parse() cannot handle special characters in message ID

[stroobandt]

Even though the APRS specification states message IDs ought to be alphanumerical, in practice one now routinely sees any group of five printable ASCII characters as a message ID behind the {.

Could you please fix this and make it available on PyPI? I am trying to develop an application using your library for the upcoming scouts JOTA event, but unfortunately, I need to jump through hoops to circumvent these special message IDs. Thanks & 73 de ON4AA

[rossengeorgiev]

Could you provide examples of such messages?

Just because someone is not following that spec, doesn't mean we have to change the library to accommodate their misuse. Exception being if the practice gets widely adopted.

[stroobandt]

Here is already one official protocol reason why special characters should be allowed:
http://www.aprs.org/aprs11/replyacks.txt

Apart from that, I occasionally have seen the piggy bagging of data instead of line numbers. Lookout for these on raw aprs.fi, after logging in: https://aprs.fi/?c=raw&call=&limit=1000&view=normal