In
<pan(_dot_)2004(_dot_)03(_dot_)29(_dot_)03(_dot_)40(_dot_)34(_dot_)300622(_at_)ajr(_dot_)e4ward(_dot_)com>
alan reider <gmane-x9y9abu9r8(_at_)ajr(_dot_)e4ward(_dot_)com> writes:
I run a forwarding MTA and after looking at SRS for a while, I became
interested in the general problem of how to encode a field of arbitrary
characters with transparency without having to escape anything.
My idea is to prefix fields with a length instead of using delimiters. For
example, ajr(_at_)example(_dot_)com could be encoded with a 2 byte length as
follows:
03ajr11example.com
The correct term for this kind of encoding is "Hollerith field" and is
generally denoted by nnnH<data for nnn bytes>. This type of encoding
was popularized (and, as result of the forced usage, made unpopular)
by Fortran. I don't remember when the first version of Fortan that
didn't force you to use Hollerith fields was, that was before my time.
Mr Hollerith was the guy who, in the late 1800s, invented the punch
card.
See: http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ibmcard.html
-wayne