On Sat, 22 Feb 2003, Andrew Gierth wrote:
Message-ids appear in NNTP as both command parameters and response
parameters (neither of which can contain spaces, though this isn't
spelled out for command parameters - it's just a consequence of the
fact that spaces separate parameters and there is no quoting or
escaping mechanism).
I observe that wherever message-ids are used, they are inside a <> bracket
pair. It is possible to define this as a quoting rule which would allow
embedded spaces.
Or do NNTP implementations want to permit embedded "<" and ">" characters
inside a message-id?
Either way, this doesn't belong in the header format specification. It
belongs in the NNTP specification, and a "best common practices" type
document.
The length limitation of 250
I don't particularly worry about this, although as a practical header
format limitation it belongs an a "best common practices" type document
rather than the header format document itself.
The fact that something is in a BCP doesn't mean that it can be ignored.
BCPs can, and do, contain statements of the form "such-and-such will not
work, so don't do it."
-- Mark --
http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.