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FTSC                             FIDONET TECHNICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE
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Publication:    FSP-1010
Revision:       1
Title:          Via kludge specification
Author:         Colin Turner,
                Joaquim Homrighausen
Revision Date:  26 April 1999
Expiry Date:    26 April 2001
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Contents:
                1. Current practice
                2. Kludge specification
                3. Examples
                4. Deprecated formats
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Status of this document
-----------------------

  This document is a Fidonet Standards Proposal (FSP).

  This document specifies an optional Fidonet standard protocol for
  the Fidonet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
  improvements.

  This document is released to the public domain, and may be used,
  copied or modified for any purpose whatever.


Abstract
--------

  Current practice for Fidonet Technology Network (FTN) NetMail
  messages is to track their progress through the network and
  programs by using control lines. These control lines are in
  the form of a kludge named Via.
  

1. Current practice
-------------------

  As NetMail messages are routed through a FidoNet Technology Network
  or as they are processed on a system, Via control lines are used to
  track their progress.
  
  A single NetMail message may have any number of Via control lines.
  
  The Via control lines 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 line by a single ASCII <CR>
  character (0Dh).
  
  A Via control line is typically added:
  
    when a netmail packer packs the NetMail for transmission to
    another system;
    
    when a netmail tracker inspects a NetMail.

2. Kludge specification
-----------------------

  The Via control line 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
  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 kludge. This may or may not include a
  domain indicator.
  
  @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.
        
  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 kludge to Universal
  Time (GMT or UTC) and use the "UTC" Time Zone indicator, where
  possible.
  
  The Time Zone field may only be ommitted 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.
  
  Program Name
  ------------
  
  This field is mandatory, and must follow the format used in the PID
  control line (detailed in FSC-46).
  
  Version
  -------

  This field is mandatory, and must follow the format used in the PID
  control line (detailed in FSC-46).
  
  Serial Number
  -------------
  
  This field is optional, and must follow the format used in the PID
  control line (detailed in FSC-46).

  Note that unlike many kludges, the "Via" text of the kludge itself
  is in mixed, and not all upper case.
  
3. Examples
-----------

  Example of valid usage are
  
  ^AVia 2:443/13 @19990305.043212.UTC O/T-Track+ 2.69
  ^AVia 2:443/13@fidonet @19980331.231202.UTC FrontDoor 2.32.mL
  ^AVia 2:443/13.0 @19990101.002102.UTC FastEcho 1.46.1 21321
  ^AVia 2:443/13 @19990323.230132 FakeMail 1.2
  ^AVia 2:2480/18@fidonet @19990307.182128.47.UTC ITrack+ 1.3/G6 FP000069
  
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 implentations 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 seperate 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. Author contact data
----------------------

  Colin Turner
  Fidonet: 2:443/13
  E-mail:  ct@piglets.com
  WWW:     http://www.piglets.com
  
  Joaquim Homrighausen
  Fidonet: 2:201/330
  E-mail:  joho@defsol.se
  WWW:     http://www.defsol.se


C. History
----------

  Rev.1, 990426: First release.

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