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W7EES > SYSOP 09.08.24 16:00l 107 Lines 6037 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 43583_W7EES
Read: GUEST
Subj: PROPER -AT- FIELD TOKENS
Path: IW8PGT<LU4ECL<VK2RZ<VE3CGR<GB7YEW<N9PMO<N9LYA<W7EES
Sent: 240805/1356Z 43583@W7EES.#NWOR.OR.USA.NOAM BPQ6.0.24
The following text is copied from the paper, "BBS Specification By W0RLI", originally released in 1993.
Contributors to the original document
bob@arasmith.com (Bob Arasmith, N0ARY)
HOredson@aol.com (Hank Oredson, W0RLI)
wd6cmu@netcom.com (Eric Williams, WD6CMU)
enge@almaden.ibm.com (Roy Engehausen, AA4RE)
71151.720@CompuServe.COM (Victor Poor, W5SMM)
blloyd@axion.bt.co.uk (Brian Lloyd, G1NNA)
map@hopper.cba.csuohio.edu (Mike Pechura, WA8BXN)
durham@w2xo.pgh.pa.us (James Durham, W2XO)
johan@ece.orst.edu (Johannes Reinalda, WG7J)
trentin@enac.dgac.fr (to J-P Roubelat, F6FBB)
sproul@sproul.com (Mark Sproul, KB2ICI)
mike@km6px.arasmith.com (Mike Stickney, KM6PX)
70007.1365@compuserve.com (Ed Juge, W5TOO)
73126.3260@compuserve.com (Craig McCartney, WA8DRZ)
bbr77@aol.com (Brian Riley, KA2BQE)
Michael Jaggers, WB4TTZ 1377 Columbia Ave, Franklin, TN 37064
BULLETIN DISTRIBUTION FORWARDING SYSTEM (BDFS)
All of the schemes in use currently adapt the state or continental code by using ALL or BBS as
a prefix or suffix in the format of ALLXX, XXALL XXBBS or BBSXX and places this token in the
@BBS field. This limits the 6-character field to 3 useful information-carrying characters. It
also limits the flexibility and expendability of the current system because there are no effective
standards for use of this field. The system in place severely limits the ability to distribute
bulletin traffic either in a wide scale scheme or to specific target distributions. All of the tokens
in place have at their root the continental, state or regional designators that are used in the
personal messaging forwarding system detailed above.
This is the least common denominator and by dropping the ALL and BBS will allow network
expansion and flexibility for bulletin distribution by freeing the three character fields currently
occupied by ALL and BBS for use in determining bulletin distribution tokens. This would give
the current system a greater degree of flexibility in creating addition distribution tokens.
STATE DISTRIBUTION
Bulletins that are to be sent to a state are to be addressed @XX where XX is the state USPS
Code. A second token in the form of the standard H address can be used to further route the
traffic to its intended distribution target. So a bulletin destined to OK would be addressed as
SB <Topic> @ OK.OK. The .OK routes the message and the @ OK determines its distribution.
In the case where a distribution is required outside of the current country domain it will be
necessary to add the appropriate country domain to the address. (See Below for details) A
simplified method would be to add the whole Hierarchical string to every message. This would
remove any confusion.
State addressing can be further broken down around the cardinal points of the compass to
subdivide a state for more precise targeting. These precede the XX state code and should not
exceed 4 characters in length
N = North
S = South
E = East
W = West
C = Central
NE = Northeast
NW = Northwest
SE = Southeast
SW = Southwest
Examples:
SB <Topic> @ TX Targets whole state
SB <Topic> @ NTX Targets North Texas
SB <Topic> @ NETX Targets Northeast Texas
If further subdivision is desired there is plenty of ample space for additional designators. I don't
anticipate too much breakdown beyond the ones listed. Conflicts are always possible and will
have to be considered on a case by case basis. If a regional type distributor token is in use that
conflicts with the above rules the offending designator should be changed. For example, just
dropping the "all" from the local distributor would result in a distributor of CAN (California
North). This would conflict with the country distributor of CAN for Canada. The local distributor
should be changed to conform with the above rules to NCA (Northern California).
COUNTRY DISTRIBUTION
Bulletins for countrywide distribution would be addressed as SB <Topic> @ XXX where XXX is
the country code. This is the current practice in Europe and works quite well. Again the
second token would be required to route the bulletin to its intended target distribution if
outside of the local domain.
(See State section above.)
SB <Topic> @ USA for the United States
SB <Topic> @ CAN for Canada
SB <Topic> @ MEX for Mexico
If the bulletin is to be targeted to a country outside of your own Continental domain then:
SB <Topic> @ XXX.YYYY.
SB <Topic> @ FRA.EURO Target a bulletin to France
SB <Topic> @ FRA Target a bulletin to France *
* If there are 2 different paths for message movement one for personals and one for bulletins
the second address would be used in this situation in addition to distribution within the
country domain.
Bulletins to be sent to a Continental area are to be sent as @XXXX (NOAM) as dictated by the
receiving parties. NOAM is to include CAN, MEX and USA.
SB <Topic> @ NOAM would distribute all of North America.
SB <Topic> @ EURO would distribute to Europe.
Worldwide distribution would still be @WW.
Regional distribution remains at the discretion of each region but could also be addressed
under the same scheme. What is presented above will take care of the vast majority of the
bulletin addressing and give the users some flexibility.
==========snip==========
Unnecessary use of ALL in the @ field of bulletin distribution serves no purpose. This field is intended for geographic routing.
A recent example:
PROP @ ARL with subject ARLP### Propagation will not forward unless downstream sysops include PROP in the TO field and/or ARL in their AT field forwarding script. It's better to address these bulletins ARLP @ USA or ARLP @ WW to indicate the type and/or topic of the bulletin and the desired distribution. A similar bulletin distribution blunder is the use of ALLUSA or ALLUS in the AT field. Placing USA in the AT field implies distribution to everyone at USA and doesn't require the addition of ALL.
Refer to the BBS Specification document for more on the subject. If you can't find it on the web, send an email request to dave@w7ees.net.
73 - Dave - W7EES
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