FSC-0020 Alternate Nodelist Flag Proposal by Marshall Presnell (109/639.106) November 13, 1987 Permission to reprint and distribute this document is granted so long as no payments are incurred for the use and distribution of this document and the author is credited. $Revision: 1.1 $ $Log: E:/SRC/NLPROC/PROJFILE/NODELIST.PRV $ Rev 1.1 13 Nov 1987 15:50:56 M. Presnell Added Update log into document body ------------------------------------------------------------ NODELIST FLAGS A Proposal In order to properly code a function to read and interpret the nodelist flags, several vexing problems arise. The most significant problem is simply figuring out the capabilities of the software running at a particular node. In order to solve this confusion, I propose the following standards to be accepted by the FTSC, IFNA, and any other anciliary organizations which contribute to the content and maintenance of the nodelist. First, a code needs to be established for each piece of NETMAIL PROTOCOL CAPABLE software. This defines exactly WHAT will answer the phone and transfer mail according to FTSC netmail protocol standards. For the current arena of software, I propose the flag and operand approach as follows: ST: <- the FLAG, ST meaning System Type Operands: FD1 - Fido Version 11? FD2 - Fido Version 12? SD? - SEAdog version ? OP1 - Opus version 1.? BT? - BinkleyTerm version ? TY? - Tabby version ? DT? - Dutchie version ? (and others as needed, apologies to those I omitted) Therefore, the complete type flag would read: ST:FD2 for Fido v12x ST:OP1 for Opus version 1.xx ST:SD4 for SEAdog version 4.x This gives the nodelist processor (and we illogical humans) a much easier time in interpreting the nodelist. I also recommend that the operands be of a set length (in the above example, 3 characters). Second, a PROTOCOL code needs to be established, using the same FLAG:OPERAND approach as the system type flag. In this case: PR: <- The FLAG, meaning PRotocol and the operands: TS - TSYNC (Fido v11 and v12) SL - SEAdog Link (SEAdog) WZ - WaZoo (Opus) others as the technology progresses. The operand field may contain multiple operands, as follows: PR:WZ/TS <- to indicate an Opus system In the event of multiple operands, the most desired protocol for network communications should be first in the list of operands. Third, the operation hours, as before in a FLAG:OPERAND combination as follows: OH: <- Operation Hours This flag is followed by the operation hours of the system regarding inbound MAIL only. The operation hours are in a fixed format as follows: D.HHMM-D.HHMM where D is the day number (Sunday being 1), HH is the 24 hour military hour, and MM is the minute. A special case of the day being 0 means all days 1 through 7. ALL times are EST (purely arbitrary, but ALL times in the nodelist should have a common base reference time). Therefore, a system which runs national mail time only would be as follows: OH:0.0400-0.0500 Multiple operational hours may be specified by separating the separate time specifiers with a slash as follows: OH:D.HHMM-D.HHMM/D.HHMM-D.HHMM/D.HHMM-D.HHMM Continuous inbound mail would be indicated as follows: OH:1.0000-7.2359 It is important to note that these times are when the system is able to RECEIVE mail. These are NOT the actual operation hours of the BBS (if one exists at that node). The time known as National Mail Hour (04:00 to 05:00 EST) is automatically ASSUMED and need not be incorporated into the FLAGS field. Since it is one of the baseline requirements for being listed in the nodelist, this assumption is a relatively safe one. Also, this method should also be used to indicate the time(s) when File Requests are accepted. The suggested flag for File Requests is "FR:" and follows the same time specification logic as the OH: flag. Fourth, modem flags need to be standardized (until the modems themselves can be standardized), for a hopefully "stop gap" measure, we could use the following: MDM: for the flag, TLB for Telebit Trailblazer HST for USR Courier HST H96 for Hayes 9600 (and others as needed) Only ONE of these modem types can appear per node, and it has no relavence unless the baud rate is greater than or equal to 9600. (This is one of those flags we can get rid of once the modem manufacturors establish a standard.) Fifth, the Mail Only flag. Basically, it need to be changed to "#MO" instead of "MO:". All flags which do not have operands should not contain the colon (:) character. Flags occur following the seventh comma in a nodelist line and continue to the end of the physical line. All flags and flag:operand combinations are separated by commas, with the last flag on the line terminated by the end of line character. Order of the flags is not critical. ------------------------------------------------------------ I hope this proposal will serve to elicit ideas and comment. Please direct any inaccuracies, suggestions for improvement, comments, and constructive criticism to Marshall Presnell at Fido node 109/639.106 Thank you.