Read the GSM 03.38 message class where the spec puts it (#95)

* Regression tests for the GSM 03.38 message class behind sms.flash

* Read the GSM 03.38 message class where the spec puts it, and refuse a flash message no alphabet can carry

* Keep the code span in the message-class decision on one line

* Stop offering the flash message class as an alphabet, and check the encoding option by name

* Settle every refusable send option in one check, and record what the review left open

* Say what the flash refusal and the encoding option actually do

* Keep the README off the alphabet whose long messages do not fit

AGENTS.md

@@ -207,7 +207,10 @@ exactly 140.
   stays there because that is a different peer rather than a second copy of this one. The waiting
   helpers each file carries are copies, tolerated because a wrong one fails that file's own tests and
   nothing else, and a helper that only names the parameters of one `objToPdu()` call is on that same
-  footing — it encodes no wire fact `objToPdu()` does not already own.
+  footing — it encodes no wire fact `objToPdu()` does not already own. So is a stub standing in for a
+  collaborator the type system already keeps in step: `recordingDeps()` in `messaging-mode.test.ts`
+  and `message-class.test.ts` is one `SendSmsDeps.send` that answers nothing, and a field added to
+  that type fails to compile in both copies at once.
 - `message_id` values the library generates are UUID v7.
 - A test that needs a dummy peer must `resume()` its sockets. An unread socket never processes the
   peer's FIN, so `server.close()` hangs forever — that is a test bug, not a library one.
@@ -421,6 +424,46 @@ Grouped by what each one constrains.
   which goal 2 reports as undetermined rather than guessed. An inbound message is untouched: nothing
   but `data_coding` can say how a message was written.
 
+- **A message class is read where GSM 03.38 puts it, `flash` is class 0 alone, and a flash message
+  with no alphabet to carry it is refused.** Maintainer's call, 2026-09-09, closing the last target
+  of the interoperability plan: `sms.flash` was `(data_coding & 0xF0) === 0x10`, which called the
+  ME-, SIM- and TE-specific classes immediate display and missed the 0xF0 group entirely — the only
+  one SMPP 3.4 5.2.19 names, since it marks 0x0F to 0xBF reserved and hands 0xF0 to 0xFF to GSM
+  03.38, and the one SMPPSim demonstrated
+  ([interop-tests/findings/02-smppsim.md](interop-tests/findings/02-smppsim.md), C17).
+  `messageClassOf()` is the single answer to whether a `data_coding` carries a class and which, as
+  `concatOf()` is to how a PDU says it is a segment: 03.38 section 4 puts the class in bits 1-0,
+  carried where bit 4 says so in every group below 0x80 and always in the 0xF0 group, and
+  `encodingByDataCoding()` reads the alphabet off that same test rather than repeating the group
+  masks beside it. It is exported for the reason `concatOf()` is — an application that needs a class
+  other than 0 would otherwise rewrite the read this fixed. Rejected: a `messageClass` field on the
+  `sms` event, which pays goal 6 for three classes nothing here acts on, where the boolean the
+  application already had covers the one it does. Compressed text is out of scope and stays out —
+  nothing here implements 3GPP TS 23.042, so a compressed body reaches the application as whatever
+  its declared alphabet makes of it — but bit 5 does not move the class bits, so 0x30 is read as
+  class 0 rather than special-cased into a wrong answer; 01xx is read for the same reason, 03.38
+  coding it exactly as 00xx. Rejected: reading only the two groups the defect named, which needs an
+  extra test to produce a wrong answer for a class the spec puts in plain sight. Accepted: the
+  alphabet is read only where a class is, so 0x58 is UCS2 while 0x48 — the same alphabet with the
+  class bit clear — stays ASCII, because below 0x10 SMPP's flat table contradicts 03.38 and wins
+  (0x03 is Latin-1 there, GSM 7-bit here) and a class is the only evidence a peer below 0x80 is
+  spelling 03.38 at all. Send-side: `flash`
+  is that class, so it goes out as 0x18 beside UCS2 and 0x10 beside GSM 7-bit, while
+  `encoding: 'LATIN1'` beside it is refused before a segment goes out, the way a messaging mode this
+  library cannot deliver is — 03.38's class groups hold GSM 7-bit, 8-bit data and UCS2, and Latin-1 is
+  SMPP's own flat-table alphabet, so the pair has no spelling. Rejected: 0x10 with Latin-1 octets,
+  which declares an alphabet the body is not in; rejected: 0x14, 8-bit data, which is not text to
+  the handset that would display it; rejected: promoting it to UCS2, which overrides the one option
+  the caller wrote in order to override a choice. Rejected with them: `encoding: 'FLASH'`, which
+  named `data_coding` 0x10 among the alphabets and so reached the class through the option that
+  chooses a charset — a second spelling of `flash: true` that also flattened every non-GSM character
+  to a space on the way. It leaves `EncodingName`, which is now exactly the three codecs `detect()`
+  and `encodingByDataCoding()` return, and `encoding` is checked by name like `messagingMode` so a
+  caller without types gets a refusal rather than a throw out of the codec table. `consts.ENCODING`
+  keeps its `FLASH` entry: the low-level surface reaches raw constants, and nothing reads that group
+  as an alphabet any more. Accepted: `flash` is now false for `data_coding` 0x11 to 0x13, which no
+  peer means as immediate display.
+
 - **A report is final unless its `esm_class` or its state says otherwise, and only `ENROUTE` and
   `SCHEDULED` say otherwise.** SMPP 3.4 Appendix B lists every other receipt state as final,
   `UNKNOWN` and `ACCEPTED` included, so a peer writing `ACCEPTD` for a carrier-accepted step is taken

README.md

@@ -122,6 +122,16 @@ defines the delivery report away, so pair it with `dlr: true` and the send is re
 leaving you waiting for a report that cannot come — as is any value naming no mode, both before a
 segment goes out.
 
+`encoding` names the alphabet, and is `ASCII` (GSM 03.38's own 7-bit table), `LATIN1` or `UCS2`;
+anything else is refused by name rather than guessed at. Leave it out and a message that fits GSM
+7-bit goes as `ASCII` and everything else as `UCS2`; `LATIN1` is only ever used when you name it.
+
+`flash` asks for GSM 03.38 message class 0, the class a handset shows on arrival instead of storing.
+It travels in `data_coding` beside the alphabet, so a flash UCS2 message stays UCS2. Pairing it with
+`encoding: 'LATIN1'` is the one combination with nowhere to go — a message class carries GSM 7-bit,
+8-bit data or UCS2, and 8-bit data is not text a handset will display — so the send is refused
+before anything goes out.
+
 Messages too long for one SMS are split automatically and sent as a concatenated message. You get
 one id per segment:
 
@@ -157,6 +167,10 @@ session.on('sms', async sms => {
 });
 ```
 
+`sms.flash` is true where the message's `data_coding` carries GSM 03.38 message class 0, in every
+coding group that carries one — so `0x10`, `0x18`, `0x50` and `0xF0` alike. The other three classes
+name where the handset stores the message rather than that it displays it, so they are not flash.
+
 Delivery receipts travel on the same SMPP command but reach you as `dlr`, so nothing you write has
 to tell the two apart. `esm_class` is what tells them apart; where it names no message type a
 `receipted_message_id` TLV does, and failing both the message body is read for the standard
@@ -545,7 +559,10 @@ answer to which of the two the peer used, and gives back the octets undecoded:
 `decodeMessage(octets, pduObj.params.data_coding, pduObj.params.esm_class)` turns them into text and
 hands back the UDH where the PDU carries one. `concatOf(pduObj)` is the same for concatenation: the
 `part`, `total` and `reference` a PDU declares, and the `spelling` — `'udh'` or `'sar'` — that
-carried them, or `undefined` where the PDU is a whole message.
+carried them, or `undefined` where the PDU is a whole message. `messageClassOf(dataCoding)` is the
+same for the GSM 03.38 message class: `0` for the flash class `sms.flash` already reports, `1`, `2`
+and `3` for the ME-, SIM- and TE-specific ones, and `undefined` where that `data_coding`'s coding
+group carries no class at all.
 
 The spec tables are exported both individually (`cmds`, `consts`, `encodings`, `errors`, `tlvs`,
 `types`, and the matching `*ById` maps) and grouped as `defs`.
@@ -599,7 +616,10 @@ have worked around any of these, remove the workaround:
 - Every receipt went out as `esm_class` 0x04, which SMPP 3.4 defines as the report of a message's
   final state. A receipt for a transient state — `sendDlr('ENROUTE')` — is now marked 0x20, the
   intermediate delivery notification.
-- `flash: true` discarded UCS2, mangling flash messages containing non-GSM characters.
+- `flash: true` discarded UCS2, mangling flash messages containing non-GSM characters, and put the
+  GSM alphabet on a Latin-1 message that has no `data_coding` at all — that pair is refused now.
+  Inbound, only a `data_coding` of exactly 0x10 counted as flash, so a flash UCS2 message and the
+  whole 0xF0 coding group arrived as ordinary messages.
 - The multipart reference counter was shared by every session in the process.
 - `tls: true` never performed a handshake, so the connection was not actually encrypted.
 - Alphanumeric senders were sent with TON 1 (international) instead of TON 5.

interop-tests/findings/02-smppsim.md

@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ tests passing, `malformed: 0`, `expert errors: 0` in both.
 | C17 (encodings over loopback) | pass | `smppsim - C17 …`, 5 sub-tests: Latin-1, UCS-2, flash (0x10), raw 0xF0 (not flash), raw UDH+8-bit-binary |
 | C18 (`smppsim-outbind`) | pass (record, not judge) | `smppsim-outbind - C18 …`; see below for the wire facts |
 
+C17's `raw 0xF0 (not flash)` recorded a `@larvit/smpp` defect, fixed in
+[#95](https://github.com/larvit/larvitsmpp/pull/95): 0xF0 is GSM 03.38 message class 0, so it reads
+as flash now.
+
 ## Defects in @larvit/smpp
 
 ### A delivery receipt's `data_coding` is trusted to decode its body, even though the spec makes the receipt a fixed text format

src/defs/encodings.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-export type EncodingName = 'ASCII' | 'FLASH' | 'LATIN1' | 'UCS2';
+export type EncodingName = 'ASCII' | 'LATIN1' | 'UCS2';
 
 export type Encoding = {
 	decode: (buffer: Uint8Array) => string;
@@ -104,11 +104,16 @@ const ucs2: Encoding = {
 
 export const encodings: Record<EncodingName, Encoding> = {
 	ASCII: ascii,
-	FLASH: ascii,
 	LATIN1: latin1,
 	UCS2: ucs2,
 };
 
+export const encodingNames: readonly string[] = Object.keys(encodings);
+
+export function isEncodingName(value: unknown): value is EncodingName {
+	return typeof value === 'string' && Object.hasOwn(encodings, value);
+}
+
 export function detect(value: string): EncodingName {
 	if (encodings.ASCII.match(value)) return 'ASCII';
 	if (encodings.LATIN1.match(value)) return 'LATIN1';
@@ -116,21 +121,33 @@ export function detect(value: string): EncodingName {
 	return 'UCS2';
 }
 
-/** The 0x1X and 0xFX ranges carry a GSM message class and put the alphabet in bits 3-2 or bit 2. */
+/**
-function messageClassEncoding(dataCoding: number): EncodingName | undefined {
+ * The GSM 03.38 section 4 message class a `data_coding` octet carries, in bits 1-0, or undefined
-	if ((dataCoding & 0xF0) === 0x10) {
+ * where its coding group carries none. Below 0x80 bit 4 says whether one is there; 0xF0 always is.
-		const alphabet = (dataCoding >> 2) & 0x03;
+ */
-
+export function messageClassOf(dataCoding: number): number | undefined {
-		if (alphabet === 0x01) return 'LATIN1';
+	if ((dataCoding & 0x80) === 0) {
-
+		return (dataCoding & 0x10) === 0x10 ? dataCoding & 0x03 : undefined;
-		return alphabet === 0x02 ? 'UCS2' : 'ASCII';
 	}
 
+	return (dataCoding & 0xF0) === 0xF0 ? dataCoding & 0x03 : undefined;
+}
+
+// A class is the only evidence a peer below 0x80 is spelling 03.38 rather than SMPP's flat table,
+// which contradicts it and wins: 0x03 is Latin-1 here, GSM 7-bit there.
+/** A class group puts the alphabet in bits 3-2, or in bit 2 alone above 0xF0. */
+function messageClassEncoding(dataCoding: number): EncodingName | undefined {
+	if (messageClassOf(dataCoding) === undefined) return undefined;
+
 	if ((dataCoding & 0xF0) === 0xF0) {
 		return (dataCoding & 0x04) === 0x04 ? 'LATIN1' : 'ASCII';
 	}
 
-	return undefined;
+	const alphabet = (dataCoding >> 2) & 0x03;
+
+	if (alphabet === 0x01) return 'LATIN1';
+
+	return alphabet === 0x02 ? 'UCS2' : 'ASCII';
 }
 
 /**

src/index.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ export { Session } from './session.ts';
 
 export { cmds, cmdsById, commandNameById, isCommandName } from './defs/commands.ts';
 export { consts, constsById } from './defs/constants.ts';
-export { detect, encodingByDataCoding, encodings } from './defs/encodings.ts';
+export { detect, encodingByDataCoding, encodings, messageClassOf } from './defs/encodings.ts';
 export { errorNameById, errors, errorsById, isErrorName } from './defs/errors.ts';
 export { tlvs, tlvsById } from './defs/tlvs.ts';
 export { types } from './defs/types.ts';

src/message.ts

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export function bitCount(message: string, encoding?: EncodingName): number {
 	const encoded = encodings[resolved].encode(message);
 
 	// GSM characters are packed seven bits to a septet; everything else stays octet-aligned.
-	return resolved === 'ASCII' || resolved === 'FLASH' ? encoded.length * 7 : encoded.length * 8;
+	return resolved === 'ASCII' ? encoded.length * 7 : encoded.length * 8;
 }
 
 /**

src/send-sms.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import type { SmppLog } from './log.ts';
 import type { SmsIdNotation } from './sms-id.ts';
 import { UnansweredError } from './unanswered-error.ts';
 import { consts, defaultMessagingMode, isMessagingMode, isSubmitMessagingMode, submitMessagingModes } from './defs/constants.ts';
-import { detect } from './defs/encodings.ts';
+import { detect, encodingNames, isEncodingName } from './defs/encodings.ts';
 import { namedValue } from './error-from.ts';
 import { normaliseSmsId } from './sms-id.ts';
 import { paramText } from './defs/types.ts';
@@ -32,8 +32,11 @@ export type SendSmsOptions = {
 	validityPeriod?: Date | number | string;
 };
 
-/** The options as they arrive: a caller without types can put anything in the checked field. */
+/** The options as they arrive: a caller without types can put anything in the checked fields. */
-export type SendSmsInput = Omit<SendSmsOptions, 'messagingMode'> & { messagingMode?: unknown };
+export type SendSmsInput = Omit<SendSmsOptions, 'encoding' | 'messagingMode'> & {
+	encoding?: unknown;
+	messagingMode?: unknown;
+};
 
 /** Both arrays hold what the peer accepted, so a partial failure names what is already delivered. */
 export type SendSmsResult = {
@@ -57,6 +60,12 @@ export type SendSmsDeps = {
 	send: (input: PduObjectInput) => Promise<Result<{ pduObj: PduObject }>>;
 };
 
+/** What the checks below settle, before a segment exists to carry it. */
+type CheckedOptions = {
+	encoding: EncodingName;
+	messagingMode: SubmitMessagingMode;
+};
+
 type SegmentOptions = {
 	encoding: EncodingName;
 	messagingMode?: SubmitMessagingMode;
@@ -140,6 +149,45 @@ function checkMessagingMode(
 	return { err: refusedMode(mode) };
 }
 
+function refusedEncoding(encoding: unknown): Error {
+	if (encoding === 'FLASH') {
+		return new Error('encoding FLASH is a message class rather than an alphabet; ask for it as flash: true beside the alphabet you want');
+	}
+
+	return new Error(`encoding must be ${encodingNames.join(', ')}, got ${namedValue(encoding)}`);
+}
+
+function checkEncoding(encoding: unknown, message: string): Result<{ encoding: EncodingName }> {
+	if (encoding === undefined) return { encoding: detect(message) };
+	if (isEncodingName(encoding)) return { encoding };
+
+	return { err: refusedEncoding(encoding) };
+}
+
+/** GSM 03.38 section 4 gives the class groups GSM 7-bit, 8-bit data and UCS2, and no Latin-1 at all. */
+function checkFlash(encoding: EncodingName, flash: boolean): Error | undefined {
+	if (!flash || encoding !== 'LATIN1') return undefined;
+
+	return new Error('flash has no Latin-1 spelling: a message class carries GSM 7-bit, 8-bit data or UCS2, and 8-bit data is not text a handset will display, so send it as UCS2 or drop flash');
+}
+
+/** Every option a send can be refused for, so nothing is built for a message that will not go. */
+function checkOptions(sms: SendSmsInput): Result<CheckedOptions> {
+	const mode = checkMessagingMode(sms.messagingMode, sms.dlr === true);
+
+	if (mode.err) return { err: mode.err };
+
+	const chosen = checkEncoding(sms.encoding, sms.message);
+
+	if (chosen.err) return { err: chosen.err };
+
+	const unspellable = checkFlash(chosen.encoding, sms.flash === true);
+
+	if (unspellable) return { err: unspellable };
+
+	return { encoding: chosen.encoding, messagingMode: mode.messagingMode };
+}
+
 /** Nothing goes on the wire until the whole message fits: a half-sent message bills twice. */
 function checkSegments(allowed: number, segments: number): Error | undefined {
 	if (!Number.isInteger(allowed) || allowed < 1 || allowed > maxSegments) {
@@ -186,14 +234,13 @@ function collectSent(
 
 /** Puts a message on the wire as one submit_sm per segment. */
 export async function submitSms(deps: SendSmsDeps, sms: SendSmsInput): Promise<SendSmsResult> {
-	const mode = checkMessagingMode(sms.messagingMode, sms.dlr === true);
+	const options = checkOptions(sms);
 
-	if (mode.err) return unsent(mode.err);
+	if (options.err) return unsent(options.err);
 
-	const allowed = sms.maxSegments ?? maxSegments;
+	const encoding = options.encoding;
-	const encoding = sms.encoding ?? detect(sms.message);
 	const segments = splitMessage(sms.message, { encoding, reference: deps.reference });
-	const refused = checkSegments(allowed, segments.length);
+	const refused = checkSegments(sms.maxSegments ?? maxSegments, segments.length);
 
 	if (refused) return unsent(refused);
 
@@ -205,7 +252,7 @@ export async function submitSms(deps: SendSmsDeps, sms: SendSmsInput): Promise<S
 	// segment before answering — this library's own server does — would otherwise deadlock.
 	const sent = await Promise.all(segments.map(segment => deps.send({
 		cmdName: 'submit_sm',
-		params: submitSmParams(sms, segment, { encoding, messagingMode: mode.messagingMode, multipart }),
+		params: submitSmParams(sms, segment, { encoding, messagingMode: options.messagingMode, multipart }),
 	})));
 
 	return collectSent(sent, deps.respIdNotation);

src/sms.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import type { Result, VoidResult } from './result.ts';
 import type { Session } from './session.ts';
 import { UnansweredError } from './unanswered-error.ts';
 import { consts } from './defs/constants.ts';
+import { messageClassOf } from './defs/encodings.ts';
 import { receiptCodes, transientStates } from './dlr.ts';
 import { smppDate } from './message.ts';
 import { respIdParams, segmentId } from './sms-id.ts';
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ export type Sms = {
 	 */
 	answeredOnArrival: boolean;
 	dlr: boolean;
+	/** GSM 03.38 message class 0: shown on arrival and not stored. */
 	flash: boolean;
 	from: string;
 	message: string;
@@ -71,6 +73,9 @@ export type SmsHandlers = {
 	send: (input: PduObjectInput) => Promise<Result<{ pduObj: PduObject }>>;
 };
 
+/** GSM 03.38 section 4 gives class 0 immediate display; every other class is stored somewhere. */
+const immediateDisplayClass = 0;
+
 export function createSms(input: SmsInput, handlers: SmsHandlers): Sms {
 	const first = input.pduObjs[0];
 	const registered = first?.params.registered_delivery;
@@ -80,7 +85,7 @@ export function createSms(input: SmsInput, handlers: SmsHandlers): Sms {
 	const sms: Sms = {
 		answeredOnArrival: input.answeredAs !== undefined,
 		dlr: typeof registered === 'number' && registered !== 0,
-		flash: typeof dataCoding === 'number' && (dataCoding & 0xF0) === 0x10,
+		flash: typeof dataCoding === 'number' && messageClassOf(dataCoding) === immediateDisplayClass,
 		from: input.from,
 		message: input.message,
 		pduObjs: input.pduObjs,

test/encodings.test.ts

@@ -122,8 +122,19 @@ describe('encodingByDataCoding()', () => {
 
 	test('reads the alphabet bits when a message class is present', () => {
 		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x10), 'ASCII');
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x11), 'ASCII');
 		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x18), 'UCS2');
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x1A), 'UCS2');
 		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0xF0), 'ASCII');
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0xF1), 'ASCII');
+	});
+
+	// The compressed and automatic-deletion groups put the alphabet where the plain one does.
+	test('reads them in the compressed and automatic-deletion groups too', () => {
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x30), 'ASCII');
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x38), 'UCS2');
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x54), 'LATIN1');
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x58), 'UCS2');
 	});
 
 	test('resolves the 8-bit binary codings to the codec that keeps every octet', () => {
@@ -135,5 +146,7 @@ describe('encodingByDataCoding()', () => {
 	test('falls back to ASCII for alphabets it has no codec for', () => {
 		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x05), 'ASCII');
 		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x0E), 'ASCII');
+		// No class, so nothing says the octet is spelled 03.38 rather than SMPP's own flat table.
+		assert.equal(encodingByDataCoding(0x48), 'ASCII');
 	});
 });

test/message-class.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,225 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import test, { describe } from 'node:test';
+import type { PduObjectInput } from '../src/pdu.ts';
+import type { SendSmsDeps } from '../src/send-sms.ts';
+import type { Session } from '../src/session.ts';
+import type { Sms } from '../src/sms.ts';
+import type { TestContext } from 'node:test';
+import { bindToSmsc, dummySmsc } from './dummy-smsc.ts';
+import { client } from '../src/client.ts';
+import { closeAfter } from './teardown.ts';
+import { messageClassOf } from '../src/defs/encodings.ts';
+import { paramNumber } from '../src/defs/types.ts';
+import { pduToObj } from '../src/pdu.ts';
+import { server } from '../src/server.ts';
+import { silentLog } from '../src/log.ts';
+import { submitSms } from '../src/send-sms.ts';
+
+const from = '46701113311';
+const to = '46709771337';
+
+type MessagePeer = {
+	/** Every message the server session was handed, in arrival order. */
+	received: Sms[];
+	session: Session;
+};
+
+/** A server that answers every message, and a client to write raw submit_sm PDUs at it. */
+async function messagesInto(t: TestContext): Promise<MessagePeer> {
+	const received: Sms[] = [];
+	const { err, server: smpp } = await server({ port: 0 });
+
+	assert.equal(err, undefined);
+	assert.ok(smpp);
+	closeAfter(t, smpp);
+
+	smpp.on('session', peer => peer.on('sms', sms => {
+		received.push(sms);
+
+		return sms.sendResp();
+	}));
+
+	const connected = await client({ port: smpp.port, reconnect: false });
+
+	assert.equal(connected.err, undefined);
+	assert.ok(connected.session);
+	closeAfter(t, connected.session);
+
+	return { received, session: connected.session };
+}
+
+function dataCodingsOf(octets: Buffer[]): number[] {
+	return octets.map(pdu => {
+		const { pduObj } = pduToObj(pdu);
+
+		assert.ok(pduObj);
+
+		return paramNumber(pduObj.params.data_coding, 0);
+	});
+}
+
+/** A send that records what it is handed, so a refusal shows up as an empty attempt log. */
+function recordingDeps(attempts: PduObjectInput[]): SendSmsDeps {
+	return {
+		log: silentLog,
+		reference: 1,
+		send: input => {
+			attempts.push(input);
+
+			return Promise.resolve({ err: new Error('the recording peer never answers') });
+		},
+	};
+}
+
+describe('messageClassOf()', () => {
+	test('reads the class out of both of the coding groups that carry one', () => {
+		const classes: [number, number | undefined][] = [
+			[0x10, 0], [0x11, 1], [0x12, 2], [0x13, 3],
+			[0x14, 0], [0x18, 0], [0x1B, 3],
+			[0xF0, 0], [0xF1, 1], [0xF2, 2], [0xF3, 3],
+			[0xF4, 0], [0xF7, 3],
+		];
+
+		for (const [dataCoding, messageClass] of classes) {
+			assert.equal(messageClassOf(dataCoding), messageClass, dataCoding.toString(16));
+		}
+	});
+
+	// Bit 5 marks the text compressed and bits 7-6 mark it for automatic deletion; neither moves the
+	// class bits, and 01xx is coded exactly as 00xx.
+	test('reads the class of a compressed message and of the automatic-deletion group', () => {
+		const classes: [number, number][] = [[0x30, 0], [0x33, 3], [0x50, 0], [0x53, 3], [0x70, 0], [0x78, 0]];
+
+		for (const [dataCoding, messageClass] of classes) {
+			assert.equal(messageClassOf(dataCoding), messageClass, dataCoding.toString(16));
+		}
+	});
+
+	test('reports no class where the coding group defines none', () => {
+		// Bit 4 clear below 0x80, then the reserved, message-waiting and reserved groups above it.
+		for (const dataCoding of [0x00, 0x01, 0x03, 0x08, 0x0F, 0x20, 0x40, 0x4F, 0x80, 0xC0, 0xD0, 0xE0, 0xEF]) {
+			assert.equal(messageClassOf(dataCoding), undefined, dataCoding.toString(16));
+		}
+	});
+});
+
+describe('an inbound message', () => {
+	test('is flash for message class 0 alone, in either coding group', async t => {
+		const peer = await messagesInto(t);
+		// 0.4.0 read 0x10 and nothing else; this branch read 0x10-0x1F, so the three stored classes
+		// arrived as flash and the whole 0xF0 group did not (interop-tests/findings/02-smppsim.md, C17).
+		const codings: [number, boolean][] = [
+			[0x00, false], [0x03, false], [0x08, false],
+			[0x10, true], [0x11, false], [0x12, false], [0x13, false],
+			[0x14, true], [0x18, true], [0x30, true], [0x50, true],
+			[0xF0, true], [0xF1, false], [0xF2, false], [0xF3, false], [0xF4, true],
+		];
+
+		for (const [dataCoding] of codings) {
+			const sent = await peer.session.send({
+				cmdName: 'submit_sm',
+				params: {
+					data_coding: dataCoding,
+					destination_addr: to,
+					short_message: 'hi',
+					source_addr: from,
+				},
+			});
+
+			assert.equal(sent.err, undefined, dataCoding.toString(16));
+		}
+
+		assert.deepEqual(peer.received.map(sms => sms.flash), codings.map(([, flash]) => flash));
+		assert.deepEqual(peer.received.map(sms => sms.message), codings.map(() => 'hi'));
+	});
+
+	test('keeps the alphabet its class group declares, so a flash UCS2 message still reads as UCS2', async t => {
+		const peer = await messagesInto(t);
+		const sent = await peer.session.send({
+			cmdName: 'submit_sm',
+			params: {
+				data_coding: 0x18,
+				destination_addr: to,
+				short_message: 'تست',
+				source_addr: from,
+			},
+		});
+
+		const [sms] = peer.received;
+
+		assert.equal(sent.err, undefined);
+		assert.ok(sms);
+		assert.equal(sms.message, 'تست');
+		assert.equal(sms.flash, true);
+	});
+});
+
+describe('sendSms() flash', () => {
+	test('writes the message class into data_coding beside the alphabet, never over it', async t => {
+		const smsc = await dummySmsc(t);
+		const session = await bindToSmsc(t, smsc.port, { reconnect: false });
+		const sends = [
+			{ from, message: 'Hello world', to },
+			{ flash: true, from, message: 'Hello world', to },
+			{ from, message: 'تست', to },
+			{ flash: true, from, message: 'تست', to },
+			{ encoding: 'LATIN1', from, message: 'Hello world', to },
+		] as const;
+
+		for (const send of sends) {
+			assert.equal((await session.sendSms(send)).err, undefined, send.message);
+		}
+
+		// 0.4.0 forced 0x10 whatever the alphabet was, which mangled every non-GSM flash message.
+		assert.deepEqual(dataCodingsOf(smsc.octets), [0x01, 0x10, 0x08, 0x18, 0x03]);
+	});
+
+	test('refuses a flash Latin-1 message, which no coding group carrying a class can spell', async () => {
+		const attempts: PduObjectInput[] = [];
+		const deps = recordingDeps(attempts);
+		const sent = await submitSms(deps, { encoding: 'LATIN1', flash: true, from, message: 'Hello world', to });
+
+		assert.ok(sent.err instanceof Error);
+		assert.match(sent.err.message, /flash/);
+		assert.match(sent.err.message, /Latin-1/);
+		assert.deepEqual(sent.pduObjs, []);
+		assert.deepEqual(sent.smsIds, []);
+		assert.equal(sent.unanswered, 0);
+		assert.equal(attempts.length, 0, 'a refused flash message puts nothing on the wire');
+
+		// Either half alone is fine; it is only the pair that has nowhere to go.
+		const latin1 = await submitSms(deps, { encoding: 'LATIN1', from, message: 'Hello world', to });
+		const flash = await submitSms(deps, { flash: true, from, message: 'Hello world', to });
+
+		assert.equal(latin1.err?.message, 'the recording peer never answers');
+		assert.equal(flash.err?.message, 'the recording peer never answers');
+		assert.equal(attempts.length, 2);
+	});
+
+	// FLASH named data_coding 0x10 among the alphabets, so the class was reachable through the option
+	// that chooses a charset — and a non-GSM body sent that way was flattened to spaces, unrefused.
+	test('refuses the message class posing as an alphabet, naming the option that means it', async () => {
+		const attempts: PduObjectInput[] = [];
+		const sent = await submitSms(recordingDeps(attempts), { encoding: 'FLASH', from, message: 'Hello world', to });
+
+		assert.ok(sent.err instanceof Error);
+		assert.match(sent.err.message, /encoding FLASH is a message class/);
+		assert.match(sent.err.message, /flash: true/);
+		assert.equal(attempts.length, 0);
+	});
+
+	test('refuses an encoding naming no alphabet rather than throwing out of the send', async () => {
+		const attempts: PduObjectInput[] = [];
+		const deps = recordingDeps(attempts);
+
+		for (const encoding of ['utf8', 'ascii', 8, {}]) {
+			const sent = await submitSms(deps, { encoding, from, message: 'Hello world', to });
+
+			assert.ok(sent.err instanceof Error, JSON.stringify(encoding));
+			assert.match(sent.err.message, /encoding must be ASCII, LATIN1, UCS2/);
+			assert.deepEqual(sent.smsIds, []);
+		}
+
+		assert.equal(attempts.length, 0, 'a refused encoding puts nothing on the wire');
+	});
+});

todo.md

@@ -120,11 +120,28 @@ session message is a change to every call site.
       another message's in a correlation table. The cost is that every consumer narrows, including
       the majority whose SMSC always names an id. Raised by the phase 11 product review, 2026-09-08.
       **This one is 1.0.0-or-never** — after release it needs a major version.
-- [ ] `sms.flash` is true only for the 0x10 coding group, never for 0xF0. GSM 03.38 gives 0xF0–0xF3
+- [ ] **`bitCount()`, `encodeMessage()` and `splitMessage()` throw on an encoding name they have no
-      as data coding plus message class, where class 0 is immediate display — flash. `encodings.ts`
+      codec for**, where `sendSms()` now refuses one by name. All three are value-exported, so this
-      already reads the 0xF0 group for the alphabet; `sms.ts` does not read it for flash. SMPPSim
+      is the published surface, one door over from the one [#95](https://github.com/larvit/larvitsmpp/pull/95)
-      observed and recorded it as not-flash (`findings/02-smppsim.md`, C17), so it is measured, not
+      closed — and that PR sharpened the edge, since `encodeMessage(msg, 'FLASH')` used to encode
-      suspected. Either read the group or say in the README that `flash` means the 0x10 spelling.
+      quietly and now throws out of the codec table. `decodeMessage()` is unaffected; it resolves
+      through `encodingByDataCoding()`. Tag-relevant because of the fix shape: guarding them means
+      either a `Result` signature on three published functions, which needs a major version after
+      the tag, or a documented deviation saying a typed caller cannot get here. Maintainer's call.
+      Raised by the architecture review of [#95](https://github.com/larvit/larvitsmpp/pull/95),
+      2026-09-09.
+- [ ] **A concatenated Latin-1 segment is 159 octets, and an SMS carries 140.** `segmentUnits` in
+      `message.ts` budgets 153 for everything that is not UCS2, which is right for GSM 7-bit alone —
+      the SMSC packs 153 septets into 134 octets. Latin-1 is 8-bit and never packed, so a long
+      `encoding: 'LATIN1'` message goes out with segments no SMSC can carry. Same family as the
+      0.4.0 "Short segments" row, in the other direction; goal 1 owns it, so it wants fixing before
+      the tag. One line — 134 octets for both unpacked alphabets — plus a regression test. Raised by
+      the architecture review of [#95](https://github.com/larvit/larvitsmpp/pull/95), 2026-09-09.
+- [ ] **The interop suite still asserts the defect [#95](https://github.com/larvit/larvitsmpp/pull/95)
+      fixed.** `interop-tests/smppsim.test.ts:621`, `a raw submit_sm with data_coding 0xF0 is not
+      read as flash`, fails on the next `./interop-tests/run.py smppsim`; nothing in CI runs that
+      suite, so it fails silently until someone does. The test name and its assertion both need
+      inverting, and the C17 row in `findings/02-smppsim.md` names that sub-test, so it follows.
 - [ ] Tag `v1.0.0` to publish.
 - [ ] `npm deprecate larvitsmpp` pointing at `@larvit/smpp`. Maintainer's call to run it; not
       something CI should do.