Subject: [mile] draft-montville-mile-enum-reference-format-00.txt - formats

From: "Black, David" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2012 16:38:10 -0500

Hi Adam,

This draft is a good start - it effectively describes the
approach to this area and should make an important contribution to
clarity.  I apologize for not being able to take a look at it until
just before the meeting tomorrow (and also that I will not be in
Atlanta until Wednesday of this week).

As has also been pointed out in some other comments, the draft doesn't
say much about the format of id_type and id. This email is about formats
- I'll send another email about versions, and I have some editorial
comments that I'll send to you directly.

All the id_type examples in the draft are three letter acronyms, but
there's nothing there to stop someone from trying to use a 100-character
id_type (yes, 100 characters would be ridiculous, but that's precisely
the concern - the draft should provide guidance about what's reasonable,
and requirements as appropriate).  Kathleen's earlier concern about
allowed characters in id applies to id_type - for example, the character
':' has to be prohibited in id_type because that character is used as
a separator between id_type and id, and XML escapes have to be used if
their equivalents are allowed (e.g. "&lt" instead of '<').

I also share Kathleen's concern that the format of the id needs
precise specification for each id_type, but I have a different approach
to suggest.  For the example in the draft, "CXI:CXI-1234-XYZ",
"CXI-1234-XYZ" is the id.  I'd suggest that the format of that id be
the format of CXI enumeration strings as specified in the CXI
specification in the IANA registry entry for the "CXI" id_type.

Leaving those enumeration formats to the referenced specifications
should result in more flexibility and reuse of formats, although
we probably should guide the Designated Expert to check that each
specification does effectively specify its enumeration format. Would
it help to have the registry record where each enumeration format
is specified in the referenced specification (e.g., by section number)?

What do other people think, especially about where to specify
enumeration string formats?

Thanks,
--David
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David L. Black, Distinguished Engineer
EMC Corporation, 176 South St., Hopkinton, MA  01748
+1 (508) 293-7953             FAX: +1 (508) 293-7786
[email-masked]        Mobile: +1 (978) 394-7754
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