Network Working Group M. Mealling
Internet-Draft VeriSign
Expires: April 29, 2002 L. Masinter
Adobe Systems Incorporated
T. Hardie
Equinix
G. Klyne
MIMEsweeper Group
October 29, 2001
An IETF URN Sub-namespace for Registered Protocol Parameters
draft-mealling-iana-urn-02.txt
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Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document describes a new sub-delegation for the 'ietf' URN
namespace for registered protocol items. The 'ietf' URN namespace is
defined in RFC 2648 as a root for persistent URIs that refer to IETF-
defined resources.
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1. Introduction
From time to time IETF standards require the registration of various
protocol elements in well known central repository. The Internet
Assigned Numbers Authority maintains this central repository and
takes direction from the IETF on what, how and when to add items to
it. The IANA maintains lists of items such as all assigned port
numbers, MIME media types, enterprise numbers, etc.
Over time there has developed a need to be able to reference these
elements as URIs in various schema. In the past this was done in a
very ad hoc way that easily led to interoperability problems. This
document creates a new sub-delegation below the "ietf" [2]URN
namespace [1] called 'params' which acts as a standardized mechanism
for naming the items registered for IETF standards. Any assignments
below that are specified in an RFC according to the IETF concensus
process and which include the template found in Section 3.
2. IETF Sub-namespace Specifics
Sub-namespace name:
"params"
Declared registrant of the namespace:
The Internet Engineering Task Force
Declaration of structure:
The namespace is primarily opaque. The IANA, as operator of the
registry, may take suggestions for names to assign but they
reserve the right to assign whatever name they desire, within
guidelines set by the IESG. The colon character (":") is used to
denote a very limited concept of hierarchy. If a colon is present
then the items on both sides of it are valid names. In general,
if a name has a colon then the item on the left hand side
represents a class of those items that would contain other items
of that class. For example, a name can be assigned to the entire
list of DNS resource record type codes as well as for each
individual code. The URN for the list might look like this:
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urn:ietf:params:dns:rr-type-codes
while the URN for the SOA records type code might look like this:
urn:ietf:params:dns:rr-type-codes:soa
Relevant ancillary documentation:
[3], [2], [1]
Identifier uniqueness considerations:
The IESG uses the IETF concensus process to ensure that sub-
namespaces generate unique names within that sub-namespace. The
IESG delegates to the IANA the task of ensuring that the sub-
namespace names themselves are unique. Until and unless the IESG
specifies differently, the IANA is directed to ensure uniqueness
by comparing the name to be assigned with the list of previously
assigned names. In the case of a conflict the IANA is to request
a new string from the registrant until the conflict is resolved.
Identifier persistence considerations:
Once a name has been allocated it MUST NOT be re-allocated for a
different purpose. The rules provided for assignments of values
within a sub-namespace MUST be constructed so that the meaning of
values cannot change. This registration mechanism is not
appropriate for naming values whose meaning may change over time.
If a value that changes over time the assignment MUST name the
container or concept that contains the value, not the value
itself. For example, if a parameter called 'foo' has a value that
changes over time, it is valid to create the name
'urn:ietf:params:foo-params:foo' that identifies that 'slot'. It
is not valid to actually create a name that contains that value
unless it is a persistent and unique value such as a version
number.
Process of identifier assignment:
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Identifiers are assigned only after a particular protocol element
or number has been registered with the IANA using standard
policies and procedures, or documented in an RFC describing a
standards track protocol. This means that the 'gating' function
for assignment is the "IETF Concensus" process documented in RFC
2434 [4].
Process of identifier resolution:
At this time no resolution mechanism is defined.
Rules for Lexical Equivalence:
Lexical equivalence is achieved by exact string match.
Conformance with URN Syntax:
There are no additional characters reserved.
Validation mechanism:
None.
Scope:
Global
3. Assigning Names
The creation of a new registry name will be simple for most flat
registries. The only required elements will be the registry name , a
reference to relevant documents, a statement about which
current/proposed document repositories contains the authoritative
data for the registry, and a statement specifying which element in
the registry is the value to be used in the URN. In most cases this
last element will be the index value assigned by the IANA.
More complex registries (DNS Parameters for example) will need to
repeat that information for any sub-namespaces. It should also be
clear as to whether or not a name is assigned to the sub-namespace
itself (i.e. is 'urn:ietf:params:dns:rr-types' valid by itself and
if so, what does it name?).
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The template:
Registry name: -- The name of the sub-namespace. In many cases this
should be the same name that the IANA calls the registry itself.
Specification: -- Relevant IETF published documents that define the
registry and the items in it.
Repository: -- A pointer to the 'current' location of the registry in
the protocol parameters repository or the relevant RFCs that
document the items being named. This value will change over time
as the entity that maintains the repository moves files and or
fileservers. It is not meant as a permanent binding to the
filename but as a hint to the IANA for what the initial mapping
would be.
Index value: -- Description of how a registered value is to be
embedded in the URI form. This MUST include details of any
transformations that may be needed for the resulting string to
conform to URN syntax rules and and any canonicalization needed so
that the case-sensitive string comparison yields the expected
equivalences.
The process for requesting that a URN be assigned is currently to put
the above template or a reference to it in the IANA considerations
section of the specifying document. Other more automated processes
may be proposed at a latter time if demand requires it.
4. Security Considerations
None not already inherent to using URNs.
5. IANA Considerations
This document puts a new and significant burden on the IANA since it
may require a additional assignment process to happen for each new
IANA registry. To minimize the administrative burden on IANA, any
parameter namespace registration is very clear about the criteria for
inclusion in that namespace.
Defining a registry that fits the constraints of a URN namespace will
impose extra discipline that should take some of the guess-work about
creating and maintaining that registry.
References
[1] Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997.
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[2] Moats, R., "A URN Namespace for IETF Documents", RFC 2648,
August 1999.
[3] Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R. and P. Faltstrom, "URN
Namespace Definition Mechanisms", BCP 33, RFC 2611, June 1999.
[4] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an IANA
Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 2434, October 1998.
Authors' Addresses
Michael Mealling
VeriSign
505 Huntmar Park Drive
Herndon, VA 22070
US
Phone: +1 770 921 2251
EMail: michaelm@netsol.com
URI: http://www.verisign.com
Larry Masinter
Adobe Systems Incorporated
345 Park Ave
San Jose, CA 95110
US
Phone: +1 408 536-3024
EMail: LMM@acm.org
URI: http://larry.masinter.net
Ted Hardie
Equinix
901 Marshall Street
Redwood City, CA 94063
US
EMail: hardie@equinix.com
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Graham Klyne
MIMEsweeper Group
1310 Waterside, Arlington Business Park
Theale, Reading RG7 4SA
UK
Phone: +44 118 930 1300
EMail: GK@ACM.ORG
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