[db-wg] Should the "e-mail" attribute be mandatory for the "person" object?

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003, Thor Kottelin wrote:

I would like to see mandatory email and maybe even a once yearly
auto-check to see that the email is still valid.   -Hank

> Folks,
> 
> Email is the preferred communication medium when troubleshooting
> internetworking problems. Time and time again, "inetnum" objects with no
> valid email address cause grief. In the absence of relevant "e-mail"
> attributes, desperate administrators sometimes send mail to addresses found
> in "changed" and "notify" attributes. Sometimes the only option left is
> resorting to telephone calls, regardless of the expenses, time differences
> and language barriers often involved.
> 
> I would therefore liketo suggest making the "e-mail" attribute mandatory
> for the "person" object. If this isn't acceptable, then maybe at least one
> of the "person" or "role" objects referred to by an "inetnum" object should
> carry an "e-mail" attribute. Additionally, in order to enhance address
> validity, I would like to suggest performing some kind of validation on
> these "e-mail" attribute values - perhaps simple syntax checking, or maybe
> even full round-trip SMTP testing, or something in between.
> 
> Your comments, please.
> 
> Thor
> 
> --
> http://thorweb.anta.net/
> 

Hank Nussbacher