Message-Id: <v02140409ace00c459a6f@[165.227.40.35]>
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Date: Mon, 27 Nov 1995 17:02:04 -0800
To: drums@cs.utk.edu
From: paulh@imc.org (Paul Hoffman)
Subject: Reorganization of smtpupd-01

Of course, there are a bunch of nits and probably some big technical
questions in the smtpupd-01 draft, but first I think we should decide if
the order of presentation makes the most sense.

I'm not fond of appendixes, particularly in RFCs. They tend to make a
hierarchy of what isn't important, and that hierarchy is usually wrong.
They also fragment ideas, forcing the reader to flip back and forth from
the body to the back of the document. Further, they make it hard to find
the references and the author's address (maybe that was part of John's
logic :-) ).

I think that almost everything in the appendixes in this draft is as
important as what's in the body, and therefore should be sections of
subsections in the body. Another reason to eliminate appendixes is that
fewer, well-organized sections makes it easier for the person reading the
document for the first time.

With that in mind, I suggest the following transformation. The
numbers/letters on the left are the current (-01) sections; the numbers
after the "->" is where I'd like to see this content in a reorganized
document.

Change appendixes to parts, fold in:
1 (Intro) -> 1
2 (SMTP Model) -> 2
3 (SMTP Procedures) -> 3
4 (SMTP Spec) -> 4
5 (Problems) -> 6 (retitle "Various Problems and Their Solutions")
6 (Security) -> 7
7 (References) -> 8
8 (Address) -> 10
9 (Acknowledgements) -> 9
A (TCP)  -> Becomes new 4.6.5 (end of "Details")
B (Envelope from headers) -> Merge into new 6 ("Problems")
E (Reply code theory) -> Becomes new 4.2.5 (end of "SMTP Replies")
F (Scenerios) -> 5
G (Other gateway) -> Merge into new 6 ("Problems")
H (Glossary) -> Merge with other items in new 2.3 ("Other terminology")

This eliminates 5 of the 6 appendixes and keeps the relevant information
about various topics closer together.

--Paul Hoffman
--Internet Mail Consortium