Hello Bob!

12 May 08 02:13, you wrote to me:

 RC>> Nack...

 RC>> This sort of thing is prohibited in most echoes, because
 RC>> these things add to the message size and can break some
 RC>> readers and tossers.

 RC>> **NOTE**

 RC>> Your example may not have but do comprehend what I am
 RC>> saying here.

 BK>  I am well aware that some ascii based graphics can affect some
 BK>  OLRs.

Some characters could play havoc sure, but ascii graphics is a misnomer..

ASCII graphics are limited to 254 characters, ASCII 255 is a space.

Included in them are every character you and I typed above, below..

 BK> However, some echos, specifically the santronics Silver
 BK>  Xpress echo allowed them because silver xpress does handle them.

Thats why I didnt say all echoes, but just because SX can handle something
doesnt mean all readers can, remember Santronics didnt write the QWK
standard.

 BK>  How they can break a tosser I do not know, since the packets are
 BK>  packed, so the file is hidden from the system, and if they did
 BK>  break it they would break it no matter what echo.

Nope the file isnt hidden, its encoded within the message body, just as yours was.

In *INTERNET* email, file attachments are merely encoded within the message
body, normally using MIME, the fact that your email client displays it
otherwise is irrelevant.

But something you dont know is that the systems in fidonet, be they a end
node or a hub, do not all run the same fidonet software, Fidonet technical
standards have set message size limits, some tossers adhere to it
religiously, others are more forgiving. I have seen sysops bitch because
someone sent out a real large message that their tosser choked on.

Thats why you see some moderators insist on no encoded files or content
gated into the echo from other networks or newsgroups, since all tend to
flirt with this sort of potential disaster.

Fidonet messages are exchanged in files called pkts, often zipped up into
what is known as arcmail bundles..

If Fidotel scans out messages every 15 minutes, then at each scan his
system will scan for new messages writtn into his message base since the
last scan, then put all of them into a pkt file, which then gets compressed
usually into a arcmail bundle, based on day name.

 BK>  However, that system won't hurt anything. It is just text, that
 BK>  is the secret of the system. It reconstructs the original
 BK>  outside the OLR.

I know how it all works but the more text in a message the larger that
message becomes. People have screwed up and have encoded really large files
in the past.

Another consideration is whether or not that which was encoded is harmless,
harmful, copyrighted atc..

 BK>  As to the size, I kept it well below the length of may msgs just
 BK>  for that reason. I posted it as an example of how fido can
 BK>  handle pictures or audio. That is the only reason.

It can only handle it as you say if nothing extraordinary has to be done to
decode them, it does not handle that as you say because you say it does.

==
Ross
Fidonet Feeds Or Fidonet In Your Newsreader: http://www.easternstar.info
E-mail: ross(at)cassell(dot)us | Blogs/Other Places: http://links.cassell.us
... A Independent: A Democrat who is in denial.
--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-30413