RFC 479 (rfc479) - Page 2 of 5
Use of FTP by the NIC Journal
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 479 Use of FTP by the NIC Journal March 1973 forwarding and recording (i.e., the Journal System) as a service. However, other hosts may in the future desire to implement a similar service, at which time these special commands will have wider use. Conceptually, all of these commands are sub-commands of a new MAIL command, but the intent for the moment is not to define their position within the FTP dialogue nor their syntax, but simply to describe them conceptually. Details of syntax and use are left to the FTP Interest Group which meets 16-MAR-73 in Boston (see -- 14333,). The new sub-commands are described below. Bracketed fields are optional; slash denotes a choice of two or more alternatives. (1) TITLE title Where 'title' is a character string describing for the human reader the contents of the mail. (2) USER-READABLE-AUTHOR author Where 'author' identifies the author of the mail to the human reader. This may be a nickname, or any other identifier with which the human sender chooses to sign his mail. (3) PROCESS-READABLE-AUTHOR last, first initial (ident) Where the author's name (and ident if known) is made available to the server in a form it can hope to parse (if need be). This sub-command is important to the NIC, providing a basis for locating the author in the NIC's Ident files. (4) FOR-ACKNOWLEDGMENT-AUTHOR username hostname Where 'username' and 'hostname' define the sender in a way useful in acknowledging delivery (of forwarded mail). The acknowledgment will itself be a piece of mail sent from the NIC to 'username' at 'hostname'. It's important, conceptually, to note the NIC's unique role here. Normally, acceptance of the mail by the server would constitute acknowledgment of delivery. But, in the case of Journal submission, the NIC acts only as a forwarding agent, and hence delivery of mail by the sender to SRI-ARC isn't White
