Network Working Group                                          M.T. Rose
Internet-Draft                                    Invisible Worlds, Inc.
Expires: October 10, 1999                                 April 11, 1999


                    Writing I-Ds and RFCs using XML
                      draft-mrose-writing-rfcs-01

Status of this Memo

      This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance
      with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

      Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
      Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that
      other groups may also distribute working documents as
      Internet-Drafts.

      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."

      The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
      http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt

      The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
      http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

      This Internet-Draft will expire on October 10, 1999.

Abstract

      This memo presents a technique for using XML as a source format
      for documents in the Internet-Drafts and RFC series.

Copyright Notice

      Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.















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Table of Contents

   1.      Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.      Using the DTD to Write I-Ds and RFCs . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.1     XML basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.2     Front matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   2.2.1   The title Element  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   2.2.2   The author Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   2.2.3   The date Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   2.2.4   Meta Data Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   2.2.5   The abstract Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   2.2.6   The note Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   2.2.7   Status, Copyright Notice, Table of Contents  . . . . . . .  9
   2.2.7.1 Conformance with RFC 2026  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   2.2.8   Everything in the Front  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   2.3     The Middle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   2.3.1   The section Element  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   2.3.1.1 The t Element  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   2.3.1.2 The list Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   2.3.1.3 The figure Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   2.3.1.4 The xref Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   2.3.1.5 The eref Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   2.3.1.6 The iref Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   2.3.1.7 The vspace Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   2.4     Back matter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   2.4.1   The references Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   2.4.2   Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   2.4.3   Copyright Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   3.      Processing the XML Source File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   3.1     Editing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   3.1.1   Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   3.2     Converting to Text Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   3.3     Converting to HTML Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   3.4     Viewing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   3.5     Searching  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   4.      Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
           References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
           Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   A.      The rfc Element  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   B.      The RFC DTD  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   C.      Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   D.      Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30









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   1. Introduction

      This memo describes how to write a document for the I-D and RFC
      series using the Extensible Markup Language[1] (XML). This memo
      has three goals: 

      1.  To describe a simple XML Document Type Definition (DTD) that
          is powerful enough to handle the simple formatting
          requirements of RFC-like documents whilst allowing for
          meaningful markup of descriptive qualities.

      2.  To describe software that processes XML source files,
          including a tool that produces documents conforming to RFC
          2223[2], HTML format, and so on.

      3.  To provide the proof-of-concept for the first two goals (this
          memo was written using this DTD and produced using that
          software).

      It is beyond the scope of this memo to discuss the political
      ramifications of using XML as a source format for RFC-like
      documents. Rather, it is simply noted that adding minimal markup
      to plain text: 

      o  allows the traditional production of textual RFC-like
         documents using familiar editors;

      o  requires some, albeit minimal, additions to existing software
         environments; and,

      o  permits information to be organized, searched, and retrieved
         using both unstructured and structured mechanisms.



















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   2. Using the DTD to Write I-Ds and RFCs

      We do not provide a formal or comprehensive description of XML.
      Rather, this section discusses just enough XML to use a Document
      Type Declaration (DTD) to write RFC-like documents.

      If you're already familiar with XML, skip to Appendix B to look
      at the DTD.

   2.1 XML basics

      There are very few rules when writing in XML, as the syntax is
      simple. There are five terms you'll need to know: 

      1.  An "element" usually refers to a start tag, an end tag, and
          all the characters in between, e.g., "<example>text and/or
          nested elements</example>"

      2.  An "empty element" combines the start tag and the end tag,
          e.g., "<empty/>". You don't find these in HTML.

      3.  An "attribute" is part of an element. If present, they occur
          in the start tag, e.g., "<example name='value'>". Of course,
          they can also appear in empty elements, e.g., "<empty
          name='value'/>".

      4.  An "entity" is a textual macro that starts with "&". Don't
          worry about these, you'll only use them whenever you want to
          put a "&" or a "<" in your text.

      5.  A "token" is a string of characters. The first character is
          either a letter or an underscore ("_"). Any characters that
          follow are either letters, numbers, an underscore, or a
          period (".").

      First, start your source file with an XML declaration, a
      reference to the DTD, and the "rfc" element:

       <?xml version="1.0"?>
       <!DOCTYPE rfc SYSTEM "rfcXXXX.dtd">
       <rfc>
           ...
       </rfc>

      Ignore the first two lines -- the declaration and the reference
      -- and simply treat them as opaque strings. Nothing else should
      be present after the "</rfc>" tag.

      (NOTE TO READER: when this memo is published as an RFC, the


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      "XXXX" above will be replaced with the actual string to use in
      your source file.)

      Second, make sure that all elements are properly matched and
      nested. A properly matched element that starts with "<example>"
      is eventually followed with "</example>". (Empty elements are
      always matched.) Elements are properly nested when they don't
      overlap.

      For example,

       <outer>
           ...
           <inner>
               ...
           </inner>
           ...
       </outer>

      is properly nested.

      However,

       <outer>
           ...
           <inner>
               ...
           </outer>
           ...
       </inner>

      overlaps, so the elements aren't properly nested.

      Third, never use "<" or "&" in your text. Instead, use either
      "&lt;" or "&amp;", respectively.

      Fourth, there are two quoting characters in XML, 'apostrophe' and
      "quotation". Make sure that all attributes values are quoted,
      e.g., "<example name='value'>", If the value contains one of the
      quoting characters, then use the other to quote the value, e.g.,
      "<example name='"'>", If the value contains both quoting
      characters, then use one of them to quote the value, and replace
      occurrances of that character in the attribute value with either
      '&apos;' (apostrophe) or "&quot;" (quotation), e.g., "<example
      name='"&apos;"'>".






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      If you want to put a comment in your source file, here's the
      syntax:

           <!-- comments can be multiline,
            if you wish -->

      Finally, XML is case sensitive.

   2.2 Front matter

      Immediately following the "<rfc>" tag is the "front" element:

       <?xml version="1.0"?>
       <!DOCTYPE rfc SYSTEM "rfcXXXX.dtd">
       <rfc>
           <front>
               <title ...>
               <author ...>
               <author ...>
               <date ...>
               <area ...>
               <workgroup ...>
               <keyword ...>
               <keyword ...>
               <abstract ...>
               <note ...>
           </front>
           ...
       </rfc>

      (Note that in all examples, indentation is used only for
      expository purposes.)

      The "front" element consists of a "title" element, one or more
      "author" elements, a "date" element, one or more optional "area"
      elements, one or more optional "workgroup" elements, one or more
      optional "keyword" elements, an optional "abstract" element. and,
      one or more optional "note" elements.













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   2.2.1 The title Element

      The "title" element identifies the title of the document. Because
      the title will be used in the headers of the document when
      formatted according to [2], if the title is more than 42
      characters, then an abbreviation should also be provided, e.g.,

       <title abbrev="Much Ado about Nothing">
       The IETF's Discussion on "Source Format of RFC Documents"
       </title>

   2.2.2 The author Element

      Each "author" element identifies a document author. Since a
      document may have more than one author, more than one "author"
      element may be present. If the author is a person, then three
      attributes must be present in the "<author>" tag, "initials",
      "surname", and "fullname", e.g.,

       <author initials="M.T." surname="Rose"
               fullname="Marshall T. Rose">

      The "author" element itself consists of an "organization"
      element, and, an optional "address" element.

      The "organization" element is similar to the "title" element, in
      that an abbreviation may be paired with a long organization name
      using the "abbrev" attribute, e.g.,

       <organization abbrev="ISI">
           USC/Information Sciences Institute
       </organization>

      The "address" element consists of an optional "postal" element,
      an optional "phone" element, an optional "facsimile" element, an
      optional "email" element, and, an optional "uri" element.

      The "postal" element contains one or more "street" elements,
      followed by any combination of "city", "region" (state or
      province), "code" (zipcode or postal code), and "country"
      elements, e.g.,

       <postal>
           <street>950 Charter Street</street>
           <street>M/S 40</street>
           <city>Redwood City</city> <region>CA</region>
           <code>94063</code>
           <country>US</country>
       </postal>


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      This flexibility is provided to allow for different national
      formats for postal addresses. Note however, that although the
      order of the "city", "region", "code", and "country" elements
      isn't specified, at most one of each may be present. Regardless,
      these elements must not be re-ordered during processing by an XML
      application (e.g., display applications must preserve the
      ordering of the information contained in these elements).
      Finally, the value of the "country" element should be a
      two-letter code from ISO 3166.

      The "phone", "facsimile", "email", and "uri" elements are simple,
      e.g.,

       <phone>+1 650 779 7081</phone>
       <email>mrose@not.invisible.net</email>
       <uri>http://invisible.net/</uri>

   2.2.3 The date Element

      The "date" element identifies the publication date of the
      document. It consists of a month and a year, e.g.,

       <date month="February" year="1999" />

      The "date" element also has an optional day attribute.

   2.2.4 Meta Data Elements

      The "front" element may contain meta data -- the content of these
      elements does not appear in printed versions of the document.

      A document has one or more optional "area", "workgroup" and
      "keyword" elements, e.g.,

       <area>General</area>
       <workgroup>RFC Beautification Working Group</workgroup>
       <keyword>RFC</keyword>
       <keyword>Request for Comments</keyword>
       <keyword>I-D</keyword>
       <keyword>Internet-Draft</keyword>
       <keyword>XML</keyword>
       <keyword>Extensible Markup Language</keyword>

      The "area" elements identify a general category for the document
      (e.g., one of "Applications", "General", "Internet",
      "Management", "Operations", "Routing", "Security", "Transport",
      or "User"), while the "workgroup" elements identify the IETF
      working groups that produced the document, and the "keyword"
      elements identify useful search terms.


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   2.2.5 The abstract Element

      A document may have an "abstract" element, which contains one or
      more "t" elements (Section 2.3.1.1). In general, only a single
      "t" element is present, e.g.,

       <abstract>
           <t>This memo presents a technique for using XML as a
           source format for documents in the Internet-Drafts and
           RFC series.</t>
       </abstract>

   2.2.6 The note Element

      A document may have one or more "note" elements, each of which
      contains one or more "t" elements (Section 2.3.1.1). There is a
      mandatory "title" attribute. In general, the "note" element
      contains text from the IESG, e.g.,

       <note title="IESG Note">
           <t>The IESG has something to say.</t>
       </note>

   2.2.7 Status, Copyright Notice, Table of Contents

      Note that text relating to the memo's status, copyright notice,
      or table of contents is not included in the document's markup --
      this is automatically inserted by an XML application when it
      produces either a text or HTML version of the document.

   2.2.7.1 Conformance with RFC 2026

      If an Internet-Draft is being produced, then the "ipr2026"
      attribute should be present in the "<rfc>" tag at the beginning
      of the file. The value of the attribute should be one of: 

      full: indicating that the document is in full conformance with
         all the provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026;

      noDerivativeWorks: indicating that the document is in full
         conformance with all the provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026
         except that the right to produce derivative works is not
         granted; or,

      none: indicating that the document is NOT offered in accordance
         with Section 10 of RFC 2026, and the author does not provide
         the IETF with any rights other than to publish as an
         Internet-Draft.



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      In the latter case, a copyright notice will not be automatically
      inserted during processing by an XML application.

      Consult [3] for further details.

      Finally, if the Internet-Draft is being submitted to an automated
      process, then the "docName" attribute should be present in the
      "<rfc>" tag at the beginning of the file. The value of this
      attribute contains the document (not file) name associated with
      this Internet-Draft, e.g.,

       <rfc ipr2026="full" docName="draft-mrose-writing-rfcs-01">
           ...
       </rfc>

   2.2.8 Everything in the Front

      So, putting it all together, we have, e.g.,

       <front>
           <title>Writing I-Ds and RFCs using XML</title>

           <author initials="M.T." surname="Rose"
                   fullname="Marshall T. Rose">
               <organization>Invisible Worlds, Inc.</organization>

               <address>
                   <postal>
                       <street>950 Charter Street</street>
                       <street>M/S 40</street>
                       <city>Redwood City</city> <region>CA</region>
                       <code>94063</code>
                       <country>US</country>
                   </postal>

                   <phone>+1 650 779 7081</phone>
                   <email>mrose@not.invisible.net</email>
                   <uri>http://invisible.net/</uri>
               </address>
           </author>

           <date month="February" year="1999" />

           <area>General</area>
           <workgroup>RFC Beautification Working Group</workgroup>
           <keyword>RFC</keyword>
           <keyword>Request for Comments</keyword>
           <keyword>I-D</keyword>
           <keyword>Internet-Draft</keyword>


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           <keyword>XML</keyword>
           <keyword>Extensible Markup Language</keyword>
           <abstract>
               <t>This memo presents a technique for using XML as a
               source format for documents in the Internet-Drafts and
               RFC series.</t>
           </abstract>
       </front>

   2.3 The Middle

      The "middle" element contains all the sections of the document
      except for the bibliography and appendices:

       ...
       </front>
       <middle>
           <section ...>
           <section ...>
           <section ...>
       </middle>
       <back>
       ...

      The "middle" element consists of one or more "section" elements.

   2.3.1 The section Element

      Each "section" element contains a section of the document. There
      is a mandatory attribute, "title", that identifies the title of
      the section. There is also an optional attribute, "anchor", that
      is used for cross-referencing with the "xref" element (Section
      2.3.1.4), e.g.,

       <section anchor="intro" title="Introduction">
           ...
       </section>














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      The "section" element is recursive -- each contains any number
      and combination of "t", "figure", and "section" elements, e.g.,

       <section title="The Middle">
           ...
           <section title="The section Element">
               ...
               <section title="The t Element">...</section>
               <section title="The list Element">...</section>
               <section title="The figure Element">...</section>
               <section title="The xref Element">...</section>
               <section title="The eref Element">...</section>
               <section title="The iref Element">...</section>
           </section>
       </section>

   2.3.1.1 The t Element

      The "t" element contains any number and combination of
      paragraphs, lists, and figures. Paragraphs are simply text. If a
      cross-reference is needed to a section, figure, or reference, the
      "xref" element (Section 2.3.1.4) is used; similarly, if an
      external-reference is needed, the "eref" element (Section
      2.3.1.5) is used. Indexing of text is provided by the the "iref"
      element (Section 2.3.1.6).

   2.3.1.2 The list Element

      The "list" element contains one or more items. Each item is a "t"
      element, allowing for recursion, e.g.,

       <list style="numbers">
           <t>The first item.</t>
           <t>The second item, which contains two bulleted sub-items:
               <list style="symbols">
                   <t>The first sub-item.</t>
                   <t>The second sub-item.</t>
               </list>
           </t>
       </list>

      The "list" element has an optional attribute, "style", having the
      value "numbers" (for numeric lists), "symbols" (for bulleted
      lists), "hanging" (for hanging lists), or, "empty" (for indented
      text). If a "list" element is nested, the default value is taken
      from its closest parent; otherwise, the default value is "empty". 





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      When nested within a "hanging list" element, the "t" element has
      an optional attribute, "hangText" that specifies the text to be
      inserted, e.g.,

       <list style="hanging">
           <t hangText="full:">indicating that the document is in full
           conformance with all the provisions of Section 10 of RFC
           2026;</t>

           <t hangText="noDerivativeWorks:">indicating that the
           document is in full conformance with all the provisions of
           Section 10 of RFC 2026 except that the right to produce
           derivative works is not granted; or,</t>

           <t hangText="none:">indicating that the document is NOT
           offered in accordance with Section 10 of RFC 2026, and
           the author does not provide the IETF with any rights other
           than to publish as an Internet-Draft.</t>
       </list>

   2.3.1.3 The figure Element

      The "figure" element groups an optional "preamble" element, an
      "artwork" element, and an optional "postamble" element together.
      The "figure" element also has an optional "anchor" attribute that
      is used for cross-referencing with the "xref" element (Section
      2.3.1.4). There is also an optional "title" attribute that
      identifies the title of the figure. 

      The "preamble" and "postamble" elements, if present, are simply
      text. If a cross-reference is needed to a section, figure, or
      reference, the "xref" element (Section 2.3.1.4) is used;
      similarly, if an external-reference is needed, the "eref" element
      (Section 2.3.1.5) is used. Indexing of text is provided by the
      the "iref" element (Section 2.3.1.6).

      The "artwork" element, which must be present, contains "ASCII
      artwork". Unlike text contained in the "t", "preamble", or
      "postamble" elements, both horizontal and vertical whitespace is
      significant in the "artwork" element.











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      So, putting it all together, we have, e.g.,

       <figure anchor="figure_example">
           <preamble>So,
           putting it all together, we have, e.g.,</preamble>
           <artwork>
               ascii artwork goes here...

               be sure to use "&lt;" or "&amp;" instead of "<" and "&",
               respectively!
           </artwork>
           <postamble>which is a very simple example.</postamble>
       </figure>

      which is a very simple example.

      If you have artwork with a lot of "<" characters, then there's an
      XML trick you can use:

       <figure>
           <preamble>If you have artwork with a lot of "&lt;"
           characters, then there's an XML trick you can
           use:</preamble>
           <artwork><![CDATA[
               ascii artwork goes here...

               just don't use "]]" in your artwork!
           ]]></artwork>
           <postamble>The "<![CDATA[ ... ]]>" construct is called
           a CDATA block -- everything between the innermost brackets
           is left alone by the XML application.</postamble>
       </figure>

      The "<![CDATA[ ... ]]>" construct is called a CDATA block --
      everything between the innermost brackets is left alone by the
      XML application.

      Because the "figure" element represents a logical grouping of
      text and artwork, an XML application producing a text version of
      the document should attempt to keep these elements on the same
      page. Because RFC 2223[2] allows no more than 69 characters by 49
      lines of content on each page, XML applications should be
      prepared to prematurely introduce page breaks to allow for better
      visual grouping.

   2.3.1.4 The xref Element

      The "xref" element is used to cross-reference sections, figures,
      and references. The mandatory "target" attribute is used to link


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      back to the "anchor" attribute of the "section", "figure", and
      "reference" elements. The value of the "anchor" and "target"
      attributes should be formatted according to the token syntax in
      Section 2.1.

      If used as an empty element, e.g.,

       according to the token syntax in <xref target="xml_basics" />.

      then the XML application inserts an appropriate phrase during
      processing, such as "Section 2.1" or "<a href="#xml_basics">XML
      Basics</a>".

      If used with content, e.g.,

       conforming to <xref target="refs.RFC2223">RFC 2223</xref>.

      then the XML application inserts an appropriate designation
      during processing, such as "RFC 2223[2]" or "<a
      href="#refs.RFC2223">RFC 2223</a>". Although the XML application
      decides what "an appropriate designation" might be, its choice is
      consistent throughout the processing of the document. 

   2.3.1.5 The eref Element

      The "eref" element is used to reference external documents. The
      mandatory "target" attribute is a URI[4], e.g.,

       <eref target="http://metalab.unc.edu/xml/">Cafe con Leche</eref>

      Note that while the "target" attribute is always present, the
      "eref" element may be empty, e.g.,

       <eref target="http://invisible.net/" />

      and the XML application inserts an appropriate designation during
      processing such as "[9]" or "<a
      href="http://invisible.net/">http://invisible.net/</a>".

   2.3.1.6 The iref Element

      The "iref" element is used to add information to an index. The
      mandatory "item" attribute is the primary key the information is
      stored under, whilst the optional "subitem" attribute is the
      secondary key, e.g.,

       <iref item="indexing" subitem="how to" />

      Finally, note that the "iref" element is always empty -- it never


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      contains any text.

   2.3.1.7 The vspace Element

      The "vspace" element, which may occur only inside the "t"
      element, is used by the author to provide formatting guidance to
      the XML application. There is an attribute, "blankLines", that
      indicates the number of blank lines that should be inserted. A
      physical linebreak is specified by using the default value, "0".

      In addition, the "vspace" element can be used to force a new
      physical paragraph within a list item, e.g.,

       <list style="numbers">
           <t>This is list item.
              <vspace blankLines="1" />
              This is part of the same list item,
              although when displayed, it appears
              as a separate physical paragraph.</t>
       </list>

      An XML application producing a text version of the document
      should exercise care when encountering a value for "blankLines"
      that causes a pagebreak -- in particular, if a "vspace" element
      causes a pagebreak, then no further blank lines should be
      inserted. This allows authors to "force" a pagebreak by using an
      arbitrarily large value, e.g., "blankLines='100'".

      Finally, note that the "vspace" element is always empty -- it
      never contains any text.





















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   2.4 Back matter

      Finally, the "back" element is used for references and appendices:

           ...
           </middle>
           <back>
               <references>
                   <reference ...>
                   <reference ...>
               </references>
               <section ...>
               <section ...>
           </back>
       </rfc>

      The "back" element consists of an optional "references" element,
      and, one or more optional "section" elements. The "back" element
      itself is optional, if your document doesn't have any references
      or appendices, you don't have to include it.

   2.4.1 The references Element

      The "references" element contains the document's bibliography. It
      contains one or more "reference" elements.

      Each "reference" element contains a "front" element and one or
      more optional "seriesInfo" elements.

      We've already discussed the "front" element back in Section 2.2.

      The "seriesInfo" element identifies the document series and
      number of the reference, e.g., "RFC 2200", "STD 1", and so on.


















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      The "reference" element has an optional "anchor" attribute that
      is used for cross-referencing with the "xref" element (Section
      2.3.1.4), e.g.,

       <reference anchor="refs.RFC2200">
           <front>
               <title>Internet Official Protocol Standards</title>
               <author initials="J." surname="Postel"
                       fullname="Jon Postel">
                   <organization abbrev="ISI">
                   USC/Information Sciences Institute
                   </organization>
               </author>

               <date month="June" year="1997" />
           </front>
           <seriesInfo>RFC 2200</seriesInfo>
           <seriesInfo>STD 1</seriesInfo>
       </reference>

      The "reference" element also has an optional "target" attribute
      that is used for external references (c.f., Section 2.3.1.5). The
      XML application, if producing an HTML version of the document
      will use the "target" attribute accordingly; however, if the
      "seriesInfo" element starts with the string "RFC " (e.g., "RFC
      2223") the XML application should automatically provide an
      appropriate default for the "target" attribute (e.g.,
      "http://example.com/rfcs/rfc2223.txt").

   2.4.2 Appendices

      To include appendices after the bibliography, simply add more
      "section" elements. (For an example, look at the example at the
      beginning of Section 2.4.)

   2.4.3 Copyright Status

      The copyright status for the document is not included in the
      document's markup -- this is automatically inserted by an XML
      application that produces either a text or HTML version of the
      document.










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   3. Processing the XML Source File

      This section concerns itself with applications that operate on an
      XML source file. A lot of XML tools are available, as are many
      lists of XML resources, e.g., Cafe con Leche[5].

      There are two kinds of XML tools: validating and non-validating.
      Both check that the source file conforms to the rules given in
      Section 2.1. However, in addition to making sure that the source
      file is well-formed, a validating tool also reads the DTD
      referenced by the source file to make sure that they match. There
      are a number of both validating and non-validating tools
      available.

   3.1 Editing

      There are several XML editors available. Ideally, you want an
      editor that validates. This has two advantages: 

      o  the editor provides guidance in fleshing-out the document
         structure; and,

      o  the editor validates that the source file matches the rules in
         the DTD.

      There are two major modes in Emacs that support XML: tdtd[6] and
      psgml[7]. The latter mode allows you to validate the source file
      (by calling an external program). If you visit the source file in
      Emacs and the major mode isn't "SGML" or "XML", then usually all
      it takes is adding these lines to your ".emacs" file:

       (setq auto-mode-alist
             (cons (cons "\\.xml$" 'sgml-mode) auto-mode-alist))

      and then restarting Emacs. If this doesn't work, try one of the
      sources above.

      The author uses both sgml-mode in Emacs, and a commercial
      validating editor, Clip! version 1.5[8], when editing source
      files.

   3.1.1 Checking

      If your editor doesn't validate, then you should run a program to
      validate the source file.

      The author uses the AlphaWorks XML parser[9] for this purpose. It
      requires that your system have a Java virtual machine. In
      addition to Java, there are validating parsers written in C,


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      Perl, Python, and Tcl.

   3.2 Converting to Text Format

      The author has written the xml2rfc tool[10], which reads the
      source file and produces both a text and HTML version of the
      document. (This memo was produced using the xml2rfc tool.) Note
      that xml2rfc isn't a validating tool, so it's a good idea to use
      either a validating editor or run a stand-alone validating parser
      prior to using the tool.

   3.3 Converting to HTML Format

      The XML Style Language (XSL) is used to describe transformations
      from the source file into some other structured file. So, ideally
      you should use an XSL-capable formatter to convert an XML source
      file to HTML.

      However, as of this writing XSL is still in considerable flux.
      (Hence, no reference was included in this memo, as by the time
      you read this section, the reference would be outdated.) So, in
      the interim, the author uses the xml2rfc tool for this purpose,
      even though this tool doesn't provide much flexibility in its
      HTML layout.

   3.4 Viewing

      Browsers that support either XSL or Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
      are able to view the source file directly.

      At present, the author doesn't use any of these browsers, instead
      converting source files to either text or HTML.

   3.5 Searching

      As with text editors, any text-oriented search tool (e.g., grep)
      can be used on the source file. However, there are search tools
      available that understand structured source.

      The author uses sgrep version 1.9[11] for this purpose, e.g.

       sgrep -g xml 'ELEMENTS("title") not in ELEMENTS("back")' \
           writing-rfcs.xml

      which extracts the title element from the source file.






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   4. Security Considerations

      This memo raises no security issues; however, according to [2],
      your document should contain a section near the end that
      discusses the security considerations of the protocol or
      procedures that are the main topic of your document, e.g.,

       <middle>
           ...
           <section title="Security Considerations">
               <t>This memo raises no security issues;
               however,
               according to <xref target="refs.RFC2223" />,
               your document should contain a section near the end
               that discusses the security considerations of the
               protocol or procedures that are the main topic of your
               document.</t>
           </section>
       </middle>
































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References

      [1]  World Wide Web Consortium, "Extensible Markup Language (XML)
           1.0", February 1998.

      [2]  Postel, J., Reynolds, J., "Instructions to RFC Authors", RFC
           2223, October 1997.

      [3]  Bradner, S.O., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
           3", RFC 2026, BCP 9, October 1996.

      [4]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R.T., Masinter, L., "Uniform
           Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax", RFC 2396,
           August 1998.

      [5]  http://metalab.unc.edu/xml/

      [6]  http://www.mulberrytech.com/tdtd/

      [7]  http://www.inria.fr/koala/plh/sxml.html

      [8]  http://www.t2000-usa.com/

      [9]  http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/formula/xml/

      [10]  http://memory.palace.org/authoring/

      [11]  http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/~jjaakkol/sgrep.html

Author's Address

   Marshall T. Rose
   Invisible Worlds, Inc.
   950 Charter Street
   North 40
   Redwood City, CA  94063
   US

   Phone: +1 650 779 7081
   EMail: mrose@not.invisible.net
   URI:   http://invisible.net/










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   Appendix A. The rfc Element

      The "<rfc>" tag at the beginning of the file, with only an
      "ipr2026" attribute (Section 2.2.7.1), produces an
      Internet-Draft. However, when other attributes are added to this
      tag by the RFC editor, an RFC is produced, e.g.,

       <rfc number="2200"
            obsoletes="2000, 1920, 1880, 1800, ..."
            category="std"
            seriesNo="1">

      At a minimum, the "number" attribute should be present.

      The other attributes are: 

      o  "obsoletes", having a comma-separated list of RFC numbers,
         that the document obsoletes;

      o  "updates", having a comma-separated list of RFC numbers, that
         the document updates;

      o  "category", having one of these values: 

         1.  "std", for a Standards-Track document;

         2.  "bcp", "for a Best Current Practices document;

         3.  "exp", for an Experimental Protocol document;

         4.  "historic", for a historic document; or,

         5.  "info", the default, for an Informational document.

      o  "seriesNo", having the corresponding number in the STD (std),
         BCP (bcp), or FYI (info) series.

      Finally, a special entity, "&rfc.number;", is available. Authors
      preparing an RFC should use this entity whenever they want to
      reference the number of the RFC within the document itself. In
      printed versions of the document, the appropriate substitution
      (or "XXXX") will occur.









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   Appendix B. The RFC DTD

   <!--
     DTD for the RFC document series, draft of 99-01-30
     -->


   <!--
     Contents

       DTD data types

       The top-level

       Front matter

       The Body

       Back matter
     -->


   <!--
     DTD data types:

           entity        description
           ======        ===============================================
           NUMBER        [0-9]+
           NUMBERS       a comma-separated list of NUMBER

           DAY           the day of the month, e.g., "1"
           MONTH         the month of the year, e.g., "January"
           YEAR          a four-digit year, e.g., "1999"

           URI           e.g., "http://invisible.net/"

           ATEXT/CTEXT   printable ASCII text (no line-terminators)

           TEXT          character data
     -->


   <!ENTITY % NUMBER     "CDATA">
   <!ENTITY % NUMBERS    "CDATA">

   <!ENTITY % DAY        "CDATA">
   <!ENTITY % MONTH      "CDATA">
   <!ENTITY % YEAR       "CDATA">



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   <!ENTITY % URI        "CDATA">

   <!ENTITY % ATEXT      "CDATA">
   <!ENTITY % CTEXT      "#PCDATA">

   <!ENTITY % TEXT       "#PCDATA">

   <!ENTITY   rfc.number "XXXX">


   <!--
     The top-level
     -->


   <!--
     attributes for the "rfc" element are supplied by the RFC
     editor. when preparing drafts, authors should leave them blank.

     the "seriesNo" attribute is used if the category is, e.g., BCP.
     -->
   <!ELEMENT rfc         (front,middle,back?)>
   <!ATTLIST rfc
             number      %NUMBER;           #IMPLIED
             obsoletes   %NUMBERS;          ""
             updates     %NUMBERS;          ""
             category    (std|bcp|info|exp|historic)
                                            "info"
             seriesNo    %NUMBER;           #IMPLIED
             ipr2026     (full|noDerivativeWorks|none)
                                            #IMPLIED
             docName     %ATEXT;            #IMPLIED>

   <!--
     Front matter
     -->


   <!ELEMENT front       (title,author+,date,area*,workgroup*,keyword*,
                          abstract?,note*)>

   <!-- the "abbrev" attribute is used for headers, etc. -->
   <!ELEMENT title       (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ATTLIST title
             abbrev      %ATEXT;            #IMPLIED>

   <!ELEMENT author      (organization,address?)>
   <!ATTLIST author
             initials    %ATEXT;            #IMPLIED


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             surname     %ATEXT;            #IMPLIED
             fullname    %ATEXT;            #IMPLIED>

   <!ELEMENT organization
                         (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ATTLIST organization
             abbrev      %ATEXT;            #IMPLIED>

   <!ELEMENT address     (postal?,phone?,facsimile?,email?,uri?)>

   <!-- at most one of each the city, region, code, and country
        elements may be present -->
   <!ELEMENT postal      (street+,(city|region|code|country)*)>
   <!ELEMENT street      (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT city        (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT region      (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT code        (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT country     (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT phone       (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT facsimile   (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT email       (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT uri         (%CTEXT;)>

   <!ELEMENT date        EMPTY>
   <!ATTLIST date
             day         %DAY;              #IMPLIED
             month       %MONTH;            #REQUIRED
             year        %YEAR;             #REQUIRED>

   <!-- meta-data... -->
   <!ELEMENT area        (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT workgroup   (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ELEMENT keyword     (%CTEXT;)>

   <!ELEMENT abstract    (t)+>
   <!ELEMENT note        (t)+>
   <!ATTLIST note
             title       %ATEXT;            #REQUIRED>


   <!--
     The body
     -->


   <!ELEMENT middle      (section)+>

   <!ELEMENT section     (t|figure|section)*>
   <!ATTLIST section


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             anchor      ID                 #IMPLIED
             title       %ATEXT;            #REQUIRED>

   <!ELEMENT t           (%TEXT;|list|figure|xref|eref|iref|vspace)*>
   <!ATTLIST t
             hangText    %ATEXT;            #IMPLIED>

   <!-- the value of the style attribute is inherited from the closest
        parent -->
   <!ELEMENT list        (t+)>
   <!ATTLIST list
             style       (numbers|symbols|hanging|empty)
                                            "empty">

   <!ELEMENT xref        (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ATTLIST xref
             target      IDREF              #REQUIRED
             pageno      (true|false)       "false">

   <!ELEMENT eref        (%CTEXT;)>
   <!ATTLIST eref
             target      %URI;              #REQUIRED>

   <!ELEMENT iref        EMPTY>
   <!ATTLIST iref
             item        %ATEXT;            #REQUIRED
             subitem     %ATEXT;            "">

   <!ELEMENT vspace      EMPTY>
   <!ATTLIST vspace
             blankLines  %NUMBER;           "0">

   <!ELEMENT figure      (preamble?,artwork,postamble?)>
   <!ATTLIST figure
             anchor      ID                 #IMPLIED
             title       %ATEXT;            "">

   <!ELEMENT preamble    (%TEXT;|xref|eref)*>
   <!ELEMENT artwork     (%TEXT;)*>
   <!ATTLIST artwork
             xml:space   (default|preserve) "preserve">
   <!ELEMENT postamble   (%TEXT;|xref|eref)*>


   <!--
     Back matter
     -->




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   <!-- sections, if present, are appendices -->
   <!ELEMENT back        (references?,section*)>

   <!ELEMENT references  (reference+)>
   <!ELEMENT reference   (front,seriesInfo*)>
   <!ATTLIST reference
             anchor      ID                 #IMPLIED
             target      %URI;              #IMPLIED>
   <!ELEMENT seriesInfo  (%CTEXT;)>










































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   Appendix C. Acknowledgements

      The author gratefully acknowledges the contributions of: Brad
      Burdick, Brian Carpenter, Steve Deering, Patrik Faltstrom, Jim
      Gettys, Carl Malamud, and, Frank Strauss.














































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   Appendix D. Revision History

      Changes since 00: 

      clarification: Elements within the the "address" element (Section
         2.2.2) should not be re-ordered.

      addition: The "docName" attribute (Section 2.2.7.1).

      change: The the "figure" element (Section 2.3.1.3) may now nest
         within the "t" element.

      addition: The "iref" element (Section 2.3.1.6).






































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Index

I
      indexing
         how to  15














































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Full Copyright Statement

      Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

      This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished
      to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise
      explain it or assist in its implmentation may be prepared,
      copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without
      restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice
      and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative
      works.  However, this document itself may not be modified in any
      way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to
      the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as
      needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which
      case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet
      Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate
      it into languages other than English.

      The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not
      be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

      This document and the information contained herein is provided on
      an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
      ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
      IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE
      OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY
      IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
      PURPOSE.























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