- From: Dan Kegel <dank@alumni.caltech.edu>
- Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 00:10:20 -0700
- To: Harald Alvestrand <Harald.Alvestrand@maxware.no>, Larry Masinter <masinter@parc.xerox.com>
- Cc: ietf-charsets@ISI.EDU
At 08:36 AM 5/26/98 +0200, Harald Alvestrand wrote: >Question: For what data element size do we expect the BOM to be used? >For long pieces of text, it's pretty obvious. >But what about databases? Structured values? ASN.1 SET OFs? >On all strings, the first string (whatever that means) or no string? > >I'm not worried about wasting space, but about clarity on when to use it. Won't messages coded in UTF-16 usually have a clear beginning, and be long enough that the extra two bytes overhead is not a problem? e.g. UTF-16 if used in, say, some future HTTP, would be quite happy with this. Maybe it'll be ok if we only worry about the issue when messages coded in UTF-16 touch the Internet, and not worry about database internals; presumably people writing non-Internet- connected databases can keep their byte order straight without the IETF's help. I think either of two ways can get us the clarity we crave: 1. Mandate a certain byte order for UTF-16 messages that hit the Internet. 2. Mandate a BOM at the start of each UTF-16 message that hits the Internet. #1 is probably bitter medicine for those on the losing side. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) #2 is probably palatable to all concerned. Apologies to all if I'm out of line here. Actually, I tried to unsubscribe several times a few years ago, and this exchange is my vengeance upon the listserv for not letting me go :-) - Dan --Boundary (ID uEbHHWxWEwCKT9wM3evJ5w)
Received on Tuesday, 26 May 1998 00:14:53 UTC