A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for Examples
draft-saintandre-urn-example-04

Network Working Group                                     P. Saint-Andre
Internet-Draft                                       Cisco Systems, Inc.
Intended status: Best Current Practice                    March 10, 2013
Expires: September 11, 2013

          A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for Examples
                    draft-saintandre-urn-example-04

Abstract

   This document defines a Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace
   identifier enabling generation of URNs that are appropriate for use
   in documentation, private testing, and the like.

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Table of Contents

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   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Completed Namespace Definition Template . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Namespace Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Community Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Appendix A.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   The Uniform Resource Name (URN) technology [RFC2141] provides a way
   to generate persistent, location-independent, resource identifiers.
   The primary "scope" of a URN is provided by its namespace identifier
   (NID).  As specified in [RFC3406], there are three kinds of NID:
   formal, informal, and experimental.  Most of the NIDs registered to
   date are formal: as far as is known the few informal namespaces have
   not been widely used, and the experimental namespaces are by
   definition unregistered.

   The experimental namespaces take the form "X-NID" (where "NID" is the
   desired namespace identifier).  Because the "x-" convention has been
   deprecated in general [RFC6648], it seems sensible to achieve the
   same objective in a different way.  Therefore this document registers
   a formal namespace identifier of "example", similar to "example.com"
   and other domain names [RFC2606].  Under the "example" NID,
   specification authors and code developers can mint URNs for use in
   documentation and private testing by assigning their own unique
   namespace-specific strings.

2.  Completed Namespace Definition Template

2.1.  Namespace ID

   The Namespace ID "example" is requested.

2.2.  Registration Information

   Version 1

   Date: [to be assigned]

2.3.  Declared Registrant of the Namespace

   Registering organization: IETF

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   Designated contact: IESG, iesg@ietf.org

2.4.  Declaration of Syntactic Structure

   URNs that use the "example" NID shall have the following structure:

   urn:example:{NSS}

   The Namespace Specific String (NSS) is a mandatory string of ASCII
   characters [RFC20] that conforms to the URN syntax requirements
   [RFC2141] and that provides a name that is useful within the relevant
   documentation example, test suite, or other application.

2.5.  Relevant Ancillary Documentation

   See [RFC6648] for information about deprecation of the "x-"
   convention in protocol parameters and identifiers.

2.6.  Identifier Uniqueness Considerations

   Those who mint example URNs ought to strive for uniqueness in the
   namespace specific string portion of the URN.  However, such
   uniqueness cannot be guaranteed through the assignment process.  As a
   result, implementers are counselled against using example URNs for
   any purposes other than documentation, private testing, and truly
   experimental contexts.

2.7.  Identifier Persistence Considerations

   Once minted, an example URN is immutable.  However, it is simply a
   string and there is no guarantee that the documentation, test suite,
   or other application using the URN is immutable.

2.8.  Process of Identifier Assignment

   Assignment is completely open, since anyone can mint example URNs for
   use in documentation, private testing, and other experimental
   contexts.

2.9.  Process for Identifier Resolution

   Example URNs are not intended to be resolved, and the namespace will
   probably never be registered with a Resolution Discovery System
   (unless to simply inform requesters that such URNs are merely
   examples).

2.10.  Rules for Lexical Equivalence

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   No special considerations; the rules for lexical equivalence
   specified in [RFC2141] apply.

2.11.  Conformance with URN Syntax

   No special considerations

2.12.  Validation Mechanism

   None

2.13.  Scope

   The scope of an example URN is limited to the documentation in which
   it is found, the test in which it is used, the experiment in which it
   appears, etc.  Example URNs have no meaning outside such strictly-
   limited contexts.

3.  Namespace Considerations

   No existing formal namespace enables entities to generate URNs that
   are appropriate for use as examples in documentation, in private
   testing, and the like.  It could be argued that no such formal
   namespace is needed, given that experimental namespaces can be minted
   at will.  However, experimental namespaces run afoul of the trend
   away from using the "x-" convention in the names of protocol
   parameters and identifiers [RFC6648].  Additionally, in practice
   specification authors often mint examples using fake NIDs that go
   unregistered because they are never intended to be used.  To minimize
   the possibility of confusion, use of this dedicated example namespace
   is recommended for generating example URNs.

4.  Community Considerations

   The "example" NID is intended to provide a clean, easily-recognizable
   space for minting examples to be used in documentation, in private
   testing, and the like.  The Namespace Specific String (NSS) needs to
   be a unique string, generated by the person, organization, or other
   entity that creates the documentation, test suite, or other
   application.  There is no issuing authority for example URNs and they
   cannot be resolved in any meaningful way.

   The "example" NID does not obviate the need to coordinate with
   issuing authorities for existing namespaces (e.g., minting
   "urn:example:xmpp:foo" instead of requesting issuance of
   "urn:xmpp:foo"), to register new namespace identifiers if existing
   namespaces do not match one's desired functionality (e.g., minting
   "urn:example:sha-1:29ead03e784b2f636a23ffff95ed12b56e2f2637" instead

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   of registering the "sha-1" NID), or to respect the basic spirit of
   URN NID assignment (e.g., setting up shadow NIDs such as
   "urn:example:MyCompany:*" instead of using, say, HTTP URIs).

5.  Security Considerations

   This document introduces no additional security considerations beyond
   those associated with the use and resolution of URNs in general.

6.  IANA Considerations

   This document defines a URN NID registration of "example", to be
   added to the Uniform Resource Names (URN) Formal Namespaces registry.
   The completed registration template can be found in under Section 2.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC20]    Cerf, V., "ASCII format for network interchange", RFC 20,
              October 1969.

   [RFC2141]  Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997.

   [RFC3406]  Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R., and P. Faltstrom,
              "Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespace Definition
              Mechanisms", BCP 66, RFC 3406, October 2002.

7.2.  Informative References

   [RFC2606]  Eastlake, D.E. and A. Panitz, "Reserved Top Level DNS
              Names", BCP 32, RFC 2606, June 1999.

   [RFC6648]  Saint-Andre, P., Crocker, D., and M. Nottingham,
              "Deprecating the "X-" Prefix and Similar Constructs in
              Application Protocols", BCP 178, RFC 6648, June 2012.

Appendix A.  Acknowledgements

   Thanks to Martin Duerst, Barry Leiba, Julian Reschke, and Jim Schaad
   for their feedback.

Author's Address

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   Peter Saint-Andre
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   1899 Wynkoop Street, Suite 600
   Denver, CO  80202
   USA

   Email: psaintan@cisco.com

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