RFC Style Guide
draft-flanagan-7322bis-05

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Network Working Group                                     J. Levine, Ed.
Internet-Draft                      Temporary RFC Series Project Manager
Obsoletes: 7322 (if approved)                                  S. Ginoza
Intended status: Informational                                RFC Editor
Expires: October 5, 2020                                   April 3, 2020

                            RFC Style Guide
                       draft-flanagan-7322bis-05

Abstract

   This document describes the fundamental and unique style conventions
   and editorial policies currently in use for the RFC Series.  It
   captures the RFC Editor's basic requirements and offers guidance
   regarding the style and structure of an RFC.  Additional guidance is
   captured on a website that reflects the experimental nature of that
   guidance and prepares it for future inclusion in the RFC Style Guide.
   This document obsoletes RFC 7322, "RFC Style Guide".

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on October 5, 2020.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must

Levine & Ginoza          Expires October 5, 2020                [Page 1]
Internet-Draft                  7322-bis                      April 2020

   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  RFC Editor's Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  RFC Style Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.1.  Language  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.2.  Punctuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
       3.2.1.  RFCs as Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.3.  DNS Names and URIs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.4.  Capitalization  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.5.  Citations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.6.  Abbreviation Rules  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.7.  Images and Figures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   4.  Structure of an RFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     4.1.  First-Page Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       4.1.1.  Author/Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       4.1.2.  Organization  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       4.1.3.  ISSN: 2070-1721 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       4.1.4.  Updates and Obsoletes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     4.2.  Document Title  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     4.3.  Abstract Section  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     4.4.  RFC Editor or Stream Notes Section  . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     4.5.  Status of This Memo Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     4.6.  Copyright, Licenses, and IPR Boilerplate Section  . . . .  13
     4.7.  Table of Contents Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     4.8.  Body of the Memo  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       4.8.1.  Introduction Section  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       4.8.2.  Requirements Language Section . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       4.8.3.  IANA Considerations Section . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       4.8.4.  Internationalization Considerations Section . . . . .  15
       4.8.5.  Security Considerations Section . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       4.8.6.  References Section  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     4.9.  Appendices Section  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     4.10. Acknowledgements Section  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     4.11. Contributors Section  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     4.12. Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23