Subj : alternative DateTime (ref: fts-0001.016)
To : Maurice Kinal
From : andrew clarke
Date : Mon Dec 21 2020 11:34 pm
18 Dec 20 06:36, you wrote to Andrew Leary:
MK> proposed DateTime = a string 19 bytes long.
MK> Format = "YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss" where,
MK> YYYY = four digit year
MK> MM = two digit month ranging from 01 to
MK> 12
MK> DD = two digit day ranging from 01 to 31
MK> hh = two digit hour ranging from 00 to
MK> 23
MK> mm = two digit minute ranging from 00 to
MK> 59
MK> ss = two digit second ranging from 00 to
MK> 59
MK> Since there is no room for the UTC offset DateTime should be set to UTC
MK> in order to avoid confusion. This format will ensure that the packed
MK> message is exactly the same byte length as specified in fts-0001.016 not
MK> counting the ASCII null charater that terminates the string as per
MK> packed MSG header specification for all header strings (eg To, From,
MK> subj, etc).
This is just creating busywork for the handful of developers left (eg. me, occasionally) and new bugs for no benefit.
In Fidonet you can safely assume that a two-digit year in any message is in the range of 1984-2083, given that the network began in 1984.
Anyone miraculously still running a FidoNet node in the year 2083 can either:
0. do nothing
1. modify the 1984-2083 window in their mail reader
2. invent a ^A control line that has the four digit year in it
#1 is easiest.
Timezones are already covered by FTS-4008 (TZUTC), and still not everyones uses those.
--- GoldED+/BSD 1.1.5-b20180707
* Origin: Blizzard of Ozz, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (3:633/267)
