fpc-msgbase/docs/attributes-registry.md

Attribute registry

This document is the source of truth for attribute key names used across all fpc-msgbase backends.

TUniMessage has only two areas:

TUniMessage = record
  Body:       AnsiString;       { only the message text }
  Attributes: TMsgAttributes;   { everything else, key/value }
end;

Every header field, kludge, control line, and per-format flag a backend understands lives in Attributes under one of the keys below. Backends drop keys they don't recognise on Write (RFC 822 X-header semantics). Callers can query base.SupportsAttribute(K) before setting a key to know up-front which backends carry it.

Naming convention: lowercase, dot-namespaced. Universal / FTSC-defined keys are unqualified (from, msgid). Format- specific keys are prefixed with the format name (jam.msgidcrc, squish.umsgid, pcb.confnum).

Tier 1 — Universal headers

Every Fido format sets these on Read; every backend reads them on Write. Equivalent to the always-present headers in any classic BBS message.

Key	Type	Meaning
msg.num	int	Backend-assigned message number / index
from	string	Author name
to	string	Recipient name
subject	string	Message subject
date.written	date	When author wrote the message
date.received	date	When local system received
addr.orig	ftn	Originating FTN address (zone:net/node[.point])
addr.dest	ftn	Destination FTN address
area	string	Echo area tag (echomail)
board	int	Conference / board number for multi-board formats
cost	int	Cost in cents (FTS-1 backends)

Tier 2 — Canonical attribute bits

Boolean flags derived from the FTS-1 attribute word, plus extensions some backends carry as separate bits. Always written via SetBool(K, true); absent (or false) when not set.

Key	FTS-1	Meaning
attr.private	0x0001	Private message
attr.crash	0x0002	Crash priority
attr.received	0x0004	Recipient has read
attr.sent	0x0008	Sent to destination
attr.fileattach	0x0010	File attached
attr.intransit	0x0020	In transit
attr.orphan	0x0040	No matching destination
attr.killsent	0x0080	Kill after sending
attr.local	0x0100	Originated locally
attr.hold	0x0200	Hold for pickup
attr.filereq	0x0400	File request
attr.returnreceipt	0x0800	Return receipt requested
attr.isreceipt	0x1000	This message is a receipt
attr.auditreq	0x2000	Audit trail requested
attr.fileupdreq	0x4000	File update request
attr.deleted	—	Tombstoned (per-base)
attr.read	—	Marked-read (per-user)
attr.echo	—	Echomail (vs netmail)
attr.direct	—	Direct flavour
attr.immediate	—	Immediate flavour
attr.locked	—	Locked (no edit)
attr.netpending	—	Pending netmail toss
attr.echopending	—	Pending echomail toss
attr.nokill	—	Protected from purge

Tier 3 — FTSC kludges

Standard FTSC kludge lines, named after the kludge name without the leading ^A. Multi-line attributes (SEEN-BY, PATH, Via) join their lines with #13.

Key	Type	Spec	Meaning
msgid	string	FTS-9	Globally unique message ID
replyid	string	FTS-9	Reply linkage to a previous MSGID
pid	string	FRL-1004	Producer ID (creating tosser/editor)
tid	string	FSC-46	Tosser ID
flags	string	FRL-1005	Routing/handling flags
chrs	string	FTS-5003	Character set declaration
tzutc	string	FTS-4001	Time-zone offset from UTC
seen-by	multi-string	FTS-4	SEEN-BY lines (one node-list per line)
path	multi-string	FTS-4	PATH lines (one node-list per line)
via	multi-string	FTS-4009	Via lines (one per relay)
intl	string	FSC-4008	INTL kludge: <dest-zone:net/node> <orig-zone:net/node> for cross-zone netmail
fmpt	string	FSC-4008	FMPT (origin point number)
topt	string	FSC-4008	TOPT (destination point number)

Unknown FTSC kludges

Any ^A<NAME>: <value> line whose <NAME> is not in the table above is preserved as kludge.<lowername> regardless of which backend stored it. Example: ^aXFOO: bar → kludge.xfoo = 'bar'.

This is the universal forward-compat slot for FTSC-form kludges the library doesn't recognize natively. All four kludge-aware backends (JAM, Squish, MSG, PKT) use the same kludge.* namespace so a consumer can find passthrough kludges without switching on format.

JAM's numeric SubField IDs that have no FTSC analogue stay namespaced as jam.subfield.<id> (those aren't FTSC-form kludges; they're JAM-specific binary subfields).

Multi-line attribute helpers

Attributes that store multiple lines (seen-by, path, via, trace) join their lines with #13. Use the typed accessors on TMsgAttributes to avoid manual splitting:

list := msg.Attributes.GetList('seen-by');     // TStringDynArray
msg.Attributes.SetList('path', list);          // joins with #13
msg.Attributes.AppendListItem('seen-by', '3/777');

Tier 4 — Format-specific keys

These are namespaced and only meaningful to the format that produces them. Other backends ignore them on Write (silently dropped — fine).

JAM

Key	Type	Meaning
jam.msgidcrc	int	Index fast-path CRC of MSGID
jam.replycrc	int	Index fast-path CRC of ReplyID
jam.dateprocessed	unix-int	Tosser timestamp
jam.passwordcrc	int	Per-message password CRC
jam.cost	int	JAM-level cost (separate from cost)
jam.timesread	int	Times-read counter
jam.replyto	int	Parent in reply chain
jam.reply1st	int	First child in reply chain
jam.replynext	int	Next sibling in reply chain
jam.attribute2	int	Reserved JAM attribute2 word
jam.subfield.<id>	multi	Passthrough for JAM-numeric subfields with no FTSC kludge analogue

(JAM's JAM_FTSKLUDGE subfields are parsed through the shared kludge dispatcher, so their content lands in the canonical slot — msgid, intl, etc., or kludge.<name> for unknowns — rather than a JAM-specific bag.)

Squish

Key	Type	Meaning
squish.umsgid	int	UMsgID (per-area unique number)
squish.utcofs	int	UTC offset in minutes
squish.replyto	int	Reply chain parent
squish.kludge.<name>	multi	Passthrough for unknown CtrlInfo kludges

Hudson / GoldBase

Key	Type	Meaning
hudson.prevreply	int	Previous message in reply chain
hudson.nextreply	int	Next message in reply chain
hudson.timesread	int	Times-read counter
goldbase.prevreply	int	(GoldBase variant)
goldbase.nextreply	int	(GoldBase variant)
goldbase.timesread	int	(GoldBase variant)

EzyCom

Key	Type	Meaning
ezy.extattr	int	EzyCom ExtAttr byte
ezy.prevreply	int	Reply chain prev
ezy.nextreply	int	Reply chain next

PCBoard

Key	Type	Meaning
pcb.refnum	int	RefNum field
pcb.status	int	Raw PCB status byte
pcb.active	int	Active flag
pcb.echo	int	Echo flag
pcb.export	int	Export flag
pcb.extra2	int	Extra2 byte (incl. Allfix-sent bit 6)
pcb.extra3	int	Extra3 byte
pcb.hastags	int	HasTags flag
pcb.origin	int	Origin flag
pcb.readnum	int	ReadNum word
pcb.extendedstatus	int	Extended status byte
pcb.password	string	Per-message password (max 12 chars)

Wildcat

Key	Type	Meaning
wildcat.confnum	int	Conference number this message lives in
wildcat.mflags	int	Raw mFlags word from TMsgHeader

PKT

Key	Type	Meaning
pkt.cost	int	Packet-level cost (separate from cost)
pkt.kludge.<name>	multi	Passthrough for unknown body kludges

MSG (FTS-1)

Key	Type	Meaning
msg.replyto	int	Reply chain parent
msg.nextreply	int	Reply chain next
msg.timesread	int	Times-read counter
msg.kludge.<name>	multi	Passthrough for unknown body kludges

Per-format support matrix

X = the backend's ClassSupportedAttributes lists the key. Blank = backend has no slot for it; setting the key has no effect on Write, and the key won't appear in Attributes after a Read.

Key	JAM	Squish	MSG	PKT	Hudson	GoldBase	EzyCom	PCB	WC
msg.num	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
from / to / subject	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
addr.orig / addr.dest	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
date.written	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
date.received	X	X					X		X
area	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
board					X	X	X
cost			X		X	X	X		X
attr.private	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
attr.crash	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
attr.received	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X
attr.sent	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X
attr.killsent	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
attr.local	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
attr.hold	X	X	X	X	X	X
attr.fileattach	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
attr.returnreceipt	X	X	X	X			X		X
attr.deleted	X	X			X	X	X	X	X
msgid	X	X	X	X
replyid	X	X	X	X
pid	X	X	X	X
flags	X	X	X	X
seen-by	X	X	X	X
path	X	X	X	X
Format-specific (<fmt>.*)	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

(Always check at runtime via SupportsAttribute(K) rather than relying on this table — it can drift. The capability list each backend ships in ClassSupportedAttributes is authoritative.)