Colin Perkins

draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams

IETF DataTracker: draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams

• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, March 2023, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-12.txt).

• This version of our augmented packet header diagrams specification restructures the draft and updates the examples to make it easier to read and better explain the benefits of the approach.

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, September 2022, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-11.txt).

• This version removes references to draft-mcquistin-augmented-udp-example, draft-mcquistin-augmented-tcp-example, and draft-mcquistin-quic-augmented-diagrams, which have now expired. The main TCP example and description format are updated to match RFC 9293.

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, March 2022, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-10.txt).

• This is a minor update to align with the latest version of RFC793bis.

• (diff from previous version)
• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, October 2021, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-09.txt).

• Our draft describing a variant of the traditional packet header diagram that is both human readable and well-enough structured to be parsed automatically has been updated. This version adds a section on describing PDUs with Constraints on Field Sizes, updates the ABNF to match, and updates the examples and references.

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, May 2021, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-08.txt).

• This draft describes a variant of the traditional packet header diagram that is both human readable and well-enough structured to be parsed automatically. This revision is a minor update to the format, incorporating feedback from Wesley Eddy, based on his use of the format in the latest revision to the TCP specification.

• (diff from previous version)
• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, November 2020, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-07.txt).

• This draft describes augmented packet diagrams, a machine-readable format for specifying protocol data units. This version includes some fixes to the ABNF, adds references to the drafts showing examples of use, and includes some minor clarifications.

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, July 2020, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-06.txt).

• This version of our draft on describing protocol data units updates the examples for specifying enumerated types is Section 4.8. It also includes a significant update to correct the ABNF. Thanks to Marc Petit-Huguenin for reviewing the ABNF.

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, June 2020, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-05.txt).

• This version includes some clarifications around the type of fields with unknown length, and around how to specify the type of PDUs for parsing and serialisation. It also corrects the ABNF and some samples of the format.

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, April 2020, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-04.txt).

• Add sections on PDUs with constraints on field values; PDUs that extend sub-structures; storing data for parsing; connecting structures with functions; specifying enumerated types; and specifying protocol data units.

• (diff from previous version)
• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, Dejice Jacob, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, March 2020, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-03.txt).

• This version contains a number of editorial fixes and minor clarifications. It clarifies the rules around uniqueness of PDU and field names, and more clearly states when field lengths can be inferred.

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, February 2020, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-02.txt).

• This version expands the requirements and further discusses what is an appropriate degree of expressiveness for a protocol description language. It clarifies a number of corner cases in the grammar and specifies how definitions are to be cross-referenced between documents. A list of known open issues is added.

• (diff from previous version)
• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, and Colin Perkins, Describing Protocol Data Units with Augmented Packet Header Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, November 2019, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-01.txt).

• This document describes a machine-readable format for specifying the syntax of protocol data units within a protocol specification. This version tries to make the motivation clearer, is revised to describe the format by reference to real examples; and adds support for "PDUs with Non-Contiguous Fields” (e.g., the STUN Message Type Field).

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• Stephen McQuistin, Vivian Band, and Colin Perkins, Fully Specifying Protocol Parsing with Augmented ASCII Diagrams (.txt|.pdf), Internet Engineering Task Force, July 2019, Work in progress (draft-mcquistin-augmented-ascii-diagrams-00.txt).

• This document describes a machine-readable format for fully specifying the process by which a protocol can be parsed. This format combines a consistent ASCII packet diagram format with the use of structured text, maintaining human readability while enabling support for machine parsing. This document is itself an example of how this format can be used.

IETF protocol specifications have long relied on packet header diagrams to illustrate the format of packet headers and other protocol data. This memo describes a consistent, machine readable, syntax for such diagrams.