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Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR) Tag for Error Indications
draft-richter-cbor-error-tag-00

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Expired".
Authors Joerg Richter , Carsten Bormann
Last updated 2019-01-29
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draft-richter-cbor-error-tag-00
Network Working Group                                         J. Richter
Internet-Draft                               pdv Financial Software GmbH
Intended status: Informational                                C. Bormann
Expires: August 1, 2019                          Universitaet Bremen TZI
                                                        January 28, 2019

 Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR) Tag for Error Indications
                    draft-richter-cbor-error-tag-00

Abstract

   The Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR, RFC 7049) is a data
   format whose design goals include the possibility of extremely small
   code size, fairly small message size, and extensibility without the
   need for version negotiation.

   In CBOR, one point of extensibility is the definition of CBOR tags.
   While CBOR defines representations for null values and for an
   undefined value, there is no convention for expressing errors or
   exceptions in data structures, where the actual value desired could
   not be calculated due to an error.  The present specification defines
   a tag for such error indications, enabling the addition of varying
   levels of detail.

Note to Readers

   Please discuss this draft on the mailing list cbor@ietf.org -
   subscribe at https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/cbor to follow the
   discussions.

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 https://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 August 1, 2019.

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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2019 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
   (https://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.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   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  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Error Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  CDDL typenames  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   6.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4

1.  Introduction

   The Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR, [RFC7049]) provides
   for the interchange of structured data without a requirement for a
   pre-agreed schema.  RFC 7049 defines a basic set of data types, as
   well as a tagging mechanism that enables extending the set of data
   types supported via an IANA registry.

   In CBOR, one point of extensibility is the definition of CBOR tags.
   While CBOR defines representations for null values and for an
   undefine value, there is no convention for expressing errors or
   exceptions in data structures.  The present specification defines a
   tag for such error indications, enabling varying levels of detail.

1.1.  Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

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2.  Error Format

   An error value is indicated by CBOR tag TBD101, which tags a data
   item that may contain additional information about the error value:

   o  If no further information is provided, the data item is the CBOR
      value null.

   o  If a diagnostic text string is provided, the data item is that
      text string.

   o  If more detailed information is provided, the data item is a map
      (CBOR major type 5), with text string or integer keys and values
      as defined by the application.

3.  CDDL typenames

   For the use with the CBOR Data Definition Language, CDDL
   [I-D.ietf-cbor-cddl], the type names defined in Figure 1 are
   recommended:

   error = error-of<(null / text / {* (int/tstr) => any})>
   error-of<T> = #6.101(T)

                 Figure 1: Recommended type names for CDDL

4.  IANA Considerations

   In the registry [IANA.cbor-tags], IANA is requested to allocate the
   tag in Table 1 from the FCFS space, with the present document as the
   specification reference.

         +--------+-----------------+----------------------------+
         |    Tag | Data Item       | Semantics                  |
         +--------+-----------------+----------------------------+
         | TBD101 | null, text, map | [RFCthis] error indication |
         +--------+-----------------+----------------------------+

                         Table 1: Values for Tags

5.  Security Considerations

   The security considerations of RFC 7049 apply; the tag introduced
   here are not expected to raise security considerations beyond those.

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6.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-cbor-cddl]
              Birkholz, H., Vigano, C., and C. Bormann, "Concise data
              definition language (CDDL): a notational convention to
              express CBOR and JSON data structures", draft-ietf-cbor-
              cddl-06 (work in progress), November 2018.

   [IANA.cbor-tags]
              IANA, "Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR) Tags",
              <http://www.iana.org/assignments/cbor-tags>.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC7049]  Bormann, C. and P. Hoffman, "Concise Binary Object
              Representation (CBOR)", RFC 7049, DOI 10.17487/RFC7049,
              October 2013, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7049>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

Acknowledgements

Authors' Addresses

   Joerg Richter
   pdv Financial Software GmbH
   Dorotheenstr. 64
   Hamburg  D-22301
   Germany

   Email: joerg.richter@pdv-fs.de

   Carsten Bormann
   Universitaet Bremen TZI
   Postfach 330440
   Bremen  D-28359
   Germany

   Phone: +49-421-218-63921
   Email: cabo@tzi.org

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