FTSC FIDONET TECHNICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE

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FTSC FIDONET TECHNICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE
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Publication: FTS-5001
Revision: 1
Title: NODELIST FLAGS AND USERFLAGS
Author(s): Colin Turner, Andreas Klein, Michael McCabe,
David Hallford, Odinn Sorensen

Revision Date: 27 June 1999
Expiry Date: 27 June 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
1. Authorized Flags
2. Userflags
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Abstract
--------

Current practice for Fidonet Technology Networks (FTN) is to
maintain a nodelist used to store the details of the nodes in
the network, and the network structure. Flags are used in this
nodelist to aid automatic and manual control of various tasks.

1. Authorized flags
-------------------

Flags authorized for use in the Fidonet nodelist:

A: OPERATING CONDITION FLAGS:

Flag Meaning

CM Node accepts mail 24 hours a day
MO Node does not accept human callers
LO Node accepts calls Only from Listed
FidoNet addresses

B. MODEM FLAGS:
The following flags define modem protocols supported:

Flag Meaning

V21 CCITT V.21 300 bps full duplex
V22 CCITT V.22 1200 bps full duplex
V29 CCITT V.29 9600 bps half duplex
V32 CCITT V.32 9600 bps full duplex
V32b ITU-T V.32 bis 14400 bps full duplex
V32T V.32 Terbo
V33 CCITT V.33
V34 CCITT V.34
HST USR Courier HST
H14 USR Courier HST 14.4
H16 USR Courier HST 16.8
H96 Hayes V9600
MAX Microcom AX/96xx series
PEP Packet Ensemble Protocol
CSP Compucom Speedmodem
ZYX Zyxel series
VFC V.Fast Class
Z19 Zyxel 19,200 modem protocol
V90C ITU-T V.90 modem Client
V90S ITU-T V.90 Server.
X2C US Robotics x2 client.
X2S US Robotics x2 server.

The following flags define type of error correction available. A
separate error correction flag should not be used when the error
correction type can be determined by the modem flag. For instance
a modem flag of HST implies MNP.

Flag Meaning

MNP Microcom Networking Protocol error correction
of type MNP1 to MNP4
V42 LAP-M error correction w/fallback to MNP

C: COMPRESSION FLAGS:

The following flags define the type(s) of compression of mail
packets supported.

Flag Meaning

MN No compression supported

The following flags define the type(s) of data compression
available.

V42b ITU-T V42bis

D: FILE/UPDATE REQUEST FLAGS:

The following flags indicate the types of file/update requests
supported.

|--------------------------------------------------|
| | Bark | WaZOO |
| |---------------------|---------------------|
| | File | Update | File | Update |
| Flag | Requests | Requests | Requests | Requests |
|------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| XA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| XB | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| XC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| XP | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| XR | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| XW | No | No | Yes | No |
| XX | No | No | Yes | Yes |
|--------------------------------------------------|

E: GATEWAY FLAG:

The following flag defines gateways to other domains (networks).

Flag Meaning

Gx..x Gateway to domain 'x..x', where 'x..x` is a string
of alphanumeric characters. Valid values for
'x..x' are assigned by the FidoNet International
Coordinator. Current valid values of 'x..x' may
be found in the notes at the end of the FidoNet
nodelist.

F: MAIL PERIOD FLAGS:
The following flags define the dedicated mail periods supported.
They have the form "#nn" or !nn where nn is the UTC hour the mail
period begins, # indicates Bell 212A compatibility, and !
indicates incompatibility with Bell 212A.

Flag Meaning

#01 Zone 5 mail hour (01:00 - 02:00 UTC)
#02 Zone 2 mail hour (02:30 - 03:30 UTC)
#08 Zone 4 mail hour (08:00 - 09:00 UTC)
#09 Zone 1 mail hour (09:00 - 10:00 UTC)
#18 Zone 3 mail hour (18:00 - 19:00 UTC)
#20 Zone 6 mail hour (20:00 - 21:00 UTC)

NOTE: When applicable, the mail period flags may
be strung together with no intervening commas, eg.
"#02#09". Only mail hours other than that
standard within a node's zone should be given.
Since observance of mail hour within one's zone is
mandatory, it should not be indicated.

G: ISDN CAPABILTY FLAGS:

Nodelist Specification of minimal support required for this flag;
flag any additional support to be arranged via agreement
between users

V110L ITU-T V.110 19k2 async ('low').
V110H ITU-T V.110 38k4 async ('high').
V120L ITU-T V.120 56k async, layer 2 framesize 259, window 7,
modulo 8.
V120H ITU-T V.120 64k async, layer 2 framesize 259, window 7,
modulo 8.
X75 ITU-T X.75 SLP (single link procedure) with 64kbit/s B
channel; layer 2 max.framesize 2048, window 2, non-ext.
mode (modulo 8); layer 3 transparent (no packet layer).
ISDN Other configurations. Use only if none of the above
fits.

NOTE: No flag implies another. Each capability MUST be specifically
listed.
If no modem connects are supported, the nodelist speed field should
be 300.

Conversion from old to new ISDN capability flags:
ISDNA -> V110L
ISDNB -> V110H
ISDNC -> X75

H: INTERNET CAPABILITY FLAGS:

FLAG MEANING

IBN - denotes a system that does BINKP
IFC - denotes a system that is capable of RAW or IFCICO
ITN - denote a system that does TELNET
IVM - denotes a system that is capable of VMODEM
IFT - denotes a system that allows FTP
ITX - denotes a system that uses TransX encoding for email
tunneling
IUC - denotes a system that uses UUEncode for email tunneling
IMI - denotes a system which uses MIME encoding for email
tunneling
ISE - denotes a system which supports SEAT receipts for anonymous
mail
IP - denotes a system that can receive TCP/IP connects using a
protocol that is not covered by any other flag.
IEM - is a deprecated flag, and new implementations must not
write it in nodelist entries. This was used as a single
placeholder for the InterNet address of the system if it
supported several transport methods. Instead of placing
the system address in the deprecated form specified below
in each flag, the address would be placed once only in this
flag. Implementations may need to parse this information
from nodelists created with older programs.

Conversion from old Internet capabilty flags to the new flags:

BND -> IBN
TEL -> ITN
TELNET -> ITN
VMD -> IVM
TCP -> IP

The Internet Address should be placed in the BBS name field.

Previous usage has placed the InterNet address as part of the
I-flag (for example ITX:[email protected]); in this format the
flag, colon, and address combined cannot exceed 32 characters.
However, this practice is deprecated, and new implementations must
not place address data in the flag section of the nodelist entry,
implementations may however be required to read this data from the
flag section.

Telnet default port is 23. If the port is not 23 then the port
number must be placed after the ITN flag (eg ITN:60177) if the
Telnet address is part of the ITN flag (eg ITN:farsi.dynip.com) then
the port number should be last (eg ITN:farsi.dynip.com:60177) always
remember that the flag cannot exceed 32 characters total.

The default ports for other protocols are shown below, and changes
from the default port must be flagged in a similar way.

Protocol Flag Default Port

FTP IFT 21
BINKP IBN 24554
RAW/IFCICO IFC 60179
VMODEM IVM 3141

Actual IP addresses can also be placed in the phone number field
using the country code of 000.

I: SYSTEM ONLINE USERFLAGS

The flag Tyz is used by non-CM nodes online not only during ZMH,
y is a letter indicating the start and z a letter indicating the
end of the online period as defined below (times in UTC):

A 0:00, a 0:30, B 1:00, b 1:30, C 2:00, c 2:30,
D 3:00, d 3:30, E 4:00, e 4:30, F 5:00, f 5:30,
G 6:00, g 6:30, H 7:00, h 7:30, I 8:00, i 8:30,
J 9:00, j 9:30, K 10:00, k 10:30, L 11:00, l 11:30,
M 12:00, m 12:30, N 13:00, n 13:30, O 14:00, o 14:30,
P 15:00, p 15:30, Q 16:00, q 16:30, R 17:00, r 17:30,
S 18:00, s 18:30, T 19:00, t 19:30, U 20:00, u 20:30,
V 21:00, v 21:30, W 22:00, w 22:30, X 23:00, x 23:30.

For example TuB shows an online period from 20:30 until 1:00 UTC.

Daylight saving time

If a node changes online times with respect to UTC when daylight
saving time becomes effective (which would be the case with most
part time nodes), then this is to be taken into account when
assigning this flag. An online times flag assigned to a node should
not be altered for the specific purpose of adjusting due to
daylight saving time, since large difference files (NODEDIFF's)
would result if every node was allowed to do this, e.g. my node
used to be online from 2300 to 0800 in local time, which in winter
is UTC, but in the summer it becomes BST (British Summer Time).
This is one hour ahead of UTC, and the corresponding availability
times of my node during the summer period were 2200 to 0700 UTC.
Therefore my online times flag would have indicated availability
between the hours of 2300 and 0700 UTC, the daily time period
encompassing both times, so the flag would be TXH.

2. Userflags
------------

Registry of Userflags

A. FORMAT OF USER FLAGS

U,x..x
A user-specified string, which may contain any
alphanumeric character except blanks. This string may
contain one to thirty-two characters of information
that may be used to add user-defined data to a specific
nodelist entry. The character "U" must not be
repeated, eg, ",U,XXX,YYY,ZZZ" not ",U,XXX,U,YYY,UZZZ".
The 32 character limitation is per userflag, not for
the total of all userflags.

New implementations must place a comma after the
initial "U" before the user flags. Some
implementations will not place a separating comma
betweent the "U" and the first user flag, but this
practice is deprecated. Implementations should be
prepared to read flags in this format, and must strip
the "U" from the flag before analysis in this case.

Entries following the "U" flag must be of a technical
or administrative nature. While experimentation of new
software functions using this flag is encouraged,
advertisement is strictly prohibited.

For applications other than those shown, or if you
have questions concerning the use of this field, please
contact your Regional or Zone Coordinator.

B: MAIL ORIENTED USER FLAGS:

ZEC Zone EchoMail Coordinator. Not more than one entry
in the zone segment may carry this flag and that entry
must be the current Zone EchoMail Coordinator.

REC Regional EchoMail Coordinator. Not more than one
entry in any region may carry this flag and that entry
must be the current Regional EchoMail Coordinator.

NEC Network EchoMail coordinator. Not more than one entry
in any net may carry this flag and that entry must be
the current Network EchoMail Coordinator of that Net.

SDS Software Distribution System

SMH Secure Mail Hub

NC Network Coordinator. This flag is ONLY to be used by
the Network Coordinator of a net which has split the
duties of NC and Host and the NC does NOT occupy the
Net/0 position in the nodelist.

A. Contact Data
---------------

David Hallford
Fidonet: 1:208/103

Andreas Klein
Fidonet: 2:2480/47
E-mail: [email protected]

Michael McCabe
Fidonet: 1:297/11

Odinn Sorensen
Fidonet: N/A
E-mail: [email protected]
WWW: http://www.goldware.dk

Colin Turner
Fidonet: 2:443/13
E-mail: [email protected]
WWW: http://www.piglets.com

B. History
----------

Rev.1, 19990627: Initial Release. Principal Author David Hallford