Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!psuvax1!ehrlich From: ehrlich@psuvax1.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp Subject: Re: BITNET software Message-ID: <2856@psuvax1.psu.edu> Date: Tue, 18-Aug-87 20:06:58 EDT Article-I.D.: psuvax1.2856 Posted: Tue Aug 18 20:06:58 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 20-Aug-87 06:18:09 EDT References: <36b9d33e.44e6@apollo.uucp> <2854@psuvax1.psu.edu> <3952@osu-eddie.UUCP> Reply-To: ehrlich@psuvax1.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) Distribution: world Organization: Penn State University, University Park, PA Lines: 32 Keywords: UNIX, VMS, UREP, JNET, RSCS In article <3952@osu-eddie.UUCP> lum%tut.cis.ohio-state.edu@osu-eddie.UUCP (Lum Johnson) writes: >In article <2854@psuvax1.psu.edu> ehrlich@psuvax1.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) says: >> >>Most reasonable mailer software is case insensitive. This is >>required by RFC822 which specifies message formats for the Internet. >>Unfortunately, IBM decided that host/user names must be eight or less >>UPPER CASE characters. This is from the people who brought you >>EBCDIC. :-) >... >TOPS-20 allows upto 19 arbitrary ASCII chars, or upto 39 alphanumerics >in such things as directory, machine, and user names, and passwords. >(Most non-alphanumerics must be quoted to get them to parse in properly; >some control characters cannot be quoted for this purpose.) What and operating system allows and what RFC822 specifies many times are not equivalent sets. It is usually hoped that the spcification will be flexible enough to encompass many different O/S's view of reality. In any event, RFC822 only requires that you support the printable ASCII character set. And that the ASCII characters specified as "special" in addresses are not allowed in names unless quoted. If you really wanted to it is supposedly possible to include any and all of the printable ASCII set in an address. Many mailers do not seem to handle quoting correctly so this is usually frowned apon. While '"This is a very weird address"@psuvax1.psu.edu' is valid according to RFC822 I do not think the version of sendmail we run here would be very happy with it. -- --Dan Ehrlich The Pennsylvania State University, Computer Science Department 333 Whitmore Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 +1 814 863 1142