Mapping between YANG and SDF
draft-kiesewalter-asdf-yang-sdf-00
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| Authors | Jana Kiesewalter , Carsten Bormann | ||
| Last updated | 2021-07-12 | ||
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draft-kiesewalter-asdf-yang-sdf-00
Network Working Group J. Kiesewalter
Internet-Draft Universität Bremen
Intended status: Informational C. Bormann, Ed.
Expires: 13 January 2022 Universität Bremen TZI
12 July 2021
Mapping between YANG and SDF
draft-kiesewalter-asdf-yang-sdf-00
Abstract
YANG and SDF are two languages for modelling the interaction with and
the data interchanged with devices in the network. As their areas of
application (network management, IoT, resp.) overlap, it is useful to
be able to translate between the two.
The present specification provides information about how models in
one of the two languages can be translated into the other. This
specification is not intended to be normative, but to help with
creating translators.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on 13 January 2022.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2021 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
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and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components
extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text
as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Pairing SDF and YANG features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Mapping from YANG to SDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1. Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2. Submodule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3. Container Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4. Leaf Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.5. Leaf-List Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6. List Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.7. Grouping Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.8. Uses Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.9. Choice Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.10. RPC Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.11. Action Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.12. Notification Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.13. Augment Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.14. Anydata and Anyxml Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.15. Type Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.16. String Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.17. Decimal64 Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.18. Integer Built-In Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.19. Boolean Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.20. Binary Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.21. Enumeration Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.22. Bits Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.23. Union Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.24. Leafref and Identityref Built-In Types . . . . . . . . . 22
3.25. Empty Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.26. Instance-Identifier Built-In Type . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.27. Derived Type (Typedef) Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.28. Identity Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.29. Config Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.30. Status Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.31. Reference Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.32. When and Must Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.33. Extension Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4. Mapping from SDF to YANG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1. Information Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2. Namespace Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.3. sdfThing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4. sdfObject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
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4.5. Common Qualities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.6. Data Qualities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.7. sdfData . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.8. sdfProperty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.9. sdfAction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.10. sdfEvent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5. Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.1. Differences in Expressiveness of SDF and YANG . . . . . . 35
5.2. Round Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.3. Type References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6. Implementation Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
7. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
8. Security considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
9.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
9.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1. Introduction
YANG [RFC7950] and SDF [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf] are two languages for
modelling the interaction with and the data interchanged with devices
in the network. As their areas of application (network management,
IoT, resp.) overlap, it is useful to be able to translate between the
two.
The present specification provides information about how models in
one of the two languages can be translated into the other. This
specification is not intended to be normative, but to help with
creating translators.
2. Pairing SDF and YANG features
Table 1 gives an overview over how language features of YANG can be
mapped to SDF features. In many cases, several translations are
possible, and the right choice depends on the context. The mappings
in this draft often accommodate the use of the YANG parser Libyang
[LIBYANG].
For YANG statements that are not mentioned in the table no conversion
to SDF was found that preserves the statement's semantics.
For possible conversions of YANG's built-in types please refer to
Section 3. Please note that a 'type object' is not the same as an
sdfObject but refers to SDF's built-in type 'object', also called
compound-type. This built-in type makes use of the 'properties'
quality which is not to be confused with the sdfProperty class. The
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data types number/decimal64, integer, boolean, string are also
referred to as simple (data) types. In turn, the types array and
object are sometimes referred to as complex (data) types. Concerning
YANG, the expression 'schema tree' refers to the model's tree whereas
'data tree' describes the tree of an instance of the model.
+=================+==============+================================+
| YANG statement | remark on | converted to SDF |
| | YANG | |
| | statement | |
+=================+==============+================================+
| module | | SDF model (i.e., info block, |
| | | namespace section & |
| | | definitions) |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| submodule | included in | integrated into SDF model of |
| | supermodule | supermodule |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | on its own | SDF model |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| container | top-level | sdfObject |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | one level | sdfProperty of type object |
| | below top- | (compound-type) |
| | level | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | on any other | property (type object) of the |
| | level | 'parent' definition of type |
| | | object (compound-type) |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| leaf | on top-level | sdfProperty (type |
| | and one | integer/number/boolean/string) |
| | level below | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | on any other | property (type |
| | level | integer/number/boolean/string) |
| | | of the 'parent' definition of |
| | | type object (compound-type) |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| leaflist | on top-level | sdfProperty of type array |
| | and one | |
| | level below | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | on any other | property (type array) of the |
| | level | 'parent' definition of type |
| | | object (compound-type) |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| list | on top-level | sdfProperty of type array with |
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| | and one | items of type object |
| | level below | (compound-type) |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | on any other | property (type array with |
| | level | items of type object |
| | | (compound-type)) of the |
| | | 'parent' definition of type |
| | | object* (compound-type) |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| choice | | sdfChoice |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| case | belonging to | element of the sdfChoice |
| | choice | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| grouping | | sdfData of compound-type (type |
| | | object) at the top level which |
| | | can then be referenced |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| uses | referencing | sdfRef to the SDF definition |
| | a grouping | corresponding to the |
| | | referenced grouping |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| rpc | | sdfAction at the top-level of |
| | | the SDF model |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| action | | sdfAction of the sdfObject |
| | | corresponding to a container |
| | | the action is a descendant |
| | | node to |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| notification | | sdfEvent |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| anydata | | not converted |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| anyxml | | not converted |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| augment | | augment's target is converted |
| | | with the augmentation already |
| | | applied, mentioned in the |
| | | description |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| type | referring to | type with other data qualities |
| | a built-in | (e.g., default) if necessary |
| | type | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| type | referring to | sdfRef to the corresponding |
| | a typedef | sdfData element |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
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| base | | sdfRef to the sdfData |
| | | definition corresponding the |
| | | the base |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| bit | | 'parent' definition is of |
| | | compound-type and gets one |
| | | entry in the properties |
| | | quality of type boolean for |
| | | each bit |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| enum | | each enum statement's argument |
| | | is added as an element to the |
| | | SDF enum quality's string |
| | | array |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| fraction-digits | | multipleOf quality |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| length | single | minLength/maxLength qualities |
| | length range | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | single value | minLength and maxLength |
| | | qualities set to the same |
| | | value |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | contains | sdfChoice with alternatives |
| | alternatives | for minLength/maxLength |
| | | qualities |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| path | | sdfRef to the corresponding |
| | | SDF definition |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| pattern | single | pattern quality |
| | pattern | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | multiple | pattern quality, the regular |
| | patterns | expressions are combined using |
| | | positive lookahead |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | invert-match | pattern quality, the regular |
| | | expression is modified using |
| | | negative lookahead |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| range | single range | minimum/maximum qualities |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | single value | const quality |
| | (constant) | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | contains | sdfChoice with either minimum/ |
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| | alternatives | maximum or const quality as |
| | | alternatives |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| typedef | | sdfData definition, sdfRef |
| | | where it is used |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| identity | | sdfData definition, sdfRef |
| | | where it is used |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| config | of a | set writable for all elements |
| | container | in the sdfObject that can be |
| | that became | marked as writable (i.e., that |
| | an sdfObject | use the data qualities) |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| | of any other | set writable |
| | YANG element | |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| import | | the module that the import |
| | | references is converted |
| | | (elements can now be |
| | | referenced by sdfRef) and its |
| | | prefix and namespace are added |
| | | the to namespace section |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| revisions | | first revision date becomes |
| | | version in information block |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| namespace | | added to namespace section |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
| prefix | | added to namespace section |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------------+
Table 1: Mapping YANG to SDF
Table 2 provides the inverse mapping.
+=============+=========================+===========================+
| SDF quality | remark on SDF quality | converted to YANG |
+=============+=========================+===========================+
| sdfThing | | container node |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfObject | | container node |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfProperty | type | leaf node |
| | integer/number/boolean/ | |
| | string | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | type array with items | leaf-list node |
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| | of type | |
| | integer/number/boolean/ | |
| | string | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | type array with items | list node |
| | of type object | |
| | (compound-type) | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | type object (compound- | container node |
| | type) | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfAction | at the top-level, *not* | rpc node |
| | part of an sdfObject | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | inside of an sdfObject | action node as child |
| | | node to the container |
| | | corresponding to the |
| | | sdfObject |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfEvent | | notification node with |
| | | child nodes that were |
| | | translated like |
| | | sdfProperty |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfData | type | typedef |
| | integer/number/boolean/ | |
| | string | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | type array with items | grouping node with |
| | of type | leaf-list child node |
| | integer/number/boolean/ | |
| | string | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | type array with items | grouping node with list |
| | of type object | child node |
| | (compound-type) | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | type object (compound- | grouping node |
| | type) | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfRef | referenced definition | type is set to the |
| | was converted to | typedef corresponding |
| | typedef | to the sdfData |
| | | definition |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | referenced definition | leafref |
| | was converted to leaf | |
| | or leaf-list node | |
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+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | referenced definition | "uses" node that |
| | was converted to | references |
| | grouping node | corresponding grouping |
| | | (and refine if |
| | | necessary) |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfRequired | referenced definition | set the mandatory |
| | was converted to a leaf | statement of the |
| | or choice node | corresponding leaf/ |
| | | choice node to true |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | | find the first |
| | | descendant node that is |
| | | either a leaf/choice |
| | | node and set their |
| | | mandatory statement to |
| | | true or that is a leaf- |
| | | list/list node and set |
| | | their min-elements |
| | | statement to 1 (if not |
| | | already >= 0) |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfChoice | | choice node with one |
| | | case node for each |
| | | alternative of the |
| | | sdfChoice, each |
| | | alternative is |
| | | converted like |
| | | sdfProperty |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| type | | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| const | corresponding YANG | range statement with a |
| | element has empty range | single value |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | range not empty | add single value |
| | | alternative to range |
| | | statement (must be |
| | | disjunct) |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| default | type is one of | default statement of |
| | integer/number/boolean/ | leaf/leaf-list nodes |
| | string or array with | |
| | items of these types | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| minimum/ | corresponding YANG | range statement |
| maximum | element has empty range | |
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+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| | range not empty | add range alternative |
| | | to range statement |
| | | (must be disjunct) |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| multipleOf | | fraction-digits |
| | | statement |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| minLength/ | | length statement |
| maxLength | | |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| pattern | | pattern statement |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| minItems/ | | min-elements/max- |
| maxItems | | elements statements |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| uniqueItems | if the 'parent' SDF | unique statement |
| set to true | definition is converted | mentioning all of the |
| | to a list node | leaf/leaf-list nodes in |
| | | the list node's sub- |
| | | tree |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| items | | sub-statements of list/ |
| | | leaf-list node |
| | | corresponding to the |
| | | item quality's 'parent' |
| | | definition |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| properties | | child nodes of |
| | | container/grouping node |
| | | corresponding to the |
| | | properties quality's |
| | | 'parent' definition |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| unit | | units statement |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| enum | | type enumeration with |
| | | enum statements for |
| | | each string in the SDF |
| | | enum quality |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| sdfType | has value 'byte-string' | built-in type 'binary' |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
| writable | | config statement |
+-------------+-------------------------+---------------------------+
Table 2: Mapping SDF to YANG
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3. Mapping from YANG to SDF
This section specifies one possible mapping for each of the YANG
statements to SDF in detail. For reference on the individual YANG
statements see [RFC7950] and [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf] for SDF.
3.1. Module
* YANG: Section 7.1 (module) of [RFC7950]
* SDF:
- Section 3.1 (information block) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
- Sections 3.2 and 4 (namespaces section) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
After conversion the SDF model as a whole corresponds to the YANG
module. The argument of the "namespace" statement of the YANG module
is added to the SDF "namespace section" together with the argument of
the YANG module's "prefix" statement which also becomes the "default
namespace" in the SDF model. Additionally, the namespaces and
prefixes of each of the modules mentioned in the "import" statements
are added to the namespace of the SDF model. Libyang loads the
imported modules automatically and in the correct revision. These
modules are then also converted and stored so their definitions can
be referenced via the "sdfRef" common quality when necessary.
The contents of the "organization", "contact" and "yang-version"
statements are stored alongside the actual "description" of the YANG
module in a special sdfData definition designated to hold information
on the module that does not fit into the SDF information block. This
is done in the way described in Section 5.2 to facilitate round trips
in the future. The module's description is scanned for information
regarding copyright and licensing which are then transferred to the
"copyright" and "license" qualities of the SDF model's information
block. The "version" quality of the SDF model's information block is
set to the first revision date given in the YANG module's "revision"
statement. All other revision dates are ignored as of now.
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YANG modules can define features via the "feature" statement to make
parts of the module conditional. The abilities of a server are
checked against the module's features. Nodes reference features as
an argument to the "if-feature" statement. If a server does not
support a certain feature nodes that reference that feature are
ignored by the server. Since this functionality cannot be
represented in SDF yet, YANG features are stored in the description
of the sdfData definition designated to hold information on the
module. The note that is added to the descriptions looks as
described in Section 5.2.
If the "deviation" statement (introducing a deviation from the
original YANG module) is present in the YANG module Libyang applies
the deviation directly and the converter converts the module that
way. The presence of the deviation in the original YANG module is
not indicated in the resulting SDF model as of now which might cause
inconsistencies after round trips.
3.2. Submodule
* YANG: Section 7.2 (submodule) of [RFC7950]
A sub-module that is included into its super-module via the "include"
statement is integrated into the super-module and converted that way.
This is the simplest option due to the way Libyang represents
included sub-modules. A sub-module that occurs without its super-
module is converted to its own SDF model as described in Section 3.1.
3.3. Container Statement
* YANG: Section 7.5 (container) of [RFC7950]
* SDF:
- Sections 2.2.1 and 5.1 (sdfObject) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
- Sections 2.2.6 and 6.3 (sdfThing) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
YANG uses container nodes to group together other nodes. Containers
on the top-level of a module are converted to sdfObjects. A
container that is a direct child node to a top-level container node
is converted to a compound-type sdfProperty inside of said sdfObject.
Any other container becomes a property of the compound-type
definition corresponding to the container's parent node. Since the
first SDF draft did not contain the compound-type as a possible
argument to the type quality containers used to be translated to
sdfThings. This, however, was not a very fitting conversion
semantically. At that time, sdfThings were the only elements that
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could contain elements of the same class, i.e., sdfThings could
contain other sdfThings. This ability is required to represent the
tree structure of YANG where e.g., containers can contain other
containers. In the next SDF draft the compound-type was introduced.
This feature effectively makes it possible for elements of the
sdfData and sdfProperty classes to contain elements that share the
same qualities. A sub-statement to the container statement that
cannot be represented in SDF as of now is the optional "presence"
statement. The argument of the presence statement assigns a meaning
to the presence or absence of a container node in an instance of the
module. This concept is expressed in the description of the SDF
definition analogously to the container node as shown in Section 5.2.
3.4. Leaf Statement
* YANG: Section 7.6 (leaf) of [RFC7950]
* SDF:
- Sections 2.2.2 and 5.2 (sdfProperty) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
- Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
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Leaf nodes in YANG represent scalar variables. If a leaf node occurs
at the top-level of the module or as a direct child node of a top-
level container (which is converted to sdfObject) it is transformed
to an sdfProperty. On any other level a leaf becomes a property of
the compound-type definition equivalent to the leaf's parent node.
In both cases the SDF "type" data quality is set to one of the simple
data types because leaf nodes can only be of simple data types. Leaf
nodes can be assigned default values which are used in case the leaf
node does not exist in an instance of the YANG module. A leaf's
default value is converted to SDF as the data quality "default". The
"units" sub-statement of a leaf node in YANG becomes the SDF data
quality "unit". This quality is constrained to the SenML unit names.
Although it could cause conformance issues, the content of the YANG
units statement is not processed to fit the SenML unit names as of
now. This is due to the low probability that a unit from a YANG
module is not listed in the SenML unit names in comparison to the
time required to implement a mechanism to check conformance and
convert non-conforming units. This feature might be added in later
versions of the converter, though. YANG leaf nodes can be marked as
mandatory to occur in an instance of the module by the "mandatory"
statement. The statement takes "true" and "false" as arguments.
This can easily be mapped to SDF through the sdfRequired common
quality. A reference to the SDF definition equivalent to the YANG
leaf node marked as mandatory is added to the containing sdfObject's
sdfRequired quality. If the sdfRequired quality does not already
exist in the sdfObject it is added now.
3.5. Leaf-List Statement
* YANG: Section 7.7 (leaf-list) of [RFC7950]
* SDF:
- Sections 2.2.2 and 5.2 (sdfProperty) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
- Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Similarly to leaf nodes, leaf-list nodes hold data of simple types in
YANG but as items in an array. As such, leaf-list definitions are
converted to sdfProperty if they occur on the top-level or one level
below in a module. On any other level a leaf-list becomes a property
of the compound-type definition corresponding to the leaf-list's
parent definition. In both cases the type is set to "array". The
items of the array are of simple data types since leaf-list
definitions can only have simple data types as well. The minimal and
maximal number of elements in a YANG leaf-list can be specified by
the "min-elements" and "max-elements" sub-statements. This is
analogous to SDF's "minItems" and "maxItems" data qualities which are
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set accordingly by the converter. A YANG leaf-list can specify
whether the system or the user is responsible for ordering the leaf-
lists entries. This information is stored in the "ordered-by"
statement in YANG which is represented in SDF by a remark in the
description (as shown in Section 5.2) of the SDF equivalent to the
leaf-list node in question. Since leaf-list nodes are just leaf
nodes that can occur multiple times the "units" and "default"
statements of leaf-list nodes are converted as described in
Section 3.4.
3.6. List Statement
* YANG: Section 7.8 (list) of [RFC7950]
* SDF:
- Sections 2.2.2 and 5.2 (sdfProperty) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
- Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Since list nodes are similar to leaf-list nodes with the difference
that they represent an assortment of nodes that can occur multiple
times they are also converted similarly. List nodes one the top-
level or one level below become sdfProperties. On any other level a
list node is converted to a property of the compound-type definition
corresponding to the list's parent node. The type is set to "array"
for both alternatives. Since lists contain a set of nodes the items
of the corresponding array are of type object. The minimal and
maximal number of elements in a YANG list can be specified by the
"min-elements" and "max-elements" sub-statements. This is analogous
to SDF's "minItems" and "maxItems" data qualities which are set
accordingly by the converter. List nodes in YANG can define one or
multiple keys that identify the list entries via the "key" statement.
There is no SDF quality representing this feature. To preserve the
information the list keys are stored in the description of the SDF
definition analogously to the YANG list node as described in
Section 5.2. The YANG list's "unique" sub-statement defines a list
of descendant leaf nodes of the list that must have a unique
combination of values each. This concept is comparable SDF's
"uniqeItems" data quality. However, the boolean-typed uniqueItems
quality specifies whether all items of an SDF array have to be unique
as opposed to only a selection of unique items in the YANG statement
unique. To mitigate this discrepancy a note is added to the SDF
equivalents of all descendant leaf nodes of a list that are marked as
unique as shown in Section 5.2. Since list nodes are similar to
leaf-list nodes the "ordered-by" statement of a list node is
converted as described in Section 3.5.
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3.7. Grouping Statement
* YANG: Section 7.12 (grouping) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 5.5 (sdfData) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Grouping nodes are very similar to container nodes with the
difference that the set of nodes defined in a grouping do not occur
in the data tree unless the grouping has been referenced one or more
times by "uses" nodes. Thus, a grouping node is converted to a
compound-type sdfData definition which also defines a reusable
definition that is not a declaration.
3.8. Uses Statement
* YANG: Section 7.13 (uses) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.4 (sdfRef) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
A "uses" node has the purpose of referencing a grouping node. The
set of child nodes of the referenced grouping are copied to wherever
the "uses" node is featured. Some of the referenced grouping's sub-
statements can be altered via the refine statement of the "uses"
node. In SDF a "uses" node is represented by the sdfRef quality
which is added to the definition corresponding to the parent node of
the "uses" node. As an argument the sdfRef contains a reference to
the sdfData definition corresponding to the grouping referenced by
the "uses" node. If the "uses" node contains a refine statement its
contents are converted as they would be if they occurred in a node.
3.9. Choice Statement
* YANG: Section 7.9 (choice) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7.2 (sdfChoice) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Conversion of the choice definitions from YANG is quite simple since
it is similar to the sdfChoice quality. A choice definition is
converted to an sdfChoice definition. The case definitions or other
child definitions of the choice become one of the named alternatives
of the resulting sdfChoice each.
3.10. RPC Statement
* YANG: Section 7.14 (rpc) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Sections 2.2.3 and 5.3 (sdfAction) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
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Remote procedure calls (RPCs) can be modelled in YANG with RPC nodes
which have up to one "input" child node holding the commands input
data and up to one "output" node for the output data. In YANG RPCs
can only occur on the top-level because in contrast to actions in
YANG they do not belong to a container. This can easily be
represented by sdfActions. The corresponding sdfAction is not placed
inside an sdfObject or sdfThing but at the top-level of the SDF model
to represent independence from a container. The input node of the
RPC is converted to the sdfInputData quality of the sdfAction which
is of type object. Equivalently the output node of the RPC becomes
the sdfAction's sdfOutputData which is also of type object.
Groupings and typedefs in the RPC are converted to sdfData
definitions inside the sdfAction.
3.11. Action Statement
* YANG: Section 7.15 (action) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Sections 2.2.3 and 5.3 (sdfAction) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Action nodes in YANG work similarly to RPC nodes in the way that they
are used to model operations that can be invoked in the module and
also have up to one input and output child node respectively. As
mentioned before YANG actions are affiliated to a container though.
The representation of this affiliation is not quite trivial because
YANG containers are not translated to sdfObjects in all cases. Only
sdfObjects can have sdfActions, though. If an action occurs in a
container that is a below-top-level container (and thus not converted
to sdfObject) the affiliation cannot be represented directly in SDF
as of now. To keep the semantics of the affiliation a copy of the
contents of the converted container is added to the sdfAction's
sdfInputData. Like for RPC nodes, the input nodes of the action are
converted to the sdfInputData quality of the sdfAction which is of
type object. Equivalently the output nodes of the action become the
sdfAction's sdfOutputData which is also of type object. Groupings
and typedefs in the action node are converted to sdfData definitions
inside the sdfAction.
3.12. Notification Statement
* YANG: Section 7.16 (notification) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Sections 2.2.4 and 5.4 (sdfEvent) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
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In YANG, notification nodes are used to model notification messages.
Notification nodes are converted to sdfEvent definitions. Their
child nodes are converted to the sdfEvent's sdfOutputData which is of
type object. Groupings and typedefs in the notification node are
converted to sdfData definitions inside the sdfEvent.
3.13. Augment Statement
* YANG: Section 7.17 (augment) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.6. (common qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The augment statement can either occur at the top-level of a module
to add nodes to an existing target module or sub-module or in a
"uses" statement to augment the targeted grouping. The conversion of
the augment statement to SDF is not trivial because SDF does not
feature this mechanism directly. Since the tool used to deserialize
YANG modules (Libyang) adds the nodes into the augment statement's
target automatically this is adopted for conversion. The SDF model
or sdfData definition that corresponds to the augment statement's
target is converted with the augmentation already applied. A comment
is added to the description as described in Section 5.2 to preserve
where the augmentation was made from. If the resulting SDF model has
to be converted back to YANG definitions that are marked as
augmentations are converted back accordingly.
3.14. Anydata and Anyxml Statements
* YANG: Sections 7.10 and 7.11 (augment) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.6 (common qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The "anydata" and "anyxml" statements are designated for nodes in the
schema tree whose structure is unknown at the module's design time or
in general. Since this is not a concept that can be represented in
SDF as of now, anydata and anyxml nodes are not converted. To
preserve the information (e.g., for round trips) a comment is added
to the SDF element corresponding to the anydata/anyxml node's parent
node as described in Section 5.2.
3.15. Type Statement
* YANG: Section 7.4 (type) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
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Conversion for the "type" statement from YANG is very straightforward
if the argument is a simple data type since the SDF data qualities
also contain a "type" quality. A derived type used as an argument to
the YANG "type" statement is converted to an "sdfRef" to the
"sdfData" corresponding to that derived type. If the derived type is
restricted (e.g., via the length statement) the restrictions are
converted as they would be for the base type and added to the SDF
definition containing the type in question.
There are multiple sub-statements to the type statement that depend
on its value.
3.16. String Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.4 (string) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The YANG built-in type string is converted to SDF's built-in type
string. Strings in YANG can be restricted regarding their length and
patterns (containing regular expressions).
The length statement can specify either a constant length, a lower
inclusive length, an upper inclusive length or both a lower and upper
inclusive length. A length statement can also specify more than one
disjoint constant length or length ranges. The values "min" and
"max" in a length statement represent the minimum and maximum lengths
accepted for strings. If the length statement in YANG does not
contain a constant value but a length range it is converted to the
"minLength" and "maxLength" data qualities in SDF. If a constant
value is defined through the YANG length statement the "minLength"
and "maxLength" qualities are set to the same value. If the length
statement specifies multiple length ranges or constant values the
sdfChoice quality is used for conversion. The named alternatives of
the sdfChoice contain the single converted length ranges or constant
values each. If the "min" and "max" values are present in the YANG
length statement they are converted to the respective minimum and
maximum lengths accepted for strings.
To represent YANG string patterns the "pattern" data quality of SDF
can be used. One problem in the conversion of patterns is that YANG
strings can be restricted by multiple patterns but SDF definitions of
type string can have at most one pattern. To represent multiple
patterns from YANG in SDF the patterns are combined into one regular
expression with the help of positive look-ahead. This, however, does
not always convey the meaning of the original regular expression.
Another issue is the possibility to declare invert-match patterns in
YANG. These types of patterns are converted to SDF by adding
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negative look-ahead to the regular expression. To preserve the
original patterns and to facilitate round trips the original patterns
are stored in the description of the containing definition as
described in Section 5.2.
Another, more general problem regarding the conversion of regular
expressions from YANG to SDF is the fact that YANG uses a regular
expression language as defined by W3C Schema while SDF adopts the one
from JSON Schema. Both regular expression languages share most of
their features but differ in some details. Since this does not cause
problems in most cases and regarding the time constraints of this
thesis, this issue is not given any further attention beyond what was
stated in this paragraph. There is, however, a project of the IETF
Network Working Group to create an interoperable regular expression
format I-Regexp. Once the work on the draft has progressed the
format might be adopted by the converter.
3.17. Decimal64 Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.3 (decimal64) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The decimal64 built-in type of YANG is converted to the number type
in SDF. A decimal64 type in YANG has a mandatory "fraction-digits"
sub-statement that specifies the possible number of digits after the
decimal separator. The value of the fraction-digits statement is
converted to the "multipleOf" data quality of SDF which states the
resolution of a number, i.e., the size of the minimal distance
between number values.
A YANG decimal64 type can be restricted by means of the range
statement specifying either a constant value, a lower inclusive
bound, an upper inclusive bound or both a lower and upper inclusive
value. A range statement can also specify more than one disjoint
constant values or ranges. The values "min" and "max" in a range
represent the minimum and maximum values of the type in question. If
the range statement in YANG contains a range and not a constant value
it is converted to the "minimum" and "maximum" data qualities in SDF.
If a constant value is defined through the YANG range the SDF "const"
data quality is set accordingly. If the range specifies multiple
ranges or constant values, the sdfChoice quality is used for
conversion. The named alternatives of the sdfChoice contain the
single converted ranges or constant values each. If the "min" and
"max" values are present in the YANG range they are converted to the
respective minimum and maximum values for the type in question.
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3.18. Integer Built-In Types
* YANG: Section 9.2 (integer) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
In YANG there are 8 different integer types (int8, uint8, int16,
uint16, int32, uint32, int64, uint64). Each of them is converted to
integer in SDF. A comment specifying the exact type is added as
described in Section 5.2. Additionally, the "minimum" and "maximum"
qualities of the SDF definition the converted type belongs to are set
to the respective minimum and maximum values of the integer type in
question. If the YANG type also specifies a range the minimum and
maximum SDF qualities are altered accordingly. Like the decimal64
YANG built-in type integer types can also be restricted by a range
statement. This range statement is converted as described in
Section 3.17.
3.19. Boolean Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.5 (boolean) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
YANG's boolean built-in type is converted to SDF's boolean type.
There are no further sub-statements to this type in YANG.
3.20. Binary Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.8 (binary) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
If the argument of the YANG type statement is "binary" the SDF type
quality is set to string. In addition, the sdfType quality is set to
"byte-string". A YANG binary can have a sub-statement restricting
its length. This is converted to SDF via the "minLength" and
"maxLength" data qualities. Like the string YANG built-in type
binary types can also be restricted by a length statement. This
length statement is converted as described in Section 3.16
3.21. Enumeration Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.6 (enumeration) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
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The YANG built-in type "enumeration" is used to map string-valued
alternatives to integer values. Additionally, each string can have a
description and other sub-statements. SDF also specifies an "enum"
quality which is used to represent YANG enumerations. Since the SDF
enum quality only holds an array of strings all other information is
stored in the description of the SDF definition the enum belongs to.
3.22. Bits Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.8 (bits) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Since SDF does not specify a built-in type to represent a set of
named bits and their positions like YANG does this YANG built-in type
has to be converted to SDF type object with one property of type
boolean for each bit. The property is named after the bit's name and
the bit's position is stored in the property's description as
described in Section 5.2.
3.23. Union Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.12 (union) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7.2 (sdfChoice) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Although the "union" built-in type of YANG does not exist as a built-
in type in SDF its meaning can be easily represented by the sdfChoice
quality. YANG unions hold a set of alternative types. The
corresponding sdfChoice contains a set of named alternatives each
containing only the SDF type quality and named after the respective
type in the YANG union.
3.24. Leafref and Identityref Built-In Types
* YANG: Section 9.9 (leafref) of [RFC7950] Section 9.10
(identityref) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.4 (sdfRef) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
YANG's built-in types "leafref" and "identityref" are used to
reference a leaf node or identity definition respectively. They are
represented in SDF by the sdfRef quality. As an argument said sdfRef
quality contains a reference to the SDF element corresponding to the
target of the leafref or identityref statement.
3.25. Empty Built-In Type
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* YANG: Section 9.11 (empty) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Another concept that is not contained in SDF directly is that of
YANG's built-in type "empty". YANG elements with this type convey
meaning by their mere existence or non-existence. This is
represented in SDF using the compound-type with an empty set of
properties.
3.26. Instance-Identifier Built-In Type
* YANG: Section 9.13 (instance-identifier) of [RFC7950]
The "instance-indentifier" built-in type of YANG cannot be
represented in SDF as of now since there is currently no possibility
to specify SDF instances. This feature might be added to SDF in the
future, though .
3.27. Derived Type (Typedef) Statement
* YANG: Section 9.3 (typedef) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.4 (sdfRef) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The SDF class "sdfData" is used to represent YANG "typedefs" after
conversion. The usage of a derived type via the "type" statement is
converted to an "sdfRef" to the corresponding sdfData definition. If
a derived type is restricted according to its base type (e.g., with a
range statement) the restrictions are converted as they would be for
the base type and added to the sdfData definition.
3.28. Identity Statement
* YANG: Section 7.18 (identity) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 5.5 (sdfData) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The YANG identity statement is used to denote the name and existence
of an identity. Identities can be based on one ore more other
identities. They are referenced with the "identityref" statement.
This concept is converted to SDF by sdfData definitions for each
identity. If an identity is based on one other identity this is
represented in by an sdfRef to the sdfData element corresponding to
the base identity. If an identity has multiple base identities it is
converted to a compound-type sdfData definition with one property for
each base identity. Each property contains an sdfRef to the sdfData
element corresponding to one of the base identities.
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3.29. Config Statement
* YANG: Section 7.21.1 (config) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The config statement of YANG can have the boolean values "true" or
"false" as arguments. If config is set to true the element
containing the config statement represents readable and writable
configuration data. If config is set to false, the element
containing the config statement represents read-only state data.
This is transferred to SDF via the "readable" and "writable" data
qualities. YANG config with the argument true is converted to
readable and writable being set to true, config with the argument
false is converted as readable set to true and writable set to false.
There are, however, cases in which the SDF definition corresponding
to the YANG element containing the config statement is not one that
can use data qualities (i.e., is not sdfData or sdfProperty). This
is the case if a top-level container which is converted to sdfObject
holds a config statement. In this case, all definitions inside the
sdfObject that can use data qualities have readable and writable set
as described above.
3.30. Status Statement
* YANG: Section 7.21.2 (status) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.6 (common qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The status statement of YANG is used to express whether a definition
is current, deprecated or obsolete which are the three possible
arguments of the statement. In SDF there is no quality with a
similar meaning. Thus, the YANG status statement is represented by a
note in the description of the SDF definition corresponding to the
YANG element the status statement occurred in as described in
Section 5.2.
3.31. Reference Statement
* YANG: Section 7.21.4 (reference) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.6 (common qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
In YANG the reference statement holds a human-readable reference to
an external document related to its containing YANG definition. This
is simply stored in the description of the SDF definition analogously
to the reference statement's parent YANG definition as described in
Section 5.2.
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3.32. When and Must Statements
* YANG: Section 7.5.3 (must) of [RFC7950] Section 7.21.5 (when) of
[RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.6 (common qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
As mentioned before in Section 3.1 YANG provides means to impose
conditions on its definitions. If a node in an instance of the YANG
module has an unfulfilled must or when condition it is invalidated.
Must and when conditions use XML Path Language expressions to
indicate dependencies. This feature is not realizable in SDF as of
now. However, there is a query language similar to XML Path Language
for JSON called JSONPath (CITE!). If SDF adopts JSONPath or
something similar in the future the converter can be extended to
process the functionality of must and when statements.
3.33. Extension Statement
* YANG: Section 7.19 (extension) of [RFC7950]
* SDF: Section 4.6 (common qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
The extension statement in YANG has the purpose of defining new
statements for the YANG language. This is not a concept that can be
transferred to SDF yet and thus has to be stored in the description
of the SDF definition analogously to the extension statement's parent
YANG definition as described in Section 5.2.
4. Mapping from SDF to YANG
In this section the conversion of each element of SDF to YANG is
explained in detail. For reference on the individual YANG statements
see [RFC7950] and [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf] for SDF.
4.1. Information Block
* SDF: Section 3.1 (information block) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG: Section 7.1 (module) of [RFC7950]
At the top of an SDF model the information block holds metadata
(title, version, copyright and license information) about the model.
The content of the "title" quality is used as the name for the YANG
module. For this, the title string has to be modified to only
contain lower case letters, digits and the characters "_", "-" and
".". If the "version" quality contains a date in the format month-
day-year it is analogous to YANG's revision statement and converted
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as such. The strings from the copyright and license qualities are
stored in the description of the resulting YANG module since there
are no dedicated YANG statements equivalent to these qualities.
4.2. Namespace Section
* SDF: Sections 3.2 and 4 (namespaces section) of
[I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG: Section 7.1.3 (namespace) of [RFC7950] Section 7.1.5
(import) of [RFC7950]
The purpose of SDF's namespace section is to specify the namespaces
of the external models whose definitions are used in this model and
possibly the namespace of this model. The namespace section has a
"namespace" quality mapping namespace URIs to a shortened name for
that URI (used as a prefix for external definitions). If an SDF
model is supposed to contribute globally available definitions a
value is given for the "defaultNamespace" quality and mapped to a
namespace URI in the "namespace" quality. To map this to YANG three
of its statements are necessary. To be able to use definitions from
external modules in YANG the modules' names have to be declared by
one "import" statement each. Thus, each external SDF model that is
mentioned in the namespace map is converted to a YANG module as well.
The corresponding SDF model files have to be available in the same
directory as the model file of this model. The external SDF model's
default namespace is represented in the "prefix" sub-statement of the
"import" statement. To represent the own namespace and short name
for it (if present) the YANG "namespace" and "prefix" statements that
are both top-level statements are set accordingly.
4.3. sdfThing
* SDF: Sections 2.2.6 and 6.3 (sdfThing) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG: Section 7.5 (container) of [RFC7950]
An sdfThing definition holds the model of a complex device that can
be made up of one or more sdfObject and/or other sdfThing
definitions. SdfThings are converted to YANG container nodes.
4.4. sdfObject
* SDF: Sections 2.2.1 and 5.1 (sdfObject) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG: Section 7.5 (container) of [RFC7950]
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SdfObject definitions are the main building blocks of an SDF model
grouping together definitions of the classes sdfProperty, sdfData,
sdfAction and sdfEvent. They can also be used as arrays via their
"minItems" and "maxItems" qualities. An sdfObject is mapped to a
YANG container node if it is not defined as an array. Otherwise the
sdfObject is converted to a list node with the "min-elements" and
"max-elements" statements set analogous to the "minItems" and
"maxItems" qualities.
4.5. Common Qualities
* SDF: Section 4.6 (common qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG:
- Section 7.21.3 (description) of [RFC7950]
- Section 7.3 (typedef) of [RFC7950]
- Section 9.9 (leafref) of [RFC7950]
- Section 7.13 (uses) of [RFC7950]
- Section 3 (terminology for mandatory) of [RFC7950]
The set of qualities that is grouped under the name of common
qualities can be used to provide meta data for SDF definitions. The
"description" quality is converted to the YANG description statement.
The "label" quality is ignored because it is identical to the
definitions identifier in most cases.
The "sdfRef" quality is supposed to hold references to other
definitions. The qualities of the referenced definition are copied
into the referencing definition if they are not overwritten in the
referencing definition. The conversion of an sdfRef depends on what
is referenced by it and what that is converted to. If the referenced
definition is converted to a typedef the sdfRef is analogous to the
"type" statement in YANG which points to the typedef. If the
referenced definition is mapped to a leaf or leaf-list node it can be
referenced by the "leafref" built-in type in YANG. If the referenced
definition's equivalent in YANG is a grouping node the sdfRef gets
converted to a "uses" node which points to said grouping. In all
other cases the referenced definition's equivalent cannot be
referenced directly but has first to be packaged in a grouping node.
This is done by first creating a grouping as a sibling node to the
referenced definition's equivalent YANG node and copying the
equivalent node into the new grouping. After that the equivalent
node is replaced it with a "uses" node referencing the grouping.
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This is done to avoid redundancy. Lastly, the actual sdfRef is
represented by another "uses" node referencing the newly created
grouping.
The common quality "sdfRequired" contains a list of SDF declarations
that are mandatory to be present in an instance of the SDF model.
The issue with the conversion of this quality is that in YANG only
leaf and choice nodes (and anyxml and anydata nodes but these are not
used for conversion) can be labelled as mandatory while in SDF all
declarations (i.e., sdfProperties, sdfActions and sdfEvents that
occur in an sdfObject) can be mentioned in the sdfRequired list. Not
all SDF declarations are always converted to YANG leaf or choice
nodes, however. To partially make up for this discrepancy, if the
YANG node equivalent of the mandatory SDF declaration is container
node the node's sub-tree is traversed until a leaf or choice node is
found. This leaf or choice node is labelled as mandatory, now making
its parent container mandatory as well because one of its child nodes
is mandatory. Consequently, if the parent node of the now mandatory
container was a container it would now be mandatory as well.
Alternatively, if a list or leaf-list node is found first the node's
"min-elements" statement is set to one if it is not already set to a
value greater than zero. This also makes a node mandatory. To
facilitate retracing the declaration originally listed in the
"sdfRequired" quality, e.g., for round trips, the "sdf-spec"
extension statement is set as described in Section 5.2.
4.6. Data Qualities
* SDF: Section 4.7 (data qualities) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG:
- Section 7.4.1 (type) of [RFC7950]
The set of qualities labelled as data qualities contains qualities
that SDF borrowed from json-schema.org as well as qualities
specifically defined for SDF. In the first group there is a total of
18 qualities out of which some are interdependent.
The quality that a lot of the other qualities presence or absence
depends on is the "type" quality. The type can be one of "number",
"string", "boolean", "integer", "array" or "object". This quality is
directly converted to the YANG "type" statement for all simple types
(where "number" becomes "decimal64" and integer becomes "int64").
The types "array" and "object" cannot be converted to a YANG built-in
type directly. Instead SDF definitions with these types are
converted as described in sections Section 4.8 and Section 4.7.
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The SDF data quality "const" hold the constant value of a definition
if there is one. If the value of the "type" quality is "number" or
"integer" the "const" quality is mapped to the "range" sub-statement
of YANG's "type" statement which can also contain a single value.
For constant string values the YANG "pattern" statement containing
the constant string is be used. Unfortunately, constant values of
types boolean, array and object have to be ignored since there is no
way to represent them in YANG.
The "default" data quality in SDF holds the default value for its
definition. Since YANG leaf and leaf-list nodes have a "default"
sub-statement SDF default values of simple types or of type array
with items of simple types can easily be represented. Default values
of either compound-type or type array with compound-type items cannot
be represented in YANG, unfortunately.
The data qualities "minimum", "maximum", "exclusiveMinimum" and
"exclusiveMaximum" which are only valid for the types number and
integer are converted using the YANG "range" statement again. For
exclusive boundaries the range is reduced accordingly in YANG. If
the range already contains a constant value an alternative range can
be added. The alternatives in the range have to be disjoint,
however. If the constant value lies inside the range specified by
the "minimum" and "maximum" qualities this cannot be represented
simultaneously in YANG. Whichever of the two qualities is converted
first is represented.
The "multipleOf" data quality is one that can only be used in
conjunction with the number type in SDF and states the resolution,
i.e., the number of possible digits after the decimal separator, of
the decimal number. This quality is converted to the "fraction-
digits" sub-statement to the "type" statement in YANG.
SDF's "minLength" and "maxLength" data qualities are used to hold a
strings minimal and maximal length. This concept can be transferred
to YANG by using the "length" sub-statement of the "type" statement
that specifies a length range.
The SDF "pattern" data quality holds regular expressions for string
typed definitions. This can be converted directly to the "pattern"
sub-statement to the "type" statement in YANG. As already mentioned
in Section 3.16 regular expressions cannot be converted directly
between SDF and YANG in theory due to the differing languages used
for regular expressions. Due to the time limitations of this thesis,
however, no further measures are taken to insure the conformance of
converted regular expressions.
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The string type in SDF can be concertized by the "format" quality.
This quality can specify one of the JSON schema formats. This could
be translated to YANG referencing typedefs from the widely used
"ietf-yang-types" module. However, to not rely on external modules
the format is only mentioned in the description of the YANG
equivalent to the "format" quality's SDF definition.
The length of an array in SDF can be restricted by the "minLength"
and "maxLength" data qualities. Both list and leaf-list nodes use
the sub-statements "min-elements" and "max-elements" to express the
same concept which are used to convert the SDF array length
qualities.
Another restriction for SDF arrays is the "uniqueItems" quality that
can be set to either "true" or "false". If it is set to "true" all
items of an array have to be unique. YANG specifies a "unique" sub-
statement for list nodes but it can only be applied to leaf and leaf-
list nodes in the sub-tree. Thus, if the SDF array in question is
converted to a YANG list node and the "uniqueItems" quality is set to
true, the list's "unique" statement mentions all of the list's
descendant leaf or leaf-list nodes. It is not possible,
unfortunately, to represent the "uniqueItems" quality in leaf-list
nodes that stem from SDF arrays.
The "items" data quality of SDF is a quality that specifies item
constraints for the items of an array-typed SDF definition using a
subset of the common and data qualities. SDF definitions with the
type array are converted to list or leaf-list nodes. These node
types in themselves indicate the type array. Thus, the qualities
defined in the array's item constraints are converted to the list and
leaf-list node's sub-statements as described in this section.
The SDF data qualities include the "properties" quality. These
properties are different from sdfProperties. The "properties"
quality is used in conjunction with the object type and contains a
set of named definitions made up of data qualities themselves. SDF
definitions of type object are converted to container or grouping
nodes thus the single named properties in the "properties" quality
are transformed to the node's child nodes. The SDF type "object" was
only introduced in SDF 1.1. This feature made conversion
significantly more complicated. To label the properties as mandatory
the "required" quality is used. Since it is resembling the
"sdfRequired" quality it is translated in the same way.
The second group of qualities that is part of the data qualities
includes 11 qualities as well as the common qualities described in
Section 4.5.
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The "unit" quality can be set to any of the SenML unit names to
represent an SDF definitions unit. There is also a "unit" statement
as a sub-statement to typedefs, leaf nodes and leaf-list nodes. The
"unit" statement in YANG can contain any string and thus is simply
set to the SenML unit name from the SDF definition.
An important data quality is the "sdfChoice" quality. It represents
the choice between several sets of named definitions made up of data
qualities themselves. YANG provides a very similar statement, the
"choice" statement. An sdfChoice is turned into a YANG choice node.
Each of the sdfChoice's alternatives is converted like an sdfProperty
(see Section 4.8) and added to the choice node inside its own case
node. SdfChoice definitions that give the choice between the "type"
quality could also be mapped to the YANG type union. This is omitted
for reasons of simplicity.
SDF also offers the possibility to define the choice between string
values by means of the "enum" data quality. It consists of an array
of strings. This concept also exists in YANG with the "enumeration"
type and "enum" sub-statement to the "type" statement. For an SDF
definition that contains the "enum" quality the YANG type of its
equivalent is set to "enumeration". Each of the strings in the array
of the "enum" SDF quality is converted to an "enum" entry in the
"type" statement in YANG.
SDF's "contentFormat" quality can provide an additional IANA content
type. This is turned into a note in the description of the SDF
definition's YANG equivalent.
Another way to specify the "type" quality is the "sdfType" quality
that can either be set to "byte-string" or "unix-time". A byte
string is converted to the YANG type "binary". There is no built-in
YANG type corresponding to unix time thus a note is added in the
description of the SDF definition's YANG equivalent.
SDF defines the "readable" and "writable" qualities to flag whether
read or write operations are allowed on definitions. Read operations
are always allowed in YANG modules so a "readable" quality that is
set to false cannot be represented in YANG. YANG's "config"
statement can be used to represent the value of the "writable"
quality, however. If an SDF definition is explicitly marked as
writable "config" is set to "true". Otherwise, it is set to "false".
The "observable" and "nullable" qualities in SDF cannot be
represented in YANG.
4.7. sdfData
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* SDF: Sections 2.2.5 and 5.5 (sdfData) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG:
- Section 7.13 (uses) of [RFC7950]
- Section 7.12 (grouping) of [RFC7950]
Elements of the sdfData class are meant to hold data type definitions
to be shared by sdfProperty, sdfAction and sdfEvent definitions.
SdfData definitions can make use of the data qualities and the common
qualities described in sections Section 4.6 and Section 4.5
respectively. Because an sdfData element embodies a data type
definition, the YANG statements "typedef" and "grouping" have to be
used for conversion. Which of the two is used depends on the value
of the "type" quality of the sdfData element. If the type is one of
the simple data types, i.e., integer, number, boolean or string, the
sdfData definition is converted to a YANG typedef. If the type is
compound-type the sdfData definition is mapped to a grouping node
with each of the compound-type's properties being mapped to a child
node of the grouping. For sdfData definitions with type array the
type mentioned in the "type" quality of the "items" quality is
essential as well. If an array has items of any of the simple types
the resulting YANG element is a grouping node containing a single
leaf-list node. Otherwise, if the array items are compound-types the
sdfData definition is converted into a grouping node containing a
single list node. The list node's child nodes are equivalent to the
compound-type item's properties. One issue with converting sdfData
definitions of type array is the added grouping node that is
necessary to hold the leaf-list/list node. If the grouping is used
in the schema tree the added level will cause model instances of the
original and converted model to be in-equivalent. If the sdfData
definition is referenced in the SDF model via the "sdfRef" common
quality this is represented in YANG with the "uses" statement
pointing to the grouping equivalent to the sdfData definition.
The "sdfRef" quality can occur at most once in each definition while
there can be multiple "uses" statements in the same container/list/
grouping. Thus, the aforementioned issue with array-typed sdfData
definitions could be solved by, instead of representing definitions
containing an sdfRef by a parent node containing a "uses" node,
replacing the parent node with the "uses" node itself, effectively
removing the excess level. This, however, gives rise to other issues
because the name of the sdfRef's superordinate definition is lost.
If the sdfData definition is converted to a typedef no such issues
arise. The typedef in question is inserted as an argument to the
YANG type quality wherever the original sdfData definition was
referenced by an sdfRef. Another issue is a different view on global
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accessibility of data type definitions in YANG and SDF. In SDF all
definitions are globally available as long as a default namespace is
defined in the SDF model. In YANG on the other hand, only data type
definitions (i.e., groupings and typedefs) that occur on the top-
level of YANG module are globally accessible. Thus, to represent the
global accessibility of all data type definitions in SDF, all
converted sdfData definition equivalents in YANG are added to the
top-level of the created module.
4.8. sdfProperty
* SDF: Sections 2.2.2 and 5.2 (sdfProperty) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG:
- Section 7.6 (leaf) of [RFC7950]
- Section 7.7 (leaf-list) of [RFC7950]
- Section 7.8 (list) of [RFC7950]
SdfProperty definitions represent elements of state as suggested by
their name. SdfProperty definitions can make use of the data
qualities and the common qualities described in sections Section 4.6
and Section 4.5 respectively. The mapping of an sdfProperty
definition to YANG depends on the value of the "type" quality.
SdfProperties with simple types are mapped to leaf nodes in YANG. If
the type is complex, i.e., compound-type, conversion results in a
container node with each of the compound-type's properties being
mapped to a child node of the container. If the sdfProperty is of
type array the deciding factor is the "type" quality inside the
"items" quality. If an array has items of a simple type it is
converted to a leaf-list node. Otherwise, if the items are of
compound-type the sdfProperty becomes a list node in YANG. The list
node's child nodes are equivalent to the compound-type's properties.
4.9. sdfAction
* SDF: Sections 2.2.3 and 5.3 (sdfAction) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG:
- Section 7.14 (rpc) of [RFC7950]
- Section 7.15 (action) of [RFC7950]
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To represent commands/operations that can be invoked in a model the
sdfAction class is used. Since commands can have input and output
data the sdfAction class is equipped with the "sdfInputData" and
"sdfOutputData" qualities that can both make use of the data
qualities and the common qualities described in sections Section 4.6
and Section 4.5 respectively. An sdfAction can also define its own
set of data types in the form of sdfData definitions. Whether an
sdfAction is converted to an RPC (which can only occur at the top-
level of a module) or an action node (which is always tied to a
container node) depends on its location inside the SDF model.
SdfActions that are not part of an sdfObject but can be found
independently at the top of an SDF model are converted to RPC nodes.
All other actions occurring inside an sdfObject become action nodes
inside the sdfObject's container equivalent in YANG. The
sdfInputData and sdfOutputData of an sdfAction are converted like
sdfProperties (see Section 4.8) and added as the input and output
node of the RPC/action respectively.
4.10. sdfEvent
* SDF: Sections 2.2.4 and 5.4 (sdfEvent) of [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
* YANG: Section 7.16 (notification) of [RFC7950]
The sdfEvent class' purpose is to model signals that inform about
occurrences or "happenings" in an sdfObject. To represent the
emitted output data sdfEvents can make use of the "sdfOutputData"
quality which in turn uses the data qualities. An sdfEvent is
converted to a notification node with one child node representing the
sdfOutputData definition. The
5. Challenges
Since conversion between SDF and YANG is not always trivial this
section takes a look at the various challenges that arose in the
process of finding an adequate mapping for each of the language's
features to one another.
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5.1. Differences in Expressiveness of SDF and YANG
SDF and YANG differ in their expressiveness in different areas.
Compared to the other format, both are stronger in some areas and
weaker in others. Areas in which YANG is more expressive are type
references, regular expressions, operations and some of the built-in
types (specifically "bits", "empty" and "union"). SDF offers more
possibilities to define default and constant values, the latter
especially in conjunction with minimum and maximum values for which a
single statement is used in YANG. Labelling definitions as readable,
observable and nullable, as possible in SDF, is foreign to YANG.
5.2. Round Trips
One of the bigger issues in developing a mapping for each language
feature of SDF and YANG was the facilitation of round trips, i.e.,
converting a model from one format to the other and in a next step
back to the original. This issue is tightly linked to the
differences in expressiveness between the two formats which makes
mapping between them non-injective and thus non-traceable.
To be able to track the origins of an SDF element after conversion
from YANG, currently, a "conversion note" is added to the description
of said element. The note states a statement and an argument. An
example for a note hinting the original argument to the "type"
statement was "union" could be: "!Conversion note: type union!".
This issue was also discussed in one of the ASDF working group's
Interim Meetings where the possibility to introduce a new round trip
mechanism native to SDF was suggested.
To preserve the original SDF language element after conversion to
YANG a new extension is defined in YANG. The extension states the
original SDF quality.
The eventuality that round trips occur in model conversion makes
implementing a converter significantly more complex because all
features of the target format have to be accounted for. Features of
the target format that would otherwise not be used for conversion
must now be considered in the case of a round trip.
5.3. Type References
Both SDF and YANG offer the possibility to reference predefined
types. SDF uses only a single quality for this purpose ("sdfRef")
whereas YANG has several statements that are all used in different
referencing contexts ("leafref", "identityref", "type", "uses").
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The "sdfRef" quality is supposed to hold references to other
definitions. The qualities of the referenced definition are copied
into the referencing definition if they are not overwritten in the
referencing definition. The conversion of an sdfRef depends on what
is referenced by it and what that is converted to. If the referenced
definition is converted to a typedef the sdfRef is analogous to the
"type" statement in YANG which points to the typedef. If the
referenced definition is mapped to a leaf or leaf-list node it can be
referenced by the "leafref" built-in type in YANG. If the referenced
definition's equivalent in YANG is a grouping node the sdfRef gets
converted to a "uses" node which points to said grouping. In all
other cases the referenced definition's equivalent cannot be
referenced directly but has first to be packaged in a grouping node.
This is done by first creating a grouping as a sibling node to the
referenced definition's equivalent YANG node and copying the
equivalent node into the new grouping. After that the equivalent
node is replaced it with a "uses" node referencing the grouping.
This is done to avoid redundancy. Lastly, the actual sdfRef is
represented by another "uses" node referencing the newly created
grouping.
6. Implementation Considerations
An implementation of an initial converter between SDF and YANG can be
found at [SDF-YANG-CONVERTER]; the source code can be found at
[SDF-YANG-CONVERTER-IMPL].
7. IANA Considerations
This document makes no requests of IANA.
8. Security considerations
The security considerations of [RFC7950] and [I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
apply.
9. References
9.1. Normative References
[I-D.ietf-asdf-sdf]
Koster, M. and C. Bormann, "Semantic Definition Format
(SDF) for Data and Interactions of Things", Work in
Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-asdf-sdf-06, 1 June
2021, <https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-ietf-asdf-
sdf-06.txt>.
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[RFC7950] Bjorklund, M., Ed., "The YANG 1.1 Data Modeling Language",
RFC 7950, DOI 10.17487/RFC7950, August 2016,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7950>.
9.2. Informative References
[LIBYANG] Vasko, M., Sedlák, D., and more contributors, "libyang",
<https://github.com/CESNET/libyang>.
[SDF-YANG-CONVERTER]
Kiesewalter, J., "SDF YANG converter playground", n.d.,
<sdf-yang-converter.org>.
[SDF-YANG-CONVERTER-IMPL]
Kiesewalter, J., "SDF YANG converter", n.d.,
<https://github.com/jkiesewalter/sdf-yang-converter>.
Acknowledgements
TBD.
Authors' Addresses
Jana Kiesewalter
Universität Bremen
Email: jankie@uni-bremen.de
Carsten Bormann (editor)
Universität Bremen TZI
Postfach 330440
D-28359 Bremen
Germany
Phone: +49-421-218-63921
Email: cabo@tzi.org
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