jCard: The JSON format for vCard
draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02
The information below is for an old version of the document.
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| Author | Philipp Kewisch | ||
| Last updated | 2013-04-30 | ||
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draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02
JSON data formats for vCard and iCalendar P. Kewisch
Internet-Draft Mozilla
Intended status: Standards Track April 30, 2013
Expires: November 01, 2013
jCard: The JSON format for vCard
draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02
Abstract
This specification defines "jCard", a JSON format for vCard data.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on November 01, 2013.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2013 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
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
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2. Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Converting from vCard to jCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. Pre-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. vCard Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3. Properties (RFC6350 section 6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3.1. Special Cases for Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3.1.1. Multi-valued Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3.1.2. Grouping of Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3.1.3. Structured Property Values . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4. Parameters (RFC6350 Section 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4.1. VALUE parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4.2. Multi-value Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.5. Values (RFC6350 Section 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5.1. Text (RFC6350 Section 4.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5.2. URI (RFC6350 Section 4.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5.3. Date (RFC6350 Section 4.3.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5.4. Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.5.5. Date-Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.3) . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.5.6. Date and/or Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.4) . . . . . . 15
3.5.7. Timestamp (RFC6350 Section 4.3.5) . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.5.8. Boolean (RFC6350 Section 4.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.5.9. Integer (RFC6350 Section 4.5) . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.5.10. Float (RFC6350 Section 4.6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.5.11. UTC Offset (RFC6350 Section 4.7) . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.5.12. Language Tag (RFC6350 Section 4.8) . . . . . . . . . 17
3.6. Extensions (RFC6350 Section 6.10) . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4. Converting from jCard into vCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5. Handling Unrecognized Properties or Parameters . . . . . . . 18
6. Implementation Status (to be removed prior to publication as
an RFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
8. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
8.1. GROUP vCard Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
8.2. UNKNOWN vCard Value Data Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
9. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
10.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
10.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Appendix A. ABNF Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Appendix B. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
B.1. Example: vCard of the author of RFC6350 . . . . . . . . . 27
B.1.1. vCard Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
B.1.2. jCard Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Appendix C. Change History (to be removed prior to publication
as an RFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
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1. Introduction
The vCard data format [RFC6350] has gone through multiple revisions,
most recently vCard 4. The goal followed by this format is the
capture and exchange of information normally stored within an address
book or directory application. As certain similarities to the
iCalendar data format [RFC5545] exist it makes sense to define a
JSON-based data format for vCards that is similar to the jCal format
defined in [I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal].
The purpose of this specification is to define "jCard", a JSON format
for vCard data. One main advantage to using a JSON-based format as
defined in [RFC4627] over the classic vCard format is easier
processing for JavaScript based widgets and libraries, especially in
the scope of web-based applications.
The key design considerations are essentially the same as those for
[I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal] and [RFC6321], that is:
Round-tripping (converting a vCard instance to jCard and back)
will give the same semantic result as the starting point. For
example, all components, properties and property parameters are
guaranteed to be preserved.
Ordering of elements will not necessarily be preserved.
Preserve the semantics of the vCard data. While a simple consumer
can easily browse the data in jCard, a full understanding of vCard
is still required in order to modify and/or fully comprehend the
directory data.
Ability to handle many extensions to the underlying vCard
specification without requiring an update to this document.
2. Conventions Used in This Document
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
The underlying format used for jCard is JSON. Consequently, the
terms "object" and "array" as well as the four primitive types are to
be interpreted as described in Section 1 of [RFC4627].
Some examples in this document contain "partial" JSON documents used
for illustrative purposes. In these examples, three periods "..."
are used to indicate a portion of the document that has been removed
for compactness.
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3. Converting from vCard to jCard
This section describes how vCard data is converted to jCard using a
simple mapping between the vCard data model and JSON elements.
3.1. Pre-processing
vCard uses a line folding mechanism to limit lines of data to a
maximum line length (typically 72 characters) to ensure maximum
likelihood of preserving data integrity as it is transported via
various means (e.g., email) - see Section 3.2 of [RFC6350]. Prior to
converting vCard data into jCard all folded lines MUST be unfolded.
vCard data uses an "escape" character sequence for text values and
property parameter values. When such text elements are converted
into jCard the escaping MUST be removed. See Section 3.4 of
[RFC6350]. The only escaping that may be applied is any escaping
mandated by JSON.
One key difference in the formatting of values used in vCard and
jCard is that in jCard the specification uses date/time values
aligned with the extended format of [ISO.8601.2004]. The sections of
this document describing the various date and time formats contain
more information on the use of the complete representation, reduced
accuracy or truncated representation.
3.2. vCard Stream
In certain cases it makes sense to group a sequence of vcard objects
into a stream of objects. While the vCard 4 standard doesn't define
a stream of vcard objects, having one makes it easier to identify
multiple jCard objects and also ensures compatibility to jCal. A
jCard stream is identified by an array, where the first element is
the string "vcardstream". Subsequent elements are vCard objects
represented as described in this document.
In the typical case where there is only one vCard object,
encapsulation inside a "vcardstream" array MAY be omitted.
A vCard stream can contain one or more vCard objects. Each vCard
object, delimited by "BEGIN:VCARD" and "END:VCARD", is represented in
JSON as a fixed length array with two elements:
1. The string "vcard"
2. An array of jCard properties
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The representation of a vCard object in JSON will be named "vcard
component" throughout this document.
Example:
["vcardstream",
["vcard",
[ /* properties */ ]
],
["vcard",
[ /* properties */ ]
],
...
]
vCard objects are comprised of a set of "properties", "parameters"
and "values". The top level of a vCard object contains "properties".
A "property" has a "value" and a set of zero or more "parameters".
vCard objects are delimited by the general properties "BEGIN" and
"END" with the fixed value "VCARD" as defined in Section 6.1.1 and
6.1.2 of [RFC6350]. In addition, the vCard format is versioned,
therefore the "version" property is mandatory. To comply with
Section 6.7.9 of [RFC6350], the value of the version property MUST be
"4.0".
3.3. Properties (RFC6350 section 6)
Each individual vCard property is represented in jCard by an array
with three fixed elements, followed by one or more additional
elements, depending on if the property is a multi-value property as
described in Section 3.3 of [RFC6350].
The array consists of the following fixed elements:
1. The name of the property as a string, but in lowercase.
2. An object containing the parameters as described in Section 3.4.
3. The type identifier string of the value, in lowercase.
The remaining elements of the array are used for the value of the
property. For single-value properties, the array MUST have exactly
four elements, for multi-valued properties as described in
Section 3.3.1.1 there can be any number of additional elements.
The array describing the property can then be inserted into the array
designated for properties in the "vcard" component.
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Example:
["vcard",
[
["version", {}, "text", "4.0"],
["fn", {}, "text", "John Doe"],
["gender", {}, "text", "M"],
...
],
]
The property parameters in the second element of the property array
associate a set of parameter names with their respective value.
Parameters are further described in Section 3.4.
To allow for a cleaner implementation, the parameter object MUST be
present even if there are no parameters. In this case, an empty
object MUST be used.
As described in Section 3.3.1.3, it is important to check the data
type of the value even if it is assumed to be a string in most cases.
The value could turn out to be a structured value, in which case the
type is an array.
3.3.1. Special Cases for Properties
This section describes some properties that have special handling
when converting to jCard.
3.3.1.1. Multi-valued Properties
Various vCard properties defined in [RFC6350], for example the
"CATEGORIES" property, are defined as multi-valued properties. In
jCal these properties are added as further members of the array
describing the property.
Note that additional multi-valued properties may be added in
extensions to the iCalendar format.
Example:
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["vcard",
[
["categories", {}, "text", "computers", "cameras"],
...
],
...
]
3.3.1.2. Grouping of Properties
[RFC6350] Section 3.3 defines a grouping construct that is used to
group related properties together. In jCard, a new GROUP parameter
is introduced. Its purpose is to eliminate the need for group syntax
in jCard, thus unifying the general syntax with that of jCal.
Namespace: <empty>
Parameter name: GROUP
Purpose: To simplify the jCard format.
Description: The GROUP parameter is reserved for the exclusive use
of the jCard format [RFCTODO] . It MUST NOT be used in plain
vCard [RFC6350], nor in xCard [RFC6351]. In jCard, the
parameter's value is a single opaque string. Conversion rules are
as follows:
* From vCard to jCard, the group construct (see [RFC6350],
Section 3.3, Page 7) is removed. In its place, the GROUP
parameter is added (lowercased, as any other parameter). Its
value is a string corresponding to the group name. The name's
case MUST be preserved intact.
* From jCard to vCard, the reverse procedure is performed. The
GROUP parameter MUST NOT appear in the resulting vCard.
Format definition: (Not applicable)
Example:
CONTACT.FN:Mr. John Q. Public\, Esq.
is equivalent to:
[ "fn", { "group": "CONTACT" }, "text", "Mr. John Q. Public, Esq." ]
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3.3.1.3. Structured Property Values
The vCard specification defines properties with structured values,
for example GENDER or ADR. A structured value is defined as a value
that contains multiple text components, delimited by the SEMICOLON
character. In jCard, the property value is an array containing one
element for each text component.
vCard Example:
ADR:;;Main Street 123;Any Town;CA;91921-1234;U.S.A.
jCard Example:
["adr", {}, "text",
[
"", "", "Main Street 123",
"Any Town", "CA", "91921-1234", "U.S.A."
]
]
Some vCard properties, for example ADR, also allow a structured value
element that itself has multiple values. In this case, the element
of the array describing the structured value is itself an array with
one element for each of the component's multiple values.
vCard Example:
ADR:;;My Street,Left Side,Second Shack;Hometown;PA;18252;U.S.A.
jCard Example:
["adr", {}, "text",
[
"",
"",
["My Street", "Left Side", "Second Shack"],
"Hometown",
"PA",
"18252",
"U.S.A."
]
]
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In both cases, the array element values MUST have the primative type
that matches the jCard type identifier. In [RFC6350], there are only
structured text values and thus only JSON strings are used.
Extensions may for example define structured number or boolean
values, where JSON number or boolean types MUST be used.
If a multi-valued text component is changed to hold only one value,
the text component SHOULD be represented as a single primative value,
but MAY be represented as an array with a single primative value.
Similarly, structured values that consist of two text components with
one being optional (for example, GENDER) MAY be represented as a
single text value. Therefore, implementors SHOULD check even known
property values for structured information. This is especially
important for languages where accessing array members is done by the
same construct as accessing characters of a string.
Examples:
["gender", {}, "text", ["F", "grrrl"] ],
["gender", {}, "text", "M" ],
3.4. Parameters (RFC6350 Section 5)
Property parameters are represented as a JSON object where each key-
value pair represents the vCard parameter name and its value. The
name of the parameter MUST be in lowercase, the original case of the
parameter value MUST be preserved. For example, the "LANG" property
parameter is represented in jCard by the "lang" key. Any new vCard
parameters added in the future will be converted in the same way.
Example:
["vcard",
[
["role", { "lang": "tr" }, "text", "roca"],
...
],
...
]
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3.4.1. VALUE parameter
vCard defines a "VALUE" property parameter (Section 5.2 of
[RFC6350]). This property parameter MUST NOT be added to the
parameters object. Instead, the value type is always explicitly
mentioned in the third element of the array describing the property.
Thus, when converting from vCard to jCard, any "VALUE" property
parameters are skipped. When converting from jCard into vCard, the
appropriate "VALUE" property parameter MUST be included in the vCard
property if the value type is not "unknown" or the default value type
for that property. See Section 5 for information on handling unknown
value types.
3.4.2. Multi-value Parameters
In [RFC6350], some parameters allow using a COMMA-separated list of
values. To ease processing in jCard, the value to such parameters
MUST be represented in an array containing the separated values. The
array elements MUST be string values. Single-value parameters SHOULD
be represented using a single string value, but an array with one
element MAY also be used. An example for a such parameter is the
vCard "SORT-AS" parameter, more such parameters may be added in
extensions.
DQUOTE characters used to encapsulate the separated values MUST NOT
be added to the jCard parameter value.
Example 1:
["vcard",
[
["n",
{ "sort-as": ["Harten", "Rene"] },
"text",
"van der Harten;Rene,J.;Sir;R.D.O.N."
],
["fn", {}, "text", "Rene van der Harten"]
...
],
...
]
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3.5. Values (RFC6350 Section 4)
The type of a vCard value is explicitly mentioned in the third
element of the array describing a jCard property. The actual values
of the property can be found in the fourth and following elements of
the array.
3.5.1. Text (RFC6350 Section 4.1)
Description: vCard "TEXT" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "text". The value elements are
JSON strings. For details on structured text values, see
Section 3.3.1.3.
Example:
...
["kind", {}, "text", "group"],
...
3.5.2. URI (RFC6350 Section 4.2)
Description: vCard "URI" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "uri". The value elements are
JSON strings.
Example:
...
["source", {}, "uri", "ldap://ldap.example.com/cn=babs%20jensen"],
...
3.5.3. Date (RFC6350 Section 4.3.1)
Description: vCard "DATE" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "date". The value elements are
JSON strings with the same date value specified by [RFC6350], but
represented using the extended format specified in
[ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.1.2. If the complete representation is
not used, the same date format restrictions regarding reduced
accuracy, truncated representation and expanded representation
noted in [RFC6350] Section 4.1.2.3 apply. Whenever the extended
format is not applicable, the basic format MUST be used.
ABNF Schema:
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date-complete = year "-" month "-" day ;YYYY-MM-DD
date-noreduc = date-complete
/ "--" month "-" day; --MM-DD
/ "---" day; ---DDD
date = date-noreduc
/ year; YYYY
/ year "-" month ; YYYY-MM
/ "--" month; --MM
Examples:
...
["bday", {}, "date", "1985-04-12"],
["bday", {}, "date", "1985-04"],
["bday", {}, "date", "1985"],
["bday", {}, "date", "--04-12"],
["bday", {}, "date", "---12"],
...
This table contains possible converisions between the vCard DATE
format its jCard date. This information is to be seen as an
informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
[ISO.8601.2004]:
+-----------+----------+------------+
| | vCard | jCard |
+-----------+----------+------------+
| Complete | 19850412 | 1985-04-12 |
| | | |
| Reduced | 1985-04 | 1985-04 |
| | | |
| Reduced | 1985 | 1985 |
| | | |
| Truncated | --0412 | --04-12 |
| | | |
| Truncated | --04 | --04 |
| | | |
| Truncated | ---12 | ---12 |
+-----------+----------+------------+
3.5.4. Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.2)
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Description: vCard "TIME" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "time". The value elements are
JSON strings with the same time value specified by [RFC6350], but
represented using the extended format specified in
[ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.2. If the complete representation is
not used, the same time format restrictions regarding reduced
accuracy, decimal fraction and truncated representation noted in
[RFC6350] Section 4.3.2 apply. Whenever the extended format is
not applicable, the basic format MUST be used. The seconds value
of 60 MUST only be used to account for positive "leap" seconds and
the midnight hour is always represented by 00, never 24.
Fractions of a second are not supported by this format. Contrary
to [I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal], UTC offsets are permitted within a
time value.
ABNF Schema:
time-notrunc = hour [":" minute [":" second]] [zone]
time = time-notrunc
/ "-" minute ":" second [zone]; -mm:ss
/ "-" minute [zone]; -mm
/ "--" second [zone]; --ss
Examples:
...
["x-time-local", {}, "time", "12:30:00"],
["x-time-utc", {}, "time", "12:30:00Z"],
["x-time-offset", "time", "12:30:00-08:00"],
["x-time-reduced", "time", "23"],
["x-time-truncated", "time", "-30"],
...
This table contains possible converisions between the vCard TIME
format its jCard time.This information is to be seen as an
informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
[ISO.8601.2004]:
+-----------+--------+----------+
| | vCard | jCard |
+-----------+--------+----------+
| Complete | 232050 | 23:20:50 |
| | | |
| Reduced | 2320 | 23:20 |
| | | |
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| Reduced | 23 | 23 |
| | | |
| Truncated | -2050 | -20:50 |
| | | |
| Truncated | -20 | -20 |
| | | |
| Truncated | --50 | --50 |
+-----------+--------+----------+
Also, all combinations may have any zone designator appended, as in
the complete representation.
3.5.5. Date-Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.3)
Description: vCard "DATE-TIME" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "date-time". The value elements
are JSON strings with the same date value specified by [RFC6350],
but represented using the extended format specified in
[ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.3. If the complete representation is
not used, the same date and time format restrictions as in
Section 3.5.4 and Section 3.5.3 apply. Just as in [RFC6350],
truncation of the date part is permitted.
Example:
...
["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "2013-02-14T12:30:00"],
["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "2013-01-10T19:00:00Z"],
["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "2013-08-15T09:45:00+01:00"],
["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "---15T09:45:00+01:00"],
...
This table contains possible converisions between the vCard DATE-TIME
format its jCard date-time. This information is to be seen as an
informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
[ISO.8601.2004]:
+----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
| Representation | vCard | jCard |
+----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
| Complete | 19850412T232050 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50 |
| | | |
| Complete | 19850412T232050Z | 1985-04-12T23:20:50Z |
| | | |
| Complete | 19850412T232050+0400 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04:00 |
| | | |
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| Complete | 19850412T232050+04 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04 |
| | | |
| Reduced | 19850412T2320 | 1985-04-12T23:20 |
| | | |
| Reduced | 19850412T23 | 1985-04-12T23 |
| | | |
| Truncated and | --0412T2320 | --04-12T23:20 |
| Reduced | | |
| | | |
| Truncated and | --04T2320 | --04T23:20 |
| Reduced | | |
| | | |
| Truncated and | ---12T2320 | ---12T23:20 |
| Reduced | | |
| | | |
| Truncated and | --0412T2320 | --04-12T23:20 |
| Reduced | | |
| | | |
| Truncated and | --04T23 | --04T23 |
| Reduced | | |
+----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
As specified in [ISO.8601.2000], the date component shall not be
represented with reduced accuracy and the time component shall not be
truncated. Also, all combinations may have any zone designator
appended, as in the complete representation.
3.5.6. Date and/or Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.4)
Description: vCard "DATE-AND-OR-TIME" property values are
represented by a property with the type identifier "date-and-or-
time". The value elements are either a date-time (Section 3.5.5),
a date (Section 3.5.3) or a time (Section 3.5.4) value. Just as
in [RFC6350] Section 4.3.4, a stand-alone time value MUST always
be preceded by a "T".
Example:
...
["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "2013-02-14T12:30:00"],
["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "---22T14:00"]
["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "1985"],
["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "T12:30"],
...
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3.5.7. Timestamp (RFC6350 Section 4.3.5)
Description: vCard "TIMESTAMP" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "timestamp". The value elements
are JSON strings with the same timestamp value specified by
[RFC6350], but represented using the extended format and complete
representation specified in [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.3.2.
Example:
...
["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00"],
["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00Z"],
["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00-05"],
["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00-05:00"],
...
This table contains possible converisions between the vCard TIMESTAMP
format its jCard timestamp. This information is to be seen as an
informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
[ISO.8601.2004]:
+----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
| Representation | vCard | jCard |
+----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
| Complete | 19850412T232050 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50 |
| | | |
| Complete | 19850412T232050Z | 1985-04-12T23:20:50Z |
| | | |
| Complete | 19850412T232050+0400 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04:00 |
| | | |
| Complete | 19850412T232050+04 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04 |
+----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
3.5.8. Boolean (RFC6350 Section 4.4)
Description: vCard "BOOLEAN" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "boolean". The value element is
a JSON boolean value.
Example:
...
["x-non-smoking", {}, "boolean", true],
...
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3.5.9. Integer (RFC6350 Section 4.5)
Description: vCard "INTEGER" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "integer". The value elements
are JSON primitive number values.
Examples:
...
["x-karma-points", {}, "integer", 42],
...
3.5.10. Float (RFC6350 Section 4.6)
Description: vCard "FLOAT" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "float". The value elements are
JSON primitive number values.
Example:
...
["x-grade", {}, "float", 1.3],
...
3.5.11. UTC Offset (RFC6350 Section 4.7)
Description: vCard "UTC-OFFSET" property values are represented by a
property with the type identifier "utc-offset". The value
elements are JSON strings with the same UTC offset value specified
by [RFC6350], with the exception that the hour and minute
components are separated by a ":" character, for consistency with
the [ISO.8601.2004] timezone offset, extended format.
Example:
...
// Note: [RFC6350] mentions use of utc-offset
// for the TZ property as NOT RECOMMENDED
["tz", {}, "utc-offset", "-05:00"],
..
3.5.12. Language Tag (RFC6350 Section 4.8)
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Description: vCard "LANGUAGE-TAG" property values are represented by
a property with the type identifier "language-tag". The value
elements are JSON strings containing a single language-tag, as
defined in [RFC5646].
Example:
...
["lang", {}, "language-tag", "de"],
..
3.6. Extensions (RFC6350 Section 6.10)
vCard extension properties and property parameters (those with an
"X-" prefix in their name) are handled in the same way as other
properties and property parameters: the property is represented by an
array, the property parameter represented by an object. The property
or parameter name uses the same name as for the vCard extension, but
in lowercase. For example, the "X-FOO" property in vCard turns into
the "x-foo" jCard property. See Section 5 for how to deal with
default values for unrecognized extension properties or property
parameters.
4. Converting from jCard into vCard
When converting property and property parameter values, the names
SHOULD be converted to uppercase. Although vCard names are case
insensitive, common practice is to keep them all uppercase following
the actual definitions in [RFC6350].
Backslash escaping and line folding MUST be applied to the resulting
vCard data as required by [RFC6350].
When converting to vCard, the VALUE parameter MUST be added to
properties whose default value type is unknown. The VALUE parameter
SHOULD NOT be added to properties using the default value type.
5. Handling Unrecognized Properties or Parameters
In vCard, properties have a default value type specified by their
definition, e.g. "BDAY"'s value type is "date-and-or-time", but it
can also be reset to a single "text" value. When a property uses its
default value type, the "VALUE" property parameter does not need to
be specified on the property.
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When new properties are defined or "X-" properties used, a vCard to
jCard converter might not recognize them, and not know what the
appropriate default value types are, yet they need to be able to
preserve the values. A similar issue arises for unrecognized
property parameters.
In jCard, a new UNKNOWN property value type is introduced. Its
purpose is to allow preserving unknown property types when
roundtripping between jCard and vCard.
Value Data Type name: UNKNOWN
Purpose: To allow preserving unknown property types during
roundtripping
Description: The UNKNOWN value data type is reserved for the
exclusive use of the jCard format [RFCTODO] . It MUST NOT be used
in plain vCard [RFC6350]. Conversion rules are as follows:
* When converting vCard into jCard:
+ Any property that does not include a "VALUE" property
parameter and whose default value type is not known, MUST be
converted to a primative JSON string. The content of that
string is the unprocessed value text. Also, value type MUST
be set to "unknown".
+ To correctly implement this format, it is critical that if
the default type is not known that the type "unknown" is
used. If this requirement is ignored and for example "text"
is used, additional escaping may occur which breaks
roundtripping values.
+ Any unrecognized property parameter MUST be converted to a
string value, with its content set to the property parameter
value text, treated as if it were a "TEXT" value.
* When converting jCard into vCard:
+ Since jCard always explicitly specifies the value type, it
can always be converted to vCard using the VALUE parameter.
+ If the value type specified in jCard matches the default
value type in vCard, the VALUE parameter SHOULD be omitted.
+ If the valye type specified in jCard is set to "unknown",
the value MUST be taken over in vCard without proessing. In
this case, the VALUE parameter MUST NOT be specified.
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Format definition: (Not applicable)
Example: The following is an example of an unrecognized vCard
property (that uses an "URI" value as its default), and the
equivalent jCard representation of that property.
vCard:
X-COMPLAINT-URI:mailto:abuse@example.org
jCard:
...
["x-complaint-uri", {}, "unknown", "mailto:abuse@example.org"],
...
Example: The following is an example of how to cope with jCard data
where the parser was unable to identify the type. Note how the
"unknown" value type is not added to the vCard data and escaping,
aside from standard JSON string escaping, is not processed.
jCard:
...
["x-coffee-data", {}, "unknown", "Stenophylla;Guinea\\,Africa"],
...
vCard:
X-COFFEE-DATA:Stenophylla;Guinea\,Africa
Example: The following is an example of a jCard property (where the
corresponding vCard property uses a "INTEGER" value as its default),
and the equivalent vCard representation of that property. It is
assumed that the parser has knowledge of the default data type for
the "x-karma-points" property.
jCard:
...
["x-karma-points", {}, "integer", 95],
...
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vCard:
X-KARMA-POINTS:95
Example: The following is an example of an unrecognized vCard
property parameter (that uses a "FLOAT" value as its default)
specified on a recognized vCard property, and the equivalent jCard
representation of that property and property parameter.
vCard:
GENDER;X-PROBABILITY=0.8:M
jCard:
...
["gender", { "x-probability": "0.8" }, "text", "M"],
...
6. Implementation Status (to be removed prior to publication as an RFC)
This section describes libraries known to implement this draft as per
[I-D.sheffer-running-code].
1. ICAL.js - Philipp Kewisch, James Lal. A JavaScript parser for
iCalendar (rfc5545)
Source: https://github.com/mozilla-comm/ical.js/
Maturity: alpha (for jCard)
Coverage: Currently geared towards jCal, therefore not all
formats are supported. Includes an online validator. (as
of rev 847c67c501, 2013-02-14)
Licensing: MPL, Mozilla Public License 2.0
2. Py Calendar - Cyrus Daboo. iCalendar/vCard Library
Source: https://svn.calendarserver.org/repository/calendarserver
/PyCalendar/branches/json/
Maturity: production
Coverage: All aspects of this draft, up to version 01.
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Licensing: Apache License, Version 2.0
3. ez-vcard - Michael Angstadt. A vCard parser library written in
Java
Source: https://code.google.com/p/ez-vcard/
Maturity: production
Coverage All aspects of this draft.
Licensing: New BSD License
Additionally, interoperability testing of this draft is an ongoing
effort under members of calconnect, the Calendaring and Scheduling
Consortium. CalDAV Vendors are looking into supporting this draft.
7. Security Considerations
For security considerations specific to calendar data, see Section 9
of [RFC6350]. Since this specification is a mapping from vCard, no
new security concerns are introduced related to calendar data.
The use of JSON as a format does have security risks. Section 7 of
[RFC4627] discusses these risks.
8. IANA Considerations
This document defines a MIME media type for use with vCard in JSON
data. This media type SHOULD be used for the transfer of calendaring
data in JSON.
Type name: application
Subtype name: vcard+json
Required parameters: none
Optional parameters: version as defined for the text/vcard media
type in [RFC6350].
Encoding considerations: Same as encoding considerations of
application/json as specified in [RFC4627].
Security considerations: See Section 7.
Interoperability considerations: This media type provides an
alternative format for vCard data based on JSON.
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Published specification: This specification.
Applications which use this media type: Applications that currently
make use of the text/vcard media type can use this as an
alternative. Similarly, Applications that use the application/
json media type to transfer directory data can use this to further
specify the content.
Person & email address to contact for further information:
vcarddav@ietf.org
Intended usage: COMMON
Restrictions on usage: There are no restrictions on where this media
type can be used.
Author: See the "Author's Address" section of this document.
Change controller: IETF
8.1. GROUP vCard Parameter
IANA has added the following entry to the vCard Parameters registry,
defined in Section 10.3.2 of [RFC6350].
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------+
| Namespace | Parameter | Reference |
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------+
| | GROUP | RFCTODO, Section 3.3.1.2. |
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------+
8.2. UNKNOWN vCard Value Data Type
IANA has added the following entry to the vCard Data Types registry,
defined in Section 10.3.3 of [RFC6350].
+-----------------+-----------------------+
| Value Data Type | Reference |
+-----------------+-----------------------+
| UNKNOWN | RFCTODO, Section 5. |
+-----------------+-----------------------+
9. Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the following for their valuable
contributions: Cyrus Daboo, Mike Douglass, William Gill, Erwin Rehme,
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and Dave Thewlis. This specification originated from the work of the
XML-JSON technical committee of the Calendaring and Scheduling
Consortium.
10. References
10.1. Normative References
[I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal]
Kewisch, P., Daboo, C., and M. Douglass, "jCal: The JSON
format for iCalendar", draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcal-00 (work
in progress), March 2013.
[ISO.8601.2000]
International Organization for Standardization, ""Data
elements and interchange formats -- Information
interchange -- Representation of dates and times" ", ISO
8601, 12 2000.
[ISO.8601.2004]
International Organization for Standardization, ""Data
elements and interchange formats -- Information
interchange -- Representation of dates and times" ", ISO
8601, 12 2004.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC5234] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, January 2008.
[RFC5545] Desruisseaux, B., "Internet Calendaring and Scheduling
Core Object Specification (iCalendar)", RFC 5545,
September 2009.
[RFC5646] Phillips, A. and M. Davis, "Tags for Identifying
Languages", BCP 47, RFC 5646, September 2009.
[RFC6321] Daboo, C., Douglass, M., and S. Lees, "xCal: The XML
Format for iCalendar", RFC 6321, August 2011.
[RFC6350] Perreault, S., "vCard Format Specification", RFC 6350,
August 2011.
[RFC6351] Perreault, S., "xCard: vCard XML Representation", RFC
6351, August 2011.
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10.2. Informative References
[I-D.sheffer-running-code]
Sheffer, Y. and A. Farrel, "Improving Awareness of Running
Code: the Implementation Status Section", draft-sheffer-
running-code-02 (work in progress), January 2013.
[RFC4627] Crockford, D., "The application/json Media Type for
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)", RFC 4627, July 2006.
[calconnect-artifacts]
The Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium, "Code Artifacts
and Schemas", ,
<http://www.calconnect.org/artifacts.shtml>.
Appendix A. ABNF Schema
Below is an ABNF schema as per [RFC5234] for vCard in JSON. ABNF
Symbols not described here are taken from [RFC4627]. The schema is
non-normative and given for reference only.
The numeric section numbers given in the comments refer to section in
[RFC6350]. Additional semantic restrictions apply, especially
regarding the allowed properties and sub-components per component.
Details on these restrictions can be found in this document and
[RFC6350].
Additional schemas may be available on the internet at
[calconnect-artifacts].
; A vCard Stream is an array with the first element being the
; string "vcardstream". All remaining elements are jcardobjects.
jcardstream = begin-array
DQUOTE "vcardstream" DQUOTE
*(value-separator jcardobject)
end-array
jcardobject = component
; A jCard object consists of the name string "vcard" and a properties
; array. Restrictions to which properties and may be specified are to
; be taken from RFC6350.
jcardobject = begin-array
DQUOTE component-name DQUOTE value-separator
properties-array
end-array
; A jCard property consists of the name string, parameters object,
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; type string and one or more values as specified in this document.
property = begin-array
DQUOTE property-name DQUOTE value-separator
params-object value-separator
DQUOTE type-name DQUOTE
propery-value *(value-separator property-value)
end-array
properties-array = begin-array
[ property *(value-separator property) ]
end-array
; Property values depend on the type-name. Aside from the value types
; mentioned here, extensions may make use of other JSON value types.
property-value = simple-prop-value / structured-prop-value
simple-prop-value = string / number / boolean
structured-prop-value =
begin-array
[ structured-element *(value-separator structured-element) ]
end-array
; Each structured element may have multiple values if
; semantically allowed
structured-element = simple-prop-value / structured-multi-prop
structured-multi-prop =
begin-array
[ simple-prop-value *(value-separator simple-prop-value) ]
end-array
; The jCard params-object is a JSON object which follows the semantic
; guidelines described in this document.
params-object = begin-object
[ params-member *(value-separator params-member) ]
end-object
params-member = DQUOTE param-name DQUOTE name-separator param-value
param-value = string / param-multi
param-multi = begin-array
[ string *(value-separtor string) ]
end-array
; The type MUST be a valid type as described by this document. New
; value types can be added by extensions.
type-name = "text" / "uri" / "date" / "time" / "date-time" /
"boolean" / "integer" / "float" / "utc-offset" /
"language-tag" / x-type
; Property, parameter and type names MUST be lowercase. Additional
; semantic restrictions apply as described by this document and
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; RFC6350.
component-name = lowercase-name
property-name = lowercase-name
param-name = lowercase-name
x-type = lowercase-name
lowercase-name = 1*(%x61-7A / DIGIT / "-")
Appendix B. Examples
This section contains an example of a vCard object with its jCard
representation.
B.1. Example: vCard of the author of RFC6350
B.1.1. vCard Data
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:Simon Perreault
N:Perreault;Simon;;;ing. jr,M.Sc.
BDAY:--0203
ANNIVERSARY:20090808T1430-0500
GENDER:M
LANG;PREF=1:fr
LANG;PREF=2:en
ORG;TYPE=work:Viagenie
ADR;TYPE=work:;Suite D2-630;2875 Laurier;
Quebec;QC;G1V 2M2;Canada
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,voice";PREF=1:tel:+1-418-656-9254;ext=102
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,cell,voice,video,text":tel:+1-418-262-6501
EMAIL;TYPE=work:simon.perreault@viagenie.ca
GEO;TYPE=work:geo:46.772673,-71.282945
KEY;TYPE=work;VALUE=uri:
http://www.viagenie.ca/simon.perreault/simon.asc
TZ:-0500
URL;TYPE=home:http://nomis80.org
END:VCARD
B.1.2. jCard Data
["vcard",
[
["version", {}, "text", "4.0"],
["fn", {}, "text", "Simon Perreault"],
["n",
{},
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"text",
["Perreault", "Simon", "", "", ["ing. jr", "M.Sc."]]
],
["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "--02-03"],
["anniversary",
{},
"date-and-or-time",
"2009-08-08T14:30:00-05:00"
],
["gender", {}, "text", "M"],
["lang", { "pref": "1" }, "language-tag", "fr"],
["lang", { "pref": "2" }, "language-tag", "en"],
["org", { "type": "work" }, "text", "Viagenie"],
["adr",
{ "type": "work" },
"text",
[
"",
"Suite D2-630",
"2875 Laurier",
"Quebec",
"QC",
"G1V 2M2",
"Canada"
]
],
["tel",
{ "type": ["work", "voice"], "pref": "1" },
"uri",
"tel:+1-418-656-9254;ext=102"
],
["tel",
{ "type": ["work", "cell", "voice", "video", "text"] },
"uri",
"tel:+1-418-262-6501"
],
["email",
{ "type": "work" },
"text",
"simon.perreault@viagenie.ca"
],
["geo", { "type": "work" }, "uri", "geo:46.772673,-71.282945"],
["key",
{ "type": "work" },
"uri",
"http://www.viagenie.ca/simon.perreault/simon.asc"
],
["tz", {}, "utc-offset", "-05:00"],
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["url", { "type": "home" }, "uri", "http://nomis80.org"]
]
]
Appendix C. Change History (to be removed prior to publication as an
RFC)
draft-kewisch-vcard-in-json-01
* Added ABNF and improved references in date/time related
sections
* Changes to wording in "vCard Stream" section
* Changes to wording about VALUE parameter when converting to
vCard
* Corrected missing "type" parameter and separator in example
* Minor wording corrections
draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-00
* Pubication as a WG draft
draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-01
* Changed grouping syntax to use new GROUP parameter and added
respective IANA section
* Added timestamp and date-and-or-time types instead of
converting them from date/time/date-time
* Added a further sentence on preprocessing and escaping to
clarify that JSON escaping must be used.
* Described how to handle structured text values and structured
text components with multiple values.
* Corrections and additions to the ABNF Section, adaptions to
example
draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02
* Made more clear that complete representation is not mandatory
* Added sheffer-running-code section
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* Changed handling of unknown property parameter types.
* Minor corrections to sections regarding dates, fixing typos
Author's Address
Philipp Kewisch
Mozilla Corporation
650 Castro Street, Suite 300
Mountain View, CA 94041
USA
EMail: mozilla@kewis.ch
URI: http://www.mozilla.org/
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