Rachael Munns on 30 Mar 99 in NET_DEV

Hello Rachael

 SA>> Did anyone ever sort out a workable text-based packet format?
 SA>> Some talk a while back about basing it loosely on SOUP, but then
 SA>> it all went quiet.
 RM> SOUP merely encapsulates the news format mostly specified in RFC1036.
 RM> I wouldn't describe it as a packet format. You could distribute raw
 RM> pkt's as SOUP, at least in theory.

Uhuh, what I meant was (and I didn't phrase it too well) is a text-based
packet format, using the relevant parts of a Soup header and adding new
fields when neccessary. This makes updating the pktheader an awful lot 
easier than a binary one.

Add a new field to a text pktheader: Just add it. Existing programs should
ignore anything they don't understand.
Ditto binary pktheader, whole new structure, new version number and all
the hassle that goes with it, breaking any existing software. 

You /could/ use a kludge, but that kind of negates the purpose of having
a msgheader when most of the info's in the msgbody.

--
Simon

--- Digital Dilemma