ietf-nntp Raw 8bit in subject header

[Charles Lindsey]

In <3E7CE84F.27933.2A0D360 at localhost> minibbjd at gmx.de writes:

>Hi,

>this is my first post on this list, so please let me know if this is 
>off-topic here.

Yes, you need the Usefor list (try usenet-format-request at landfield.com).

>I didn't find anything in the current draft about this, at least 
>nothing exact, so could anyone let me know if usefor allows or 
>tolerates the use of raw 8 bit in the subject header under special 
>circumstances.


Currently, a Subject-header containing raw 8-bit stuff is not compliant
with any standard. The correct way to handle it is to encode it with RFC
2047.

There was a proposal for Usefor to allow it, but only using the charset
UTF-8. It is now more likely that that facility will be put into a
separate experimental protocol.


>My current approach is to never change the subject line, even if it 
>uses raw 8 bit or has an invalid encoding.

When you are faced with non-compliant input, there is never a "right" way
to handle it. Leaving it as it is in a followup may well be the best thing
to do in the circumstances (other than to encode it into RRFC 2047 if you
know what the charset is).

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