Document: FTS-0009 Version: 001 Date: 17-Dec-91 MSGID / REPLY A standard for unique message identifiers and reply chain linkage 17 December, 1991 jim nutt 1:114/30@fidonet Status of this document: This FTS (FidoNet(r) Technical Standard) specifies an optional standard for the FidoNet community. Implementation of the protocols defined in this document is not mandatory, but all implementations of these protocols are expected to adhere to this standard. Distribution of this document is unlimited. Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido Software. MSGID A MSGID line consists of the string "^AMSGID:" (where ^A is a control-A (hex 01) and the double-quotes are not part of the string), followed by a space, the address of the originating system, and a serial number unique to that message on the originating system, i.e.: ^AMSGID: origaddr serialno The originating address should be specified in a form that constitutes a valid return address for the originating network. If the originating address is enclosed in double-quotes, the entire string between the beginning and ending double-quotes is considered to be the orginating address. A double-quote character within a quoted address is represented by by two consecutive double-quote characters. The serial number may be any eight character hexadecimal number, as long as it is unique - no two messages from a given system may have the same serial number within a three years. The manner in which this serial number is generated is left to the implementor. REPLY A REPLY line consists of the string "^AREPLY:" (where ^A is a control-A (hex 01) and the double-quotes are not part of the string), followed by a space, and the origaddr and serialno fields of the MSGID line of the message to which this message is a reply, i.e.: ^AREPLY: origaddr serialno The origaddr and serialno fields must be identical to the corresponding fields in the MSGID of the message to which this message is a reply. A REPLY line is never generated in a message that is a reply to a message that does not contain a MSGID line. GENERAL MSGID and REPLY lines should be placed before the text body of the message in which they appear. Finally, a MSGID is generated only at the time of message creation. An existing MSGID and/or REPLY should never be stripped from a message passing through an intermediate system. No system should ever add an MSGID and/or REPLY to, or modify an existing MSGID / REPLY contained in, a message not originating on that system.