Subject: Re: [EAI] Terminology "UTF8SMTP messages"

From: "Charles Lindsey" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:07:07 +0100

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:00:47 +0100, Harald Tveit Alvestrand  
<[email-masked]> wrote:

> Please note the following text from -framework:

> By symmetry, the term "UTF8SMTP message" should be reserved for the set  
> of messages that encompasses both RFC 2822 compatible messages and  
> messages which make use of the extensions defined in the memos we are  
> discussing).

However, we still need to define a term to describe that class of objects  
which are "UTF8SMTP" messages, but which are nevertheless not RFC  
2822/2045 objects, because that class is exactly what needs special  
attention when passed to a Non-UTF8SMTP system.

Following the framework document, we might call those "non-ASCII  
messages", or "internationalized messages", but those terms would be  
misleading because we already have messages with Non-ASCII body parts  
using Content-Transfer-Encodings Q-P and Base64, and we don't want any  
suggestion that those are to be covered by our definition.

So what term should be use? "Strict UTF8SMTP messages" is how  
mathematicians would describe them, but that is a bit of a mouthful.
>
> Unless people want to reopen the -framework document and change this  
> terminology, I'm declaring the issue of the term "UTF8SMTP message" a  
> closed one.

Well I don't rule that out, but let us see what else gets suggested.

> For the headers, talking about "ASCII header" and "non-ASCII header"  
> makes sense, but for the whole message, it seems to be a bad fit, given  
> the wide range of non-ASCII stuff that goes into message bodies.

Exactly. That is the problem we face.

-- 
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
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