Message-ID: <UlF9jnS00WBw812RRX@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 1996 16:32:35 -0500 (EST)
From: John Gardiner Myers <jgm+@CMU.EDU>
To: drums@cs.utk.edu
Subject: Re: Free insertion of linear-white-space
In-Reply-To: <199603112107.QAA22282@wilma.cs.utk.edu>
References: <199603112107.QAA22282@wilma.cs.utk.edu>

Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu> writes:
> Along more general lines, I'd like to see the 822 grammar very clearly
> indicate what is and is not a structured field.

I've already defined

	unstructured ::= *text

> If this means explicitly adding tokens to the grammar that indicate where
> white-space and/or comments can be inserted...well, that's ugly, but at
> least it's unambiguous.

Not only is this ugly, but there's a problem with then having to
update other documents, such as MIME, that define structured fields.

> But the 822 ABNF gets used both for cases where white space and comments are 
> legal between tokens and for cases where they are not legal, and having to 
> specify which case is which in text is getting to be a pain.

I'd say it's the single most painful, complicated part of 822.  But at
this point, our options are limited.

-- 
_.John G. Myers		Internet: jgm+@CMU.EDU
			LoseNet:  ...!seismo!ihnp4!wiscvm.wisc.edu!give!up