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SMIng - Next Generation Structure of Management Information
draft-irtf-nmrg-sming-07

The information below is for an old version of the document that is already published as an RFC.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 3780.
Authors Frank Strauss , Jürgen Schönwälder
Last updated 2015-10-14 (Latest revision 2003-12-17)
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IESG IESG state Became RFC 3780 (Experimental)
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Responsible AD Bert Wijnen
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draft-irtf-nmrg-sming-07
Network Working Group                                         F. Strauss
Internet-Draft                                           TU Braunschweig
Expires: June 15, 2004                                  J. Schoenwaelder
                                         International University Bremen
                                                       December 16, 2003

      SMIng - Next Generation Structure of Management Information
                        draft-irtf-nmrg-sming-07

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as
   Internet-Drafts.

   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."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http://
   www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on June 15, 2004.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo defines the base SMIng (Structure of Management
   Information, Next Generation) language.  SMIng is a data definition
   language that provides a protocol-independent representation for
   management information.  Separate RFCs define mappings of SMIng to
   specific management protocols, including SNMP [RFCxxx2].

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Table of Contents

   1.    Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   1.1   The History of SMIng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   1.2   Terms of Requirement Levels  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2.    SMIng Data Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2.1   Identifiers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   3.    Base Types and Derived Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   3.1   OctetString  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   3.2   Pointer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   3.3   ObjectIdentifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   3.4   Integer32  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   3.5   Integer64  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   3.6   Unsigned32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   3.7   Unsigned64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   3.8   Float32  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   3.9   Float64  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   3.10  Float128 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   3.11  Enumeration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   3.12  Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   3.13  Display Formats  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   4.    The SMIng File Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   4.1   Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   4.2   Textual Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   4.3   Statements and Arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   5.    The module Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   5.1   The module's import Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   5.2   The module's organization Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   5.3   The module's contact Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   5.4   The module's description Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   5.5   The module's reference Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   5.6   The module's revision Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   5.6.1 The revision's date Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   5.6.2 The revision's description Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
   5.7   Usage Example  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
   6.    The extension Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
   6.1   The extension's status Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
   6.2   The extension's description Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . 27
   6.3   The extension's reference Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
   6.4   The extension's abnf Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
   6.5   Usage Example  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
   7.    The typedef Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
   7.1   The typedef's type Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
   7.2   The typedef's default Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
   7.3   The typedef's format Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   7.4   The typedef's units Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   7.5   The typedef's status Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   7.6   The typedef's description Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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   7.7   The typedef's reference Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
   7.8   Usage Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
   8.    The identity Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
   8.1   The identity's parent Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
   8.2   The identity's status Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   8.3   The identity' description Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   8.4   The identity's reference Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   8.5   Usage Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   9.    The class Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   9.1   The class' extends Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   9.2   The class' attribute Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   9.2.1 The attribute's type Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   9.2.2 The attribute's access Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   9.2.3 The attribute's default Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   9.2.4 The attribute's format Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   9.2.5 The attribute's units Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
   9.2.6 The attribute's status Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
   9.2.7 The attribute's description Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . 36
   9.2.8 The attribute's reference Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
   9.3   The class' unique Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
   9.4   The class' event Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
   9.4.1 The event's status Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
   9.4.2 The event's description Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
   9.4.3 The event's reference Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
   9.5   The class' status Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
   9.6   The class' description Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
   9.7   The class's reference Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
   9.8   Usage Example  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
   10.   Extending a Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
   11.   SMIng Language Extensibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
   12.   Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
   13.   Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
         Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
         Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
         Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
   A.    NMRG-SMING Module  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
   B.    SMIng ABNF Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
         Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . 65

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1. Introduction

   In traditional management systems management information is viewed as
   a collection of managed objects, residing in a virtual information
   store, termed the Management Information Base (MIB).  Collections of
   related objects are defined in MIB modules.  These modules are
   written conforming to a specification language, the Structure of
   Management Information (SMI).  There are different versions of the
   SMI.  The SMI version 1 (SMIv1) is defined in [RFC1155], [RFC1212],
   [RFC1215] and the SMI version 2 (SMIv2) in [RFC2578], [RFC2579],
   [RFC2580].  Both are based on adapted subsets of OSI's Abstract
   Syntax Notation One, ASN.1 [ASN1].

   In a similar fashion policy provisioning information is viewed as a
   collection of Provisioning Classes (PRCs) and Provisioning Instances
   (PRIs) residing in a virtual information store, termed the Policy
   Information Base (PIB).  Collections of related Provisioning Classes
   are defined in PIB modules.  PIB modules are written using the
   Structure of Policy Provisioning Information (SPPI) [RFC3159] which
   is an adapted subset of SMIv2.

   The SMIv1 and the SMIv2 are bound to the Simple Network Management
   Protocol (SNMP) while the the SPPI is bound to the Common Open Policy
   Service Provisioning (COPS-PR) protocol.  Even though the languages
   have common rules, it is hard to use common data definitions with
   both protocols.  It is the purpose of this document to define a
   common data definition language, named SMIng, that allows to formally
   specify data models independent of specific protocols and
   applications.  The appendix of this document defines a core module
   that supplies common SMIng definitions.

   A companion document contains an SMIng language extension to define
   SNMP specific mappings of SMIng definitions in a way compatible to
   SMIv2 MIBs [RFCxxx2].  Additional language extensions may be added in
   the future, e.g.  to define COPS-PR specific mappings of SMIng
   definition in a way compatible to SPPI PIBs.

   Section 2 gives an overview of the basic concepts of data modelling
   using SMIng while the subsequent sections present the concepts of the
   SMIng language in detail: the base types, the SMIng file structure,
   and all SMIng core statements.

   The remainder of the document describes extensibility features of the
   language and rules to follow when changes are applied to a module.
   Appendix B contains the grammar of SMIng in ABNF [RFC2234] notation.

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1.1 The History of SMIng

   SMIng started in 1999 as a research project to address some drawbacks
   of SMIv2, the current data modelling language for management
   information bases, primarily its partial dependence on ASN.1 and a
   number of exception rules that turned out to be problematic.  In
   2000, the work was handed over to the IRTF Network Management
   Research Group where it was significantly detailed.  Since the work
   of the RAP Working Group on COPS-PR and SPPI emerged in 1999/2000,
   SMIng was split into two parts: a core data definition language
   (defined in this document) and protocol mappings to allow the
   application of core defintions through (potentially) multiple
   management protocols.  The replacement of SMIv2 and SPPI by a single
   merged data definition language was also a primary goal of the IETF
   SMING Working Group that was chartered at the end of 2000.

   The requirements for a new data definition language were discussed
   several times within the IETF SMING Working Group and changed
   significantly over time [RFC3216], so that another proposal (in
   addition to SMIng), named SMI Data Structures (SMI-DS) was presented
   to the Working Group.  In the end neither of the two proposals found
   enough consensus and support and the attempt to merge the existing
   concepts did not succeed, so that the Working Group was closed down
   in April 2003.

   In order to record the work of the NMRG (Network Management Research
   Group) on SMIng, this memo and the accompanying memo on the SNMP
   protocol mapping [RFCxxx2] have been published for informational
   purpose.

   Note that throughout these documents the term "SMIng" refers to the
   specific data modelling language that is specified in this document,
   whereas the term "SMING" refers to the general effort within the IETF
   Working Group to define a new management data definition language as
   an SMIv2 successor and probably an SPPI merger, for which "SMIng" and
   "SMI-DS" were two specific proposals.

1.2 Terms of Requirement Levels

   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].

2. SMIng Data Modelling

   SMIng is a language designed to specify management information in a
   structured way readable to computer programs, e.g.  MIB compilers, as
   well as to human readers.

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   Management information is modeled in classes.  Classes can be defined
   from scratch or by derivation from a parent class.  Derivation from
   multiple parent classes is not possible.  The concept of classes is
   described in Section 9.

   Each class has a number of attributes.  Each attribute represents an
   atomic piece of information of a base type, a sub-type of a base
   type, or another class.  The concept of attributes is described in
   Section 9.2.

   The base types of SMIng include signed and unsigned integers, octet
   strings, enumeration types, bitset types, and pointers.  Pointers are
   references to class instances, attributes of class instances, or
   arbitrary identities.  The SMIng type system is described in Section
   3.

   Related class and type definitions are defined in modules.  A module
   may refer to definitions from other modules by importing identifiers
   from those modules.  Each module may serve one or multiple purposes:

   o  the definition of management classes,

   o  the definition of events,

   o  the definition of derived types,

   o  the definition of arbitrary untyped identities serving as values
      of pointers,

   o  the definition of SMIng extensions to allow the local module or
      other modules to specify information beyond the scope of the base
      SMIng in a machine readable notation.  Some extensions for the
      application of SMIng in the SNMP framework are defined in
      [RFCxxx2],

   o  the definition of information beyond the scope of the base SMIng
      statements, based on locally defined or imported SMIng extensions.

   Each module is identified by an upper-case identifier.  The names of
   all standard modules must be unique (but different versions of the
   same module should have the same name).  Developers of enterprise
   modules are encouraged to choose names for their modules that will
   have a low probability of colliding with standard or other enterprise
   modules, e.g.  by using the enterprise or organization name as a
   prefix.

2.1 Identifiers

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   Identifiers are used to identify different kinds of SMIng items by
   name.  Each identifier is valid in a namespace which depends on the
   type of the SMIng item being defined:

   o  The global namespace contains all module identifiers.

   o  Each module defines a new namespace.  A module's namespace may
      contain definitions of extension identifiers, derived type
      identifiers, identity identifiers, and class identifiers.
      Furthermore, a module may import identifiers of these kinds from
      other modules.  All these identifiers are also visible within all
      inner namespaces of the module.

   o  Each class within a module defines a new namespace.  A class'
      namespace may contain definitions of attribute identifiers and
      event identifiers.

   o  Each enumeration type and bitset type defines a new namespace of
      its named numbers.  These named numbers are visible in each
      expression of a corresponding value, e.g., default values and
      sub-typing restrictions.

   o  Extensions may define additional namespaces and have additional
      rules of other namespaces' visibilty.

   Within every namespace each identifier MUST be unique.

   Each identifier starts with an upper-case or lower-case character,
   dependent on the kind of SMIng item, followed by zero or more
   letters, digits and hyphens.

   All identifiers defined in a namespace MUST be unique and SHOULD NOT
   only differ in case.  Identifiers MUST NOT exceed 64 characters in
   length.  Furthermore, the set of all identifiers defined in all
   modules of a single standardization body or organization SHOULD be
   unique and mnemonic.  This promotes a common language for humans to
   use when discussing a module.

   To reference an item that is defined in the local module, its
   definition MUST sequentially precede the reference.  Thus, there MUST
   NOT be any forward references.

   To reference an item, that is defined in an external module it MUST
   be imported (Section 5.1).  Identifiers that are neither defined nor
   imported MUST NOT be visible in the local module.

   When identifiers from external modules are referenced, there is the
   possibility of name collisions.  As such, if different items with the

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   same identifier are imported or if imported identifiers collide with
   identifiers of locally defined items, then this ambiguity is resolved
   by prefixing those identifiers with the names of their modules and
   the namespace operator `::', i.e.  `Module::item'.  Of course, this
   notation can be used to refer to identifiers even when there is no
   name collision.

   Note that SMIng core language keywords MUST NOT be imported.  See the
   `...Keyword' rules of the SMIng ABNF grammar in Appendix B for a list
   of those keywords.

3. Base Types and Derived Types

   SMIng has a set of base types, similar to those of many programming
   languages, but with some differences due to special requirements from
   the management information model.

   Additional types may be defined, derived from those base types or
   from other derived types.  Derived types may use subtyping to
   formally restrict the set of possible values.  An initial set of
   commonly used derived types is defined in the SMIng standard module
   NMRG-SMING [RFCxxx2].

   The different base types and their derived types allow different
   kinds of subtyping, namely size restrictions of octet strings
   (Section 3.1), range restrictions of numeric types (Section 3.4
   through Section 3.10), restricted pointer types (Section 3.2), and
   restrictions of the sets of named numbers for enumeration types
   (Section 3.11) and bit sets (Section 3.12).

3.1 OctetString

   The OctetString base type represents arbitrary binary or textual
   data.  Although SMIng has a theoretical size limitation of 2^16-1
   (65535) octets for this base type, module designers should realize
   that there may be implementation and interoperability limitations for
   sizes in excess of 255 octets.

   Values of octet strings may be denoted as textual data enclosed in
   double quotes or as arbitrary binary data denoted as a `0x'-prefixed
   hexadecimal value of an even number of at least two hexadecimal
   digits, where each pair of hexadecimal digits represents a single
   octet.  Letters in hexadecimal values MAY be upper-case but
   lower-case characters are RECOMMENDED.  Textual data may contain any
   number (possibly zero) of any 7-bit displayable ASCII characters,
   including tab characters, spaces and line terminator characters (nl
   or cr & nl).  Some characters require a special encoding (see Section
   4.2).  Textual data may span multiple lines, where each subsequent

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   line prefix containing only white space up to the column where the
   first line's data starts SHOULD be skipped by parsers for a better
   text formatting.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   OctetString base type, the size in octets may be restricted by
   appending a list of size ranges or explicit size values, separated by
   pipe `|' characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A
   size range consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and
   an upper bound.  Each value can be given in decimal or `0x'-prefixed
   hexadecimal notation.  Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number
   of at least two digits.  Size restricting values MUST NOT be
   negative.  If multiple values or ranges are given, they all MUST be
   disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a size restriction is
   applied to an already size restricted octet string the new
   restriction MUST be equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower
   bounds, reducing the upper bounds, removing explicit size values or
   ranges, or splitting ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate
   gaps.

   Value Examples:

     "This is a multiline
      textual data example."         // legal
     "This is "illegally" quoted."   // illegal quotes
     "This is \"legally\" quoted."   // legally encoded quotes
     "But this is 'ok', as well."    // legal apostrophe quoting
     ""                              // legal zero length
     0x123                           // illegal odd hex length
     0x534d496e670a                  // legal octet string

   Restriction Examples:

     OctetString (0 | 4..255)        // legal size spec
     OctetString (4)                 // legal exact size
     OctetString (-1 | 1)            // illegal negative size
     OctetString (5 | 0)             // illegal ordering
     OctetString (1 | 1..10)         // illegal overlapping

3.2 Pointer

   The Pointer base type represents values that reference class
   instances, attributes of class instances, or arbitrary identities.
   The only values of the Pointer type that can be present in a module
   can refer to identities.  They are denoted as identifiers of the
   concerned identities.

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   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Pointer base type, the values may be restricted to a specific class,
   attribute or identity and all (directly or indirectly) derived items
   thereof by appending the identifier of the appropriate construct
   enclosed in parenthesis.

   Value Examples:

     null                          // legal identity name
     snmpUDPDomain                 // legal identity name

   Restriction Examples:

     Pointer (snmpTransportDomain) // legal restriction

3.3 ObjectIdentifier

   The ObjectIdentifier base type represents administratively assigned
   names for use with SNMP and COPS-PR.  This type SHOULD NOT be used in
   protocol independant SMIng modules.  It is meant to be used in SNMP
   and COPS-PR mappings of attributes of type Pointer (Section 3.2).

   Values of this type may be denoted as a sequence of numerical
   non-negative sub-identifier values which each MUST NOT exceed 2^32-1
   (4294967295).  Sub-identifiers may be denoted decimal or
   `0x'-prefixed hexadecimal.  They are separated by single dots and
   without any intermediate white space.  Alternatively (and preferred
   in most cases), the first element may be a previously defined or
   imported lower-case identifier, representing a static object
   identifier prefix.

   Although the number of sub-identifiers in SMIng object identifiers is
   not limited, module designers should realize that there may be
   implementations that stick with the SMIv1/v2 limit of 128
   sub-identifiers.

   Object identifier derived types cannot be restricted in any way.

   Value Examples:

     1.3.6.1                     // legal numerical oid
     mib-2.1                     // legal oid with identifier prefix
     internet.4.1.0x0627.0x01    // legal oid with hex subids
     iso.-1                      // illegal negative subid
     iso.org.6                   // illegal non-heading identifier
     IF-MIB::ifNumber.0          // legel fully quallified instance oid

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3.4 Integer32

   The Integer32 base type represents integer values between -2^31
   (-2147483648) and 2^31-1 (2147483647).

   Values of type Integer32 may be denoted as decimal or hexadecimal
   numbers, where only decimal numbers can be negative.  Decimal numbers
   other than zero MUST NOT have leading zero digits.  Hexadecimal
   numbers are prefixed by `0x' and MUST have an even number of at least
   two hexadecimal digits, where letters MAY be upper-case but
   lower-case characters are RECOMMENDED.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Integer32 base type, the set of possible values may be restricted by
   appending a list of ranges or explicit values, separated by pipe `|'
   characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A range
   consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and an upper
   bound.  Each value can be given in decimal or `0x'-prefixed
   hexadecimal notation.  Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number
   of at least two digits.  If multiple values or ranges are given they
   all MUST be disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a value
   restriction is applied to an already restricted type the new
   restriction MUST be equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower
   bounds, reducing the upper bounds, removing explicit values or
   ranges, or splitting ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate
   gaps.

   Value Examples:

     015                         // illegal leading zero
     -123                        // legal negative value
     - 1                         // illegal intermediate space
     0xabc                       // illegal hexadecimal value length
     -0xff                       // illegal sign on hex value
     0x80000000                  // illegal value, too large
     0xf00f                      // legal hexadecimal value

   Restriction Examples:

     Integer32 (0 | 5..10)       // legal range spec
     Integer32 (5..10 | 2..3)    // illegal ordering
     Integer32 (4..8 | 5..10)    // illegal overlapping

3.5 Integer64

   The Integer64 base type represents integer values between -2^63
   (-9223372036854775808) and 2^63-1 (9223372036854775807).

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   Values of type Integer64 may be denoted as decimal or hexadecimal
   numbers, where only decimal numbers can be negative.  Decimal numbers
   other than zero MUST NOT have leading zero digits.  Hexadecimal
   numbers are prefixed by `0x' and MUST have an even number of
   hexadecimal digits, where letters MAY be upper-case but lower-case
   characters are RECOMMENDED.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Integer64 base type, the set of possible values may be restricted by
   appending a list of ranges or explicit values, separated by pipe `|'
   characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A range
   consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and an upper
   bound.  Each value can be given in decimal or `0x'-prefixed
   hexadecimal notation.  Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number
   of at least two digits.  If multiple values or ranges are given they
   all MUST be disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a value
   restriction is applied to an already restricted type the new
   restriction MUST be equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower
   bounds, reducing the upper bounds, removing explicit values or
   ranges, or splitting ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate
   gaps.

   Value Examples:

     015                         // illegal leading zero
     -123                        // legal negative value
     - 1                         // illegal intermediate space
     0xabc                       // illegal hexadecimal value length
     -0xff                       // illegal sign on hex value
     0x80000000                  // legal value

   Restriction Examples:

     Integer64 (0 | 5..10)       // legal range spec
     Integer64 (5..10 | 2..3)    // illegal ordering
     Integer64 (4..8 | 5..10)    // illegal overlapping

3.6 Unsigned32

   The Unsigned32 base type represents positive integer values between 0
   and 2^32-1 (4294967295).

   Values of type Unsigned32 may be denoted as decimal or hexadecimal
   numbers.  Decimal numbers other than zero MUST NOT have leading zero
   digits.  Hexadecimal numbers are prefixed by `0x' and MUST have an
   even number of hexadecimal digits, where letters MAY be upper-case
   but lower-case characters are RECOMMENDED.

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   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Unsigned32 base type, the set of possible values may be restricted by
   appending a list of ranges or explicit values, separated by pipe `|'
   characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A range
   consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and an upper
   bound.  Each value can be given in decimal or `0x'-prefixed
   hexadecimal notation.  Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number
   of at least two digits.  If multiple values or ranges are given they
   all MUST be disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a value
   restriction is applied to an already restricted type the new
   restriction MUST be equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower
   bounds, reducing the upper bounds, removing explicit values or
   ranges, or splitting ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate
   gaps.

   Value Examples:

     015                         // illegal leading zero
     -123                        // illegal negative value
     0xabc                       // illegal hexadecimal value length
     0x80000000                  // legal hexadecimal value
     0x8080000000                // illegal value, too large

   Restriction Examples:

     Unsigned32 (0 | 5..10)       // legal range spec
     Unsigned32 (5..10 | 2..3)    // illegal ordering
     Unsigned32 (4..8 | 5..10)    // illegal overlapping

3.7 Unsigned64

   The Unsigned64 base type represents positive integer values between 0
   and 2^64-1 (18446744073709551615).

   Values of type Unsigned64 may be denoted as decimal or hexadecimal
   numbers.  Decimal numbers other than zero MUST NOT have leading zero
   digits.  Hexadecimal numbers are prefixed by `0x' and MUST have an
   even number of hexadecimal digits, where letters MAY be upper-case
   but lower-case characters are RECOMMENDED.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Unsigned64 base type, the set of possible values may be restricted by
   appending a list of ranges or explicit values, separated by pipe `|'
   characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A range
   consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and an upper
   bound.  Each value can be given in decimal or `0x'-prefixed
   hexadecimal notation.  Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number

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   of at least two digits.  If multiple values or ranges are given they
   all MUST be disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a value
   restriction is applied to an already restricted type the new
   restriction MUST be equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower
   bounds, reducing the upper bounds, removing explicit values or
   ranges, or splitting ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate
   gaps.

   Value Examples:

     015                         // illegal leading zero
     -123                        // illegal negative value
     0xabc                       // illegal hexadecimal value length
     0x8080000000                // legal hexadecimal value

   Restriction Examples:

     Unsigned64 (1..10000000000) // legal range spec
     Unsigned64 (5..10 | 2..3)   // illegal ordering

3.8 Float32

   The Float32 base type represents floating point values of single
   precision as described by [IEEE754].

   Values of type Float32 may be denoted as a decimal fraction with an
   optional exponent as known from many programming languages.  See the
   grammar rule `floatValue' of Appendix B for the detailed syntax.
   Special values are `snan' (signaling Not-a-Number), `qnan' (quiet
   Not-a-Number), `neginf' (negative infinity), and `posinf' (positive
   infinity).  Note that -0.0 and +0.0 are different floating point
   values.  0.0 is equal to +0.0.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Float32 base type, the set of possible values may be restricted by
   appending a list of ranges or explicit values, separated by pipe `|'
   characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A range
   consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and an upper
   bound.  If multiple values or ranges are given they all MUST be
   disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a value restriction is
   applied to an already restricted type the new restriction MUST be
   equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower bounds, reducing
   the upper bounds, removing explicit values or ranges, or splitting
   ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate gaps.  The special
   values `snan', `qnan', `neginf', and `posinf' must be explicitly
   listed in restrictions if they shall be included, where `snan' and
   `qnan' cannot be used in ranges.

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   Note that encoding is not subject to this specification.  It has to
   be described by protocols that transport objects of type Float32.
   Note also that most floating point encodings disallow the
   representation of many values that can be written as decimal
   fractions as used in SMIng for human readability.  Therefore,
   explicit values in floating point type restrictions should be handled
   with care.

   Value Examples:

     00.1                       // illegal leading zero
     3.1415                     // legal value
     -2.5E+3                    // legal negative exponential value

   Restriction Examples:

     Float32 (-1.0..1.0)        // legal range spec
     Float32 (1 | 3.3 | 5)      // legal, probably unrepresentable 3.3
     Float32 (neginf..-0.0)     // legal range spec
     Float32 (-10.0..10.0 | 0)  // illegal overlapping

3.9 Float64

   The Float64 base type represents floating point values of double
   precision as described by [IEEE754].

   Values of type Float64 may be denoted as a decimal fraction with an
   optional exponent as known from many programming languages.  See the
   grammar rule `floatValue' of Appendix B for the detailed syntax.
   Special values are `snan' (signaling Not-a-Number), `qnan' (quiet
   Not-a-Number), `neginf' (negative infinity), and `posinf' (positive
   infinity).  Note that -0.0 and +0.0 are different floating point
   values.  0.0 is equal to +0.0.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Float64 base type, the set of possible values may be restricted by
   appending a list of ranges or explicit values, separated by pipe `|'
   characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A range
   consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and an upper
   bound.  If multiple values or ranges are given they all MUST be
   disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a value restriction is
   applied to an already restricted type the new restriction MUST be
   equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower bounds, reducing
   the upper bounds, removing explicit values or ranges, or splitting
   ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate gaps.  The special
   values `snan', `qnan', `neginf', and `posinf' must be explicitly
   listed in restrictions if they shall be included, where `snan' and

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   `qnan' cannot be used in ranges.

   Note that encoding is not subject to this specification.  It has to
   be described by protocols that transport objects of type Float64.
   Note also that most floating point encodings disallow the
   representation of many values that can be written as decimal
   fractions as used in SMIng for human readability.  Therefore,
   explicit values in floating point type restrictions should be handled
   with care.

   Value Examples:

     00.1                       // illegal leading zero
     3.1415                     // legal value
     -2.5E+3                    // legal negative exponential value

   Restriction Examples:

     Float64 (-1.0..1.0)        // legal range spec
     Float64 (1 | 3.3 | 5)      // legal, probably unrepresentable 3.3
     Float64 (neginf..-0.0)     // legal range spec
     Float64 (-10.0..10.0 | 0)  // illegal overlapping

3.10 Float128

   The Float128 base type represents floating point values of quadruple
   precision as described by [IEEE754].

   Values of type Float128 may be denoted as a decimal fraction with an
   optional exponent as known from many programming languages.  See the
   grammar rule `floatValue' of Appendix B for the detailed syntax.
   Special values are `snan' (signaling Not-a-Number), `qnan' (quiet
   Not-a-Number), `neginf' (negative infinity), and `posinf' (positive
   infinity).  Note that -0.0 and +0.0 are different floating point
   values.  0.0 is equal to +0.0.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from the
   Float128 base type, the set of possible values may be restricted by
   appending a list of ranges or explicit values, separated by pipe `|'
   characters and the whole list enclosed in parenthesis.  A range
   consists of a lower bound, two consecutive dots `..' and an upper
   bound.  If multiple values or ranges are given they all MUST be
   disjoint and MUST be in ascending order.  If a value restriction is
   applied to an already restricted type the new restriction MUST be
   equal or more limiting, that is raising the lower bounds, reducing
   the upper bounds, removing explicit values or ranges, or splitting
   ranges into multiple ranges with intermediate gaps.  The special

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   values `snan', `qnan', `neginf', and `posinf' must be explicitly
   listed in restrictions if they shall be included, where `snan' and
   `qnan' cannot be used in ranges.

   Note that encoding is not subject to this specification.  It has to
   be described by protocols that transport objects of type Float128.
   Note also that most floating point encodings disallow the
   representation of many values that can be written as decimal
   fractions as used in SMIng for human readability.  Therefore,
   explicit values in floating point type restrictions should be handled
   with care.

   Value Examples:

     00.1                       // illegal leading zero
     3.1415                     // legal value
     -2.5E+3                    // legal negative exponential value

   Restriction Examples:

     Float128 (-1.0..1.0)        // legal range spec
     Float128 (1 | 3.3 | 5)      // legal, probably unrepresentable 3.3
     Float128 (neginf..-0.0)     // legal range spec
     Float128 (-10.0..10.0 | 0)  // illegal overlapping

3.11 Enumeration

   The Enumeration base type represents values from a set of integers in
   the range between -2^31 (-2147483648) and 2^31-1 (2147483647), where
   each value has an assigned name.  The list of those named numbers has
   to be comma-separated, enclosed in parenthesis and appended to the
   `Enumeration' keyword.  Each named number is denoted by its
   lower-case identifier followed by the assigned integer value, denoted
   as a decimal or `0x'-prefixed hexadecimal number, enclosed in
   parenthesis.  Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number of at
   least two digits.  Every name and every number in an enumeration type
   MUST be unique.  It is RECOMMENDED that values are positive and start
   at 1 and be numbered contiguously.  All named numbers MUST be given
   in ascending order.

   Values of enumeration types may be denoted as decimal or
   `0x'-prefixed hexadecimal numbers or preferably as their assigned
   names.  Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number of at least two
   digits.

   When types are derived (directly or indirectly) from an enumeration
   type, the set of named numbers may be equal or restricted by removing

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   one or more named numbers.  But no named numbers may be added or
   changed regarding its name, value, or both.

   Type and Value Examples:

     Enumeration (up(1), down(2), testing(3))
     Enumeration (down(2), up(1)) // illegal order

     0                            // legal (though not recommended) value
     up                           // legal value given by name
     2                            // legal value given by number

3.12 Bits

   The Bits base type represents bit sets.  That is, a Bits value is a
   set of flags identified by small integer numbers starting at 0.  Each
   bit number has an assigned name.  The list of those named numbers has
   to be comma-separated, enclosed in parenthesis and appended to the
   `Bits' keyword.  Each named number is denoted by its lower-case
   identifier followed by the assigned integer value, denoted as a
   decimal or `0x'-prefixed hexadecimal number, enclosed in parenthesis.
   Hexadecimal numbers must have an even number of at least two digits.
   Every name and every number in a bits type MUST be unique.  It is
   RECOMMENDED that numbers start at 0 and be numbered contiguously.
   Negative numbers are forbidden.  All named numbers MUST be given in
   ascending order.

   Values of bits types may be denoted as a comma-separated list of
   decimal or `0x'-prefixed hexadecimal numbers or preferably their
   assigned names enclosed in parenthesis.  Hexadecimal numbers must
   have an even number of at least two digits.  There MUST NOT be any
   element (by name or number) listed more than once.  Elements MUST be
   listed in ascending order.

   When defining a type derived (directly or indirectly) from a bits
   type, the set of named numbers may be restricted by removing one or
   more named numbers.  But no named numbers may be added or changed
   regarding its name, value, or both.

   Type and Value Examples:

     Bits (readable(0), writeable(1), executable(2))
     Bits (writeable(1), readable(0) // illegal order

     ()                          // legal empty value
     (readable, writeable, 2)    // legal value
     (0, readable, executable)   // illegal, readable(0) appears twice

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     (writeable, 4)              // illegal, element 4 out of range

3.13 Display Formats

   Attribute definitions and type definitions allow the specification of
   a format to be used, when a value of that attribute or an attribute
   of that type is displayed.  Format specifications are represented as
   textual data.

   When the attribute or type has an underlying base type of Integer32,
   Integer64, Unsigned32, or Unsigned64, the format consists of an
   integer-format specification, containing two parts.  The first part
   is a single character suggesting a display format, either: `x' for
   hexadecimal, or `d' for decimal, or `o' for octal, or `b' for binary.
   For all types, when rendering the value, leading zeros are omitted,
   and for negative values, a minus sign is rendered immediately before
   the digits.  The second part is always omitted for `x', `o' and `b',
   and need not be present for `d'.  If present, the second part starts
   with a hyphen and is followed by a decimal number, which defines the
   implied decimal point when rendering the value.  For example `d-2'
   suggests that a value of 1234 be rendered as `12.34'.

   When the attribute or type has an underlying base type of
   OctetString, the format consists of one or more octet-format
   specifications.  Each specification consists of five parts, with each
   part using and removing zero or more of the next octets from the
   value and producing the next zero or more characters to be displayed.
   The octets within the value are processed in order of significance,
   most significant first.

   The five parts of a octet-format specification are:

   1.  the (optional) repeat indicator; if present, this part is a `*',
       and indicates that the current octet of the value is to be used
       as the repeat count.  The repeat count is an unsigned integer
       (which may be zero) which specifies how many times the remainder
       of this octet-format specification should be successively
       applied.  If the repeat indicator is not present, the repeat
       count is one.

   2.  the octet length: one or more decimal digits specifying the
       number of octets of the value to be used and formatted by this
       octet-specification.  Note that the octet length can be zero.  If
       less than this number of octets remain in the value, then the
       lesser number of octets are used.

   3.  the display format, either: `x' for hexadecimal, `d' for decimal,

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       `o' for octal, `a' for ASCII, or `t' for UTF-8 [RFC2279].  If the
       octet length part is greater than one, and the display format
       part refers to a numeric format, then network byte-ordering
       (big-endian encoding) is used interpreting the octets in the
       value.  The octets processed by the `t' display format do not
       necessarily form an integral number of UTF-8 characters.
       Trailing octets which do not form a valid UTF-8 encoded character
       are discarded.

   4.  the (optional) display separator character; if present, this part
       is a single character which is produced for display after each
       application of this octet-specification; however, this character
       is not produced for display if it would be immediately followed
       by the display of the repeat terminator character for this octet
       specification.  This character can be any character other than a
       decimal digit and a `*'.

   5.  the (optional) repeat terminator character, which can be present
       only if the display separator character is present and this octet
       specification begins with a repeat indicator; if present, this
       part is a single character which is produced after all the zero
       or more repeated applications (as given by the repeat count) of
       this octet specification.  This character can be any character
       other than a decimal digit and a `*'.

   Output of a display separator character or a repeat terminator
   character is suppressed if it would occur as the last character of
   the display.

   If the octets of the value are exhausted before all the octet format
   specification have been used, then the excess specifications are
   ignored.  If additional octets remain in the value after interpreting
   all the octet format specifications, then the last octet format
   specification is re-interpreted to process the additional octets,
   until no octets remain in the value.

   Note that for some types no format specifications are defined.  For
   derived types and attributes that are based on such types, format
   specifications SHOULD be omitted.  Implementations MUST ignore format
   specifications they cannot interpret.  Also note that the SMIng
   grammar (Appendix B) does not specify the syntax of format
   specifications.

   Display Format Examples:

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     Base Type   Format              Example Value    Rendered Value
     ----------- ------------------- ---------------- -----------------
     OctetString 255a                "Hello World."   Hello World.
     OctetString 1x:                 "Hello!"         48:65:6c:6c:6f:21
     OctetString 1d:1d:1d.1d,1a1d:1d 0x0d1e0f002d0400 13:30:15.0,-4:0
     OctetString 1d.1d.1d.1d/2d      0x0a0000010400   10.0.0.1/1024
     OctetString *1x:/1x:            0x02aabbccddee   aa:bb/cc:dd:ee
     Integer32   d-2                 1234             12.34

4. The SMIng File Structure

   The topmost container of SMIng information is a file.  An SMIng file
   may contain zero, one or more modules.  It is RECOMMENDED to separate
   modules into files named by their modules, where possible.  However,
   for dedicated purposes it may be reasonable to collect several
   modules in a single file.

   The top level SMIng construct is the `module' statement (Section 5)
   that defines a single SMIng module.  A module contains a sequence of
   sections in an obligatory order with different kinds of definitions.
   Whether these sections contain statements or remain empty mainly
   depends on the purpose of the module.

4.1 Comments

   Comments can be included at any position in an SMIng file, except
   between the characters of a single token like those of a quoted
   string.  However, it is RECOMMENDED that all substantive descriptions
   be placed within an appropriate description clause, so that the
   information is available to SMIng parsers.

   Comments commence with a pair of adjacent slashes `//' and end at the
   end of the line.

4.2 Textual Data

   Some statements, namely `organization', `contact', `description',
   `reference', `abnf', `format', and `units', get a textual argument.
   This text, as well as representations of OctetString values, have to
   be enclosed in double quotes.  They may contain arbitrary characters
   with the following exceptional encoding rules:

   A backslash character introduces a special character, which depends
   on the character that immediately follows the backslash:

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       \n      new line
       \t      a tab character
       \"      a double quote
       \\      a single backslash

   If the text contains a line break followed by whitespace which is
   used to indent the text according to the layout in the SMIng file,
   this prefixing whitespace is stripped from the text.

4.3 Statements and Arguments

   SMIng has a very small set of basic grammar rules based on the
   concept of statements.  Each statement starts with a lower-case
   keyword identifying the statement followed by a number (possibly
   zero) of arguments.  An argument may be quoted text, an identifier, a
   value of any base type, a list of identifiers enclosed in parenthesis
   `( )' or a statement block enclosed in curly braces `{ }'.  Since
   statement blocks are valid arguments, it is possible to nest
   statement sequences.  Each statement is terminated by a semicolon
   `;'.

   The core set of statements may be extended using the SMIng
   `extension' statement.  See Section 6 and Section 11 for details.

   At places where a statement is expected, but an unknown lower-case
   word is read, those statements MUST be skipped up to the proper
   semicolon, including nested statement blocks.

5. The module Statement

   The `module' statement is used as a container of all definitions of a
   single SMIng module.  It gets two arguments: an upper-case module
   name and a statement block that contains mandatory and optional
   statements and sections of statements in an obligatory order:

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           module <MODULE-NAME> {

               <optional import statements>
               <organization statement>
               <contact statement>
               <description statement>
               <optional reference statement>
               <at least one revision statement>

               <optional extension statements>

               <optional typedef statements>

               <optional identity statements>

               <optional class statements>

           };

   The optional `import' statements (Section 5.1) are followed by the
   mandatory `organization' (Section 5.2), `contact' (Section 5.3), and
   `description' (Section 5.4) statements and the optional `reference'
   statement (Section 5.5), which in turn are followed by at least one
   mandatory `revision' statement (Section 5.6).  The part up to this
   point defines the module's meta information, i.e., information that
   describes the whole module but which does not define any items used
   by applications in the first instance.  This part of a module is
   followed by its main definitions, namely SMIng extensions (Section
   6), derived types (Section 7), identities (Section 8), and classes
   (Section 9).

   See the `moduleStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B) for
   the formal syntax of the `module' statement.

5.1 The module's import Statement

   The optional module's `import' statement is used to import
   identifiers from external modules into the local module's namespace.
   It gets two arguments: the name of the external module and a
   comma-separated list of one or more identifiers to be imported
   enclosed in parenthesis.

   Multiple `import' statements for the same module but with disjoint
   lists of identifiers are allowed, though NOT RECOMMENDED.  Anyhow,
   the same identifier from the same module MUST NOT be imported
   multiple times.  To import identifiers with the same name from
   different modules might be necessary and is allowed.  To distinguish
   them in the local module, they have to be referred by qualified

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   names.  It is NOT RECOMMENDED to import identifiers not used in the
   local module.

   See the `importStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B) for
   the formal syntax of the `import' statement.

5.2 The module's organization Statement

   The module's `organization' statement, which must be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a textual description of the
   organization(s) under whose auspices this module was developed.

5.3 The module's contact Statement

   The module's `contact' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify the name, postal address, telephone
   number, and electronic mail address of the person to whom technical
   queries concerning this module should be sent.

5.4 The module's description Statement

   The module's `description' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify a high-level textual description of
   the contents of this module.

5.5 The module's reference Statement

   The module's `reference' statement, which need not be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a textual cross-reference to
   some other document, either another module which defines related
   management information, or some other document which provides
   additional information relevant to this module.

5.6 The module's revision Statement

   The module's `revision' statement is repeatedly used to specify the
   editorial revisions of the module, including the initial revision.
   It gets one argument which is a statement block that holds detailed
   information in an obligatory order.  A module MUST have at least one
   initial `revision' statement.  For every editorial change, a new one
   MUST be added in front of the revisions sequence, so that all
   revisions are in reverse chronological order.

   See the `revisionStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B)
   for the formal syntax of the `revision' statement.

5.6.1 The revision's date Statement

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   The revision's `date' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify the date and time of the revision
   in the format `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM' or `YYYY-MM-DD' which implies the
   time `00:00'.  The time is always given in UTC.

   See the `date' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B) for the formal
   syntax of the revision's `date' statement.

5.6.2 The revision's description Statement

   The revision's `description' statement, which must be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a high-level textual
   description of the revision.

5.7 Usage Example

   Consider how a skeletal module might be constructed:

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   module ACME-MIB {

     import NMRG-SMING (DisplayString);

     organization
               "IRTF Network Management Research Group (NMRG)";

     contact   "IRTF Network Management Research Group (NMRG)
                http://www.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de/projects/nmrg/

                Joe L. User

                ACME, Inc.
                42 Anywhere Drive
                Nowhere, CA 95134
                USA

                Phone: +1 800 555 0815
                EMail: joe@acme.example.com";

     description
               "The module for entities implementing the ACME protocol.

                Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).
                All Rights Reserved.
                This version of this MIB module is part of RFC xxx1,
                see the RFC itself for legal notices.";

     revision {
       date            "2003-12-16";
       description
               "Initial revision, published as RFC xxx1.";
     };

     // ... further definitions ...

   }; // end of module ACME-MIB.

6. The extension Statement

   The `extension' statement is used to define new statements to be used
   in the local module following this extension statement definition or
   in external modules that may import this extension statement
   definition.  The `extension' statement gets two arguments: a
   lower-case extension statement identifier and a statement block that
   holds detailed extension information in an obligatory order.

   Extension statement identifiers SHOULD NOT contain any upper-case

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   characters.

   Note that the SMIng extension feature does not allow to formally
   specify the context, argument syntax and semantics of an extension.
   Its only purpose is to declare the existence of an extension and to
   allow a unique reference to an extension.  See Section 11 for
   detailed information on extensions and [RFCxxx2] for mappings of
   SMIng definitions to SNMP which is formally defined as an extension.

   See the `extensionStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B)
   for the formal syntax of the `extension' statement.

6.1 The extension's status Statement

   The extension's `status' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify whether this extension definition
   is current or historic.  The value `current' means that the
   definition is current and valid.  The value `obsolete' means the
   definition is obsolete and should not be implemented and/or can be
   removed if previously implemented.  While the value `deprecated' also
   indicates an obsolete definition, it permits new/continued
   implementation in order to foster interoperability with older/
   existing implementations.

6.2 The extension's description Statement

   The extension's `description' statement, which must be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a high-level textual
   description of the extension statement.

   It is RECOMMENDED to include information on the extension's context,
   its semantics, and implementation conditions.  See also Section 11.

6.3 The extension's reference Statement

   The extension's `reference' statement, which need not be present,
   gets one argument which is used to specify a textual cross-reference
   to some other document, either another module which defines related
   extension definitions, or some other document which provides
   additional information relevant to this extension.

6.4 The extension's abnf Statement

   The extension's `abnf' statement, which need not be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify a formal ABNF [RFC2234] grammar
   definition of the extension.  This grammar can reference rule names
   from the core SMIng grammar (Appendix B).

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   Note that the `abnf' statement should contain only pure ABNF and no
   additional text, though comments prefixed by semicolon are allowed
   but should probably be moved to the description statement.  Note that
   double quotes within the ABNF grammar have to be represented as `\"'
   according to Section 4.2.

6.5 Usage Example

   extension severity {
     status  current;
     description
            "The optional severity extension statement can only
             be applied to the statement block of an SMIng class'
             event definition. If it is present it denotes the
             severity level of the event in a range from 0
             (emergency) to 7 (debug).";
     abnf
            "severityStatement = severityKeyword sep number optsep \";\"
             severityKeyword   = \"severity\"";
   };

7. The typedef Statement

   The `typedef' statement is used to define new data types to be used
   in the local module or in external modules.  It gets two arguments:
   an upper-case type identifier and a statement block that holds
   detailed type information in an obligatory order.

   Type identifiers SHOULD NOT consist of all upper-case characters and
   SHOULD NOT contain hyphens.

   See the `typedefStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B) for
   the formal syntax of the `typedef' statement.

7.1 The typedef's type Statement

   The typedef's `type' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify the type from which this type is
   derived.  Optionally, type restrictions may be applied to the new
   type by appending subtyping information according to the rules of the
   base type.  See Section 3 for SMIng base types and their type
   restrictions.

7.2 The typedef's default Statement

   The typedef's `default' statement, which need not be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify an acceptable default value for
   attributes of this type.  A default value may be used when an

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   attribute instance is created.  That is, the value is a "hint" to
   implementors.

   The value of the `default' statement must, of course, correspond to
   the (probably restricted) type specified in the typedef's `type'
   statement.

   The default value of a type may be overwritten by a default value of
   an attribute of this type.

   Note that for some types, default values make no sense.

7.3 The typedef's format Statement

   The typedef's `format' statement, which need not be present, gets one
   argument which is used to give a hint as to how the value of an
   instance of an attribute of this type might be displayed.  See
   Section 3.13 for a description of format specifications.

   If no format is specified, it is inherited from the type given in the
   `type' statement.  On the other hand, the format specification of a
   type may be semantically refined by a format specification of an
   attribute of this type.

7.4 The typedef's units Statement

   The typedef's `units' statement, which need not be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify a textual definition of the units
   associated with attributes of this type.

   If no units are specified, they are inherited from the type given in
   the `type' statement.  On the other hand, the units specification of
   a type may be semantically refined by a units specification of an
   attribute of this type.

   The units specification has to be appropriate for values displayed
   according to the typedef's format specification, if present.  E.g.,
   if the type defines frequency values of type Unsigned64 measured in
   thousands of Hertz, the format specification should be `d-3' and the
   units specification should be `Hertz' or `Hz'.  If the format
   specification would be omitted, the units specification should be
   `Milli-Hertz' or `mHz'.  Authors of SMIng modules should pay
   attention to keep format and units specifications synced.
   Application implementors MUST NOT implement units specifications
   without implementing format specifications.

7.5 The typedef's status Statement

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   The typedef's `status' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify whether this type definition is
   current or historic.  The value `current' means that the definition
   is current and valid.  The value `obsolete' means the definition is
   obsolete and should not be implemented and/or can be removed if
   previously implemented.  While the value `deprecated' also indicates
   an obsolete definition, it permits new/continued implementation in
   order to foster interoperability with older/existing implementations.

   Derived types SHOULD NOT be defined as `current' if their underlying
   type is `deprecated' or `obsolete'.  Similarly, they SHOULD NOT be
   defined as `deprecated' if their underlying type is `obsolete'.
   Nevertheless, subsequent revisions of the underlying type cannot be
   avoided, but SHOULD be taken into account in subsequent revisions of
   the local module.

7.6 The typedef's description Statement

   The typedef's `description' statement, which must be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a high-level textual
   description of the newly defined type.

   It is RECOMMENDED to include all semantic definitions necessary for
   implementation, and to embody any information which would otherwise
   be communicated in any commentary annotations associated with this
   type definition.

7.7 The typedef's reference Statement

   The typedef's `reference' statement, which need not be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a textual cross-reference to
   some other document, either another module which defines related type
   definitions, or some other document which provides additional
   information relevant to this type definition.

7.8 Usage Examples

   typedef RptrOperStatus {
     type            Enumeration (other(1), ok(2), rptrFailure(3),
                                  groupFailure(4), portFailure(5),
                                  generalFailure(6));
     default         other;       // undefined by default.
     status          deprecated;
     description
             "A type to indicate the operational state
              of a repeater.";
     reference
             "[IEEE 802.3 Mgt], 30.4.1.1.5, aRepeaterHealthState.";

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   };

   typedef SnmpTransportDomain {
     type            Pointer (snmpTransportDomain);
     status          current;
     description
             "A pointer to an SNMP transport domain identity.";
   };

   typedef DateAndTime {
     type            OctetString (8 | 11);
     format          "2d-1d-1d,1d:1d:1d.1d,1a1d:1d";
     status          current;
     description
             "A date-time specification.
              ...
              Note that if only local time is known, then timezone
              information (fields 8-10) is not present.";
     reference
             "RFC 2579, SNMPv2-TC.DateAndTime.";
   };

   typedef Frequency {
     type            Unsigned64;
     format          "d-3"
     units           "Hertz";
     status          current;
     description
             "A wide-range frequency specification measured
              in thousands of Hertz.";
   };

8. The identity Statement

   The `identity' statement is used to define a new abstract and untyped
   identity.  Its only purpose is to denote its name, semantics and
   existence.  An identity can be defined either from scratch or derived
   from a parent identity.  The `identity' statement gets the following
   two arguments: The first argument is a lower-case identity
   identifier.  The second argument is a statement block that holds
   detailed identity information in an obligatory order.

   See the `identityStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B)
   for the formal syntax of the `identity' statement.

8.1 The identity's parent Statement

   The identity's `parent' statement must be present for a derived

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   identity and must be absent for an identity defined from scratch.  It
   gets one argument which is used to specify the parent identity from
   which this identity shall be derived.

8.2 The identity's status Statement

   The identity's `status' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify whether this identity definition is
   current or historic.  The value `current' means that the definition
   is current and valid.  The value `obsolete' means the definition is
   obsolete and should not be implemented and/or can be removed if
   previously implemented.  While the value `deprecated' also indicates
   an obsolete definition, it permits new/continued implementation in
   order to foster interoperability with older/existing implementations.

   Derived identities SHOULD NOT be defined as `current' if their parent
   identity is `deprecated' or `obsolete'.  Similarly, they SHOULD NOT
   be defined as `deprecated' if their parent identity is `obsolete'.
   Nevertheless, subsequent revisions of the parent identity cannot be
   avoided, but SHOULD be taken into account in subsequent revisions of
   the local module.

8.3 The identity' description Statement

   The identity's `description' statement, which must be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a high-level textual
   description of the newly defined identity.

   It is RECOMMENDED to include all semantic definitions necessary for
   implementation, and to embody any information which would otherwise
   be communicated in any commentary annotations associated with this
   identity definition.

8.4 The identity's reference Statement

   The identity's `reference' statement, which need not be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a textual cross-reference to
   some other document, either another module which defines related
   identity definitions, or some other document which provides
   additional information relevant to this identity definition.

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8.5 Usage Examples

   identity null {
     status  current;
     description
             "An identity used to represent null pointer values.";
   };

   identity snmpTransportDomain {
     status  current;
     description
             "A generic SNMP transport domain identity.";
   };

   identity snmpUDPDomain {
     parent  snmpTransportDomain;
     status  current;
     description
             "The SNMP over UDP transport domain.";
   };

9. The class Statement

   The `class' statement is used to define a new class, that represents
   a container of related attributes and events (Section 9.2, Section
   9.4).  A class can be defined either from scratch or derived from a
   parent class.  A derived class inherits all attributes and events of
   the parent class and can be extended by additional attributes and
   events.

   The `class' statement gets the following two arguments: The first
   argument is an upper-case class identifier.  The second argument is a
   statement block that holds detailed class information in an
   obligatory order.

   See the `classStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B) for
   the formal syntax of the `class' statement.

9.1 The class' extends Statement

   The class' `extends' statement must be present for a class derived
   from a parent class and must be absent for a class defined from
   scratch.  It gets one argument which is used to specify the parent
   class from which this class shall be derived.

9.2 The class' attribute Statement

   The class' `attribute' statement, which can be present zero, one or

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   multiple times, gets two arguments: the attribute name and a
   statement block that holds detailed attribute information in an
   obligatory order.

9.2.1 The attribute's type Statement

   The attribute's `type' statement must be present.  It gets at least
   one argument which is used to specify the type of the attribute:
   either a type name or a class name.  In case of a type name, it may
   be restricted by a second argument according to the restriction rules
   described in Section 3.

9.2.2 The attribute's access Statement

   The attribute's `access' statement must be present for attributes
   typed by a base type or derived type, and must be absent for
   attributes typed by a class.  It gets one argument which is used to
   specify whether it makes sense to read and/or write an instance of
   the attribute, or to include its value in an event.  This is the
   maximal level of access for the attribute.  This maximal level of
   access is independent of any administrative authorization policy.

   The value `readwrite' indicates that read and write access makes
   sense.  The value `readonly' indicates that read access makes sense,
   but write access is never possible.  The value `eventonly' indicates
   an object which is accessible only via an event.

   These values are ordered, from least to greatest access level:
   `eventonly', `readonly', `readwrite'.

9.2.3 The attribute's default Statement

   The attribute's `default' statement need not be present for
   attributes typed by a base type or derived type, and must be absent
   for attributes typed by a class.  It gets one argument which is used
   to specify an acceptable default value for this attribute.  A default
   value may be used when an attribute instance is created.  That is,
   the value is a "hint" to implementors.

   The value of the `default' statement must, of course, correspond to
   the (probably restricted) type specified in the attribute's `type'
   statement.

   The attribute's default value overrides the default value of the
   underlying type definition if both are present.

9.2.4 The attribute's format Statement

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   The attribute's `format' statement need not be present for attributes
   typed by a base type or derived type, and must be absent for
   attributes typed by a class.  It gets one argument which is used to
   give a hint as to how the value of an instance of this attribute
   might be displayed.  See Section 3.13 for a description of format
   specifications.

   The attribute's format specification overrides the format
   specification of the underlying type definition if both are present.

9.2.5 The attribute's units Statement

   The attribute's `units' statement need not be present for attributes
   typed by a base type or derived type, and must be absent for
   attributes typed by a class.  It gets one argument which is used to
   specify a textual definition of the units associated with this
   attribute.

   The attribute's units specification overrides the units specification
   of the underlying type definition if both are present.

   The units specification has to be appropriate for values displayed
   according to the attribute's format specification if present.  E.g.,
   if the attribute represents a frequency value of type Unsigned64
   measured in thousands of Hertz, the format specification should be
   `d-3' and the units specification should be `Hertz' or `Hz'.  If the
   format specification would be omitted the units specification should
   be `Milli-Hertz' or `mHz'.  Authors of SMIng modules should pay
   attention to keep format and units specifications of type and
   attribute definitions synced.  Application implementors MUST NOT
   implement units specifications without implementing format
   specifications.

9.2.6 The attribute's status Statement

   The attribute's `status' statement must be present.  It gets one
   argument which is used to specify whether this attribute definition
   is current or historic.  The value `current' means that the
   definition is current and valid.  The value `obsolete' means the
   definition is obsolete and should not be implemented and/or can be
   removed if previously implemented.  While the value `deprecated' also
   indicates an obsolete definition, it permits new/continued
   implementation in order to foster interoperability with older/
   existing implementations.

   Attributes SHOULD NOT be defined as `current' if their type or their
   containing class is `deprecated' or `obsolete'.  Similarly, they
   SHOULD NOT be defined as `deprecated' if their type or their

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   containting class is `obsolete'.  Nevertheless, subsequent revisions
   of used type definition cannot be avoided, but SHOULD be taken into
   account in subsequent revisions of the local module.

9.2.7 The attribute's description Statement

   The attribute's `description' statement, which must be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a high-level textual
   description of this attribute.

   It is RECOMMENDED to include all semantic definitions necessary for
   the implementation of this attribute.

9.2.8 The attribute's reference Statement

   The attribute's `reference' statement, which need not be present,
   gets one argument which is used to specify a textual cross-reference
   to some other document, either another module which defines related
   attribute definitions, or some other document which provides
   additional information relevant to this attribute definition.

9.3 The class' unique Statement

   The class' `unique' statement, which need not be present, gets one
   argument that specifies a comma-separated list of attributes of this
   class, enclosed in parenthesis.  If present, this list of attributes
   makes up a unique identification of all possible instances of this
   class.  It can be used as a unique key in underlying protocols.

   If the list is empty the class should be regarded as a scalar class
   with only a single instance.

   If the `unique' statement is not present the class is not meant to be
   instantiated directly, but just to be contained in other classes or
   to be the parent class of other refining classes.

   If present, the attribute list MUST NOT contain any attribute more
   than once and the attributes should be ordered where appropriate so
   that the attributes that are most significant in most situations
   appear first.

9.4 The class' event Statement

   The class' `event' statement is used to define an event related to an
   instance of this class that can occur asynchronously.  It gets two
   arguments: a lower-case event identifier and a statement block that
   holds detailed information in an obligatory order.

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   See the `eventStatement' rule of the SMIng grammar (Appendix B) for
   the formal syntax of the `event' statement.

9.4.1 The event's status Statement

   The event's `status' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify whether this event definition is
   current or historic.  The value `current' means that the definition
   is current and valid.  The value `obsolete' means the definition is
   obsolete and should not be implemented and/or can be removed if
   previously implemented.  While the value `deprecated' also indicates
   an obsolete definition, it permits new/continued implementation in
   order to foster interoperability with older/existing implementations.

9.4.2 The event's description Statement

   The event's `description' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify a high-level textual description of
   this event.

   It is RECOMMENDED to include all semantic definitions necessary for
   the implementation of this event.  In particular, it SHOULD be
   documented which instance of the class is associated with an event of
   this type.

9.4.3 The event's reference Statement

   The event's `reference' statement, which need not be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a textual cross-reference to
   some other document, either another module which defines related
   event definitions, or some other document which provides additional
   information relevant to this event definition.

9.5 The class' status Statement

   The class' `status' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify whether this class definition is
   current or historic.  The value `current' means that the definition
   is current and valid.  The value `obsolete' means the definition is
   obsolete and should not be implemented and/or can be removed if
   previously implemented.  While the value `deprecated' also indicates
   an obsolete definition, it permits new/continued implementation in
   order to foster interoperability with older/existing implementations.

   Derived classes SHOULD NOT be defined as `current' if their parent
   class is `deprecated' or `obsolete'.  Similarly, they SHOULD NOT be
   defined as `deprecated' if their parent class is `obsolete'.
   Nevertheless, subsequent revisions of the parent class cannot be

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   avoided, but SHOULD be taken into account in subsequent revisions of
   the local module.

9.6 The class' description Statement

   The class' `description' statement, which must be present, gets one
   argument which is used to specify a high-level textual description of
   the newly defined class.

   It is RECOMMENDED to include all semantic definitions necessary for
   implementation, and to embody any information which would otherwise
   be communicated in any commentary annotations associated with this
   class definition.

9.7 The class's reference Statement

   The class's `reference' statement, which need not be present, gets
   one argument which is used to specify a textual cross-reference to
   some other document, either another module which defines related
   class definitions, or some other document which provides additional
   information relevant to this class definition.

9.8 Usage Example

   Consider how an event might be described that signals a status change
   of an interface:

   class Interface {
     // ...
     attribute speed {
       type        Gauge32;
       access      readonly;
       units       "bps";
       status      current;
       description
            "An estimate of the interface's current bandwidth
             in bits per second.";
     };
     // ...
     attribute adminStatus {
       type        AdminStatus;
       access      readwrite;
       status      current;
       description
            "The desired state of the interface.";
     };
     attribute operStatus {
       type        OperStatus;

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       access      readonly;
       status      current;
       description
            "The current operational state of the interface.";
     };

     event linkDown {
       status      current;
       description
               "A linkDown event signifies that the ifOperStatus
                attribute for this interface instance is about to
                enter the down state from some other state (but not
                from the notPresent state).  This other state is
                indicated by the included value of ifOperStatus.";
     };

     status        current;
     description
               "A physical or logical network interface.";

   };

10. Extending a Module

   As experience is gained with a module, it may be desirable to revise
   that module.  However, changes are not allowed if they have any
   potential to cause interoperability problems between an
   implementation using an original specification and an implementation
   using an updated specification(s).

   For any change, some statements near the top of the module MUST be
   updated to include information about the revision: specifically, a
   new `revision' statement (Section 5.6) must be included in front of
   the `revision' statements.  Furthermore, any necessary changes MUST
   be applied to other statements, including the `organization' and
   `contact' statements (Section 5.2, Section 5.3).

   Note that any definition contained in a module is available to be
   imported by any other module, and is referenced in an `import'
   statement via the module name.  Thus, a module name MUST NOT be
   changed.  Specifically, the module name (e.g., `ACME-MIB' in the
   example of Section 5.7) MUST NOT be changed when revising a module
   (except to correct typographical errors), and definitions MUST NOT be
   moved from one module to another.

   Also note, that obsolete definitions MUST NOT be removed from modules
   since their identifiers may still be referenced by other modules.

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   A definition may be revised in any of the following ways:

   o  In `typedef' statement blocks, a `type' statement containing an
      `Enumeration' or `Bits' type may have new named numbers added.

   o  In `typedef' statement blocks, the value of a `type' statement may
      be replaced by another type if the new type is derived (directly
      or indirectly) from the same base type, has the same set of
      values, and has identical semantics.

   o  In `attribute' statements where the `type' sub-statement specifies
      a class, the class may be replaced by another class if the new
      class is derived (directly or indirectly) from the base class and
      both classes have identical semantics.

   o  In `attribute' statements where the `type' sub-statement specifies
      a base type, a defined type, or an implicitly derived type (i.e.
      not a class), that type may be replaced by another type if the new
      type is derived (directly or indirectly) from the same base type,
      has the same set of values, and has identical semantics.

   o  In any statement block, a `status' statement value of `current'
      may be revised as `deprecated' or `obsolete'.  Similarly, a
      `status' statement value of `deprecated' may be revised as
      `obsolete'.  When making such a change, the `description'
      statement SHOULD be updated to explain the rationale.

   o  In `typedef' and `attribute' statement blocks, a `default'
      statement may be added or updated.

   o  In `typedef' and `attribute' statement blocks, a `units' statement
      may be added.

   o  A class may be augmented by adding new attributes.

   o  In any statement block, clarifications and additional information
      may be included in the `description' statement.

   o  In any statement block, a `reference' statement may be added or
      updated.

   o  Entirely new extensions, types, identities, and classes may be
      defined, using previously unassigned identifiers.

   Otherwise, if the semantics of any previous definition are changed
   (i.e., if a non-editorial change is made to any definition other than
   those specifically allowed above), then this MUST be achieved by a
   new definition with a new identifier.  In case of a class where the

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   semantics of any attributes are changed, the new class can be defined
   by derivation from the old class and refining the changed attributes.

   Note that changing the identifier associated with an existing
   definition is considered a semantic change, as these strings may be
   used in an `import' statement.

11. SMIng Language Extensibility

   While the core SMIng language has a well defined set of statements
   (Section 5 through Section 9.4) that are used to specify those
   aspects of management information commonly regarded as necessary
   without management protocol specific information, there may be
   further information, people wish to express.  To describe additional
   information informally in description statements has the disadvantage
   that this information cannot be parsed by any program.

   SMIng allows modules to include statements that are unknown to a
   parser but fulfill some core grammar rules (Section 4.3).
   Furthermore, additional statements may be defined by the `extension'
   statement (Section 6).  Extensions can be used in the local module or
   in other modules, that import the extension.  This has some
   advantages:

   o  A parser can differentiate between statements known as extensions
      and unknown statements.  This enables the parser to complain about
      unknown statements, e.g.  due to typos.

   o  If an extension's definition contains a formal ABNF grammar
      definition and a parser is able to interpret this ABNF definition,
      this enables the parser also to complain about wrong usage of an
      extension.

   o  Since, there might be some common need for extensions, there is a
      relatively high probability of extension name collisions
      originated by different organizations, as long as there is no
      standardized extension for that purpose.  The requirement to
      explicitly import extension statements allows to distinguish those
      extensions.

   o  The supported extensions of an SMIng implementation, e.g.  an
      SMIng module compiler, can be clearly expressed.

   The only formal effect of an extension statement definition is to
   declare its existence and its status, and optionally its ABNF
   grammar.  All additional aspects SHOULD be described in the
   `description' statement:

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   o  The detailed semantics of the new statement SHOULD be described.

   o  The contexts in which the new statement can be used, SHOULD be
      described, e.g., a new statement may be designed to be used only
      in the statement block of a module, but not in other nested
      statement blocks.  Others may be applicable in multiple contexts.
      In addition, the point in the sequence of an obligatory order of
      other statements, where the new statement may be inserted, might
      be prescribed.

   o  The circumstances that make the new statement mandatory or
      optional SHOULD be described.

   o  The syntax of the new statement SHOULD at least be described
      informally, if not supplied formally in an `abnf' statement.

   o  It might be reasonable to give some suggestions under which
      conditions the implementation of the new statement is adequate and
      how it could be integrated into existent implementations.

   Some possible extension applications are:

   o  The formal mapping of SMIng definitions into the SNMP [RFCxxx2]
      framework is defined as an SMIng extension.  Other mappings may
      follow in the future.

   o  Inlined annotations to definitions.  E.g., a vendor may wish to
      describe additional information to class and attribute definitions
      in private modules.  An example are severity levels of events in
      the statement block of an `event' statement.

   o  Arbitrary annotations to external definitions.  E.g., a vendor may
      wish to describe additional information to definitions in a
      "standard" module.  This allows a vendor to implement "standard"
      modules as well as additional private features, without redundant
      module definitions, but on top of "standard" module definitions.

12. Security Considerations

   This document defines a language with which to write and read
   descriptions of management information.  The language itself has no
   security impact on the Internet.

13. Acknowledgements

   Since SMIng started as a close successor of SMIv2, some paragraphs
   and phrases are directly taken from the SMIv2 specifications

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   [RFC2578], [RFC2579], [RFC2580] written by Jeff Case, Keith
   McCloghrie, David Perkins, Marshall T.  Rose, Juergen Schoenwaelder,
   and Steven L.  Waldbusser.

   The authors would like to thank all participants of the 7th NMRG
   meeting held in Schloss Kleinheubach from 6-8 September 2000, which
   was a major step towards the current status of this memo, namely
   Heiko Dassow, David Durham, Keith McCloghrie, and Bert Wijnen.

   Furthmore, several discussions within the SMING Working Group
   reflected experience with SMIv2 and influenced this specification at
   some points.

Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", RFC 2119, BCP 14, March 1997.

   [RFC2234]  Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
              Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997.

Informative References

   [RFC3216]  Elliott, C., Harrington, D., Jason, J., Schoenwaelder, J.,
              Strauss, F. and W. Weiss, "SMIng Objectives", RFC 3216,
              December 2001.

   [RFCxxx2]  Strauss, F. and J. Schoenwaelder, "SMIng Extension for
              SNMP Mappings", draft-irtf-nmrg-sming-snmp-05.txt,
              December 2003.

   [RFC2578]  McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
              Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Structure of Management
              Information Version 2 (SMIv2)", RFC 2578, STD 58, April
              1999.

   [RFC2579]  McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
              Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Textual Conventions for
              SMIv2", RFC 2579, STD 59, April 1999.

   [RFC2580]  McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
              Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Conformance Statements for
              SMIv2", RFC 2580, STD 60, April 1999.

   [RFC3159]  McCloghrie, K., Fine, M., Seligson, J., Chan, K., Hahn,
              S., Sahita, R., Smith, A. and F. Reichmeyer, "Structure of
              Policy Provisioning Information (SPPI)", RFC 3159, August
              2001.

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   [RFC1155]  Rose, M. and K. McCloghrie, "Structure and Identification
              of Management Information for TCP/IP-based Internets", RFC
              1155, STD 16, May 1990.

   [RFC1212]  Rose, M. and K. McCloghrie, "Concise MIB Definitions", RFC
              1212, STD 16, March 1991.

   [RFC1215]  Rose, M., "A Convention for Defining Traps for use with
              the SNMP", RFC 1215, March 1991.

   [ASN1]     International Organization for Standardization,
              "Specification of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)",
              International Standard 8824, December 1987.

   [RFC3411]  Harrington, D., Presuhn, R. and B. Wijnen, "An
              Architecture for Describing Simple Network Management
              Protocol (SNMP) Management Frameworks", RFC 3411, STD 62,
              December 2002.

   [IEEE754]  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, "IEEE
              Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic", ANSI/IEEE
              Standard 754-1985, August 1985.

   [RFC2279]  Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
              10646", RFC 2279, January 1998.

Authors' Addresses

   Frank Strauss
   TU Braunschweig
   Muehlenpfordtstrasse 23
   38106 Braunschweig
   Germany

   Phone: +49 531 391 3266
   EMail: strauss@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de
   URI:   http://www.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de/

   Juergen Schoenwaelder
   International University Bremen
   P.O. Box 750 561
   28725 Bremen
   Germany

   Phone: +49 421 200 3587
   EMail: j.schoenwaelder@iu-bremen.de

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   URI:   http://www.eecs.iu-bremen.de/

Appendix A. NMRG-SMING Module

   Most SMIng modules are built on top of the definitions of some
   commonly used derived types.  The definitions of these derived types
   are contained in the NMRG-SMING module which is defined below.  Its
   derived types are generally applicable for modelling all areas of
   management information.  Among these derived types are counter types,
   string types and date and time related types.

   This module is derived from RFC 2578 [RFC2578] and RFC 2579
   [RFC2579].

   module NMRG-SMING {

       organization    "IRTF Network Management Research Group (NMRG)";

       contact         "IRTF Network Management Research Group (NMRG)
                        http://www.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de/projects/nmrg/

                        Frank Strauss
                        TU Braunschweig
                        Muehlenpfordtstrasse 23
                        38106 Braunschweig
                        Germany
                        Phone: +49 531 391 3266
                        EMail: strauss@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de

                        Juergen Schoenwaelder
                        International University Bremen
                        P.O. Box 750 561
                        28725 Bremen
                        Germany
                        Phone: +49 421 200 3587
                        EMail: j.schoenwaelder@iu-bremen.de";

       description     "Core type definitions for SMIng. Several
                        type definitions are SMIng versions of
                        similar SMIv2 or SPPI definitions.

                        Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).
                        All Rights Reserved.
                        This version of this module is part of
                        RFC xxx1, see the RFC itself for full
                        legal notices.";

       revision {

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           date        "2003-12-16";
           description "Initial revision, published as RFC XXXX.";
       };

       typedef Gauge32 {
           type        Unsigned32;
           description
              "The Gauge32 type represents a non-negative integer,
               which may increase or decrease, but shall never
               exceed a maximum value, nor fall below a minimum
               value.  The maximum value can not be greater than
               2^32-1 (4294967295 decimal), and the minimum value
               can not be smaller than 0.  The value of a Gauge32
               has its maximum value whenever the information
               being modeled is greater than or equal to its
               maximum value, and has its minimum value whenever
               the information being modeled is smaller than or
               equal to its minimum value.  If the information
               being modeled subsequently decreases below
               (increases above) the maximum (minimum) value, the
               Gauge32 also decreases (increases).";
           reference
              "RFC 2578, Sections 2. and 7.1.7.";
       };

       typedef Counter32 {
           type        Unsigned32;
           description
              "The Counter32 type represents a non-negative integer
               which monotonically increases until it reaches a
               maximum value of 2^32-1 (4294967295 decimal), when it
               wraps around and starts increasing again from zero.

               Counters have no defined `initial' value, and thus, a
               single value of a Counter has (in general) no information
               content.  Discontinuities in the monotonically increasing
               value normally occur at re-initialization of the
               management system, and at other times as specified in the
               description of an attribute using this type.  If such
               other times can occur, for example, the creation of a
               class instance that contains an attribute of type
               Counter32 at times other than re-initialization, then a
               corresponding attribute should be defined, with an
               appropriate type, to indicate the last discontinuity.
               Examples of appropriate types include: TimeStamp32,
               TimeStamp64, DateAndTime, TimeTicks32 or TimeTicks64
               (other types defined in this module).

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               The value of the access statement for attributes with
               a type value of Counter32 should be either `readonly'
               or `eventonly'.

               A default statement should not be used for attributes
               with a type value of Counter32.";
           reference
              "RFC 2578, Sections 2. and 7.1.6.";
       };

       typedef Gauge64 {
           type        Unsigned64;
           description
              "The Gauge64 type represents a non-negative integer,
               which may increase or decrease, but shall never
               exceed a maximum value, nor fall below a minimum
               value.  The maximum value can not be greater than
               2^64-1 (18446744073709551615), and the minimum value
               can not be smaller than 0.  The value of a Gauge64
               has its maximum value whenever the information
               being modeled is greater than or equal to its
               maximum value, and has its minimum value whenever
               the information being modeled is smaller than or
               equal to its minimum value.  If the information
               being modeled subsequently decreases below
               (increases above) the maximum (minimum) value, the
               Gauge64 also decreases (increases).";
       };

       typedef Counter64 {
           type        Unsigned64;
           description
              "The Counter64 type represents a non-negative integer
               which monotonically increases until it reaches a
               maximum value of 2^64-1 (18446744073709551615), when
               it wraps around and starts increasing again from zero.

               Counters have no defined `initial' value, and thus, a
               single value of a Counter has (in general) no
               information content.  Discontinuities in the
               monotonically increasing value normally occur at
               re-initialization of the management system, and at
               other times as specified in the description of an
               attribute using this type.  If such other times can
               occur, for example, the creation of a class
               instance that contains an attribute of type Counter32
               at times other than re-initialization, then
               a corresponding attribute should be defined, with an

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               appropriate type, to indicate the last discontinuity.
               Examples of appropriate types include: TimeStamp32,
               TimeStamp64, DateAndTime, TimeTicks32 or TimeTicks64
               (other types defined in this module).

               The value of the access statement for attributes with
               a type value of Counter64 should be either `readonly'
               or `eventonly'.

               A default statement should not be used for attributes
               with a type value of Counter64.";
           reference
              "RFC 2578, Sections 2. and 7.1.10.";
       };

       typedef Opaque {
           type        OctetString;
           status      obsolete;
           description
              "******* THIS TYPE DEFINITION IS OBSOLETE *******

               The Opaque type is provided solely for
               backward-compatibility, and shall not be used for
               newly-defined attributes and derived types.

               The Opaque type supports the capability to pass
               arbitrary ASN.1 syntax.  A value is encoded using
               the ASN.1 Basic Encoding Rules into a string of
               octets.  This, in turn, is encoded as an
               OctetString, in effect `double-wrapping' the
               original ASN.1 value.

               Note that a conforming implementation need only be
               able to accept and recognize opaquely-encoded data.
               It need not be able to unwrap the data and then
               interpret its contents.

               A requirement on `standard' modules is that no
               attribute may have a type value of Opaque and no
               type may be derived from the Opaque type.";
           reference
              "RFC 2578, Sections 2. and 7.1.9.";
       };

       typedef IpAddress {
           type        OctetString (4);
           status      deprecated;
           description

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              "******* THIS TYPE DEFINITION IS DEPRECATED *******

               The IpAddress type represents a 32-bit Internet
               IPv4 address.  It is represented as an OctetString
               of length 4, in network byte-order.

               Note that the IpAddress type is present for
               historical reasons.";
           reference
              "RFC 2578, Sections 2. and 7.1.5.";
       };

       typedef TimeTicks32 {
           type        Unsigned32;
           description
              "The TimeTicks32 type represents a non-negative integer
               which represents the time, modulo 2^32 (4294967296
               decimal), in hundredths of a second between two epochs.
               When attributes are defined which use this type, the
               description of the attribute identifies both of the
               reference epochs.

               For example, the TimeStamp32 type (defined in this
               module) is based on the TimeTicks32 type.";
           reference
              "RFC 2578, Sections 2. and 7.1.8.";
       };

       typedef TimeTicks64 {
           type        Unsigned64;
           description
              "The TimeTicks64 type represents a non-negative integer
               which represents the time, modulo 2^64
               (18446744073709551616 decimal), in hundredths of a second
               between two epochs.  When attributes are defined which use
               this type, the description of the attribute identifies
               both of the reference epochs.

               For example, the TimeStamp64 type (defined in this
               module) is based on the TimeTicks64 type.";
       };

       typedef TimeStamp32 {
           type        TimeTicks32;
           description
              "The value of an associated TimeTicks32 attribute at
               which a specific occurrence happened.  The specific
               occurrence must be defined in the description of any

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               attribute defined using this type.  When the specific
               occurrence occurred prior to the last time the
               associated TimeTicks32 attribute was zero, then the
               TimeStamp32 value is zero.  Note that this requires all
               TimeStamp32 values to be reset to zero when the value of
               the associated TimeTicks32 attribute reaches 497+ days
               and wraps around to zero.

               The associated TimeTicks32 attribute should be specified
               in the description of any attribute using this type.
               If no TimeTicks32 attribute has been specified, the
               default scalar attribute sysUpTime is used.";
           reference
              "RFC 2579, Section 2.";
       };

       typedef TimeStamp64 {
           type        TimeTicks64;
           description
              "The value of an associated TimeTicks64 attribute at which
               a specific occurrence happened.  The specific occurrence
               must be defined in the description of any attribute
               defined using this type.  When the specific occurrence
               occurred prior to the last time the associated TimeTicks64
               attribute was zero, then the TimeStamp64 value is zero.
               The associated TimeTicks64 attribute must be specified in
               the description of any attribute using this
               type. TimeTicks32 attributes must not be used as
               associated attributes.";
       };

       typedef TimeInterval32 {
           type        Integer32 (0..2147483647);
           description
              "A period of time, measured in units of 0.01 seconds.

               The TimeInterval32 type uses Integer32 rather than
               Unsigned32 for compatibility with RFC 2579.";
           reference
              "RFC 2579, Section 2.";
       };

       typedef TimeInterval64 {
           type        Integer64;
           description
              "A period of time, measured in units of 0.01 seconds.
               Note that negative values are allowed.";
       };

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       typedef DateAndTime {
           type        OctetString (8 | 11);
           default     0x0000000000000000000000;
           format      "2d-1d-1d,1d:1d:1d.1d,1a1d:1d";
           description
              "A date-time specification.

               field  octets  contents                  range
               -----  ------  --------                  -----
                1      1-2   year*                     0..65535
                2       3    month                     1..12 | 0
                3       4    day                       1..31 | 0
                4       5    hour                      0..23
                5       6    minutes                   0..59
                6       7    seconds                   0..60
                             (use 60 for leap-second)
                7       8    deci-seconds              0..9
                8       9    direction from UTC        '+' / '-'
                9      10    hours from UTC*           0..13
               10      11    minutes from UTC          0..59

               * Notes:
               - the value of year is in big-endian encoding
               - daylight saving time in New Zealand is +13

               For example, Tuesday May 26, 1992 at 1:30:15 PM EDT would
               be displayed as:

                            1992-5-26,13:30:15.0,-4:0

               Note that if only local time is known, then timezone
               information (fields 8-10) is not present.

               The two special values of 8 or 11 zero bytes denote an
               unknown date-time specification.";
           reference
              "RFC 2579, Section 2.";
       };

       typedef TruthValue {
           type        Enumeration (true(1), false(2));
           description
              "Represents a boolean value.";
           reference
              "RFC 2579, Section 2.";
       };

       typedef PhysAddress {

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           type        OctetString;
           format      "1x:";
           description
              "Represents media- or physical-level addresses.";
           reference
              "RFC 2579, Section 2.";
       };

       typedef MacAddress {
           type        OctetString (6);
           format      "1x:";
           description
              "Represents an IEEE 802 MAC address represented in the
               `canonical' order defined by IEEE 802.1a, i.e., as if it
               were transmitted least significant bit first, even though
               802.5 (in contrast to other 802.x protocols) requires MAC
               addresses to be transmitted most significant bit first.";
           reference
              "RFC 2579, Section 2.";
       };

       // The DisplayString definition below does not impose a size
       // restriction and is thus not the same as the DisplayString
       // definition in RFC 2579. The DisplayString255 definition is
       // provided for mapping purposes.

       typedef DisplayString {
           type        OctetString;
           format      "1a";
           description
              "Represents textual information taken from the NVT ASCII
               character set, as defined in pages 4, 10-11 of RFC 854.

               To summarize RFC 854, the NVT ASCII repertoire specifies:

                - the use of character codes 0-127 (decimal)

                - the graphics characters (32-126) are interpreted as
                  US ASCII

                - NUL, LF, CR, BEL, BS, HT, VT and FF have the special
                  meanings specified in RFC 854

                - the other 25 codes have no standard interpretation

                - the sequence 'CR LF' means newline

                - the sequence 'CR NUL' means carriage-return

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                - an 'LF' not preceded by a 'CR' means moving to the
                  same column on the next line.

                - the sequence 'CR x' for any x other than LF or NUL is
                  illegal.  (Note that this also means that a string may
                  end with either 'CR LF' or 'CR NUL', but not with CR.)
           ";
       };

       typedef DisplayString255 {
           type        DisplayString (0..255);
           description
              "A DisplayString with a maximum length of 255 characters.
               Any attribute defined using this syntax may not exceed 255
               characters in length.

               The DisplayString255 type has the same semantics as the
               DisplayString textual convention defined in RFC 2579.";
           reference
              "RFC 2579, Section 2.";
       };

       // The Utf8String and Utf8String255 definitions below facilitate
       // internationalization. The definition is consistent with the
       // definition of SnmpAdminString in RFC 2571.

       typedef Utf8String {
           type        OctetString;
           format      "65535t";      // is there a better way ?
           description
              "A human readable string represented using the ISO/IEC IS
               10646-1 character set, encoded as an octet string using
               the UTF-8 transformation format described in RFC 2279.

               Since additional code points are added by amendments to
               the 10646 standard from time to time, implementations must
               be prepared to encounter any code point from 0x00000000 to
               0x7fffffff.  Byte sequences that do not correspond to the
               valid UTF-8 encoding of a code point or are outside this
               range are prohibited.

               The use of control codes should be avoided. When it is
               necessary to represent a newline, the control code
               sequence CR LF should be used.

               The use of leading or trailing white space should be
               avoided.

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               For code points not directly supported by user interface
               hardware or software, an alternative means of entry and
               display, such as hexadecimal, may be provided.

               For information encoded in 7-bit US-ASCII, the UTF-8
               encoding is identical to the US-ASCII encoding.

               UTF-8 may require multiple bytes to represent a single
               character / code point; thus the length of a Utf8String in
               octets may be different from the number of characters
               encoded.  Similarly, size constraints refer to the number
               of encoded octets, not the number of characters
               represented by an encoding.";
       };

       typedef Utf8String255 {
           type        Utf8String (0..255);
           format      "255t";
           description
              "A Utf8String with a maximum length of 255 octets.  Note
               that the size of an Utf8String is measured in octets, not
               characters.";
       };

       identity null {
           description
              "An identity used to represent null pointer values.";
       };

   };

Appendix B. SMIng ABNF Grammar

    The SMIng grammar conforms to the Augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF)
   [RFC2234].

   ;;
   ;; sming.abnf -- SMIng grammar in ABNF notation (RFC 2234).
   ;;
   ;; @(#) $Id: sming.abnf,v 1.33 2003/10/23 19:31:55 strauss Exp $
   ;;
   ;; Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
   ;;

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   smingFile               = optsep *(moduleStatement optsep)

   ;;
   ;; Statement rules.
   ;;

   moduleStatement         = moduleKeyword sep ucIdentifier optsep
                                 "{" stmtsep
                                 *(importStatement stmtsep)
                                 organizationStatement stmtsep
                                 contactStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(referenceStatement stmtsep)
                                 1*(revisionStatement stmtsep)
                                 *(extensionStatement stmtsep)
                                 *(typedefStatement stmtsep)
                                 *(identityStatement stmtsep)
                                 *(classStatement stmtsep)
                             "}" optsep ";"

   extensionStatement      = extensionKeyword sep lcIdentifier optsep
                                 "{" stmtsep
                                 statusStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(referenceStatement stmtsep)
                                 *1(abnfStatement stmtsep)
                             "}" optsep ";"

   typedefStatement        = typedefKeyword sep ucIdentifier optsep
                                 "{" stmtsep
                                 typedefTypeStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(defaultStatement stmtsep)
                                 *1(formatStatement stmtsep)
                                 *1(unitsStatement stmtsep)
                                 statusStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(referenceStatement stmtsep)
                             "}" optsep ";"

   identityStatement       = identityStmtKeyword sep lcIdentifier optsep
                                 "{" stmtsep
                                 *1(parentStatement stmtsep)
                                 statusStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(referenceStatement stmtsep)
                             "}" optsep ";"

   classStatement          = classKeyword sep ucIdentifier optsep

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                                 "{" stmtsep
                                 *1(extendsStatement stmtsep)
                                 *(attributeStatement stmtsep)
                                 *1(uniqueStatement stmtsep)
                                 *(eventStatement stmtsep)
                                 statusStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(referenceStatement stmtsep)
                             "}" optsep ";"

   attributeStatement      = attributeKeyword sep
                                 lcIdentifier optsep
                                 "{" stmtsep
                                 typeStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(accessStatement stmtsep)
                                 *1(defaultStatement stmtsep)
                                 *1(formatStatement stmtsep)
                                 *1(unitsStatement stmtsep)
                                 statusStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(referenceStatement stmtsep)
                             "}" optsep ";"

   uniqueStatement         = uniqueKeyword optsep
                                 "(" optsep qlcIdentifierList
                                 optsep ")" optsep ";"

   eventStatement          = eventKeyword sep lcIdentifier
                                 optsep "{" stmtsep
                                 statusStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                                 *1(referenceStatement stmtsep)
                             "}" optsep ";"

   importStatement         = importKeyword sep ucIdentifier optsep
                                 "(" optsep
                                 identifierList optsep
                             ")" optsep ";"

   revisionStatement       = revisionKeyword optsep "{" stmtsep
                                 dateStatement stmtsep
                                 descriptionStatement stmtsep
                             "}" optsep ";"

   typedefTypeStatement    = typeKeyword sep refinedBaseType optsep ";"

   typeStatement           = typeKeyword sep
                             (refinedBaseType / refinedType) optsep ";"

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   parentStatement         = parentKeyword sep qlcIdentifier optsep ";"

   extendsStatement        = extendsKeyword sep qucIdentifier optsep ";"

   dateStatement           = dateKeyword sep date optsep ";"

   organizationStatement   = organizationKeyword sep text optsep ";"

   contactStatement        = contactKeyword sep text optsep ";"

   formatStatement         = formatKeyword sep format optsep ";"

   unitsStatement          = unitsKeyword sep units optsep ";"

   statusStatement         = statusKeyword sep status optsep ";"

   accessStatement         = accessKeyword sep access optsep ";"

   defaultStatement        = defaultKeyword sep anyValue optsep ";"

   descriptionStatement    = descriptionKeyword sep text optsep ";"

   referenceStatement      = referenceKeyword sep text optsep ";"

   abnfStatement           = abnfKeyword sep text optsep ";"

   ;;
   ;;
   ;;

   refinedBaseType         = ObjectIdentifierKeyword /
                             OctetStringKeyword *1(optsep numberSpec) /
                             PointerKeyword *1(optsep pointerSpec) /
                             Integer32Keyword *1(optsep numberSpec) /
                             Unsigned32Keyword *1(optsep numberSpec) /
                             Integer64Keyword *1(optsep numberSpec) /
                             Unsigned64Keyword *1(optsep numberSpec) /
                             Float32Keyword *1(optsep floatSpec) /
                             Float64Keyword *1(optsep floatSpec) /
                             Float128Keyword *1(optsep floatSpec) /
                             EnumerationKeyword
                                         optsep namedSignedNumberSpec /
                             BitsKeyword optsep namedNumberSpec

   refinedType             = qucIdentifier *1(optsep anySpec)

   anySpec                 = pointerSpec / numberSpec / floatSpec

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   pointerSpec             = "(" optsep qlcIdentifier optsep ")"

   numberSpec              = "(" optsep numberElement
                                 *furtherNumberElement
                                 optsep ")"

   furtherNumberElement    = optsep "|" optsep numberElement

   numberElement           = signedNumber *1numberUpperLimit

   numberUpperLimit        = optsep ".." optsep signedNumber

   floatSpec               = "(" optsep floatElement
                                 *furtherFloatElement
                                 optsep ")"

   furtherFloatElement     = optsep "|" optsep floatElement

   floatElement            = floatValue *1floatUpperLimit

   floatUpperLimit         = optsep ".." optsep floatValue

   namedNumberSpec         = "(" optsep namedNumberList optsep ")"

   namedNumberList         = namedNumberItem
                                 *(optsep "," optsep namedNumberItem)

   namedNumberItem         = lcIdentifier optsep "(" optsep number
                                 optsep ")"

   namedSignedNumberSpec   = "(" optsep namedSignedNumberList optsep ")"

   namedSignedNumberList   = namedSignedNumberItem
                                 *(optsep "," optsep
                                              namedSignedNumberItem)

   namedSignedNumberItem   = lcIdentifier optsep "(" optsep signedNumber
                                 optsep ")"

   identifierList          = identifier
                                 *(optsep "," optsep identifier)

   qIdentifierList         = qIdentifier
                                 *(optsep "," optsep qIdentifier)

   qlcIdentifierList       = qlcIdentifier
                                 *(optsep "," optsep qlcIdentifier)

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   bitsValue               = "(" optsep bitsList optsep ")"

   bitsList                = *1(lcIdentifier
                                 *(optsep "," optsep lcIdentifier))

   ;;
   ;; Other basic rules.
   ;;

   identifier              = ucIdentifier / lcIdentifier

   qIdentifier             = qucIdentifier / qlcIdentifier

   ucIdentifier            = ucAlpha *63(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")

   qucIdentifier           = *1(ucIdentifier "::") ucIdentifier

   lcIdentifier            = lcAlpha *63(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")

   qlcIdentifier           = *1(ucIdentifier "::") lcIdentifier

   attrIdentifier          = lcIdentifier *("." lcIdentifier)

   qattrIdentifier         = *1(ucIdentifier ".") attrIdentifier

   cattrIdentifier         = ucIdentifier "."
                                 lcIdentifier *("." lcIdentifier)

   qcattrIdentifier        = qucIdentifier "."
                                 lcIdentifier *("." lcIdentifier)

   text                    = textSegment *(optsep textSegment)

   textSegment             = DQUOTE *textAtom DQUOTE
                             ; See Section 4.2.

   textAtom                = textVChar / HTAB / SP / lineBreak

   date                    = DQUOTE 4DIGIT "-" 2DIGIT "-" 2DIGIT
                                 *1(" " 2DIGIT ":" 2DIGIT)
                                 DQUOTE
                             ; always in UTC

   format                  = textSegment

   units                   = textSegment

   anyValue                = bitsValue /

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                             signedNumber /
                             hexadecimalNumber /
                             floatValue /
                             text /
                             objectIdentifier
                             ; Note: `objectIdentifier' includes the
                             ; syntax of enumeration labels and
                             ; identities.
                             ; They are not named literally to
                             ; avoid reduce/reduce conflicts when
                             ; building LR parsers based on this
                             ; grammar.

   status                  = currentKeyword /
                             deprecatedKeyword /
                             obsoleteKeyword

   access                  = eventonlyKeyword /
                             readonlyKeyword /
                             readwriteKeyword

   objectIdentifier        = (qlcIdentifier / subid "." subid)
                                 *127("." subid)

   subid                   = decimalNumber

   number                  = hexadecimalNumber / decimalNumber

   negativeNumber          = "-" decimalNumber

   signedNumber            = number / negativeNumber

   decimalNumber           = "0" / (nonZeroDigit *DIGIT)

   zeroDecimalNumber       = 1*DIGIT

   hexadecimalNumber       = %x30 %x78 ; "0x" with x only lower-case
                             1*(HEXDIG HEXDIG)

   floatValue              = neginfKeyword /
                             posinfKeyword /
                             snanKeyword /
                             qnanKeyword /
                             signedNumber "." zeroDecimalNumber
                                 *1("E" ("+"/"-") zeroDecimalNumber)

   ;;
   ;; Rules to skip unknown statements

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   ;; with arbitrary arguments and blocks.
   ;;

   unknownStatement        = unknownKeyword optsep *unknownArgument
                                 optsep ";"

   unknownArgument         = ("(" optsep unknownList optsep ")") /
                             ("{" optsep *unknownStatement optsep "}") /
                             qucIdentifier /
                             anyValue /
                             anySpec

   unknownList             = namedNumberList /
                             qIdentifierList

   unknownKeyword          = lcIdentifier

   ;;
   ;; Keyword rules.
   ;;
   ;; Typically, keywords are represented by tokens returned from the
   ;; lexical analyzer.  Note, that the lexer has to be stateful to
   ;; distinguish keywords from identifiers depending on the context
   ;; position in the input stream.
   ;;

   moduleKeyword       =  %x6D %x6F %x64 %x75 %x6C %x65
   importKeyword       =  %x69 %x6D %x70 %x6F %x72 %x74
   revisionKeyword     =  %x72 %x65 %x76 %x69 %x73 %x69 %x6F %x6E
   dateKeyword         =  %x64 %x61 %x74 %x65
   organizationKeyword =  %x6F %x72 %x67 %x61 %x6E %x69 %x7A %x61 %x74
                          %x69 %x6F %x6E
   contactKeyword      =  %x63 %x6F %x6E %x74 %x61 %x63 %x74
   descriptionKeyword  =  %x64 %x65 %x73 %x63 %x72 %x69 %x70 %x74 %x69
                          %x6F %x6E
   referenceKeyword    =  %x72 %x65 %x66 %x65 %x72 %x65 %x6E %x63 %x65
   extensionKeyword    =  %x65 %x78 %x74 %x65 %x6E %x73 %x69 %x6F %x6E
   typedefKeyword      =  %x74 %x79 %x70 %x65 %x64 %x65 %x66
   typeKeyword         =  %x74 %x79 %x70 %x65
   parentKeyword       =  %x70 %x61 %x72 %x65 %x6E %x74
   identityStmtKeyword =  %x69 %x64 %x65 %x6E %x74 %x69 %x74 %x79
   classKeyword        =  %x63 %x6C %x61 %x73 %x73
   extendsKeyword      =  %x65 %x78 %x74 %x65 %x6E %x64 %x73
   attributeKeyword    =  %x61 %x74 %x74 %x72 %x69 %x62 %x75 %x74 %x65
   uniqueKeyword       =  %x75 %x6E %x69 %x71 %x75 %x65
   eventKeyword        =  %x65 %x76 %x65 %x6E %x74
   formatKeyword       =  %x66 %x6F %x72 %x6D %x61 %x74
   unitsKeyword        =  %x75 %x6E %x69 %x74 %x73

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   statusKeyword       =  %x73 %x74 %x61 %x74 %x75 %x73
   accessKeyword       =  %x61 %x63 %x63 %x65 %x73 %x73
   defaultKeyword      =  %x64 %x65 %x66 %x61 %x75 %x6C %x74
   abnfKeyword         =  %x61 %x62 %x6E %x66

   ;; Base type keywords.

   OctetStringKeyword  =  %x4F %x63 %x74 %x65 %x74 %x53 %x74 %x72 %x69
                          %x6E %x67
   PointerKeyword      =  %x50 %x6F %x69 %x6E %x74 %x65 %x72
   ObjectIdentifierKeyword  =  %x4F %x62 %x6A %x65 %x63 %x74 %x49 %x64
                          %x65 %x6E %x74 %x69 %x66 %x69 %x65 %x72
   Integer32Keyword    =  %x49 %x6E %x74 %x65 %x67 %x65 %x72 %x33 %x32
   Unsigned32Keyword   =  %x55 %x6E %x73 %x69 %x67 %x6E %x65 %x64 %x33
                          %x32
   Integer64Keyword    =  %x49 %x6E %x74 %x65 %x67 %x65 %x72 %x36 %x34
   Unsigned64Keyword   =  %x55 %x6E %x73 %x69 %x67 %x6E %x65 %x64 %x36
                          %x34
   Float32Keyword      =  %x46 %x6C %x6F %x61 %x74 %x33 %x32
   Float64Keyword      =  %x46 %x6C %x6F %x61 %x74 %x36 %x34
   Float128Keyword     =  %x46 %x6C %x6F %x61 %x74 %x31 %x32 %x38
   BitsKeyword         =  %x42 %x69 %x74 %x73
   EnumerationKeyword  =  %x45 %x6E %x75 %x6D %x65 %x72 %x61 %x74 %x69
                          %x6F %x6E

   ;; Status keywords.

   currentKeyword      =  %x63 %x75 %x72 %x72 %x65 %x6E %x74
   deprecatedKeyword   =  %x64 %x65 %x70 %x72 %x65 %x63 %x61 %x74 %x65
                          %x64
   obsoleteKeyword     =  %x6F %x62 %x73 %x6F %x6C %x65 %x74 %x65

   ;; Access keywords.

   eventonlyKeyword    =  %x65 %x76 %x65 %x6E %x74 %x6F %x6E %x6C %x79
   readonlyKeyword     =  %x72 %x65 %x61 %x64 %x6F %x6E %x6C %x79
   readwriteKeyword    =  %x72 %x65 %x61 %x64 %x77 %x72 %x69 %x74 %x65

   ;; Special floating point values' keywords.

   neginfKeyword       =  %x6E %x65 %x67 %x69 %x6E %x66
   posinfKeyword       =  %x70 %x6F %x73 %x69 %x6E %x66
   snanKeyword         =  %x73 %x6E %x61 %x6E
   qnanKeyword         =  %x71 %x6E %x61 %x6E

   ;;
   ;; Some low level rules.
   ;; These tokens are typically skipped by the lexical analyzer.

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   ;;

   sep                     = 1*(comment / lineBreak / WSP)
                             ; unconditional separator

   optsep                  = *(comment / lineBreak / WSP)

   stmtsep                 = *(comment /
                               lineBreak /
                               WSP /
                               unknownStatement)

   comment                 = "//" *(WSP / VCHAR) lineBreak

   lineBreak               = CRLF / LF

   ;;
   ;; Encoding specific rules.
   ;;

   textVChar               = %x21 / %x23-7E
                             ; any VCHAR except DQUOTE

   ucAlpha                 = %x41-5A

   lcAlpha                 = %x61-7A

   nonZeroDigit            = %x31-39

   ;;
   ;; RFC 2234 core rules.
   ;;

   ALPHA          =  %x41-5A / %x61-7A
                          ; A-Z / a-z

   CR             =  %x0D
                          ; carriage return

   CRLF           =  CR LF
                          ; Internet standard newline

   DIGIT          =  %x30-39
                          ; 0-9

   DQUOTE         =  %x22
                          ; " (Double Quote)

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   HEXDIG         =  DIGIT /
                     %x61 / %x62 / %x63 / %x64 / %x65 / %x66
                          ; only lower-case a..f

   HTAB           =  %x09
                          ; horizontal tab

   LF             =  %x0A
                          ; linefeed

   SP             =  %x20
                          ; space

   VCHAR          =  %x21-7E
                          ; visible (printing) characters

   WSP            =  SP / HTAB
                          ; white space

   ;; End of ABNF

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   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
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Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
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