In a message to Andrew Clarke 
Rod Speed  wrote:

AC> Instead of designing a new header, why not remove the header
AC> completely and replace it with a set of kludge lines?

 RS> The main argument against doing that is that its a lot
 RS> quicker with decent code to process the fixed header stuff
 RS> for the fields that are appropriate in a fixed header.
 RS> Basically those that are used in almost every message.

The "mandatory" fields.  Now, what is required, and what is not?


 RS> Kludge lines are better for the stuff which is only used
 RS> occasionally, optional fields like say the character set
 RS> used in the message body and the variable length stuff where
 RS> you may want repeated use of a particular one.

If there is a need to design something that is to replace the existing
system, I would prefer all fields to be optional.  This might seem unusual,
but could prove quite useful in my opinion.  I don't necessarily mean
eliminating redunancy, either.


ZeeYa...
Andrew.

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