changes to prtChannelInformation (was Re: PMP> URGENT: ...

changes to prtChannelInformation (was Re: PMP> URGENT: ...

Tom Hastings hastings at cp10.es.xerox.com
Wed Jul 23 12:34:05 EDT 1997


David,


Good job!  I agree to these clarifications to prtChannelInformation.


I have two small tweaks:


1. IF we also accept the new prtGeneralStaticCodeSet object proposal,
the code set for prtChannelInformation is specified by the enum value,
not by the value of prtGeneralStaticCodeSet, so then change your point 1 
from:


|         1. The prtChannelInformation is not affected by localization.


to:


|         1. The prtChannelInformation is not affected by localization
|            or the value of the prtGeneralStaticCodeSet object.




2. We could align point b a little more with the IETF terminology in 
RFC 2130, "The Report of the IAB Character Set Workshop held 29 Febuary 
- 1 March 1997" and reference that important clarifying work.


Change:


|         b. The value may contain textual information in a character set
|         other than NVT ASCII graphics characters.  (For instance, an
|         identifier might consist of ISO 10646 text encoded using
|         UTF-8.)  Such a character set and its encoding must be
|         specified in the definition of the value. 


to:


|         b. The value may contain textual information in a character set
|         other than NVT ASCII graphics characters.  (For instance, an
|         identifier might consist of ISO 10646 text encoded using the
|         UTF-8 encoding scheme [UTF8].)  Such a character set and its 
|         encoding scheme [RFC 2130] must be specified in the definition 
|         of the value.


and then add the following to the References section:


[RFC 2130]  C. Weider,  C. Preston, K. Simonsen, H. Alvestrand, 
R. Atkinson, M. Crispin, P. Svanberg, "The Report of the IAB Character 
Set Workshop held 29 Febuary - 1 March 1997", April 1997.


Thanks for this effort,


Tom








At 19:39 07/22/97 PDT, David_Kellerman at nls.com wrote:
>Ah, Scott, another Pigeon come home to roost.  The prtChannelInformation
>encoding.  (What can I say -- I didn't have a clue what I was doing
>writing the prtChannelInformation stuff?) 
>
>I hate making these on-the-fly last minute changes.  But your changes
>seem like the "right" thing to do, and here I am in the embarrasing
>position of suggesting that if they are non-controversial, we go ahead
>and incorporate them.  But if this is a bigger issue than I think it is,
>please someone stop me. 
>
>I appreciate you laying out so clearly the changes you propose. 
>However, I would propose slightly different wording.  The problem is
>that once you abandon the NVT ASCII only convention, the change ripples
>through the text.  
>
>To summarize, the intent here is ONLY to (1) free up the rules for the
>prtChannelInformation values to make it easier for them to encode
>character sets other than NVT ASCII (ISO 10646, in particular, where the
>UTF-8 is much preferrable to the UTF-7 encoding imposed by the existing
>wording), (2) clarify some of the language concerning character sets. 
>
>What follows is: (1) text with my suggested changes indicated by
>changebars, (2) the existing text, for reference, (3) Scott's message
>containing his proposed changes. 
>
>::  David Kellerman         Northlake Software      503-228-3383
>::  david_kellerman at nls.com Portland, Oregon        fax 503-228-5662
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>DK's modified text:
>
>          prtChannelInformation OBJECT-TYPE
>|           SYNTAX     OCTET STRING (SIZE (0..255))
>            MAX-ACCESS read-only
>            STATUS     current
>            DESCRIPTION
>
>          ...
>
>          The prtChannelInformation specifies values for a collection of
>|         channel attributes, represented according to the following
>|         rules:
>
>|         1. The prtChannelInformation is not affected by localization.
>
>          2. The prtChannelInformation is a list of entries representing
>|         the attribute values.  Each entry consists of a sequence of
>|         octets containing the following items, in order:
>
>|         a. a keyword, composed of alphabetic characters (A-Z,
>|         a-z) represented by their NVT ASCII codes, that
>|         identifies a channel attribute,
>
>|         b. the NVT ASCII code for an Equals Sign (code 61),
>          to delimit the keyword,
>
>|         c. a data value encoded using rules specific to the
>|         PrtChannelType to which the prtChannelInformation applies,
>|         which must in no case allow an octet with value 10 (the NVT
>|         ASCII Line Feed code),
>
>|         d. the NVT ASCII code for a Line Feed character (code 10),
>|         to delimit the data value.
>
>|         No other octets shall be present.
>
>          Keywords are case-sensitive.  Conventionally, keywords are
>          capitalized (including each word of a multi-word keyword), and,
>          since they occupy space in the prtChannelInformation, they are
>          kept short.
>
>          3. If a channel attribute has multiple values, it is represented
>          by multiple entries with the same keyword, each specifying one
>          value. Otherwise, there shall be at most one entry for each
>          attribute.
>
>          4. By default, entries may appear in any order.  If there are
>          ordering constraints for particular entries, these must be
>          specified in their definitions.
>
>|         5. A prtChannelInformation value by default consists of text
>|         represented by NVT ASCII graphics character codes.  However,
>|         other representations may be specified: 
>|
>|         a. In cases where the prtChannelInformation value contains
>|         information not normally coded in textual form, whatever
>|         symbolic representation is conventionally used for the
>|         information should be used for encoding the
>|         prtChannelInformation value.  (For instance, a binary port
>|         value might be represented as a decimal number using NVT ASCII
>|         codes.)  Such encodings must be specified in the definition of
>|         the value. 
>|
>|         b. The value may contain textual information in a character set
>|         other than NVT ASCII graphics characters.  (For instance, an
>|         identifier might consist of ISO 10646 text encoded using
>|         UTF-8.)  Such a character set and its encoding must be
>|         specified in the definition of the value. 
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Existing text:
>          prtChannelInformation OBJECT-TYPE
>            SYNTAX     DisplayString (SIZE (0..255))
>            MAX-ACCESS read-only
>            STATUS     current
>
>          ...
>
>          The prtChannelInformation specifies values for a collection of
>          channel attributes, represented as text according to the
>          following rules:
>
>          1. The prtChannelInformation is coded in the NVT ASCII character
>          set. It is not affected by localization.
>
>          2. The prtChannelInformation is a list of entries representing
>          the attribute values.  Each entry consists of the following
>          items, in order:
>
>          a. a keyword, composed of alphabetic characters (A-Z,
>          a-z), that identifies a channel attribute,
>
>          b. an Equals Sign (=) to delimit the keyword,
>
>          c. a data value, consisting of NVT ASCII graphics characters
>          (codes 32-126),
>
>          d. a Line Feed character (code 10) to delimit the data value.
>
>          No other characters shall be present.
>
>          Keywords are case-sensitive.  Conventionally, keywords are
>          capitalized (including each word of a multi-word keyword), and,
>          since they occupy space in the prtChannelInformation, they are
>          kept short.
>
>          3. If a channel attribute has multiple values, it is represented
>          by multiple entries with the same keyword, each specifying one
>          value. Otherwise, there shall be at most one entry for each
>          attribute.
>
>          4. By default, entries may appear in any order.  If there are
>          ordering constraints for particular entries, these must be
>          specified in their definitions.
>
>          5. The prtChannelInformation value may represent information that
>          is not normally coded in textual form, or that is coded in a
>          character set other than NVT ASCII.  In these cases, whatever
>          symbolic representation is conventionally used for the
>          information should be used for encoding the
>          prtChannelInformation.  (For instance, a binary port value might
>          be represented as a decimal number, Unicode would be represented
>          in UTF-8 format.)
>
>
>
>> I believe that the following changes should be made to the
>> section on prtChannelInformation:
>> 
>> From:
>>               SYNTAX     DisplayString (SIZE (0..255))
>> To:
>>               SYNTAX     OCTET STRING (SIZE (0..255)) -- with special rules 
>
>Agreed, DisplayString is just causing confusion here. 
>
>> From:
>>                    The prtChannelInformation specifies values for a
>>                    collection of channel attributes, represented as text
>>                    according to the following rules:
>> To:
>>                    The prtChannelInformation specifies values for a
>>                    collection of channel attributes, represented
>>                    according to the following rules:
>
>> From:
>>                    1. The prtChannelInformation is coded in the NVT ASCII
>>                    character set. It is not affected by localization.
>> To:
>>                    1. The prtChannelInformation keywords are coded in the
NVT ASCII
>>                    character set. They are not affected by localization.
>
>DK's to:
>          1. The prtChannelInformation is not affected by localization.
>
>From:
>          a. a keyword, composed of alphabetic characters (A-Z,
>          a-z), that identifies a channel attribute,
>
>          b. an Equals Sign (=) to delimit the keyword,
>
>DK's to:
>          a. a keyword, composed of alphabetic characters (A-Z,
>          a-z) represented by their NVT ASCII codes, that
>          identifies a channel attribute,
>
>          b. an Equals Sign (=) represented by its NVT ASCII
>          code (code 61), to delimit the keyword,
>
>                                                                 
>> From:
>>                    c. a data value (encoded using the encoding rules specific
>>                        to that keyword)
>> To:
>
>I think your cut-and-paste slipped here.
>
>Corrected From:
>          c. a data value, consisting of NVT ASCII graphics characters
>          (codes 32-126),
>DK's To:
>          c. a data value encoded using rules specific to the
>          PrtChannelType to which the prtChannelInformation applies,
>          which must not allow an octet with value 10 (the NVT ASCII
>          Line Feed code),
>
>> From:
>>                    No other characters shall be present.
>> To:
>>                     <remove>
>
>When prtChannelInformation was discussed, questions such as "can there
>be white-space around the equals-sign" were raised.  This sentence was
>intended to clarify that issue.  (Whether it does or not is a separate
>question.)  I would tend to leave it in place. 
>
>> Keep:
>>                    5. The prtChannelInformation value may represent
>>                    information that is not normally coded in textual form,
>>                    or that is coded in a character set other than NVT
>>                    ASCII.  In these cases, whatever symbolic representation
>>                    is conventionally used for the information should be
>>                    used for encoding the prtChannelInformation.  (For
>>                    instance, a binary port value might be represented as a
>>                    decimal number, Unicode would be represented in UTF-8
>>                    format.)
>> 
>> <Don't make it UTF-7>
>
>DK's To:
>          5. A prtChannelInformation value by default consists of text
>          represented by NVT ASCII graphics character codes.  In cases
>          where the prtChannelInformation value contains information not
>          normally coded in textual form, whatever symbolic
>          representation is conventionally used for the information
>          should be used for encoding the prtChannelInformation value. 
>          (For instance, a binary port value might be represented as a
>          decimal number using NVT ASCII codes.)  Any such encoding must
>          be specified in the definition of the value.  Similarly, where
>          the value contains textual information in a character set
>          other than NVT ASCII graphics characters, the character set
>          and its encoding must be specified in the definition of the
>          value.  (For instance, ISO 10646 text might be encoded using
>          UTF-8.) 
>
>          5. The prtChannelInformation value may represent
>          information that is not normally coded in textual form,
>          or that is coded in a character set other than NVT
>          ASCII.  In these cases, whatever symbolic representation
>          is conventionally used for the information should be
>          used for encoding the prtChannelInformation.  (For
>          instance, a binary port value might be represented as a
>          decimal number, Unicode would be represented in UTF-8
>          format.)
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 15:02:22 -0600
>From: Scott Isaacson <SISAACSON at novell.com>
>Subject: Re: PMP> URGENT:  Need consensus by noon PDT today on definition
>         ofOCTET STRING to  allow  superset of ASCII
>
>All,
>
>It looks like noon has come and gone at the OK Printer Mib Corral.....
>Sorry for the late post.
>
>However, my suggestions
>
>Long ago,
>I proposed several sets of attributes for Novell channel types. I
>recommended that values be UTF-8 encoded Unicode characters.
>
>Please note that use of Unicode in Novell has been in place
>(existing practice) for over 3 years.  Printer, Print Server, and Queue
>names are Unicode in NetWare 4.x and IntranetWare, not just
>NDPS.
>
>Therefore,
>I believe that the following changes should be made to the
>section on prtChannelInformation:
>
>From:
>              SYNTAX     DisplayString (SIZE (0..255))
>To:
>              SYNTAX     OCTET STRING (SIZE (0..255)) -- with special rules 
>
>
>From:
>                   The prtChannelInformation specifies values for a
>                   collection of channel attributes, represented as text
>                   according to the following rules:
>To:
>                   The prtChannelInformation specifies values for a
>                   collection of channel attributes, represented
>                   according to the following rules:
>
>From:
>                   1. The prtChannelInformation is coded in the NVT ASCII
>                   character set. It is not affected by localization.
>To:
>                   1. The prtChannelInformation keywords are coded in the
>NVT ASCII
>                   character set. They are not affected by localization.
>
>From:
>                   c. a data value (encoded using the encoding rules
>specific
>                       to that keyword)
>To:
>
>From:
>                   No other characters shall be present.
>To:
>                    <remove>
>
>
>Keep:
>                   5. The prtChannelInformation value may represent
>                   information that is not normally coded in textual form,
>                   or that is coded in a character set other than NVT
>                   ASCII.  In these cases, whatever symbolic representation
>                   is conventionally used for the information should be
>                   used for encoding the prtChannelInformation.  (For
>                   instance, a binary port value might be represented as a
>                   decimal number, Unicode would be represented in UTF-8
>                   format.)
>
><Don't make it UTF-7>
>
>Scott
>
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