Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site sdccsu3.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdccsu3!brian
From: brian@sdccsu3.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.mail
Subject: Addresses
Message-ID: <2176@sdccsu3.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 13-Aug-84 09:55:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdccsu3.2176
Posted: Mon Aug 13 09:55:42 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 14-Aug-84 19:30:50 EDT
Organization: UCSD beer & pizza society
Lines: 40

We are in the process of rebuilding our entire set of mailer rules, 
and some questions of format for addresses have come up.

We have the problem of spanning more than one network, each with its own
attendent syntax, so we chose to use RFC822 internally and transform it
as needed for the outside world, as appropriate to each network.

As I understand it, RFC822 requires that the 'local part' (the part to
the left of the @ ) not be semantically significant until the
'domain part' (to the right of the @ ) is fully resolved.

Thus an address such as
	farkle!nurd!wombat!brian			(1)
would have the same semantics as
	nurd!wombat!brian@farkle			(2)

Our local mailer syntax is therefore becoming
	person%internalsite@UCSD
which looks like
	...!sdcsvax!person%internalsite
in its uucp incarnation.  
(We are known as 'sdcsvax' to uucp, and as 'UCSD' elsewhere.)

Since the % is not considered a delimeter by most mailers, it passes
cleanly thru the outside world.  We don't parse it until the domain part
of the address is satisfied (i.e, when the mail arrives at UCSD), at
which time we simply substitute an '@' for the '%', which gives us an
RFC822 compatable address internal to the campus, like:
	person@internalsite

Any one have suggestions? Comments?  Its a hairy mess to remain
compatable, and I'd like to get it as right as possible the first time.

I'll summarize to the net if answers are of general interest.
	
	ihnp4 \		Brian Kantor, UC San Diego 
	decvax \
	akgua   >----  sdcsvax  ----- brian
	dcdwest/
	ucbvax/		Kantor@Nosc