INTERNET DRAFT A URN Namespace for IETF Documents June 1997 1

A system for Uniform Resource Names (URNs) must be capable of supporting new naming systems. As an example of the sort of information that needs to be supplied when proposing new namepsaces, this document presents a naming system based on the RFC family of documents (RFCs, STDs, and FYIs) developed by the IETF and published by the RFC editor and the minutes of working groups (WG) and birds of a feather (BOF) meetings that occur during IETF conferences. This namespace can be supported within the URN framework and the currently proposed syntax for URNs. 1. Namespace Syntax Consistent with the URN syntax specification [1], each namespace must specify syntax related information that is specific to that namespace. This section covers these specifications. Expires 12/31/97 [Page 1] INTERNET DRAFT A URN Namespace for IETF Documents June 1997 1.1. Namespace Identifier (NID) The namespace identifier for this namespace is "ietf". 1.2. Namespace Specific String (NSS) The Namespace Specific String has the following ABNF [2] specification: NSS = (family ":" number) / ("mtg-" number "-" wgbofname) family = "rfc" / "std" / "fyi" number = 1*DIGIT wgbofname = 1*LETDIGIT LETDIGIT = DIGIT / %x41..%x5a / %x61..%x7a DIGIT = %x30..%x39 The ABNF specification for "family" is based on the current documents in the RFC family. As new document series are added to the IETF family by the IESG (or its successor), this ABNF specification will need to be updated. Any system intended to resolve names for this namespace should be written with the awareness that a new document series may be introduced at any time. The ABNF specification for "wgbofname" is based on the current and past abbreviations for working groups and BOFs in the IETF. If a working group or BOF is created that used characters outside the range of this ABNF specification, this specification will need to be update. Any system intended to resolve names for this namespace should be written with the awareness that this could occur at any time. 1.3. Additional Reserved Characters No characters in addition to those specified in [1] are reserved by this namespace. 1.4. Additional Lexical Equivalence Relations Note that the entire URN is case-insensitive, because of the definition of the NSS. 1.5. Functional Equivalence Relations Rules for equivalence in this namespace are embedded in the document mappings maintained by the RFC Editor (the index files "rfcExpires 12/31/97 [Page 2] INTERNET DRAFT A URN Namespace for IETF Documents June 1997 index.txt", "fyi-index.txt", "std-index.txt"). A resource isequivalent to the set of resources implied by the "(Also...)"construct in these mappings. As an example, the URN"urn:ietf:rfc:1661" is equivalent to th URN "urn:ietf:std:51" becausethe "rfc-index.txt" map shows that RFC 1661 is also STD 51. However,the URN "urn:ietf:std:51" is equivalent to the SET of URNs"urn:ietf:rfc:1661" and "urn:ietf:rfc:1662" since the "std-index.txt" shows that STD 51 is also RFC 1661 and RFC 1662. Therefore, aresolver receiving a N2R request for "urn:ietf:std:51" MUST returneither STD 51 or BOTH RFC 1661 and RFC 1662.2. Security ConsiderationsBecause this namespace defines no additional reserved characters, itdoes not add any security considerations beyond those inherent fromthe existence of the reserved characters from [1]. Further, thedefinition of the NSS above does not use any of the reservedcharacters from [1], which means that resolvers for this namespacemay be considered "secure" in the sense that any escaping ofcharacters in the NSS MUST result in the resolver indicating that theURN has incorrect syntax.3. AcknowledgmentsThanks to various members of the URN working group for comments onearlier drafts of this document. The work described in this documentis partially supported by the National Science Foundation,Cooperative Agreement NCR-9218179.4. ReferencesRequest For Comments (RFC) and Internet Draft documents are availablefrom and numerous mirror sites.[1]R. Moats, "URN Syntax," RFC 2141, May 5, 1997.[2]D. Crocker, P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for SyntaxSpecifications: ABNF," Internet Draft (work in pro-gress), January 1997.5. Author’s AddressRyan MoatsAT&T;15621 Drexel CircleOmaha, NE 68135-2358USA Expires 12/31/97[Page 3] INTERNET DRAFT A URN Namespace for IETF DocumentsJune 1997 Phone: +1 402 894-9456EMail: [email protected] This Internet Draft expires December 31, 1997. Expires 12/31/97[Page 4]