Publication: FTS-4009
+ Revision: 1
+ Title: Netmail tracking (Via)
+ Author: FTSC
+ Issue Date: 16 May 2003
+ Review Date: 16 May 2005
+ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Contents:
+ 1. Current practice
+ 2. Control paragraph specification
+ 3. Examples
+ 4. Deprecated formats
+ A. References
+ B. History
+ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Status of this document
+ -----------------------
This document is a Fidonet Technical Standard (FTS), issued by the
+ FTSC for the benefit of the Fidonet community.
This document is based on the FSP-1010 proposal by Colin Turner,
+ 2:443/13, and Joaquim Homrighausen, 2:201/330.
+
+ This document is released to the public domain, and may be used,
+ copied or modified for any purpose whatsoever.
+ 1. Current practice
+ -------------------
As Netmail messages are routed through FidoNet, or as they are
+ processed on a system, Via control paragraphs are added to track
+ their progress.
+
+ The Via control paragraphs are stored in a block which starts after
+ any message text. New Via lines should be added to the end of the
+ block separated from the preceding control paragraph by a single
+ ASCII carriage-return character (0Dh). There is no limit to the
+ number of Via control paragraphs in each message.
Note that the "Via" tag is in mixed case, not all upper case like
+ most control tags.
+
+ A Via control paragraph is typically added:
+
+ when a Netmail packer packs the Netmail for transmission to
+ another system;
+
+ when a netmail tracker inspects a Netmail.
+ 2. Control paragraph specification
+ ----------------------------------
The Via control paragraph is formatted as a number of fields,
+ separated by single space (20h) characters, as follows
+
+ ^AVia <FTN Address> @YYYYMMDD.HHMMSS[.Precise][.Time Zone]
+ <Program Name> <Version> [Serial Number]<CR>
+
+ Where ^A denotes the ASCII <SOH> (01h) character, and <CR> is the
+ carriage-return character (0Dh).
+
+ The fields are defined as follows:
+
+ FTN Address
+ -----------
This field is mandatory and is the FidoNet Technology address of
+ the system inserting the control paragraph, using standard Fidonet
+ addressing notation, Z:N/F[.P][@domain]
+
+ @YYYYMMDD.HHMMSS
+ ----------------
+
+ This field is mandatory and consists of a time stamp. This is the
+ time at which the stamp was placed. The subcomponents are
+
+ YYYY, the calendar year, in full four digit, decimal form;
+ MM, the calendar month, in the range 01 to 12, this must be a
+ zero padded, two digit decimal number;
+ DD, the day of the month, in the range 01 to 31, this must be a
+ zero padded, two digit decimal number;
+ HH, hours, in the range 00 to 23, this must be a zero padded,
+ two digit decimal number;
+ MM, minutes, in the range 00 to 59, this must be a zero padded,
+ two digit decimal number;
+ SS. seconds, in the range 00 to 59, this must be a zero padded,
+ two digit decimal number.
+
+ Precise
+ -------
+
+ This field is optional and takes the form of extra precision in the
+ time stamp.
+
+ If this field is present:
+
+ it must begin with a single period character;
+
+ this period must be followed by one or more decimal digits;
+
+ the field has ended when another period or space is encountered;
+
+ each decimal digit in the field following this character
+ represents the time of the via line in fractions of a second,
+ such that the the first digit represents tenths of a second,
+ the second digit represents hundreds of a second and so on.
Robust implementations must check to ensure this field is numeric to
+ avoid confusion with the Time Zone field.
+
+ Time Zone
+ ---------
This field is optional, and must be a short, widely accepted
+ alphabetical abbreviation of the time zone that the time stamp
+ in the Via line pertains to.
+
+ The use of various Time Zone values is deprecated, implementations
+ should attempt to convert the timestamp in the control paragraph to
+ Universal Time (GMT or UTC) and use the "UTC" Time Zone indicator,
+ where possible.
+
+ The Time Zone field may only be omitted when it is not possible for
+ the implementation to determine the correct offset from UTC, and in
+ this case the time stamp must represent local time on the generating
+ system.
Robust implementations must check to ensure this field is not
+ numeric to avoid confusion with the Precise field.
+
+ Program Name
+ ------------
+
+ This field is a mandatory string field of up to ten (10) characters
+ naming the product inserting the Via line.
+
+ Version
+ -------
This field is a mandatory string field of up to ten (10) characters
+ specifying the version of the product inserting the Via line,
+ including any alpha, beta or gamma status.
+
+ Serial Number
+ -------------
+
+ This field is an optional string field of up to ten (10) characters
+ identifying the specific copy of the product inserting the Via line.
+ 3. Examples
+ -----------
Example of valid usage are
+
+ ^AVia 1:2/3 @19990305.043212.UTC O/T-Track+ 2.69
+ ^AVia 1:2/3@fidonet @19980331.231202.UTC FrontDoor 2.32.mL
+ ^AVia 1:2/3.0 @19990101.002102.UTC FastEcho 1.46.1 21321
+ ^AVia 1:2/3 @19990323.230132 FakeMail 1.2
+ ^AVia 1:2/3 @20030403.182824.UTC Gleipner/Java 1.0/pre
+ ^AVia 1:2/3 @20030403.193223.UTC hpt 1.2.2-stable/os2
+ ^AVia D'Bridge 1.58 1:2/3 04/03 20:47
+ ^AVia 1:2/3@fidonet @20030404.030004.UTC O/T-Track+ 2.66b
+ ^AVia Squish/386 1.11 1:2/3, Thu Apr 03 2003 at 23:16 UTC
+ ^AVia 1:2/3 FTrack 3.1/W32 04 Apr 2003 09:33:07 UTC+1000
+ ^AVia ifmail 1:2/3@fidonet, Fri Apr 11 2003 at 06:01 (2.15)
+ ^AVia RTrk+ 1:2/3@fidonet, Apr 22 2003 at 18:25
+ ^AVia BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-4 1:2/3.0, @030505155114 EDT+5
+ 4. Deprecated formats
+ ---------------------
Some other formats for the Via line are in use today, but these
+ formats are rather variable and inconsistent in nature, while
+ the format specified above is both more widespread and more
+ consistent.
+
+ New implementations may need to parse these formats, but must not
+ generate them.
+
+ The formats in use include, but are not limited to
+
+ <NAME> [VERSION] [SERIAL] <ADDRESS> <TIMESTAMP> <TIMEZONE>
+ <NAME> <ADDRESS>, <TIMESTAMP> <TIMEZONE> <VERSION>
+
+ Not that the time stamp in the above formats is also widely
+ variable, and takes forms which include, but may not be limited to
+
+ <Day> <Month> <Year> AT <Hour>:<Min>:[Sec]
+ <Day of Week> <Month> <Day of Month> <Year> <Hour>:<Min>:<Sec>
+ ON <Day of Month> <Month> <Year> <Hour>:<Min>:<Sec>
+ <Month>/<Day> <Hour>:<Min>
+ @YYMMDDHHMMSS
+
+ In the last listed format, observe in particular the two digit year
+ and lack of period to separate the date from time.
+ A. References
+ -------------
[FTS-1] "A Basic FidoNet(r) Technical Standard Revision 16", Randy
+ Bush. September 1995.
[FSC-46] "A Product Identifier for FidoNet Message Handlers",
+ Joaquim Homrighausen, August 1994.
+ B. History
+ ----------
Rev.1, 20030516: First release (revised from FSP-1010 by FTSC; note
+ the lack of a colon after the "Via" tag)
**********************************************************************
+