Adding nic handles to contact objects without one

Hi Joao,

I'd like to know what exactly are the advantages (and to whom) to
adding a nic-hdl to person objects which don't already have one ?

In some cases a person (without a nic-hdl) has their name referenced
in other Db objects. This was before nic-hdls were mandatory. So if
you add a nic-hdl to such a person's person object what can be done to
those objects which reference his/her name ?

There is no way of distinguishing the names referenced in the contact
attributes of these objects since a similar name can refer to
different people.

Then you have the problem where these people created a new person
object for themselves when nic-hdls became mandatory and left their
old person object for dead. How will you overcome these old person
objects ?

Lots of questions which were not discussed at RIPE32.

Regards,

Eamonn McGuinness
RIPE NCC Hostmaster

In message <199902251709.SAA00968 at x41.ripe.net>you write:
>Dear all,
>during the last RIPE meeting, in Amsterdam, the database working group 
>discussed a proposal to automatically add NIC Handles to all person and role 
>objects in the RIPE Database that don't yet have one (new objects can't be 
>created without nic handles anymore). This proposal was supported by the 
>working group and it was agreed that it should be circulated to the mailing 
>lists to give people not attending a chance to provide input.
>
>This does not affect how other objects reference these person or role objects.
>This is only intended to bring old objects into conformance with the current 
>object definitions and does not mean that data provided by the user will be 
>modified.
>Only the nic handle attribute will be given a value when the object lacks one.
>No other attributes will be touched. Objects which already have nic handles 
>will not be touched.
>The nic handle is a tag conveying no information about the user or role 
>described in the object. It is an identifier for the object.
>
>This addition would make data more uniform and could be a benefit for everyone
>.
>
>For more information on nic handles, please read RIPE 157 and RIPE 189 
>available at http://www.ripe.net/docs
>
>Best regards,
>Joao Damas
>Database Group
>RIPE NCC
>
>
>