Publication: FTS-4000
Revision: 1
Title: CONTROL PARAGRAPHS
Author(s): FTSC
Revision Date: 1 October 2000
Expiry Date: 1 October 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
1. Credits
2. General
3. General format of control paragraphs
4. Control tags
5. Length of control paragraphs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Status of this document
-----------------------
This document is a Fidonet Standard (FTS).
This document specifies a Fidonet standard for the Fidonet
community.
This document is released to the public domain, and may be used,
copied or modified for any purpose whatever.
1. Credits
----------
This document is based on the work of Randy Bush and many others.
2. General
----------
The size and complexity of FidoNet has increased over the years.
Although a number of attempts have been made, new packet file
formats which may have accomodated those changes in the network have
not gained common acceptance.
To be able to add new addressing and other control information in
the old packet formats, it has become common practice to use control
paragraphs (also called kludges or kludge lines) embedded in the
packed message text body.
3. Control paragraphs
---------------------
A control paragraph shall be contained within a separate paragraph
of text as defined in separate FTSC documents. A control paragraph
may not contain any other message text.
Each control paragraph shall start with a <SOH> character.
Non-control paragraphs must not start with a <SOH> character.
The general format of a control paragraph shall be:
<SOH><control tag>": "<string><CR>
where <string> is some sort of value related to the control
paragraph in question.
For historical reasons certain control tags use the following
paragraph format:
<SOH><control tag>":"<string><CR>
This format shall however not be used for new control tags.
If no data value is required for a certain control paragraph, the
general format for such a paragraph shall be:
<SOH><control tag>":"<CR>
Developers may introduce new control tags on an experimental basis
as they see fit. Control tags which are documented in FTSC documents
must however not be used in any other way than according to those
FTSC documents.
Consequently each program processing FidoNet packet files should
retain any control paragraph containing an unknown control tag
verbatim and at as unchanged a position within the message body as
possible. This is particularly essential for copies of messages
which are to be sent to another system.
The ASCII character set should be used in control paragraphs.
It is known that certain programs use non-ASCII characters in
control paragraphs.
If a control paragraph contains non-ASCII characters and the message
contains information about the character set used, it should be
assumed that that character set is also used in the control
paragraph in question.
If a control paragraph contains non-ASCII characters and the message
contains no information about the character set used, the character
set used in the control paragraph in question may be considered
undetermined.
The <LF> and soft <CR> characters (character codes 10 and 141
respectively) should not be used within a control pragraph. If they
are, they should be disregarded by any program processing such a
message or copies thereof.
If a program processing packet files encounters non-ASCII or
non-printable ASCII characters in control paragraphs in messages
which will be passed on to other programs or systems, those
characters should be passed along unchanged.
4. Control tags
---------------
Control tags and the accompanying data values are specified in
separate FTSC documents.
5. Length of control paragraphs
-------------------------------
The contents of control paragraphs are generally intended for the
programs processing the message (or the copies of the message) and
not for presentation on the user interface level.
Control paragraphs should therefore be kept as concise as possible.
Traditionally most control paragraphs were limited to 80 characters
or less. However, a control paragraph may in principle be of any
length whenever required.
For obvious reasons, each system has some maximum size for a message
body and for a packet file. Furthermore the file transfer protocols
for FidoNet sessions specified separately may also impose maximum
sizes on files to be transferred from one FidoNet system to another.
There may be specific limits to the length of certain control
paragraphs as specified by other FTSC documents.
A. History
----------
Rev.1, 20001001: Initial Release.
Principal author Goran Eriksson.
