In <1021018151734(_dot_)ZM2606(_at_)candle(_dot_)brasslantern(_dot_)com> "Bart
Schaefer" <schaefer(_at_)brasslantern(_dot_)com> writes:
On Oct 17, 11:32am, Charles Lindsey wrote:
} Subject: Re: Interpretation of RFC 2047
}
}
} Eh? Where does it say that unknown headers are to be treated as
} unstructured? If that were the case, things would be much simpler, but
} I don't think it is.
RFC 2822, 3.6.8. Optional fields:
It's true that RFC 822 is not this explicit, but it's pretty clear that
any field that doesn't have a defined structure is unstructured; RFC 822
appendix D:
Quite so. Reading between the lines, that may well be the intended meaning
but, as you say, it is not explicit.
And treating unknown headers as 'unstructured' for RFC 2047 purposes does
not work. For example:
Foobar: (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Claus_F=E4rber?=) Fabrik
is not 2047-compliant regarded as an unstructured header (it _might_ be if
regarded as a structured one).
} It is not a question of "acting on it". All I want is for it to be
} displayed (or displayable) correctly. Most usage of encoded-words is only
} intended for human consumption anyway.
You're confusing user interface with protocol.
But Section 6 of RFC 2047 explicitly addresses display issues, so it is in
the protocol (just - that section is decidedly vague).
But generally speaking, if you regard the purpose of a protcol is to
deliver a communication from a sender to receiver, then the user-agent is
indeed a part of the protocol.
Suppose I send you a message
"I will meet you on Tuesday"
and it is delivered correctly to your MUA, which then displays it as
"I will meet you on Wednesday"
are you going to claim that no standard has been broken? That the MUA is
fully compliant?
So a user agent is "allowed" (because it is outside the scope of the
standard), for purposes of display, to treat any string, anywhere, that
begins with =? and ends with ?= as an RFC 2047 token, and decode it.
What the user agent is NOT allowed to do is, for example, when asked to
forward the message, decode and/or encode 2047 tokens in field bodies for
which it does not know the semantics.
Yes, I agree fully with that last bit.
--
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
Tel: +44 161 436 6131 Fax: +44 161 436 6133 Web: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl
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