• Local vs Network message boards

    From Digital Man@21:1/183 to Accession on Fri May 24 11:52:10 2024
    Re: Local vs Network message boards
    By: Accession to Blue White on Sun May 05 2024 08:36 am

    Hello Blue,

    On Sun, 5 May 2024 13:07:18 -0500, you wrote:

    This post got me thinking, though, so I fired up MM on a QWK packet.
    It truncates the subjects to ~24 on replies also. I wonder if that is a *QWK* standard and all QWK readers do it when processing QWK packages?

    That's definitely possible. I haven't kept up with (or even looked at) QWK standards. But even taking a look at Synchronet's wiki about QWK it does seem to show the length of 25 bytes (with the last byte reserved for an ascii 32 character = 24 bytes). So good call on that, as that would explain it.

    Original/standard QWK message subjects can be a full 25 characters. The last byte is not reserved for a space (ASCII 32).

    QWKE (QWK extended) extends the subject length to > 25 characters (no max length specified).
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Breaking Bad quote #43:
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  • From Digital Man@21:1/183 to AKAcastor on Fri May 24 11:55:29 2024
    Re: Local vs Network message boards
    By: AKAcastor to Blue White on Sun May 05 2024 11:05 am

    This post got me thinking, though, so I fired up MM on a QWK packet.
    It truncates the subjects to ~24 on replies also. I wonder if that is a *QWK* standard and all QWK readers do it when processing QWK packages?

    You are correct - 24 characters is the limit for subject lines in QWK packets.

    The specs are a 25-byte ASCII string for the subject line - the last character must be NULL, so 24 printable characters. http://wiki.synchro.net/ref:qwk

    I assume the above site is considered a reputable source. ;)

    It is. :-) But you're misreading it: there's no subject string termination needed (space or NULL), so the full 25 characters can be used in a standard/original QWK message. QWKE extends the subject lengths beyond 25 chars.

    I don't know the history behind it, whether the limit was arbitrarily chosen for QWK packets or if it was a pre-existing limit enforced by some BBS software.

    PCBoard limit, maybe. QWK was originally for PCBoard, iirc.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    This Is Spinal Tap quote #26:
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  • From AKAcastor@21:1/162 to Digital Man on Fri May 24 19:13:46 2024
    The specs are a 25-byte ASCII string for the subject line - the last character must be NULL, so 24 printable characters. http://wiki.synchro.net/ref:qwk

    I assume the above site is considered a reputable source. ;)

    It is. :-) But you're misreading it: there's no subject
    string termination needed (space or NULL), so the full
    25 characters can be used in a standard/original QWK
    message. QWKE extends the subject lengths beyond 25
    chars.

    Thanks for the clarification!


    Chris/akacastor


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