Network Working Group                                            S. Legg
Request for Comments: 4913                                       eB2Bcom
Category: Experimental                                         July 2007


          Abstract Syntax Notation X (ASN.X) Representation
                     of Encoding Instructions for
               the Generic String Encoding Rules (GSER)

Status of This Memo

  This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
  community.  It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
  Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

  Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).

Abstract

  Abstract Syntax Notation X (ASN.X) is an Extensible Markup Language
  (XML) representation for Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
  specifications.  This document specifies the ASN.X representation of
  encoding instructions for the Generic String Encoding Rules (GSER).

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction ....................................................2
  2. Conventions .....................................................2
  3. EncodingInstructionAssignmentList Translation ...................3
  4. EncodingInstruction Translation .................................3
     4.1. ChoiceOfStringsInstruction Translation .....................3
  5. Security Considerations .........................................4
  6. Normative References ............................................4
  Appendix A. ASN.1 for GSER Encoding Instruction Notation ...........6
  Appendix B. ASN.X for GSER Encoding Instruction Notation ...........7













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RFC 4913           ASN.X: GSER Encoding Instructions   July 2007


1.  Introduction

  Abstract Syntax Notation X (ASN.X) [ASN.X] is an Extensible Markup
  Language (XML) [XML10][XML11] representation for Abstract Syntax
  Notation One (ASN.1) [X.680] specifications.  The ASN.X
  representation for the ASN.1 basic notation [X.680] [X.680-1] is
  described elsewhere [ASN.X].

  The grammar of ASN.1 permits the application of encoding instructions
  [X.680-1], through type prefixes and encoding control sections, that
  modify how abstract values are encoded by nominated encoding rules.

  The generic notation for type prefixes and encoding control sections
  is defined by the ASN.1 basic notation; however, the notation for
  specific encoding instructions, i.e., the EncodingInstruction and
  EncodingInstructionAssignmentList productions of the notation, are
  defined separately for each set of encoding rules using encoding
  instructions.  This document specifies the ASN.X representation for
  EncodingInstructionAssignmentList and EncodingInstruction as they are
  defined for the Generic String Encoding Rules (GSER) [GSER][GSEREI].

  ASN.X is defined in terms of rules for translating from an ASN.1
  specification.  This does not preclude an ASN.X module being written
  directly without a pre-existing ASN.1 module; however, such an ASN.X
  module is considered valid if and only if there exists, in principle,
  an ASN.1 module that when translated would yield the ASN.X module.

  By design, an ASN.X module is also the Robust XML Encoding Rules
  (RXER) [RXER] encoding of an ASN.1 value.  The ASN.1 type definitions
  for such values, insofar as they pertain to the ASN.1 basic notation,
  are provided elsewhere [ASN.X]; however, this document provides the
  ASN.1 type definitions for representing GSER encoding instructions as
  abstract values.  These definitions appear in Appendix A.

  The ASN.X translation of the ASN.1 module in Appendix A is presented
  in Appendix B.

  The General Considerations of the specification for ASN.X [ASN.X]
  also apply here.

2.  Conventions

  The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
  "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", and "MAY" in this document are
  to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119 [BCP14].  The key
  word "OPTIONAL" is exclusively used with its ASN.1 meaning.





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  A reference to an ASN.1 production [X.680] (e.g., Type, NamedType) is
  a reference to the text in an ASN.1 specification corresponding to
  that production.

  The description of the translation of GSER encoding instructions into
  ASN.X makes use of definitions from the XML Information Set (Infoset)
  [INFOSET].  In particular, information item property names follow the
  Infoset convention of being shown in square brackets, e.g.,
  [local name].  Literal values of Infoset properties are enclosed in
  double quotes; however, the double quotes are not part of the
  property values.  In the sections that follow, "information item"
  will be abbreviated to "item", e.g., "element information item" is
  abbreviated to "element item".  Element items will be referred to by
  their [local name] in angle brackets, e.g., "the <type> element item"
  means the element item with the [local name] "type".

3.  EncodingInstructionAssignmentList Translation

  As described in the specification for ASN.X [ASN.X], the translation
  of an EncodingControlSection for GSER is an element item with the
  [local name] "GSER".  The translation of the
  EncodingInstructionAssignmentList in such an EncodingControlSection
  determines the content of the <GSER> element item.

  The EncodingInstructionAssignmentList for GSER is currently defined
  to be empty [GSEREI]; therefore, the [attributes] and [children] of
  the <GSER> element item are both empty.

4.  EncodingInstruction Translation

  The translation of an EncodingInstruction for GSER can appear in the
  translation of an EncodingPrefix.  The translation for an
  EncodingPrefix is described by the specification for ASN.X.

  The translation of an EncodingInstruction for GSER is the translation
  of the ChoiceOfStringsInstruction in the EncodingInstruction
  (currently the only defined encoding instruction for GSER).

4.1.  ChoiceOfStringsInstruction Translation

  The translation of a ChoiceOfStringsInstruction is an element item
  with the [local name] "choiceOfStrings".

  If the ChoiceOfStringsInstruction has an AlternativesPrecedence, then
  an attribute item with the [local name] "precedence" SHALL be added
  to the [attributes] of the <choiceOfStrings> element item.  The
  [normalized value] of this attribute item is the white space
  separated list of qualified names for the expanded names [XMLNS10] of



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  the NamedType instances (see [RXEREI]) corresponding to the
  identifiers nested in the PrecedenceList in the
  AlternativesPrecedence.

  Example

     [GSER:CHOICE-OF-STRINGS PRECEDENCE utf8 visible] CHOICE {
         visible  [RXER:NAME "ascii"] VisibleString,
         utf8     UTF8String
     }

     <type xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx">
      <prefixed>
       <GSER><choiceOfStrings precedence="utf8 ascii"/></GSER>
       <type>
        <choice>
         <element name="ascii" identifier="visible"
                  type="asnx:VisibleString"/>
         <element name="utf8" type="asnx:UTF8String"/>
        </choice>
       </type>
      </prefixed>
     </type>

5.  Security Considerations

  The ASN.X translation of a GSER encoding instruction is semantically
  equivalent to the original GSER encoding instruction.  The security
  considerations that apply to an application built from an original
  ASN.1 specification with GSER encoding instructions apply equally to
  an application built from the ASN.X translation of the ASN.1
  specification.

  See the main specification for ASN.X [ASN.X] for security
  considerations related to ASN.X modules.

6.  Normative References

  [BCP14]    Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
             Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

  [GSER]     Legg, S., "Generic String Encoding Rules (GSER) for ASN.1
             Types", RFC 3641, October 2003.

  [GSEREI]   Legg, S., "Encoding Instructions for the Generic String
             Encoding Rules (GSER)", RFC 4792, January 2007.





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RFC 4913           ASN.X: GSER Encoding Instructions   July 2007


  [RXER]     Legg, S. and D. Prager, "Robust XML Encoding Rules (RXER)
             for Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)", RFC 4910, July
             2007.

  [RXEREI]   Legg, S., "Encoding Instructions for the Robust XML
             Encoding Rules (RXER)", RFC 4911, July 2007.

  [ASN.X]    Legg, S., "Abstract Syntax Notation X (ASN.X)", RFC 4912,
             July 2007.

  [X.680]    ITU-T Recommendation X.680 (07/02) | ISO/IEC 8824-1,
             Information technology - Abstract Syntax Notation One
             (ASN.1):  Specification of basic notation.

  [X.680-1]  ITU-T Recommendation X.680 (2002) Amendment 1 (10/03) |
             ISO/IEC 8824-1:2002/Amd 1:2004, Support for EXTENDED-XER.

  [XML10]    Bray, T., Paoli, J., Sperberg-McQueen, C., Maler, E. and
             F. Yergeau, "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth
             Edition)", W3C Recommendation,
             http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xml-20060816, August 2006.

  [XML11]    Bray, T., Paoli, J., Sperberg-McQueen, C., Maler, E.,
             Yergeau, F., and J. Cowan, "Extensible Markup Language
             (XML) 1.1 (Second Edition)", W3C Recommendation,
             http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xml11-20060816, August 2006.

  [XMLNS10]  Bray, T., Hollander, D., Layman, A., and R. Tobin,
             "Namespaces in XML 1.0 (Second Edition)", W3C
             Recommendation,
             http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xml-names-20060816, August
             2006.

  [INFOSET]  Cowan, J. and R. Tobin, "XML Information Set (Second
             Edition)", W3C Recommendation,
             http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-xml-infoset-20040204,
             February 2004.














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Appendix A.  ASN.1 for GSER Encoding Instruction Notation

  This appendix is normative.

  GSER-EncodingInstructionNotation
      { iso(1) identified-organization(3) dod(6)
        internet(1) private(4) enterprise(1)
        xmled(21472) asnx(1) module(0) gser-ei-notation(2) }

  -- Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).  This version of
  -- this ASN.1 module is part of RFC 4913; see the RFC itself
  -- for full legal notices.
  --
  -- Regarding this ASN.1 module or any portion of it, the author
  -- makes no guarantees and is not responsible for any damage
  -- resulting from its use.  The author grants irrevocable permission
  -- to anyone to use, modify, and distribute it in any way that does
  -- not diminish the rights of anyone else to use, modify, and
  -- distribute it, provided that redistributed derivative works do
  -- not contain misleading author or version information.
  -- Derivative works need not be licensed under similar terms.

  DEFINITIONS
  RXER INSTRUCTIONS
  AUTOMATIC TAGS
  EXTENSIBILITY IMPLIED ::= BEGIN

  IMPORTS
      PrecedenceList
          FROM AbstractSyntaxNotation-X
              { iso(1) identified-organization(3) dod(6)
                internet(1) private(4) enterprise(1)
                xmled(21472) asnx(1) module(0) notation(1) }
      ;

  GSER-EncodingInstruction ::= [SINGULAR-INSERTIONS] CHOICE {
      choiceOfStrings  GSER-ChoiceOfStringsInstruction
  }

  GSER-EncodingInstructionAssignmentList ::= SEQUENCE { }

  GSER-ChoiceOfStringsInstruction ::= SEQUENCE {
      precedence  [ATTRIBUTE] PrecedenceList OPTIONAL
  }

  ENCODING-CONTROL RXER

      SCHEMA-IDENTITY  "urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.21472.1.0.2"



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      TARGET-NAMESPACE "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx" PREFIX "asnx"

  END

Appendix B.  ASN.X for GSER Encoding Instruction Notation

  This appendix is non-normative.

  <?xml version="1.0"?>
  <asnx:module xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"
               name="GSER-EncodingInstructionNotation"
               identifier="1.3.6.1.4.1.21472.1.0.2"
               schemaIdentity="urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.21472.1.0.2"
               targetNamespace="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"
               targetPrefix="asnx"
               extensibilityImplied="true">

   <annotation>
    Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).  This version of
    this ASN.X module is part of RFC 4913; see the RFC itself
    for full legal notices.

    Regarding this ASN.X module or any portion of it, the author
    makes no guarantees and is not responsible for any damage
    resulting from its use.  The author grants irrevocable permission
    to anyone to use, modify, and distribute it in any way that does
    not diminish the rights of anyone else to use, modify, and
    distribute it, provided that redistributed derivative works do
    not contain misleading author or version information.
    Derivative works need not be licensed under similar terms.
   </annotation>

   <import name="AbstractSyntaxNotation-X"
           identifier="1.3.6.1.4.1.21472.1.0.1"
           schemaIdentity="urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.21472.1.0.1"
           namespace="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"/>

   <namedType name="GSER-EncodingInstruction">
    <type>
     <choice insertions="singular">
      <element name="choiceOfStrings"
               type="asnx:GSER-ChoiceOfStringsInstruction"/>
     </choice>
    </type>
   </namedType>

   <namedType name="GSER-EncodingInstructionAssignmentList">
    <type>



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     <sequence/>
    </type>
   </namedType>

   <namedType name="GSER-ChoiceOfStringsInstruction">
    <type>
     <sequence>
      <optional>
       <attribute name="precedence" type="asnx:PrecedenceList"/>
      </optional>
     </sequence>
    </type>
   </namedType>

  </asnx:module>

Author's Address

  Dr. Steven Legg
  eB2Bcom
  Suite 3, Woodhouse Corporate Centre
  935 Station Street
  Box Hill North, Victoria 3129
  AUSTRALIA

  Phone: +61 3 9896 7830
  Fax:   +61 3 9896 7801
  EMail: [email protected]























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Acknowledgement

  Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
  Internet Society.







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