Why is there a total length restriction?

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi, I'd like to ask if there's a reason to restrict the maximum length of a 
message. If the message can be automatically split into submessages of the 
length the gateway allows, there is no technical limitation which would define 
the maximum number of those messages.

I see this limit is computed from getMaxChars() and getMaxParts() from the 
gateways. What I ask is "if we can set getMaxParts() to infinity" (practically 
- stop using this value).

I tried to set the limit for gw Vodafone Park from 1 to 10 and send a 
1500-character message, and everything went ok.

If we find an agreement on this, I could take ownership of this enhancement and 
work on it.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by peci1.se...@gmail.com on 3 Jun 2013 at 9:58

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hello, here are some docs:

http://ripper.profitux.cz/esmska/javadoc/esmska/data/GatewayInfo.html#getMaxChar
s%28%29
Maximum message length the gateway allows to send. This is the maximum number 
of characters the user is allowed to type in into the textarea on the gateway 
website.

http://ripper.profitux.cz/esmska/javadoc/esmska/data/GatewayInfo.html#getMaxPart
s%28%29
Number of allowed messages which user can send at once. This is a multiplier of 
the getMaxChars() number. Some gateways offer only very short crippled messages 
(eg. max 60 chars, rest with advertisement). You can allow user to write a 
multiple of this number. The message will be split in the program and send as 
separate standard messages. Be judicius when specifying this number. Eg. in 
case of forementioned 60 chars max, multiplier of 5 (therefore writing up to 
300 chars) should be absolutely sufficient. For "non-crippled" gateways, you 
should declare '1' here.

The idea for having a limit here is mainly to not give general users an easy 
way for misusing the program, spamming someone into oblivion. Some gateways 
allow to send messages for free and without captcha (if you register). Some 
gateways are paid, but the messages are dirt cheap. The idea is that if you 
need to perform a small manual work in order to send a message, you can't queue 
up 1000 messages and spam someone while having a nap. Sure, power users can 
bypass that limit, they always can. But that's not a reason to allow this for 
everyone.

Esmska tries to mimic the message size for reasonable gateways, and improves 
the situation quite a bit for "crippled" gateways. Nobody has every requested a 
longer input text size. We can definitely improve it for some gateways, but you 
need to tell me why. Why do you need to send 1500-character messages? Is the 
recipient happy about this? (Not mentioning that there is a daily limit for 
Vodafone users that you're going to deplete for that person.)

Original comment by kamil.paral on 3 Jun 2013 at 5:16

• Changed state: Incomplete

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks for your exhausting response. For the reasons you described I see it 
would not be a good idea to allow sending arbitrarily long messages to everyone.

I can maintain the updated gateway file just for myself and my specific needs. 
I use it to communicate with a single person with a non-smart-phone when I need 
to express some more thoughts at once.

What's the VF limit you are talking about? I think in some days I sent about 30 
standard 160-char messages to a single number and nothing went wrong... Is it 
an antispam technique?

Original comment by peci1.se...@gmail.com on 9 Jun 2013 at 10:50

[GoogleCodeExporter]

There used to be a limit on the number of messages that can be sent to a 
Vodafone number from the Internet. I don't know whether it still applies.

Original comment by kamil.paral on 10 Jun 2013 at 10:57

• Changed state: WontFix