RFC Format Framework
RFC 7990
Internet Architecture Board (IAB) H. Flanagan
Request for Comments: 7990 RFC Editor
Category: Informational December 2016
ISSN: 2070-1721
RFC Format Framework
Abstract
In order to improve the readability of RFCs while supporting their
archivability, the canonical format of the RFC Series will be
transitioning from plain-text ASCII to XML using the xml2rfc version
3 vocabulary; different publication formats will be rendered from
that base document. With these changes comes an increase in
complexity for authors, consumers, and the publisher of RFCs. This
document serves as the framework that provides the problem statement,
lays out a road map of the documents that capture the specific
requirements, and describes the transition plan.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This document is a product of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
and represents information that the IAB has deemed valuable to
provide for permanent record. It represents the consensus of the
Internet Architecture Board (IAB). Documents approved for
publication by the IAB are not a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7990.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2016 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
(http://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 and restrictions with respect
to this document.
Flanagan Informational [Page 1]
RFC 7990 RFC Format Framework December 2016
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4. Overview of the Decision-Making Process . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. Key Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6. Canonical Format Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.1. XML for RFCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7. Publication Format Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7.1. HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7.2. PDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7.3. Plain Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.4. Potential Future Publication Formats . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.4.1. EPUB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8. Figures and Artwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8.1. SVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
9. Content and Page Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9.1. Non-ASCII Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9.2. Style Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9.3. CSS Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10. Transition Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10.1. Statement of Work and RFP for Tool Development . . . . . 10
10.2. Testing and Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10.3. Completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
11. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
12. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
12.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
12.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
IAB Members at the Time of Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Flanagan Informational [Page 2]
RFC 7990 RFC Format Framework December 2016
1. Introduction
"RFC Series Format Requirements and Future Development" [RFC6949]
discusses the need to improve the display of items such as author
names and artwork in RFCs as well as the need to improve the ability
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