From: Ian Bell (ianbell@turnpike.com)
Date: Wed Apr 10 2002 - 08:50:03 CDT
On Tue, 9 Apr 2002, Charles Lindsey <chl@clw.cs.man.ac.uk> wrote:
[RFC2646 client following up to non-RFC2646 client that followed up to a
RFC2646 client]
>{Now it is received by a non-RFC2646 client which displays it as it was
>sent, and creates a followup. Because it doesn't know any better, it
>leaves the trailing space in place.}
>
>Content-Type: text/plain
>
>On 9th April "flowed client" wrote:
>>This is a flowed message which clients with narrow windows_
>>may split at more places than is done here.
>to which we reply "what is this flowing nonsense"?
>{This is received by some RFC2646 client which displays it as shown,
>because it is not flowed. But that client then creates a flowed followup.
>At this point, it finds itself in an awkward position. It is being asked
>to quote and transmit a line with a trailing SP. It has been told that
>this is a fixed line (because the incoming text did not claim to be
>flowed). So it might decide to eliminate that trailing SP. But if it did
>that, then it could be accused of munging the text it was quoting.
RFC2646 demands that lines that are to be flowed have trailing spaces,
other lines being regarded as "fixed". Lines quoted from ordinary
text/plain can't be flowed...
...hence a client has but one choice - it either sends f=f and
eliminates trailing spaces in quotes (yes this is munging of a sort), or
it sends ordinary text/plain.
>Alternatively, it might notice that the line it was being asked to quote
>was already quoted, and so it might think to itself "perhaps the
>original version of that line was flowed,
perhaps the message was many things!
>in which case perhaps I should
>leave the trailing SP anyway".
In which case it would be breaking RFC2646 and in all probability, the
quoted message as well.
>Note that RFC2646 is entirely silent on
>this matter.
It was perhaps never considered that anyone may take the guesswork route
- otherwise I feel sure it would have been put in explicitly.
> But if it DOES decide to leave that trailin SP alone, then
...it is broken!
-- Ian Bell T U R N P I K E