in drawing pictures),
other people will get what you deserve.

joe
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