Structured Data Exchange Format (SDXF)
RFC 3072
Document | Type |
RFC - Informational
(March 2001; No errata)
Was draft-wildgrube-sdxf (individual)
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Author | Max Wildgrube | ||
Last updated | 2013-03-02 | ||
Stream | Legacy | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex | ||
Stream | Legacy state | (None) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
RFC Editor Note | (None) | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 3072 (Informational) | |
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | (None) | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
Network Working Group M. Wildgrube Request for Comments: 3072 March 2001 Category: Informational Structured Data Exchange Format (SDXF) Status of this Memo This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved. IESG Note This document specifies a data exchange format and, partially, an API that can be used for creating and parsing such a format. The IESG notes that the same problem space can be addressed using formats that the IETF normally uses including ASN.1 and XML. The document reader is strongly encouraged to carefully read section 13 before choosing SDXF over ASN.1 or XML. Further, when storing text in SDXF, the user is encourage to use the datatype for UTF-8, specified in section 2.5. Abstract This specification describes an all-purpose interchange format for use as a file format or for net-working. Data is organized in chunks which can be ordered in hierarchical structures. This format is self-describing and CPU-independent. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................. 2 2. Description of the SDXF data format .......................... 3 3. Introduction to the SDXF functions ........................... 5 3.1 General remarks .............................................. 5 3.2 Writing a SDXF buffer ........................................ 5 3.3 Reading a SDXF buffer ........................................ 6 3.4 Example ...................................................... 6 4. Platform independence ........................................ 8 5. Compression .................................................. 9 6. Encryption ...................................................11 7. Arrays........................................................11 8. Description of the SDXF functions ............................12 Wildgrube Informational [Page 1] RFC 3072 Structured Data Exchange Format March 2001 8.1 Introduction .................................................12 8.2 Basic definitions ............................................13 8.3 Definitions for C++ ..........................................15 8.4 Common Definitions ...........................................16 8.5 Special functions ............................................17 9. 'Support' of UTF-8 ...........................................19 10. Security Considerations .....................................19 11. Some general hints ..........................................20 12. IANA Considerations .........................................20 13. Discussion ..................................................21 13.1 SDXF vs. ASN.1 ..............................................21 13.2 SDXF vs. XML ................................................22 14. Author's Address ............................................24 15. Acknowledgements ............................................24 16. References ..................................................24 17. Full Copyright Statement ....................................26 1. Introduction The purpose of the Structured Data eXchange Format (SDXF) is to permit the interchange of an arbitrary structured data block with different kinds of data (numerical, text, bitstrings). Because data is normalized to an abstract computer architecture independent "network format", SDXF is usable as a network interchange data format. This data format is not limited to any application, the demand for this format is that it is usable as a text format for word- processing, as a picture format, a sound format, for remote procedure calls with complex parameters, suitable for document formats, for interchanging business data, etc. SDXF is self-describing, every program can unpack every SDXF-data without knowing the meaning of the individual data elements. Together with the description of the data format a set of functions will be introduced. With the help of these functions one can create and access the data elements of SDXF. The idea is that a programmer should only use these functions instead of maintaining the structure by himself on the level of bits and bytes. (In the speech of object-oriented programming these functions are methods of an object which works as a handle for a given SDXF data block.) SDXF is not limited to a specific platform, along with a correct preparation of the SDXF functions the SDXF data can be interchanged (via network or data carrier) across the boundaries of different architectures (specified by the character code like ASCII, ANSI orShow full document text