Subj : Default Character Set when none is defined
To : Scott Street
From : deon
Date : Wed Jun 04 2025 08:07 am
Re: Default Character Set when none is defined
By: Scott Street to All on Tue Jun 03 2025 09:45 am
Hey Scott,
> Though, more to the specific question: what character set does
> one use as a default when one is not defined?
>
> Do I use ASCII, CP437, CP850, or something else? (I'm in the US, so gut
> reaction is to use CP437) But is that the right choice?
The CHARS kludge is for the benefit of the reader, not the sender.
It basically tells the reader, that this message is encoded in (CP.., ASCII.., etc), so that if:
* The reader uses the same encoding, it can display the message as is, OR
* The reader uses a different encoding, it can convert it from the (CP.., ASCII.., etc) to the one it uses.
So whats the right choice for you - I'm assuming you (and your users) author messages in the same encoding, so that should be what it is set to.
I add CP437 to messages that my mailer authors, when sending out echomail/netmail.
> Secondly, FTS documents suggest that the character set is to applied to the
> body and header portions of the message, does that include the kludge
> lines? I'm currently handling them separately as 'ascii'; which given the
> history of Fidonet, I chose as the more likely answer.
So, the To, From, Subject, and Message Body (including Tagline/Origin lines) can all be technically changed by the sender, and thus in the sender's encoding.
I dont recall what the FTSC documents say (there is one on the chars kludge), but I think it should apply to all of them - such that a reader knows how to present the receied message to a user.
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