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jCard: The JSON format for vCard
draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 7095.
Author Philipp Kewisch
Last updated 2013-04-30
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draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02
JSON data formats for vCard and iCalendar                     P. Kewisch
Internet-Draft                                                   Mozilla
Intended status: Standards Track                          April 30, 2013
Expires: November 01, 2013

                    jCard: The JSON format for vCard
                      draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02

Abstract

   This specification defines "jCard", a JSON format for vCard data.

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
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on November 01, 2013.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 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
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   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

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   2.  Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Converting from vCard to jCard  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.1.  Pre-processing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.2.  vCard Stream  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.3.  Properties (RFC6350 section 6)  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
       3.3.1.  Special Cases for Properties  . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
         3.3.1.1.  Multi-valued Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
         3.3.1.2.  Grouping of Properties  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
         3.3.1.3.  Structured Property Values  . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.4.  Parameters (RFC6350 Section 5)  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       3.4.1.  VALUE parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       3.4.2.  Multi-value Parameters  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     3.5.  Values (RFC6350 Section 4)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.5.1.  Text (RFC6350 Section 4.1)  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.5.2.  URI (RFC6350 Section 4.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.5.3.  Date (RFC6350 Section 4.3.1)  . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.5.4.  Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.2)  . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       3.5.5.  Date-Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.3) . . . . . . . . . .  14
       3.5.6.  Date and/or Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.4)  . . . . . .  15
       3.5.7.  Timestamp (RFC6350 Section 4.3.5) . . . . . . . . . .  16
       3.5.8.  Boolean (RFC6350 Section 4.4) . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       3.5.9.  Integer (RFC6350 Section 4.5) . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
       3.5.10. Float (RFC6350 Section 4.6) . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
       3.5.11. UTC Offset (RFC6350 Section 4.7)  . . . . . . . . . .  17
       3.5.12. Language Tag (RFC6350 Section 4.8)  . . . . . . . . .  17
     3.6.  Extensions (RFC6350 Section 6.10) . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   4.  Converting from jCard into vCard  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   5.  Handling Unrecognized Properties or Parameters  . . . . . . .  18
   6.  Implementation Status (to be removed prior to publication as
       an RFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
   8.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     8.1.  GROUP vCard Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     8.2.  UNKNOWN vCard Value Data Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
   9.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     10.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     10.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
   Appendix A.  ABNF Schema  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
   Appendix B.  Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
     B.1.  Example: vCard of the author of RFC6350 . . . . . . . . .  27
       B.1.1.  vCard Data  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
       B.1.2.  jCard Data  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
   Appendix C.  Change History (to be removed prior to publication
                as an RFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30

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1.  Introduction

   The vCard data format [RFC6350] has gone through multiple revisions,
   most recently vCard 4.  The goal followed by this format is the
   capture and exchange of information normally stored within an address
   book or directory application.  As certain similarities to the
   iCalendar data format [RFC5545] exist it makes sense to define a
   JSON-based data format for vCards that is similar to the jCal format
   defined in [I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal].

   The purpose of this specification is to define "jCard", a JSON format
   for vCard data.  One main advantage to using a JSON-based format as
   defined in [RFC4627] over the classic vCard format is easier
   processing for JavaScript based widgets and libraries, especially in
   the scope of web-based applications.

   The key design considerations are essentially the same as those for
   [I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal] and [RFC6321], that is:

      Round-tripping (converting a vCard instance to jCard and back)
      will give the same semantic result as the starting point.  For
      example, all components, properties and property parameters are
      guaranteed to be preserved.

      Ordering of elements will not necessarily be preserved.

      Preserve the semantics of the vCard data.  While a simple consumer
      can easily browse the data in jCard, a full understanding of vCard
      is still required in order to modify and/or fully comprehend the
      directory data.

      Ability to handle many extensions to the underlying vCard
      specification without requiring an update to this document.

2.  Conventions Used in This Document

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

   The underlying format used for jCard is JSON.  Consequently, the
   terms "object" and "array" as well as the four primitive types are to
   be interpreted as described in Section 1 of [RFC4627].

   Some examples in this document contain "partial" JSON documents used
   for illustrative purposes.  In these examples, three periods "..."
   are used to indicate a portion of the document that has been removed
   for compactness.

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3.  Converting from vCard to jCard

   This section describes how vCard data is converted to jCard using a
   simple mapping between the vCard data model and JSON elements.

3.1.  Pre-processing

   vCard uses a line folding mechanism to limit lines of data to a
   maximum line length (typically 72 characters) to ensure maximum
   likelihood of preserving data integrity as it is transported via
   various means (e.g., email) - see Section 3.2 of [RFC6350].  Prior to
   converting vCard data into jCard all folded lines MUST be unfolded.

   vCard data uses an "escape" character sequence for text values and
   property parameter values.  When such text elements are converted
   into jCard the escaping MUST be removed.  See Section 3.4 of
   [RFC6350].  The only escaping that may be applied is any escaping
   mandated by JSON.

   One key difference in the formatting of values used in vCard and
   jCard is that in jCard the specification uses date/time values
   aligned with the extended format of [ISO.8601.2004].  The sections of
   this document describing the various date and time formats contain
   more information on the use of the complete representation, reduced
   accuracy or truncated representation.

3.2.  vCard Stream

   In certain cases it makes sense to group a sequence of vcard objects
   into a stream of objects.  While the vCard 4 standard doesn't define
   a stream of vcard objects, having one makes it easier to identify
   multiple jCard objects and also ensures compatibility to jCal.  A
   jCard stream is identified by an array, where the first element is
   the string "vcardstream".  Subsequent elements are vCard objects
   represented as described in this document.

   In the typical case where there is only one vCard object,
   encapsulation inside a "vcardstream" array MAY be omitted.

   A vCard stream can contain one or more vCard objects.  Each vCard
   object, delimited by "BEGIN:VCARD" and "END:VCARD", is represented in
   JSON as a fixed length array with two elements:

   1.  The string "vcard"

   2.  An array of jCard properties

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   The representation of a vCard object in JSON will be named "vcard
   component" throughout this document.

   Example:

   ["vcardstream",
     ["vcard",
       [ /* properties */ ]
     ],
     ["vcard",
       [ /* properties */ ]
     ],
     ...
   ]

   vCard objects are comprised of a set of "properties", "parameters"
   and "values".  The top level of a vCard object contains "properties".
   A "property" has a "value" and a set of zero or more "parameters".
   vCard objects are delimited by the general properties "BEGIN" and
   "END" with the fixed value "VCARD" as defined in Section 6.1.1 and
   6.1.2 of [RFC6350].  In addition, the vCard format is versioned,
   therefore the "version" property is mandatory.  To comply with
   Section 6.7.9 of [RFC6350], the value of the version property MUST be
   "4.0".

3.3.  Properties (RFC6350 section 6)

   Each individual vCard property is represented in jCard by an array
   with three fixed elements, followed by one or more additional
   elements, depending on if the property is a multi-value property as
   described in Section 3.3 of [RFC6350].

   The array consists of the following fixed elements:

   1.  The name of the property as a string, but in lowercase.

   2.  An object containing the parameters as described in Section 3.4.

   3.  The type identifier string of the value, in lowercase.

   The remaining elements of the array are used for the value of the
   property.  For single-value properties, the array MUST have exactly
   four elements, for multi-valued properties as described in
   Section 3.3.1.1 there can be any number of additional elements.

   The array describing the property can then be inserted into the array
   designated for properties in the "vcard" component.

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   Example:

   ["vcard",
     [
       ["version", {}, "text", "4.0"],
       ["fn", {}, "text", "John Doe"],
       ["gender", {}, "text", "M"],
       ...
     ],
   ]

   The property parameters in the second element of the property array
   associate a set of parameter names with their respective value.
   Parameters are further described in Section 3.4.

   To allow for a cleaner implementation, the parameter object MUST be
   present even if there are no parameters.  In this case, an empty
   object MUST be used.

   As described in Section 3.3.1.3, it is important to check the data
   type of the value even if it is assumed to be a string in most cases.
   The value could turn out to be a structured value, in which case the
   type is an array.

3.3.1.  Special Cases for Properties

   This section describes some properties that have special handling
   when converting to jCard.

3.3.1.1.  Multi-valued Properties

   Various vCard properties defined in [RFC6350], for example the
   "CATEGORIES" property, are defined as multi-valued properties.  In
   jCal these properties are added as further members of the array
   describing the property.

   Note that additional multi-valued properties may be added in
   extensions to the iCalendar format.

   Example:

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   ["vcard",
     [
       ["categories", {}, "text", "computers", "cameras"],
       ...
     ],
     ...
   ]

3.3.1.2.  Grouping of Properties

   [RFC6350] Section 3.3 defines a grouping construct that is used to
   group related properties together.  In jCard, a new GROUP parameter
   is introduced.  Its purpose is to eliminate the need for group syntax
   in jCard, thus unifying the general syntax with that of jCal.

   Namespace:  <empty>

   Parameter name:  GROUP

   Purpose:  To simplify the jCard format.

   Description:  The GROUP parameter is reserved for the exclusive use
      of the jCard format [RFCTODO] .  It MUST NOT be used in plain
      vCard [RFC6350], nor in xCard [RFC6351].  In jCard, the
      parameter's value is a single opaque string.  Conversion rules are
      as follows:

      *  From vCard to jCard, the group construct (see [RFC6350],
         Section 3.3, Page 7) is removed.  In its place, the GROUP
         parameter is added (lowercased, as any other parameter).  Its
         value is a string corresponding to the group name.  The name's
         case MUST be preserved intact.

      *  From jCard to vCard, the reverse procedure is performed.  The
         GROUP parameter MUST NOT appear in the resulting vCard.

   Format definition:  (Not applicable)

   Example:

   CONTACT.FN:Mr. John Q. Public\, Esq.

      is equivalent to:

   [ "fn", { "group": "CONTACT" }, "text", "Mr. John Q. Public, Esq." ]

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3.3.1.3.  Structured Property Values

   The vCard specification defines properties with structured values,
   for example GENDER or ADR.  A structured value is defined as a value
   that contains multiple text components, delimited by the SEMICOLON
   character.  In jCard, the property value is an array containing one
   element for each text component.

   vCard Example:

   ADR:;;Main Street 123;Any Town;CA;91921-1234;U.S.A.

   jCard Example:

   ["adr", {}, "text",
    [
     "", "", "Main Street 123",
     "Any Town", "CA", "91921-1234", "U.S.A."
    ]
   ]

   Some vCard properties, for example ADR, also allow a structured value
   element that itself has multiple values.  In this case, the element
   of the array describing the structured value is itself an array with
   one element for each of the component's multiple values.

   vCard Example:

   ADR:;;My Street,Left Side,Second Shack;Hometown;PA;18252;U.S.A.

   jCard Example:

   ["adr", {}, "text",
     [
      "",
      "",
      ["My Street", "Left Side", "Second Shack"],
      "Hometown",
      "PA",
      "18252",
      "U.S.A."
     ]
   ]

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   In both cases, the array element values MUST have the primative type
   that matches the jCard type identifier.  In [RFC6350], there are only
   structured text values and thus only JSON strings are used.
   Extensions may for example define structured number or boolean
   values, where JSON number or boolean types MUST be used.

   If a multi-valued text component is changed to hold only one value,
   the text component SHOULD be represented as a single primative value,
   but MAY be represented as an array with a single primative value.

   Similarly, structured values that consist of two text components with
   one being optional (for example, GENDER) MAY be represented as a
   single text value.  Therefore, implementors SHOULD check even known
   property values for structured information.  This is especially
   important for languages where accessing array members is done by the
   same construct as accessing characters of a string.

   Examples:

   ["gender", {}, "text", ["F", "grrrl"] ],
   ["gender", {}, "text", "M" ],

3.4.  Parameters (RFC6350 Section 5)

   Property parameters are represented as a JSON object where each key-
   value pair represents the vCard parameter name and its value.  The
   name of the parameter MUST be in lowercase, the original case of the
   parameter value MUST be preserved.  For example, the "LANG" property
   parameter is represented in jCard by the "lang" key.  Any new vCard
   parameters added in the future will be converted in the same way.

   Example:

   ["vcard",
     [
       ["role", { "lang": "tr" }, "text", "roca"],
       ...
     ],
     ...
   ]

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3.4.1.  VALUE parameter

   vCard defines a "VALUE" property parameter (Section 5.2 of
   [RFC6350]).  This property parameter MUST NOT be added to the
   parameters object.  Instead, the value type is always explicitly
   mentioned in the third element of the array describing the property.
   Thus, when converting from vCard to jCard, any "VALUE" property
   parameters are skipped.  When converting from jCard into vCard, the
   appropriate "VALUE" property parameter MUST be included in the vCard
   property if the value type is not "unknown" or the default value type
   for that property.  See Section 5 for information on handling unknown
   value types.

3.4.2.  Multi-value Parameters

   In [RFC6350], some parameters allow using a COMMA-separated list of
   values.  To ease processing in jCard, the value to such parameters
   MUST be represented in an array containing the separated values.  The
   array elements MUST be string values.  Single-value parameters SHOULD
   be represented using a single string value, but an array with one
   element MAY also be used.  An example for a such parameter is the
   vCard "SORT-AS" parameter, more such parameters may be added in
   extensions.

   DQUOTE characters used to encapsulate the separated values MUST NOT
   be added to the jCard parameter value.

   Example 1:

   ["vcard",
     [
       ["n",
        { "sort-as": ["Harten", "Rene"] },
        "text",
        "van der Harten;Rene,J.;Sir;R.D.O.N."
       ],
       ["fn", {}, "text", "Rene van der Harten"]
       ...
     ],
     ...
   ]

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3.5.  Values (RFC6350 Section 4)

   The type of a vCard value is explicitly mentioned in the third
   element of the array describing a jCard property.  The actual values
   of the property can be found in the fourth and following elements of
   the array.

3.5.1.  Text (RFC6350 Section 4.1)

   Description:  vCard "TEXT" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "text".  The value elements are
      JSON strings.  For details on structured text values, see
      Section 3.3.1.3.

   Example:

   ...
   ["kind", {}, "text", "group"],
   ...

3.5.2.  URI (RFC6350 Section 4.2)

   Description:  vCard "URI" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "uri".  The value elements are
      JSON strings.

   Example:

   ...
   ["source", {}, "uri", "ldap://ldap.example.com/cn=babs%20jensen"],
   ...

3.5.3.  Date (RFC6350 Section 4.3.1)

   Description:  vCard "DATE" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "date".  The value elements are
      JSON strings with the same date value specified by [RFC6350], but
      represented using the extended format specified in
      [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.1.2.  If the complete representation is
      not used, the same date format restrictions regarding reduced
      accuracy, truncated representation and expanded representation
      noted in [RFC6350] Section 4.1.2.3 apply.  Whenever the extended
      format is not applicable, the basic format MUST be used.

   ABNF Schema:

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   date-complete = year "-" month "-" day ;YYYY-MM-DD

   date-noreduc = date-complete
                / "--" month "-" day; --MM-DD
                / "---" day; ---DDD

   date = date-noreduc
        / year; YYYY
        / year "-" month ; YYYY-MM
        / "--" month; --MM

   Examples:

   ...
   ["bday", {}, "date", "1985-04-12"],
   ["bday", {}, "date", "1985-04"],
   ["bday", {}, "date", "1985"],
   ["bday", {}, "date", "--04-12"],
   ["bday", {}, "date", "---12"],
   ...

   This table contains possible converisions between the vCard DATE
   format its jCard date.  This information is to be seen as an
   informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
   [ISO.8601.2004]:

                   +-----------+----------+------------+
                   |           | vCard    | jCard      |
                   +-----------+----------+------------+
                   | Complete  | 19850412 | 1985-04-12 |
                   |           |          |            |
                   | Reduced   | 1985-04  | 1985-04    |
                   |           |          |            |
                   | Reduced   | 1985     | 1985       |
                   |           |          |            |
                   | Truncated | --0412   | --04-12    |
                   |           |          |            |
                   | Truncated | --04     | --04       |
                   |           |          |            |
                   | Truncated | ---12    | ---12      |
                   +-----------+----------+------------+

3.5.4.  Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.2)

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   Description:  vCard "TIME" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "time".  The value elements are
      JSON strings with the same time value specified by [RFC6350], but
      represented using the extended format specified in
      [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.2.  If the complete representation is
      not used, the same time format restrictions regarding reduced
      accuracy, decimal fraction and truncated representation noted in
      [RFC6350] Section 4.3.2 apply.  Whenever the extended format is
      not applicable, the basic format MUST be used.  The seconds value
      of 60 MUST only be used to account for positive "leap" seconds and
      the midnight hour is always represented by 00, never 24.
      Fractions of a second are not supported by this format.  Contrary
      to [I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal], UTC offsets are permitted within a
      time value.

   ABNF Schema:

   time-notrunc =  hour [":" minute [":" second]] [zone]

   time = time-notrunc
        / "-" minute ":" second [zone]; -mm:ss
        / "-" minute [zone]; -mm
        / "--" second [zone]; --ss

   Examples:

   ...
   ["x-time-local", {}, "time", "12:30:00"],
   ["x-time-utc", {}, "time", "12:30:00Z"],
   ["x-time-offset", "time", "12:30:00-08:00"],
   ["x-time-reduced", "time", "23"],
   ["x-time-truncated", "time", "-30"],
   ...

   This table contains possible converisions between the vCard TIME
   format its jCard time.This information is to be seen as an
   informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
   [ISO.8601.2004]:

                     +-----------+--------+----------+
                     |           | vCard  | jCard    |
                     +-----------+--------+----------+
                     | Complete  | 232050 | 23:20:50 |
                     |           |        |          |
                     | Reduced   | 2320   | 23:20    |
                     |           |        |          |

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                     | Reduced   | 23     | 23       |
                     |           |        |          |
                     | Truncated | -2050  | -20:50   |
                     |           |        |          |
                     | Truncated | -20    | -20      |
                     |           |        |          |
                     | Truncated | --50   | --50     |
                     +-----------+--------+----------+

   Also, all combinations may have any zone designator appended, as in
   the complete representation.

3.5.5.  Date-Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.3)

   Description:  vCard "DATE-TIME" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "date-time".  The value elements
      are JSON strings with the same date value specified by [RFC6350],
      but represented using the extended format specified in
      [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.3.  If the complete representation is
      not used, the same date and time format restrictions as in
      Section 3.5.4 and Section 3.5.3 apply.  Just as in [RFC6350],
      truncation of the date part is permitted.

   Example:

   ...
   ["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "2013-02-14T12:30:00"],
   ["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "2013-01-10T19:00:00Z"],
   ["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "2013-08-15T09:45:00+01:00"],
   ["anniversary", {}, "date-time", "---15T09:45:00+01:00"],
   ...

   This table contains possible converisions between the vCard DATE-TIME
   format its jCard date-time.  This information is to be seen as an
   informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
   [ISO.8601.2004]:

   +----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
   | Representation | vCard                | jCard                     |
   +----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
   | Complete       | 19850412T232050      | 1985-04-12T23:20:50       |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Complete       | 19850412T232050Z     | 1985-04-12T23:20:50Z      |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Complete       | 19850412T232050+0400 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04:00 |
   |                |                      |                           |

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   | Complete       | 19850412T232050+04   | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04    |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Reduced        | 19850412T2320        | 1985-04-12T23:20          |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Reduced        | 19850412T23          | 1985-04-12T23             |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Truncated and  | --0412T2320          | --04-12T23:20             |
   | Reduced        |                      |                           |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Truncated and  | --04T2320            | --04T23:20                |
   | Reduced        |                      |                           |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Truncated and  | ---12T2320           | ---12T23:20               |
   | Reduced        |                      |                           |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Truncated and  | --0412T2320          | --04-12T23:20             |
   | Reduced        |                      |                           |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Truncated and  | --04T23              | --04T23                   |
   | Reduced        |                      |                           |
   +----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+

   As specified in [ISO.8601.2000], the date component shall not be
   represented with reduced accuracy and the time component shall not be
   truncated.  Also, all combinations may have any zone designator
   appended, as in the complete representation.

3.5.6.  Date and/or Time (RFC6350 Section 4.3.4)

   Description:  vCard "DATE-AND-OR-TIME" property values are
      represented by a property with the type identifier "date-and-or-
      time".  The value elements are either a date-time (Section 3.5.5),
      a date (Section 3.5.3) or a time (Section 3.5.4) value.  Just as
      in [RFC6350] Section 4.3.4, a stand-alone time value MUST always
      be preceded by a "T".

   Example:

   ...
   ["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "2013-02-14T12:30:00"],
   ["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "---22T14:00"]
   ["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "1985"],
   ["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "T12:30"],
   ...

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3.5.7.  Timestamp (RFC6350 Section 4.3.5)

   Description:  vCard "TIMESTAMP" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "timestamp".  The value elements
      are JSON strings with the same timestamp value specified by
      [RFC6350], but represented using the extended format and complete
      representation specified in [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.3.2.

   Example:

   ...
   ["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00"],
   ["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00Z"],
   ["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00-05"],
   ["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2013-02-14T12:30:00-05:00"],
   ...

   This table contains possible converisions between the vCard TIMESTAMP
   format its jCard timestamp.  This information is to be seen as an
   informative reference, the normative reference is [ISO.8601.2000] and
   [ISO.8601.2004]:

   +----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
   | Representation | vCard                | jCard                     |
   +----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+
   | Complete       | 19850412T232050      | 1985-04-12T23:20:50       |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Complete       | 19850412T232050Z     | 1985-04-12T23:20:50Z      |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Complete       | 19850412T232050+0400 | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04:00 |
   |                |                      |                           |
   | Complete       | 19850412T232050+04   | 1985-04-12T23:20:50+04    |
   +----------------+----------------------+---------------------------+

3.5.8.  Boolean (RFC6350 Section 4.4)

   Description:  vCard "BOOLEAN" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "boolean".  The value element is
      a JSON boolean value.

   Example:

   ...
   ["x-non-smoking", {}, "boolean", true],
   ...

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3.5.9.  Integer (RFC6350 Section 4.5)

   Description:  vCard "INTEGER" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "integer".  The value elements
      are JSON primitive number values.

   Examples:

   ...
   ["x-karma-points", {}, "integer", 42],
   ...

3.5.10.  Float (RFC6350 Section 4.6)

   Description:  vCard "FLOAT" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "float".  The value elements are
      JSON primitive number values.

   Example:

   ...
   ["x-grade", {}, "float", 1.3],
   ...

3.5.11.  UTC Offset (RFC6350 Section 4.7)

   Description:  vCard "UTC-OFFSET" property values are represented by a
      property with the type identifier "utc-offset".  The value
      elements are JSON strings with the same UTC offset value specified
      by [RFC6350], with the exception that the hour and minute
      components are separated by a ":" character, for consistency with
      the [ISO.8601.2004] timezone offset, extended format.

   Example:

   ...
   // Note: [RFC6350] mentions use of utc-offset
   // for the TZ property as NOT RECOMMENDED
   ["tz", {}, "utc-offset", "-05:00"],
   ..

3.5.12.  Language Tag (RFC6350 Section 4.8)

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   Description:  vCard "LANGUAGE-TAG" property values are represented by
      a property with the type identifier "language-tag".  The value
      elements are JSON strings containing a single language-tag, as
      defined in [RFC5646].

   Example:

   ...
   ["lang", {}, "language-tag", "de"],
   ..

3.6.  Extensions (RFC6350 Section 6.10)

   vCard extension properties and property parameters (those with an
   "X-" prefix in their name) are handled in the same way as other
   properties and property parameters: the property is represented by an
   array, the property parameter represented by an object.  The property
   or parameter name uses the same name as for the vCard extension, but
   in lowercase.  For example, the "X-FOO" property in vCard turns into
   the "x-foo" jCard property.  See Section 5 for how to deal with
   default values for unrecognized extension properties or property
   parameters.

4.  Converting from jCard into vCard

   When converting property and property parameter values, the names
   SHOULD be converted to uppercase.  Although vCard names are case
   insensitive, common practice is to keep them all uppercase following
   the actual definitions in [RFC6350].

   Backslash escaping and line folding MUST be applied to the resulting
   vCard data as required by [RFC6350].

   When converting to vCard, the VALUE parameter MUST be added to
   properties whose default value type is unknown.  The VALUE parameter
   SHOULD NOT be added to properties using the default value type.

5.  Handling Unrecognized Properties or Parameters

   In vCard, properties have a default value type specified by their
   definition, e.g.  "BDAY"'s value type is "date-and-or-time", but it
   can also be reset to a single "text" value.  When a property uses its
   default value type, the "VALUE" property parameter does not need to
   be specified on the property.

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   When new properties are defined or "X-" properties used, a vCard to
   jCard converter might not recognize them, and not know what the
   appropriate default value types are, yet they need to be able to
   preserve the values.  A similar issue arises for unrecognized
   property parameters.

   In jCard, a new UNKNOWN property value type is introduced.  Its
   purpose is to allow preserving unknown property types when
   roundtripping between jCard and vCard.

   Value Data Type name:  UNKNOWN

   Purpose:  To allow preserving unknown property types during
      roundtripping

   Description:  The UNKNOWN value data type is reserved for the
      exclusive use of the jCard format [RFCTODO] .  It MUST NOT be used
      in plain vCard [RFC6350].  Conversion rules are as follows:

      *  When converting vCard into jCard:

         +  Any property that does not include a "VALUE" property
            parameter and whose default value type is not known, MUST be
            converted to a primative JSON string.  The content of that
            string is the unprocessed value text.  Also, value type MUST
            be set to "unknown".

         +  To correctly implement this format, it is critical that if
            the default type is not known that the type "unknown" is
            used.  If this requirement is ignored and for example "text"
            is used, additional escaping may occur which breaks
            roundtripping values.

         +  Any unrecognized property parameter MUST be converted to a
            string value, with its content set to the property parameter
            value text, treated as if it were a "TEXT" value.

      *  When converting jCard into vCard:

         +  Since jCard always explicitly specifies the value type, it
            can always be converted to vCard using the VALUE parameter.

         +  If the value type specified in jCard matches the default
            value type in vCard, the VALUE parameter SHOULD be omitted.

         +  If the valye type specified in jCard is set to "unknown",
            the value MUST be taken over in vCard without proessing.  In
            this case, the VALUE parameter MUST NOT be specified.

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   Format definition:  (Not applicable)

   Example: The following is an example of an unrecognized vCard
   property (that uses an "URI" value as its default), and the
   equivalent jCard representation of that property.

   vCard:

   X-COMPLAINT-URI:mailto:abuse@example.org

   jCard:

   ...
   ["x-complaint-uri", {}, "unknown", "mailto:abuse@example.org"],
   ...

   Example: The following is an example of how to cope with jCard data
   where the parser was unable to identify the type.  Note how the
   "unknown" value type is not added to the vCard data and escaping,
   aside from standard JSON string escaping, is not processed.

   jCard:

   ...
   ["x-coffee-data", {}, "unknown", "Stenophylla;Guinea\\,Africa"],
   ...

   vCard:

   X-COFFEE-DATA:Stenophylla;Guinea\,Africa

   Example: The following is an example of a jCard property (where the
   corresponding vCard property uses a "INTEGER" value as its default),
   and the equivalent vCard representation of that property.  It is
   assumed that the parser has knowledge of the default data type for
   the "x-karma-points" property.

   jCard:

   ...
   ["x-karma-points", {}, "integer", 95],
   ...

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   vCard:

   X-KARMA-POINTS:95

   Example: The following is an example of an unrecognized vCard
   property parameter (that uses a "FLOAT" value as its default)
   specified on a recognized vCard property, and the equivalent jCard
   representation of that property and property parameter.

   vCard:

   GENDER;X-PROBABILITY=0.8:M

   jCard:

   ...
   ["gender", { "x-probability": "0.8" }, "text", "M"],
   ...

6.  Implementation Status (to be removed prior to publication as an RFC)

   This section describes libraries known to implement this draft as per
   [I-D.sheffer-running-code].

   1.  ICAL.js - Philipp Kewisch, James Lal.  A JavaScript parser for
       iCalendar (rfc5545)

       Source:  https://github.com/mozilla-comm/ical.js/

       Maturity:  alpha (for jCard)

       Coverage:  Currently geared towards jCal, therefore not all
             formats are supported.  Includes an online validator.  (as
             of rev 847c67c501, 2013-02-14)

       Licensing:  MPL, Mozilla Public License 2.0

   2.  Py Calendar - Cyrus Daboo.  iCalendar/vCard Library

       Source:  https://svn.calendarserver.org/repository/calendarserver
             /PyCalendar/branches/json/

       Maturity:  production

       Coverage:  All aspects of this draft, up to version 01.

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       Licensing:  Apache License, Version 2.0

   3.  ez-vcard - Michael Angstadt.  A vCard parser library written in
       Java

       Source:  https://code.google.com/p/ez-vcard/

       Maturity:  production

       Coverage  All aspects of this draft.

       Licensing:  New BSD License

   Additionally, interoperability testing of this draft is an ongoing
   effort under members of calconnect, the Calendaring and Scheduling
   Consortium.  CalDAV Vendors are looking into supporting this draft.

7.  Security Considerations

   For security considerations specific to calendar data, see Section 9
   of [RFC6350].  Since this specification is a mapping from vCard, no
   new security concerns are introduced related to calendar data.

   The use of JSON as a format does have security risks.  Section 7 of
   [RFC4627] discusses these risks.

8.  IANA Considerations

   This document defines a MIME media type for use with vCard in JSON
   data.  This media type SHOULD be used for the transfer of calendaring
   data in JSON.

   Type name:  application

   Subtype name:  vcard+json

   Required parameters:  none

   Optional parameters:  version as defined for the text/vcard media
      type in [RFC6350].

   Encoding considerations:  Same as encoding considerations of
      application/json as specified in [RFC4627].

   Security considerations:  See Section 7.

   Interoperability considerations:  This media type provides an
      alternative format for vCard data based on JSON.

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   Published specification:  This specification.

   Applications which use this media type:  Applications that currently
      make use of the text/vcard media type can use this as an
      alternative.  Similarly, Applications that use the application/
      json media type to transfer directory data can use this to further
      specify the content.

   Person & email address to contact for further information:
      vcarddav@ietf.org

   Intended usage:  COMMON

   Restrictions on usage:  There are no restrictions on where this media
      type can be used.

   Author:  See the "Author's Address" section of this document.

   Change controller:  IETF

8.1.  GROUP vCard Parameter

   IANA has added the following entry to the vCard Parameters registry,
   defined in Section 10.3.2 of [RFC6350].

          +-----------+-----------+-----------------------------+
          | Namespace | Parameter | Reference                   |
          +-----------+-----------+-----------------------------+
          |           | GROUP     | RFCTODO, Section 3.3.1.2.   |
          +-----------+-----------+-----------------------------+

8.2.  UNKNOWN vCard Value Data Type

   IANA has added the following entry to the vCard Data Types registry,
   defined in Section 10.3.3 of [RFC6350].

                +-----------------+-----------------------+
                | Value Data Type | Reference             |
                +-----------------+-----------------------+
                | UNKNOWN         | RFCTODO, Section 5.   |
                +-----------------+-----------------------+

9.  Acknowledgments

   The author would like to thank the following for their valuable
   contributions: Cyrus Daboo, Mike Douglass, William Gill, Erwin Rehme,

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   and Dave Thewlis.  This specification originated from the work of the
   XML-JSON technical committee of the Calendaring and Scheduling
   Consortium.

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-jcardcal-jcal]
              Kewisch, P., Daboo, C., and M. Douglass, "jCal: The JSON
              format for iCalendar", draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcal-00 (work
              in progress), March 2013.

   [ISO.8601.2000]
              International Organization for Standardization, ""Data
              elements and interchange formats -- Information
              interchange -- Representation of dates and times" ", ISO
              8601, 12 2000.

   [ISO.8601.2004]
              International Organization for Standardization, ""Data
              elements and interchange formats -- Information
              interchange -- Representation of dates and times" ", ISO
              8601, 12 2004.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC5234]  Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
              Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, January 2008.

   [RFC5545]  Desruisseaux, B., "Internet Calendaring and Scheduling
              Core Object Specification (iCalendar)", RFC 5545,
              September 2009.

   [RFC5646]  Phillips, A. and M. Davis, "Tags for Identifying
              Languages", BCP 47, RFC 5646, September 2009.

   [RFC6321]  Daboo, C., Douglass, M., and S. Lees, "xCal: The XML
              Format for iCalendar", RFC 6321, August 2011.

   [RFC6350]  Perreault, S., "vCard Format Specification", RFC 6350,
              August 2011.

   [RFC6351]  Perreault, S., "xCard: vCard XML Representation", RFC
              6351, August 2011.

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10.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.sheffer-running-code]
              Sheffer, Y. and A. Farrel, "Improving Awareness of Running
              Code: the Implementation Status Section", draft-sheffer-
              running-code-02 (work in progress), January 2013.

   [RFC4627]  Crockford, D., "The application/json Media Type for
              JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)", RFC 4627, July 2006.

   [calconnect-artifacts]
              The Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium, "Code Artifacts
              and Schemas", ,
              <http://www.calconnect.org/artifacts.shtml>.

Appendix A.  ABNF Schema

   Below is an ABNF schema as per [RFC5234] for vCard in JSON.  ABNF
   Symbols not described here are taken from [RFC4627].  The schema is
   non-normative and given for reference only.

   The numeric section numbers given in the comments refer to section in
   [RFC6350].  Additional semantic restrictions apply, especially
   regarding the allowed properties and sub-components per component.
   Details on these restrictions can be found in this document and
   [RFC6350].

   Additional schemas may be available on the internet at
   [calconnect-artifacts].

   ; A vCard Stream is an array with the first element being the
   ; string "vcardstream". All remaining elements are jcardobjects.
   jcardstream = begin-array
                 DQUOTE "vcardstream" DQUOTE
                 *(value-separator jcardobject)
                 end-array

   jcardobject = component

   ; A jCard object consists of the name string "vcard" and a properties
   ; array. Restrictions to which properties and may be specified are to
   ; be taken from RFC6350.
   jcardobject = begin-array
                 DQUOTE component-name DQUOTE value-separator
                 properties-array
                 end-array

   ; A jCard property consists of the name string, parameters object,

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   ; type string and one or more values as specified in this document.
   property = begin-array
              DQUOTE property-name DQUOTE value-separator
              params-object value-separator
              DQUOTE type-name DQUOTE
              propery-value *(value-separator property-value)
              end-array
   properties-array = begin-array
                      [ property *(value-separator property) ]
                      end-array

   ; Property values depend on the type-name. Aside from the value types
   ; mentioned here, extensions may make use of other JSON value types.
   property-value = simple-prop-value / structured-prop-value
   simple-prop-value = string / number / boolean
   structured-prop-value =
       begin-array
       [ structured-element *(value-separator structured-element) ]
       end-array

   ; Each structured element may have multiple values if
   ; semantically allowed
   structured-element = simple-prop-value / structured-multi-prop
   structured-multi-prop =
       begin-array
       [ simple-prop-value *(value-separator simple-prop-value) ]
       end-array

   ; The jCard params-object is a JSON object which follows the semantic
   ; guidelines described in this document.
   params-object = begin-object
                   [ params-member *(value-separator params-member) ]
                   end-object
   params-member = DQUOTE param-name DQUOTE name-separator param-value
   param-value = string / param-multi
   param-multi = begin-array
                 [ string *(value-separtor string) ]
                 end-array

   ; The type MUST be a valid type as described by this document. New
   ; value types can be added by extensions.
   type-name = "text" / "uri" / "date" / "time" / "date-time" /
               "boolean" / "integer" / "float" / "utc-offset" /
               "language-tag" / x-type

   ; Property, parameter and type names MUST be lowercase. Additional
   ; semantic restrictions apply as described by this document and

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   ; RFC6350.
   component-name = lowercase-name
   property-name = lowercase-name
   param-name = lowercase-name
   x-type = lowercase-name
   lowercase-name = 1*(%x61-7A / DIGIT / "-")

Appendix B.  Examples

   This section contains an example of a vCard object with its jCard
   representation.

B.1.  Example: vCard of the author of RFC6350

B.1.1.  vCard Data

   BEGIN:VCARD
   VERSION:4.0
   FN:Simon Perreault
   N:Perreault;Simon;;;ing. jr,M.Sc.
   BDAY:--0203
   ANNIVERSARY:20090808T1430-0500
   GENDER:M
   LANG;PREF=1:fr
   LANG;PREF=2:en
   ORG;TYPE=work:Viagenie
   ADR;TYPE=work:;Suite D2-630;2875 Laurier;
    Quebec;QC;G1V 2M2;Canada
   TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,voice";PREF=1:tel:+1-418-656-9254;ext=102
   TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,cell,voice,video,text":tel:+1-418-262-6501
   EMAIL;TYPE=work:simon.perreault@viagenie.ca
   GEO;TYPE=work:geo:46.772673,-71.282945
   KEY;TYPE=work;VALUE=uri:
    http://www.viagenie.ca/simon.perreault/simon.asc
   TZ:-0500
   URL;TYPE=home:http://nomis80.org
   END:VCARD

B.1.2.  jCard Data

   ["vcard",
     [
       ["version", {}, "text", "4.0"],
       ["fn", {}, "text", "Simon Perreault"],
       ["n",
         {},

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         "text",
         ["Perreault", "Simon", "", "", ["ing. jr", "M.Sc."]]
       ],
       ["bday", {}, "date-and-or-time", "--02-03"],
       ["anniversary",
         {},
         "date-and-or-time",
         "2009-08-08T14:30:00-05:00"
       ],
       ["gender", {}, "text", "M"],
       ["lang", { "pref": "1" }, "language-tag", "fr"],
       ["lang", { "pref": "2" }, "language-tag", "en"],
       ["org", { "type": "work" }, "text", "Viagenie"],
       ["adr",
          { "type": "work" },
          "text",
          [
           "",
           "Suite D2-630",
           "2875 Laurier",
           "Quebec",
           "QC",
           "G1V 2M2",
           "Canada"
          ]
       ],
       ["tel",
         { "type": ["work", "voice"], "pref": "1" },
         "uri",
         "tel:+1-418-656-9254;ext=102"
       ],
       ["tel",
         { "type": ["work", "cell", "voice", "video", "text"] },
         "uri",
         "tel:+1-418-262-6501"
       ],
       ["email",
         { "type": "work" },
         "text",
         "simon.perreault@viagenie.ca"
       ],
       ["geo", { "type": "work" }, "uri", "geo:46.772673,-71.282945"],
       ["key",
         { "type": "work" },
         "uri",
         "http://www.viagenie.ca/simon.perreault/simon.asc"
       ],
       ["tz", {}, "utc-offset", "-05:00"],

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       ["url", { "type": "home" }, "uri", "http://nomis80.org"]
     ]
   ]

Appendix C.  Change History (to be removed prior to publication as an
             RFC)

   draft-kewisch-vcard-in-json-01

      *  Added ABNF and improved references in date/time related
         sections

      *  Changes to wording in "vCard Stream" section

      *  Changes to wording about VALUE parameter when converting to
         vCard

      *  Corrected missing "type" parameter and separator in example

      *  Minor wording corrections

   draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-00

      *  Pubication as a WG draft

   draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-01

      *  Changed grouping syntax to use new GROUP parameter and added
         respective IANA section

      *  Added timestamp and date-and-or-time types instead of
         converting them from date/time/date-time

      *  Added a further sentence on preprocessing and escaping to
         clarify that JSON escaping must be used.

      *  Described how to handle structured text values and structured
         text components with multiple values.

      *  Corrections and additions to the ABNF Section, adaptions to
         example

   draft-ietf-jcardcal-jcard-02

      *  Made more clear that complete representation is not mandatory

      *  Added sheffer-running-code section

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Internet-Draft                   jCard                        April 2013

      *  Changed handling of unknown property parameter types.

      *  Minor corrections to sections regarding dates, fixing typos

Author's Address

   Philipp Kewisch
   Mozilla Corporation
   650 Castro Street, Suite 300
   Mountain View, CA  94041
   USA

   EMail: mozilla@kewis.ch
   URI:   http://www.mozilla.org/

Kewisch                Expires November 01, 2013               [Page 30]