The canonical address format is intended to be a universally constant directory number. For this reason, numbers in address books are best stored using canonical format. A canonical address is an ASCII string with the following structure:
+ CountryCode Space [(AreaCode) Space] SubscriberNumber | Subaddress ^ Name CRLF ...
The components of this structure are described in the following table.
| Component | Meaning |
|---|---|
| + | Equivalent to ASCII Hex (2B). Indicates that the number that follows it uses the canonical format. |
| CountryCode | A variably sized string containing one or more of the digits "0" through "9". The CountryCode is delimited by the following Space. It identifies the country in which the address is located. |
| Space | Exactly one ASCII space character (0x20). It is used to delimit the end of the CountryCode part of an address. |
| AreaCode | A variably sized string containing zero or more of the digits "0" through "9". AreaCode is the area code part of the address and is optional. If the area code is present, it must be preceded by exactly one ASCII left parenthesis character (0x28), and be followed by exactly one ASCII right parenthesis character (0x29) and one ASCII Space character (0x20). |
| SubscriberNumber | A variably sized string containing one or more of the digits "0" through "9". It may include other formatting characters as well, including any of the dialing control characters described in the Dialable Address Format: AaBbCcDdPpTtWw*#!,@$? The subscriber number should not contain the left parenthesis or right parenthesis character (which are used only to delimit the area code), nor should it contain the "|", "^", or CRLF characters (which are used to begin following fields). Most commonly, nondigit characters in the subscriber number would include only spaces, periods ("."), and dashes ("-"). Any allowable nondigit characters that appear in the subscriber number are omitted from the DialableString returned by the lineTranslateAddress function, but are retained in the DisplayableString. |
| | | ASCII Hex (7C). If this optional character is present, the information following it up to the next + | ^ CRLF, or the end of the canonical address string is treated as subaddress information, as for an ISDN subaddress. |
| Subaddress | A variably sized string containing a subaddress. The string is delimited by + | ^ CRLF or the end of the address string. During dialing, subaddress information is passed to the remote party. It can be such things as an ISDN subaddress or an e-mail address. |
| ^ | ASCII Hex (5E). If this optional character is present, the information following it up to the next CRLF or the end of the canonical address string is treated as an ISDN name. |
| Name | A variably sized string treated as name information. Name is delimited by CRLF or the end of the canonical address string and can contain other delimiters. During dialing, name information is passed to the remote party. |
| CRLF | ASCII Hex (0D) followed by ASCII Hex (0A), and is optional. If present, it indicates that another canonical number is following this one. It is used to separate multiple canonical addresses as part of a single address string (inverse multiplexing). For example, the canonical representation of the main switchboard telephone number at Microsoft Corporation would be: +1 (425) 882-8080 |