I am just wondering how it is good idea for a sever to insert some characters into user's input. If a collegue were to propose this, i d laugh in his face

It's just sp hacky i cant belive it's a real life's solution

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jagged-chisel 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

“Insert characters”?

Consider converting the original text (maintaining the author’s original line wrapping and indentation) to base64. Has anything been “inserted” into the text? I would suggest not. It has been encoded.

Now consider an encoding that leaves most of the text readable, translates some things based on a line length limit, and some other things based on transport limitations (e.g. passing through 7-bit systems.) As long as one follows the correct decoding rules, the original will remain intact - nothing “inserted.” The problem is someone just knowledgeable enough to be aware that email is human readable but not aware of the proper decoding has attempted to “clean up” the email for sharing.

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dgan 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Okey it does sound better from this POV. Still wierd as its a Client/UI concern, not something a server is supposed to do; whats next,adding "bold" tags on the title? Lol

	▲	brookst 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		SMTP is a line-oriented protocol. The server processes one line at a time, and needs to understand headers. Infinite line length = infinite buffer. Even worse, QP is 7-bit (because SMTP started out ASCII only), so characters >127 get encoded as three bytes (equal, then two hex digits), so a 500-character non-ASCII UTF8 line is 1500 bytes. It all made sense at the time. Not so much these days when 7-bit pipes only exist because they always have.

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flexagoon 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

When you post a comment on HN, the server inserts HTML tags into your input. Isn't that essentially the same thing?

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dgan 6 hours ago | parent [-]

No, because there is a clear separation between the content and the envelop. You wouldnt expect the post office to open your physical letters and write routing instructions to the postmen for delivery

But I agree with sibling comment: it makes more sense when its called "encoding" instead of "inserting chars into original stream"

	▲	1718627440 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> You wouldnt expect the post office to open your physical letters and write routing instructions to the postmen for delivery Digital communication is based on the postmen reading, transcribing and copying your letters. There is a reason why digital communication is treated differently then letters by the law and why the legally mandated secrecy for letters doesn't apply to emails.

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direwolf20 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's called escaping, and almost every protocol has it. HN must convert the & symbol to & for displaying in HTML. Many wire protocols like SATA or Ethernet must insert a 1 after a certain number of consecutive 0s to maintain electrical balance. Don't remember which ones — don't quote me that it's SATA and Ethernet.

	▲	zoho_seni an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Protocols that literally insert a bit are HDLC / PPP / CAN and they insert a 0 after a few 1s

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layer8 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Just wait until you learn what mess UTF-8 will turn your characters into. ;)