- From: Harald Alvestrand <Harald.Alvestrand@maxware.no>
- Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 19:43:17 +0200
- To: Dan Kegel <dank@alumni.caltech.edu>, Larry Masinter <masinter@parc.xerox.com>
- Cc: ietf-charsets@ISI.EDU
At 00:10 26.05.98 -0700, Dan Kegel wrote: >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. The body parts of HTTP are no problem (I think). But what about some future LDAP, SVRLOC, DNS or PPP? Or even the headers of HTTP? >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. At the start of every text string? >#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 :-) Ned? We may have a way of reaching consensus :-) Harald -- Harald Tveit Alvestrand, Maxware, Norway Harald.Alvestrand@maxware.no --Boundary (ID uEbHHWxWEwCKT9wM3evJ5w)
Received on Tuesday, 26 May 1998 11:05:59 UTC