Roland H. Alden | 9 Sep 2004 20:09

RE: Name relationships in vCard 3.0


> 2) A previous posting by Ronald (sic) Alden suggested that it may 
> not be possible to map the structured type N to the FN type, ...

I don't believe it was ever intended that there be an algorithm that
could reliably "map" between N and FN. The notion of FN was that it
would be "hand made" and represent something the person felt best
represented how they wanted their name(s) displayed. N was intended for
use by computers that prefer structure over cultural diversity :)

An example from the American south:

	FN: Jim-Bob "Lucky" Smith
	N: Smith;James

I'm not sure where "nickname" came from. I think it was tossed in
because the concept is used in other systems dealing with user identity;
such as an OS "logon" name.


Gmane