Internet DRAFT - draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif

draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif







Uniform Resource Names (urnbis)                               J. Klensin
Internet-Draft                                          February 5, 2016
Updates: 3986 (if approved)
Intended status: Standards Track
Expires: August 8, 2016


                      URN Semantics Clarification
               draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-03.txt

Abstract

   Experience has shown that identifiers associated with persistent
   names have properties and requirements that may be somewhat different
   from identifiers associated with the locations of objects.  This is
   especially true when such names are expected to be stable for a very
   long time or when they identify large and complex entities.  In order
   to allow Uniform Resource Names (URNs) to evolve to meet the needs of
   the Library, Museum, Publisher, and Information Science communities
   and other users, this specification separates URNs from the semantic
   constraints that many people believe are part of the specification
   for Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) in RFC 3986, updating that
   document accordingly.  The syntax of URNs is still constrained to
   that of RFC 3986, so generic URI parsers are unaffected by this
   change.

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
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on August 8, 2016.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.




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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Pragmatic Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  The role of queries and fragments in URNs . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Changes to RFC 3986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Actions Occurring in Parallel with this Specification . . . .   5
   6.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   7.  Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   8.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   9.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     10.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     10.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Appendix A.  Background on the URN - URI relationship . . . . . .   9
   Appendix B.  Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     B.1.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-urns-are-not-uris-00
           (2014-04-07) to -01 (2014-07-03)  . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     B.2.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-urns-are-not-uris-01
           to draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-00 (2014-08-25) . .  10
     B.3.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-00
           (2014-08-25) to -01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     B.4.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-01
           (2015-02-14) to -02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     B.5.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-02
           (2015-08-10) to -03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11

1.  Introduction

   The Generic URI Syntax specification [RFC3986] covers both locators
   and names and mixtures of the two (See its Section 1.1.3) and
   describes Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) -- first documented in the
   IETF in RFC 1738 [RFC1738] -- as an embodiment of the locator concept
   and Uniform Resource Names (URNs), specifically those using the "urn"
   scheme [RFC2141], as an embodiment of the names that do not directly
   provide for resource location.  This specification is concerned only
   about URNs of the variety described in RFC 2141 [RFC2141] and its



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   successors [RFC2141bis] (i.e., those that use the "urn" scheme).
   URLs, other types of names, and any URI types that may not fall into
   one of the above categories are out of its scope and unaffected by
   it.

   Experience with URNs since the publication of RFC 3986 has identified
   several ways in which their inclusion under the 3986 scope has
   hampered understanding, adoption, and especially extension
   (specifically extensions of types that were anticipated, but not
   defined, in RFC 2141).  The need for extensions to the URN concept is
   now being felt in some communities, especially those that include
   libraries, museums, publishers, and other information scientists.

   In particular, the Generic URI Syntax specification goes beyond
   syntax to specify the meaning and interpretation of various fields,
   especially the "query" and "fragment" ones and the various syntax
   forms and interpretations it allows for <hier-part>.  This
   specification excludes URNs from those definitions of meaning and
   interpretation so that RFC 3986 applies to their syntax only.  The
   meaning --and any more specific syntax rules-- for those fields for
   URNs are now defined in a URN-specific document [RFC2141bis].  URNs
   remain members of the URI family and parsers for generic URI syntax
   are not affected by this specification although parsers that make
   assumptions based on other URI schemes obviously might be.

   Neither this specification nor the successor to RFC 2141 [RFC2141bis]
   discusses DDDS [RFC3401] resolution or conversion to (and
   interpretation of) URCs [RFC2483] or, with the exception of providing
   some syntax to cover some specific cases, URN "resolution" more
   generally.  Any of those topics that do need to be addressed should
   be covered in other documents.  The document also does not discuss
   alternatives to URNs, either those that might use a different scheme
   name within the RFC 3986 URI framework or those that might use a
   different framework entirely.  In particular, some externally-defined
   content or object identification systems could be represented either
   by a URN namespace or through separate URI schemes.  This
   specification does not offer advice on that choice other than to
   suggest that the two options not be confused (or both used in a way
   that would be confusing).

   This document updates RFC 3986 to make the distinction between syntax
   and semantics clear for URNs and to isolate URNs from presumed URI
   semantic requiremnts.  It is important to note that some readers of
   RFC 3986 are convinced that the separation is clear in that
   specification and therefore that no changes to that document are
   needed.  For them, this specification is only a confirming
   clarification.




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   In the long term, as the expanded syntax and uses of URNs become
   commonplace and RFC 3986 is updated, this specification is likely to
   become of historical interest only, providing an extended rationale
   for decisions made and adjustment of the boundary between URN
   specifications and generic URI ones.

2.  Pragmatic Goals

   Despite the important background and rationale in the sections that
   follow, the change made (or clarification provided) by this
   specification is driven by a desire to avoid philosophical debates
   about terminology or ultimate truths.  Instead, it is motivated by
   three very pragmatic principles and goals:

   1.  Accommodate all of those who think URNs are necessary, i.e., that
       they can and should be usefully distinguished from other URIs, at
       least location-oriented ones including URI schemes defined prior
       to the time work started on this document in August 2014.  In
       particular, provide a foundation for extensions to the URN syntax
       (as allowed by and partially defined in RFC 2141) to support
       requirements encountered by some of those communities.

   2.  Provide a path to avoid getting bogged down in declarative
       statements about definitions and debates about what is and is not
       correct in the abstract.

   3.  Avoid a fork in the standard that would be likely to lead to
       multiple, conflicting, definitions or criteria for URNs.

   In addition, this document is intended to move past debates about
   whether or not URNs are intended to be parsed at all (i.e., whether a
   "urn"-scheme URI is simply opaque to a URI parser once the scheme
   name is identified) and, if not, how much of it is actually expected
   to be understood and broken into identifiable parts by such a parser.
   It establishes a principle that, for the "urn" scheme, parsing into
   the components identified in RFC 3986 will be performed but that any
   meanings or interpretation assigned to those components (including
   that applicability of the normal English meanings of such terms as
   "query" or "fragment" are a matter for URN-specific specifications.
   It helps lay the foundation for the distinguishing terms
   "q-component", "r-component", and "f-component" in the accompanying
   URN definition specification [RFC2141bis].

3.  The role of queries and fragments in URNs

   Part of the concern that led to this document was a desire to
   accommodate URN components that would be analogous to the query and
   fragment components of generalized URNs but that might have different



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   properties.  For many cases, the analogy cannot be exact.  For
   example, RFC 3986 ties the interpretation of fragments to media
   types.  Since media type is a function of specific content, URNs that
   are never resolved cannot have an associated media type, nor can URNs
   that resolve to, for example, other URIs that may then not be
   resolved further.  Similarly, while the RFC 3986 syntax for queries
   (and fragments) may be entirely appropriate for URN use, terminology
   like "Service Request" (see Appendix B of the predecessor "URNs are
   not..." draft [ServiceRequests] for additional discussion) may be
   more suitable to the URN context than "query" (if, indeed, the
   portion of the URN that is syntactically equivalent to a URI query is
   where those requests belong).

4.  Changes to RFC 3986

   This specification removes URN semantics from the scope of RFC 3896.
   It makes no changes to the generic URI syntax.  That syntax still
   applies to URNs as well as to other URI types.  Even as regard to
   semantics, it has no practical effect for URNs defined in strict
   conformance to the prior URN specification [RFC2141] or the
   associated registration specification [RFC3406].

   In particular (but without altering RFC 3986 in any way), the generic
   URI syntax for "queries" (strings starting with "?" and continuing to
   the end of the URI or to a "#"), and for "fragments" (strings
   starting with "#" and continuing to the end of the URI) is unchanged.
   For URNs, additional syntax is introduced to divide the URI "query"
   into two parts, referred to as "q-components" and "r-components".
   The syntax and general semantics of "fragments" (specified in RFC
   3986 as scheme-independent) are unchanged, but a somewhat liberal
   interpretation may be needed in the context of URNs, so a fragment is
   referred to as an "f-component" as a term of convenience to highlight
   that distinction.  [RFC2141bis].

5.  Actions Occurring in Parallel with this Specification

   The basic URN syntax specification [RFC2141] was published well
   before RFC 3986 and therefore does not depend on it.  The successor
   to that specification [RFC2141bis], fully spells out, or references
   documents that spell out, the semantics and any required within-field
   syntax of URNs.  It uses great care about generic or implicit
   reference to any URI specification and delegates further details to
   specific namespaces.

   [[CREF1: Note in Draft: Perhaps this section can be dropped
   entirely.]]





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6.  Acknowledgments

   This specification was inspired by a search in the IETF URNBIS WG for
   an approach that would both satisfy the needs of persistent name-type
   identifiers and still fully conform to the specifications and intent
   of RFC 3986.  That search lasted several years and considered many
   alternatives.  Discussions with Leslie Daigle, Juha Hakala, Barry
   Leiba, Keith Moore, Andrew Newton, and Peter Saint-Andre during the
   last quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 were particularly
   helpful in arriving at the conclusion that a conceptual separation of
   notions of location-based identifiers (e.g., URLs) and the types of
   persistent identifiers represented by URNs was necessary.  Juha
   Hakala provided useful explanations and significant working text
   about the needs of the library community and their perception of
   identifiers and consequent implications for URN structure.  Peter
   Saint-Andre provided significant text in a pre-publication review.
   The author also appreciates the efforts of several people, notably
   Tim Berners-Lee, Leslie Daigle, Larry Masinter, Keith Moore, Juha
   Hakala, Julian Reschke, Lars Svensson, Henry S.  Thompson, and Dale
   Worely, to challenge text and ideas and demand answers to hard
   questions.  Whether they agree with the results or not, their
   insights have contributed significantly to whatever clarity and
   precision appears in the present document.

   The specification was changed considerably and its focus narrowed
   after an extended discussion at the WG meeting during IETF 90 in July
   2014 [IETF90-URNBISWG] and subsequent comments and clarifications on
   the mailing list [URNBIS-MailingList].  The contributions of all of
   the participants in those discussions, only some of whose names
   appear above, are gratefully acknowledged.

7.  Contributors

   Juha Hakala contributed considerable text, some of which was removed
   from later versions of the document to streamline it.

      Contact Information:
      Juha Hakala
      The National Library of Finland
      P.O.  Box 15, Helsinki University
      Helsinki, MA FIN-00014
      Finland
      Email: juha.hakala@helsinki.fi








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8.  IANA Considerations

   [[CREF2: RFC Editor: Please remove the first paragraph below before
   publication.]]

   This memo is not believed to require any action on IANA's part.

   There is an existing (i.e. prior to the publication of this document)
   registry for "Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) Schemes" that already
   includes the "urn" scheme itself and a separate existing URN
   Namespace registry.  None of those registrations have any specific
   dependencies on generic URI specifications.

9.  Security Considerations

   This specification changes the semantics of URNs to make them self-
   contained (as specified in other documents), relying on the generic
   URI syntax specification for syntax only.  It should have no effect
   on Internet security unless the use of a definition, syntax, and
   semantics that are more clear reduces the potential for confusion and
   consequent vulnerabilities.

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2141]  Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, DOI 10.17487/RFC2141,
              May 1997, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2141>.

   [RFC2141bis]
              Saint-Andre, P. and J. Klensin, "Uniform Resource Name
              (URN) Syntax", February 2016,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-urnbis-
              rfc2141bis-urn/>.

   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
              RFC 3986, DOI 10.17487/RFC3986, January 2005,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3986>.

10.2.  Informative References

   [DeterministicURI]
              Mazahir, O., Thaler, D., and G. Montenegro, "Deterministic
              URI Encoding", February 2014, <http://www.ietf.org/id/
              draft-montenegro-httpbis-uri-encoding-00.txt>.





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              This is an expired document, cited for historical context
              only.

   [IETF90-URNBISWG]
              IETF, "URN BIS Working Group Minutes", July 2014,
              <http://www.ietf.org/proceedings/90/minutes/
              minutes-90-urnbis>.

   [RFC1738]  Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and M. McCahill, "Uniform
              Resource Locators (URL)", RFC 1738, DOI 10.17487/RFC1738,
              December 1994, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1738>.

   [RFC2483]  Mealling, M. and R. Daniel, "URI Resolution Services
              Necessary for URN Resolution", RFC 2483,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2483, January 1999,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2483>.

   [RFC3401]  Mealling, M., "Dynamic Delegation Discovery System (DDDS)
              Part One: The Comprehensive DDDS", RFC 3401,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3401, October 2002,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3401>.

   [RFC3406]  Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R., and P. Faltstrom,
              "Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespace Definition
              Mechanisms", BCP 66, RFC 3406, DOI 10.17487/RFC3406,
              October 2002, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3406>.

   [ServiceRequests]
              Klensin, J., "Names are Not Locators and URNs are Not
              URIs, Appendix B", July 2014, <http://www.ietf.org/id/
              draft-ietf-urnbis-urns-are-not-uris-01.txt>.

              This is an expired document, cited for historical context
              only.

   [URN-transition]
              Klensin, J. and J. Hakala, "Uniform Resource Name (URN)
              Namespace Registration Transition", Feburary 2016,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-urnbis-ns-
              reg-transition/>.

   [URNBIS-MailingList]
              IETF, "IETF URN Mailing list", 2014,
              <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/urn>.







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Appendix A.  Background on the URN - URI relationship

   The Internet community now has many years of experience with both
   name-type identifiers and location-based identifiers (or "references"
   for those who are sensitive to the term "identifier" such as many
   members of the library and information science communities..  The
   primary examples of these two categories are Uniform Resource Names
   (URNs [RFC2141] [RFC2141bis]) and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)
   [RFC1738]).  That experience leads to the conclusion that it is
   impractical to constrain URNs to the high-level semantics of URLs.
   The generic syntax for URIs [RFC3986] is adequately flexible to
   accommodate the perceived needs of URNs, but the specific semantics
   associated with the URI syntax definition -- what particular
   constructions "mean" and how and where they are interpreted -- appear
   to not be.  Generalization from URLs to generic Uniform Resource
   Identifiers (URIs) [RFC3986], especially to name-based, high-
   stability, long-persistence, identifiers such as many URNs, has
   failed because the assumed similarities do not adequately extend to
   all forms of URNs.  Ultimately, locators, which typically depend on
   particular accessing protocols and a specification relative to some
   physical space or network topology, are simply different creatures
   from long-persistence, location-independent, object identifiers.  The
   syntax and semantic constraints that are appropriate for locators are
   either irrelevant to or interfere with the needs of resource names as
   a class.  That was tolerable as long as the URN system didn't need
   additional capabilities (over those specified in RFC 2141) but
   experience since RFC 2141 was published has shown that they are, in
   fact, needed.

Appendix B.  Change Log

   [[CREF3: RFC Editor: Please remove this appendix before
   publication.]]

B.1.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-urns-are-not-uris-00 (2014-04-07)
      to -01 (2014-07-03)

   o  Revised Section 1 slightly and added some new material to try to
      address questions raised on the mailing list.

   o  Added Section 2, reflecting an email exchange.

   o  Added a Security Considerations section, replacing the placeholder
      in the previous version.

   o  Added later-deleted Appendix B and inserted a note in the material
      titled "A Perspective on Locations and Names" pointing to it (that




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      material was removed from draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-01,
      but was Section 2 and then Section 3 in earlier versions).

   o  Added temporary Appendix B for this version only.

   o  Enhanced and updated the Acknowledgments section.

   o  The usual small clarifications and editorial changes.

B.2.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-urns-are-not-uris-01 to draft-ietf-
      urnbis-semantics-clarif-00 (2014-08-25)

   o  Changed title and file name to better reflect changes summarized
      below.  Note that the predecessor of this document was draft-ietf-
      urnbis-urns-are-not-uris-01.

   o  Revised considerably as discussed on the mailing list and at IETF
      90.  In particular, the document has been narrowed to change
      semantics only without affecting the relationship to URI syntax
      and the document title and other details changed to match.

   o  Dropped much of the original Introduction (moving it temporarily
      to an appendix) and trimmed the abstract to be consistent with the
      new, more limited. scope.

   o  Revised an earlier version of Appendix B to make "perceived
      requirement" more clear.

   o  Removed the former Appendix B, as promised in the previous draft,
      moved considerably more text into appendices, and added some new
      appendix text.

   o  Added new material to discuss the next round of decisions the WG
      will have to make, assuming this provisions of this specification
      are approved.  That material was removed from draft-ietf-urnbis-
      semantics-clarif-01.

B.3.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-00 (2014-08-25) to
      -01

   o  Removed some appendices and the topic discussion material, as
      discused in the previous draft.

   o  Aligned the document and its terminology somewhat better with
      draft-ietf-urnbis-rfc2141bis-urn-09 including providing for
      p-components and using the p-/q-/f-component terminology.





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   o  Made several clarifying changes to reflect mailing list
      discussions (mostly of 2141bis) since the earlier version was
      posted.

   o  Revised earlier portions of this change tracking appendix to
      remove referenced to deleted material.  It is not possible to
      reconstruct what earlier versions of this document contained by
      examining these change summaries.

   o  Moved specific comments about the IETF 90 discussions to
      Acknowledgments and removed or edited some material that was only
      appropriate for a discussion piece.

   o  Made several small editorial changes as usual.

B.4.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-01 (2015-02-14) to
      -02

   o  Reissued to keep draft alive; no substantive changes.

   o  Updated references, including some that were already outdated in
      -01.

B.5.  Changes from draft-ietf-urnbis-semantics-clarif-02 (2015-08-10) to
      -03

   o  Made a few substantive updates to reflect evolution in 2141bis,
      particularly the elimination of p-component as a separate category
      and the added distinction between q-component and r-component..

   o  Updated references and made several minor editorial changes to
      improve clarity.

Author's Address

   John C Klensin
   1770 Massachusetts Ave, Ste 322
   Cambridge, MA  02140
   USA

   Phone: +1 617 245 1457
   Email: john-ietf@jck.com









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