INTERNATIONAL ROUTING DESIGNATORS Lew Jenkins, N6VV David B. Toth, M.D., VE3GYQ H. N. "Hank" Oredson, W0RLI c/o Dr. D. B. Toth 499 Bobbybrook Drive London, Ontario, Canada N5X 1G8 It has become obvious by now that the work-horse of our so-called packet network is the venerable BBS program. In fact, some will argue that it has been too successful. Every time that a band-aid is needed to "fix" the network, it is applied through the various BBS programs. It is probably fair to say that the maintenance of the forwarding tables is a drudgery that most sysops could do without. This point also under-scores a serious problem faced by all networks: ROUTING. With the introduction of W0RLI V7.00 and support for Hierarchical routing designators, we have an opportunity to improve traffic routing particularly for international traffic. Since N6VV is at the present time responsible for traffic to Asia and the Pacific, and occasionally Europe and Africa, he has implemented some Hierarchical routing designators which will assist him in international routing. Using this structure mail can now be addressed : JA1ABC @ JA1KSO.JPN.AS or VK4AHD @ AX4BBS.AUS.AU Starting today you can begin using Continental and Country designators for international traffic destined for Asia and the Pacific. A forward file may be set up to support the following codes: ** Continental Designators ** AF - Africa AS - Asia AU - Australia EU - Europe NA - North America OC - Oceana SA - South America ** Country Designators ** For country codes there is a generally accepted international standard for abreviations. These are used in international electronic message standards such as ANSI X.12 and EDIFACT. They are published by the International Standards Organization and known formally as ISO 3166-1981(E/F). --------------------------- CUT HERE --------------------------------- Country codes (abbreviated list to show common country codes): Argentina ARG Japan JPN Australia AUS Korea,North PRK Austria AUT Korea,South KOR Belgium BEL Lebanon LBN Bermuda BMU Liechtenstein LIE Bolivia BOL Luxembourg LUX Brazil BRA Malaysia MYS Brunei BRN Mexico MEX Bulgaria BGR Monaco MCO Canada CAN Morocco MAR Chile CHL Netherlands NLD China CHN New Zealand NZL Colombia COL Nicaragua NIC Costa Rica CRI Norway NOR Cuba CUB Pakistan PAK Denmark DNK Panama PAN Dominican Republic DOM Paraguay PRY Ecuador ECU Peru PER Egypt EGY Phillipines PHL El Salvador SLV Poland POL Finland FIN Portugal PRT France FRA Romania ROM French Polynesia PYF Saudi Arabia SAU German Demo. Rep. DDR Singapore SGP Germany, Federal Rep DEU South Africa ZAF Greece GRC Spain ESP Greenland GRL Sweden SWE Guatemala GTM Switzerland CHE Haiti HTI Syria SYR Honduras HND Taiwan TWN Hong Kong HKG Thailand THA Hungary HUN Turkey TUR Iceland ISL United Kingdom GBR India IND United States USA Indonesia IDN Uruguay URY Ireland IRL USSR SUN Israel ISR Venezuela VEN Italy ITA Yugoslavia YUG State and province codes shall be the recognized two-character code established by the American and Canadian Post Offices. These may also be found in the Callbook listings. It is after we get down to the state/province/county level where the trouble may begin. To understand why, we must examine how the BBS code goes about matching things in the route. The first principle is that it attempts to find a match between the items in its forward file and the left-most item in the address field. As an example, say that we send something to W0RLI @ W0RLI.OR.USA.NA, and that the only entries --------------------- CUT HERE ------------------------------------- that we have in the forward file are for CA. That match would be sufficient to allow the message to be forwarded. If W0RLI were found, that entry would take precedence (because it is more left in the field than CA) and would of course also ensure delivery. The best way to look at it is "W0RLI AT W0RLI which is in OR which is in USA which is in NA". So far so good. But the Japanese network wants to use area routing numbers. For example, JA1ABC @ JA1KSO.42.JPN.AS ... and everyone says, "So what, let them!" Of course, that is very mature of all of us, but the trouble is that the 42 in that string may also match wild-card ZIP codes that some folks keep in their forward file, such as 42*. The solution we propose is to use an agreed upon key character for designators below the state and province level, and we recommend the octothorpe, "#". So now the above address would be JA1ABC @ JA1KSO.#42.JPN.AS . Other examples could be: 1) W0RLI @ W0RLI.#PDX.OR.USA.NA - W0RLI within PDX (Portland) within Oregon, etc. 2) VE3BTZ @ VE3GYQ.#LONDN.#SONT.ON.CAN.NA - VE3BTZ at VE3GYQ in London, in Southern Ontario, in Ontario, etc. There is another added benefit to this scheme. It involves Gatewaying between the BBS world and other networks, such as TCP/IP via SMTP. Much of the pioneer work in setting up the gatewaying protocols has been done by NN2Z, N3EUA, and PA0GRI, amongst others. The W0RLI BBS package allows for the forwarding of mail between the BBS world and the SMTP world. Of note is the fact that the WA7MBL package has allowed such message exporting and importing for some time now. This means that we can take advantage of the the TCP/IP host-names and their domain or hierarchal format for forwarding. Thus it is possible to send mail from the BBS to VE3BTZ as ve3btz@pc.ve3btz.ampr.org or from SMTP to w0rli@w0rli.ca.usa.na and not have any ambiguity. WA7MBL versions 5.13 and later are compatible with hierarchal routing. This system is still compatable with older style systems, as a system that handles hierarchal forwarding identifies with the H feature letter: [RLI-8.00-CH$]. If it does not get an appropriate response, it uses the left-most item in the "@ BBS" string as the "@ BBS" for the message. The authors hope that this paper will serve as a starting place for improved message routing by means of implicit routing. Low-level (VHF) BBSs need only maintain state or province or country codes for distant BBSs, and route such traffic to their nearest HF Gateway. In turn, the HF station routes it to the desired state, where the receiving Gateway station would have a detailed list of the BBSs it serves. Correspondence may be addressed to the address given at the start of this paper, or to VE3GYQ @ VE3GYQ.ON.CAN.NA or N6VV @ N6VV.CA.USA.NA . *************************************************************** * * * * * * D I G I T A L R A D I O N E W S * * * * * * *************************************************************** * * * * KEEPING YOUR SYSOP HAPPY * * * * Sysops have to be an unusual breed. They assume massive responsibility, give up large blocks of time to nurse-maid the network and put up with a lot of hassle. I suspect that they somehow enjoy what they do. At the same time, it's this rather parculiar behavior of these very SYSOPS that gives mortals like you and I the pleasure of using the PBBS NETS. These guys are OK. I think that the least we (as mear mortals) can do to add some glow to the dreary life of the SYSOP, is to use proper addressing. The key phrase is: HIERARCHAL ADDRESSING. Hierarchical Addressing makes your SYSOP's job easy by affording automatic routing of all messages. Your SYSOP doesn't have to stay up all hours manually digging out routing paths for your message. It also gets your message to its destination MUCHO POSTO-QUICKO ! EXAMPLE 1: Ed's Hierarchal Address: KB6DRN @ K6RAU.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NA Ed's Call--------: KB6DRN Ed's PBBS--------: K6RAU Ed's Local Region: #NOCAL (optional) Ed's State-------: CA Ed's Country-----: USA Ed's Continent---: NA EXAMPLE 2: Marks's Hierarchal Address: WB9QZB @ N3AIA.IL.USA.NA Mark's Call------: WB9QZB Mark's PBBS------: N3AIA Mark's State-----: IL Mark's Country---: USA Mark's Continent-: NA (There is also an international list of these labels in the "W-Files" of many PBBS Boxes) By addressing each and every message with this method you can attempt to make your SYSOP HAPPY. I Realize that the term "HAPPY SYSOP" may be a bit of a paradox, however as mear mortals we should make every attempt to work towards this goal: 1. USE THE HIERARCHAL ADDRESS 2. INCLUDE THE HIERARCHAL ADDRESS IN THE BODY OF YOUR MESSAGE. 3. BE NICE TO YOUR SYSOP. ED/KB6DRN @ K6RAU.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NA *** The following was provided by JA1KSO *** Following list is the world-wide country codes recognized by ISO, prefixes recognized by ITU, and continental separation recognized by IARU. Note: This list was completed by refering ISO-3166/JIS X 0304 (3-ISO) (2-ISO) (3N-ISO) PREFIX CONTINENT COUNTRY AFG AF 004 T6/YA AS AFGANISTAN ALB AL 008 ZA EU ALBANIA DZA DZ 012 7X AF ALGERIA ASM AS 016 KH8 OC AME.SAMOA AND AD 020 C3 EU ANDORRA AGO AO 024 D2 AF ANGOLA ATA AQ 010 8J/KC4.. AF/AN ANTARCTICA ATG AG 028 V2 NA ANTIGUA ARG AR 032 LU SA ARGENTINA AUS AU 036 VK OC AUSTRALIA AUT AT 040 OE EU AUSTRIA BHS BS 044 C6 NA BAHAMAS BHR BR 048 A9 AS BAHRAIN BGD BD 050 S2 AS BANGLADESH BRB BB 052 8P6 NA BARBADOS BEL BE 056 ON EU BELGIUM BLZ BZ 084 V3 NA BELIZE BEN BJ 204 TY AF BENIN BMU BM 060 VP9 NA BERMUDA BTN BT 064 A5 AS BHUTAN BOL BO 068 CP SA BOLIVIA BWA BW 072 A2 AF BOTSWANA BVT BV 074 3Y AF BOUVET I. BRA BR 076 PY SA BRAZIL IOT IO 086 VQ9 AF CHAGOS ARCH VGB VG 092 VP2V NA BR.VIRGIN IS BRN BN 096 V8 OC BRUNEI BGR BG 100 LZ EU BULGARIA BUR BU 104 XZ AS BURMA BDI BI 108 9U5 AF BURUNDI BYS BY 112 UC2 EU BYELORUSSIAN SSR CMR CM 120 TJ AF CAMEROON CAN CA 124 VE NA CANADA CTE CT 128 KH1/T3 OC CANTON IS CPV CV 132 D4 AF CAPE VERDE CYM KY 136 ZF NA CAYMAN IS CAF CF 140 TN AF C.AFRICAN REP TCD TD 148 TT AF CHAD CHL CL 152 CE SA CHILE CHN CN 156 BY AS CHINA CXR CX 162 VK9X OC XMAS I CCK CC 166 VK9Y AF COCOS KEELING COL CO 170 HK SA COLOMBIA COM KM 174 D6 AF COMOROS COG CG 178 TN8 AF CONGO COK CK 184 ZK1 OC COOK IS CRI CR 188 TI NA COSTA RICA CUB CU 192 T4/CO/CM NA CUBA CYP CY 196 P3/ZC4 AS CYPRUS CSK CS 200 OK/OL/OM EU CZECHOSLOVAKIA DNK DK 208 OZ EU DENMARK DJI DJ 262 J2 AF DJIBOUTI DMA DM 212 J7 NA DOMINICANA DOM DO 214 HI NA DOMINICAN REP ATN NQ 216 SA/AN DRONNING MAUD LAND TMP TP 626 YB OC EAST TIMOR ECU EC 218 HC SA ECUADOR EGY EG 818 SU AF EGYPT SLV SV 222 YS NA EL SALVADOR GNQ GQ 226 3C AF EQUATORIAL GUINEA ETH ET 230 ET AF ETHIOPIA FRO FO 234 OY EU FAEROE IS FLK FK 238 VP8 SA FALKLAND IS FJI FJ 242 3D OC FIJI FIN FI 246 OF/OG/OH EU FINLAND FRA FR 250 F EU FRANCE GUF GF 254 FY SA FR GUIANA PYF PF 258 FO OC FR POLYNESIA GAB GA 266 TR AF GABON GMB GM 270 C5 AF GAMBIA DDR DD 278 Y2.. EU GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REP DEU DE 280 DJ/DK/DL EU GERMANY GHA GH 288 9G AF GHANA GIB GI 292 ZB2 EU GIBRALTAR GRC GR 300 SV EU GREECE GRL GL 304 OX NA GREENLAND GRD GD 308 J3 NA GRENADA GLP GP 312 FG NA GUADELOUPE GUM GU 316 KH2 OC GUAM GTM GT 320 TG NA GUATEMARA GIN GN 324 3X AF GUINEA GNB GW 624 J5 AF GUINEA-BISSAU GUY GY 328 8R NA GUYANA HTI HT 332 HH NA HAITI HMD HM 334 VK0 AF HEARD I HND HN 340 HR NA HONDURAS HKG HK 344 VS6 AS HONG KONG HUN HU 348 HA/HG EU HUNGARY ISL IS 352 TF EU ICELAND IND IN 360 VU AS INDIA IDN ID 360 YB OC INDONESIA IRN IR 364 EP AS IRAN IRQ IQ 368 YI AS IRAQ IRL IE 372 EI EU IRELAND ISR IL 376 4X/4Z AS ISRAEL ITA IT 380 I EU ITALY CIV CI 384 TU AF IVORY COAST JAM JM 388 6Y5 NA JAMAICA JPN JP 392 J AS JAPAN JTN JT 396 KH3 OC JOHNSTON I. JOR JO 400 JY AS JORDAN KHN KH 116 XU AF KAMPUCHEA(CAMBODIA) KEN KE 404 5Z/5Y AF KENYA KIR KI 296 T3 OC KIRIBATI PRK KP 408 P5 AS D.P.R. OF KOREA KOR KR 410 HL/HM AS REP OF KOREA KWT KW 414 9K AS KUWAIT LAO LA 418 XW AS LAOS LBN LB 422 OD AS LEBANON LSO LS 426 7P AF LESOTHO LBR LR 430 EL AF LIBERIA LBY LY 434 5A AF LIBYA LIE LI 438 HE/HB0 EU LIECHTENSTEIN LUX LU 442 LX EU LUXEMBOURG MAC MO 446 XX9 AS MACAU MDG MG 450 5R8 AF MADAGASCAR MWI MW 454 7Q AF MALAWI MYS MY 458 9M AS MALAYSIA MDV MV 462 8Q AF MALDIVES MLI ML 466 TZ AF MALI MLT MT 470 9H EU MALTA MTQ MQ 474 FM NA MARTINIQUE MRT MR 478 5T AF MAURITANIA MUS MU 480 3B8 AF MAURITIUS MEX MX 484 XE/XF/4A NA MEXICO MID MI 488 KH4 OC MIDWAY MCO MC 492 3A EU MONACO MNG MN 496 JT AS MONGOLIA MSR MS 500 VP2M NA MONTSERRAT MAR MA 504 CN AF MOROCCO MOZ MZ 508 C9 AF MOZAMBIQUE NAM NA 516 ZS3 AF NAMIBIA NRU NR 520 C2 OC NAURU NPL NP 524 9N AS NEPAL NLD NL 528 PA EU NETHERLAND ANT AN 532 P4 SA NETH. ANTILLES NTZ NT 536 8Z4 AS NEUTRAL ZONE NCL NC 540 FK OC NEW CALEDONIA NZL NZ 554 ZL/ZM OC NEW ZEALAND NIC NI 558 YN NA NICARAGUA NER NE 562 5U AF NIGER NGA NG 566 5N AF NIGERIA NIU NU 570 ZK2 OC NIUE NFK NF 574 VK9N OC NORFOLK I NOR NO 578 LA EU NORWAY OMN OM 512 A4 AS OMAN PCI PC 582 KH0... OC MARIANA/PACIFIC IS PAK PK 586 AP AS PAKISTAN PAN PA 590 HP NA PANAMA PNG PG 598 P2 OC PAPUA NEW GUINEA PRY PY 600 ZP SA PARAGUAY PER PE 604 OA SA PERU PHL PH 608 DU/DX OC PHILIPPINES PCN PN 612 VR6 OC PITCAIRN I POL PL 616 SP/SQ EU POLAND PRT PT 620 CT/CS EU PORTUGAL PRI PR 630 KP4 NA PUERTO RICO QAT QA 634 A7 AS QATAR REU RE 638 FR AF REUNION ROM RO 642 YO EU ROMANIA RWA RW 646 9X AF RWANDA SHN SH 654 ZD7 AF ST.HELENA KNA KN 658 VP2K/VP2E NA ST.KITTS-ANGUILLA LCA LC 662 J6 NA ST.LUCIA SPM PM 666 FP NA ST.PIERRE/MIQUELON VCT VC 670 J8 NA ST.VINCENT/GRENADINES WSM WS 882 5W OC SAMOA SMR SM 674 T7/M1 EU SAN MARINO STP ST 678 S9 AF SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE SAU SA 682 HZ/7Z AS SAUDI ARABIA SEN SN 686 6W AF SENEGAL SYC SC 690 S7 AF SEYCHELLES SLE SL 694 9L AF SIERRA LEONE SGP SG 702 9V AS SINGAPORE SLB SB 090 H4 OC SOLOMON IS SOM SO 706 T5/6O AF SOMALIA ZAF ZA 710 ZS/ZR AF SOUTH AFRICA ESP ES 724 EA EU SPAIN LKA LK 144 4S7 AS SRI LANKA SDN SD 736 ST AF SUDAN SUR SR 740 PZ SA SURINAME SJM SJ 744 JX/JW EU SVALBARD/JAN MAYEN SWZ SZ 748 3D6 AF SWAZILAND SWE SE 752 SM/SL/SK EU SWEDEN CHE CH 756 HB EU SWITZERLAND SYR SY 760 YK AS SYRIA TWN TW 158 BV AS TAIWAN TZA TZ 834 5H AF TANZANIA THA TH 764 HS AS THAILAND TGO TG 768 5V AF TOGO TKL TK 722 ZM7 OC TOKELAU TON TO 776 A35 OC TONGA TTO TT 780 9Y NA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUN TN 788 3V AF TUNISIA TUR TR 792 TA AS/EU TURKEY TCA TC 796 VP5 NA TURKS AND CAICOS IS TUV TV 798 T2 OC TUVALU UGA UG 800 5X AF UGANDA UKR UA 804 UB5 EU UKRAINEAN SSR ARE AE 784 A6 AF UNITED ARAB EMIRATES GBR GB 826 G EU UNITED KINGDOM USA US 840 W/K/N NA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PUS PU 849 KH1,5.. OC US MISCELLANEOUS PAC IS VIR VI 850 KP2 NA US VIRGIN IS HVO HV 854 XT2 AF UPPER VOLTA URY UY 858 CX SA URUGAY SUN SU 810 UA... EU/AS U.S.S.R. VUT VU 548 YJ OC VANUATU VAT VA 336 HV EU VATICAN CITY VEN VE 862 YV SA VENEZUELA VNM VN 704 3W/XV AS VIETNAM WAK WK 872 KH9 OC WAKE I WLF WF 876 FW OC WALLIS AND FUTUNA IS ESH EH 732 S0 AF WESTERN SAHARA YEM YE 886 4W AS YEMEN YMD YD 720 7O AS P.D.R. OF YEMEN YUG YU 890 YU/YT EU YUGOSLAVIA ZAR ZR 180 9Q AF ZAIRE ZMB ZM 894 9J AF ZAMBIA ZWE ZW 716 Z2 AF ZIMBABWE BY JA1KSO/AH6HX (C) NOB ITOH If you are going to use this for W0RLI's SUBLIST , you must omit your own country from this list or put it into ( ) like (JPN). Multiple forwarding by @ JPN(for example) must be controlled by CONFIG.MB and by DIS file. A!* A@!* B!* B@!* C!* C@!* D!* D@!* E!* E@!* F!* F@!* G!* G@!* H!* H@!* I!* I@!* J!* J@!* K!* K@!* L!* L@!* M!* M@!* N!* N@!* O!* O@!* P!* P@!* R!* R@!* S!* S@!* T!* T@!* U!* U@!* V!* V@!* W!* W@!* X!* X@!* Y!* Y@!* Z!* Z@!* 1@!* 2@!* 3@!* 4@!* 5@!* 6@!* 7@!* 8@!* 9@!* Above listing covers all prefixes being used for amateur radio. This does not cover unauthorized calls such as UPOL23 etc. If you are going to use this list for private mail forwarding, please rewrite to meet your conditions. You must omit prefixes used in your country. Following are for Japan. In Japan following prefixes has been used. JA1-0 JD1 JE1-0 JF1-0 JG1-0 JH1-0 JI1-0 JJ1-0 JK1-0 JL1-0 JM1-0 JN1-0 JO1-0 JP1-0 JQ1-0 JR1-0 JS1-0 7J1-0 8J1-0 So, sublist listing of PFX.NET for me is A!* A@!* B!* B@!* C!* C@!* D!* D@!* E!* E@!* F!* F@!* G!* G@!* H!* H@!* I!* I@!* JT!* (must cover other than JA-JS) JW!* = JX!* = JY!* = K!* K@!* L!* L@!* M!* M@!* N!* N@!* O!* O@!* P!* P@!* R!* R@!* S!* S@!* T!* T@!* U!* U@!* V!* V@!* W!* W@!* X!* X@!* Y!* Y@!* Z!* Z@!* 1@!* 2@!* 3@!* 4@!* 5@!* 6@!* 7G!* (following 7.8 listing cover other than 7J and 8J) 7O!* 7P!* 7Q!* 7S!* 7T!* 7X!* 7Z!* 8F!* 8P!* 8Q!* 8R!* 8T!* 8Z!* 9@!* If we use this PFX.NET and COUNTRY.NET list, world-wide file forwarding shall be mor successful. DE JA1KSO