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+Network Working Group                                     D. Crocker (UCLA-NMC)
+Request for Comments: 615                                                MAR 74
+NIC #21531
+
+                           Proposed Network
+                     Standard Data Pathname Syntax
+
+There seems to be an increasing call for a Network Standard Data Pathname
+(NSDP); that is, a standardized means of referring to a specific location
+for/of a collection of bits somewhere on the Network.
+
+The reasons for a standard or virtual anything have been discussed, at
+length, elsewhere and will not be elaborated upon here. Rather than
+attack the entire issue of virtual pathnames, I wish only to propose a
+standardized SYNTAX for specifying pathnames. Such a standard will be
+useful for 1) users who are unfamiliar with a site or who use several
+different sites and do not want to have to remember each site's
+idiosynchracies, 2) programs accessing data at several other sites, and
+3) documentation:
+
+The syntax allows the user to specify the necessary network, host,
+peripheral device, directory, file, type, and site-specific fields.
+Adding other fields, as needed, is expected to be quite simple.
+
+First the BNF:
+
+   <NSDP> ::= % <bulk> <cr><lf>
+ 
+   <bulk> ::= <field> / <field> <bulk>
+
+   <field> ::= <key> <L-delim> <name> <R-delim>
+
+   <key> ::= NETWORK / HOST / PERIPHERAL/ DIRECTORY /
+             FILE / TYPE / SITEPARM / N / H / P / D / F /
+             T / S
+
+<L-delim> ::= any printable character that is not in the
+              succeeding <name> field and that is
+              acceptable to the object site: For visual
+              aesthetics and to facilitate human parsing,
+              anytime <L-delim> is a left-bracket
+              character (<, [, (, _), <R-delim> must be
+              the complementary right-bracket character
+              (>, ], ), |).
+
+<name> ::=    any sequence of characters acceptable to the
+              object site. This is the actual data field
+              with the file, directory, device (or
+              whatever) name.
+
+<R-delim> ::= Either 1) the same character as <L-delim> or
+              2) if the <L-delim> character is a
+              left-bracket character (<, [, (, _) then its
+              complementary right-bracket (>, ], ), |).
+
+
+                                 -1-
+<cr> ::=      carriage-return
+
+<lf> ::=      line-feed
+
+And some elaboration:
+
+The syntax allows <name> fields to be an arbitrary number of rs long.
+Case is irrelevant to the syntax, though some sites will care about case
+in <name> fields:
+
+<Key> indicates what part of the pathname the next <name> is going to
+refer to: The single-character keys are abbreviations for the respective
+full-word keys:
+
+<Fields> ARE order dependent, but defaulted ones may be omitted. The
+order is as indicated for <key>s: That is, Network, Host, ..: Siteparm:
+
+Fields may be repeated, as appropriate for the object site; that is,
+multiple Directory fields, etc:
+
+The validity of any combination of <field>s is entirely site-dependent:
+For example, if a site will accept it, an NSDP with a Host field, and
+nothing more, is permissible:
+
+<delim> is used to delimit the beginning and end of the <name> field:
+
+Explanation of <key>s:
+
+       NETWORK or N:   Currently, only ARPA is defined.
+
+       HOST or H:      Reference to host, by official name or
+                       nickname or number: The default radix is
+                       ten; a numeric string ending with "H"
+                       indicates hexadecimal, "O"(oh) indicates
+                       octal, and (gratuitously) "D" indicates
+                       decimal:
+
+      PERIPHERAL or P: Peripheral device being referred to:
+
+      DIRECTORY or D:  Name of a directory which contains a
+                       pointer to the entity (directory or
+                       filename) specified in the following
+                       <field>:
+
+      FILE or F:       Basic name of the file or data set:
+
+      TYPE or T:       Optional modifier to filename: (Tenex
+                       calls it the extension.)
+
+      SITEPARM or S:   A parameter, such as an access
+                       specification or version number, peculiar
+                       to the object site. The content of the
+                       <name> field must serve to identify what
+                       Siteparm is involved. Each site will be
+                       responsible for defining the syntax of
+                       Siteparm <name>s it will accept.
+
+                                   -2-
+Some reserved PERIPHERAL <name>s:
+
+      DISK or DSK:     Immediately accessible, direct-access
+                       storage.
+
+      ONLINE or ONL:    Whatever immediately-accessible (measured
+                        in fractions of a second) storage the
+                        user accesses by default; usually disk:
+
+      TAPE or TAP:      Industry-compatible magnetic tape:
+
+      TAPE7 or TP7:     7-Track industry compatible tape:
+
+      TAPE9 or TP9:     9-Track industry compatible tape:
+
+      DECTAPE or DEC:   DEC Tape.
+
+      OFFLINE or OFF:   Any tertiary storage; usually tape,
+                        though "devices" like the Datacomputer
+                        are permissible: The user should expect
+                        to wait minutes or hours before being
+                        able to access OFFLINE files:
+
+      PRINTER or PTR:   Any available line-printer:
+
+      DOCPRINTER or DOC:Upper-lower case line printer, preferably
+                        with 8 1/2" X 11" unlined paper.
+
+      PAPER or PAP:     Paper tape.
+
+      PUNCH or PUN:     Standard 8O-column card punch.
+
+      READER or RDR:    Standard 80-column card reader:
+
+      OPERATOR or OPR:  System Operator's console.
+
+      CONSULTANT or CON: On-line consultant.
+
+Defaults:
+
+Defaults will generally be context dependent. Consequently, the following
+defaults are offered only as guidelines:
+
+      Network:    ARPA
+
+      Host:       The host interpreting the NVP
+
+      Peripheral: ONLINE (DISK)
+
+      Directory:  The user's current "working" directory,
+                  usually set by the logon process:
+
+      Filename:    None.
+
+      Type:        None.
+
+      Siteparm:     None.
+
+                                   -3-
+
+General Comments
+
+The only field that must be considered in relation to any host's current
+syntax is the escape-to-NVP field (The per-cent sign as the first
+character of a pathname specification): It is not currently known to
+conflict with any host's syntax:
+
+Exclamation mark (!) is the only other character that seems permissible
+(on the assumption that the character should be a graphic): Its use would
+cause minor problems at Multics; but more importantly as a graphic, it is
+too similar to the numeral "1":
+
+The syntax is intended to be adequate for all hosts, so any given portion
+of it may be inappropriate for any given host.
+
+A site is expected to permit specifications in a given field iff that
+site already has a way of accepting the same information:
+
+I believe that any modifications to the syntax will be graceful
+additions, rather than wholesale redesign, and thus can be deferred for a
+while. Currently, any undefined attributes must be specified in a
+Siteparm field:
+
+Perhaps Version, Access protection and Accounting, as well as other types
+of information, should be made standard <key>s, rather than buried as
+Siteparms. I expect that the next version of the NSDP Syntax
+specification will include them as <key>s, but I would like to wait for
+some comments from the community.
+
+The syntax does not currently allow addressing any collection of bits
+smaller than a file: This can be remedied by adding PAGE, BYTE and other
+<key>s; but, again, I would like to solicit some comments first:
+
+
+Disclaimer
+
+A pathname specified in the proposed syntax is fairly easy to type but is
+quite ugly to read: So, at the expense of design cleanliness, the
+<L-delim>/<R-delim> syntax was modified in an attempt to remedy the
+problem somewhat: As you will see below, it is only partially successful.
+
+The first draft of this document had a syntax that was a mix of Tenex and
+Multics conventions: That is,
+
+       (Network)[Host]Peripheral:Directory>Filename:Type;Siteparm
+
+Though visually more attractive and generally quicker to type, it lacks
+extensibility. For example, adding Version number or Access protection as
+standard fields would be difficult:
+
+It is suggested that human interfaces be built to translate to/from NSDP
+syntax and the user's standard environment.
+
+
+                                -4-
+
+Some sample pathnames:
+
+
+%H[ISI]D<DCROCKER>F(MESSAGE)T/TXT/S(P77O4O4)<cr><lf> refers to my
+protected message file at ISI (<DCROCKER>MESSAGE:TXT;P77O4O4).
+
+%H/OFFICE-l/D>JOURNAL>F<l8659>T.NLS.<cr><lf> refers to NIC Journal
+document #18659 (Tenex file <JOURNAL>l8659:NLS):
+
+%H/65/D.ARP061.D.LAD:F.DOCUMENT.<cr><lf> refers to a file
+ARPO6l:LAD.DOCUMENT at UCLA-CCN. Note the use of multiple Directory
+fields.
+
+%H[540]D//D>udd>D>Comp=net>D>Map>F(Mail)<cr><lf> refers to file
+CompNet>Map>Mail at Mit-Multics. Note that the initial NSPD Directory
+<name> field is empty. This conforms to Multics' method of starting at
+the top of its directory structure:
+
+I would like to thank Jon Postel, Vint Cerf, Jim White, Charlie Kline,
+Ken Pogran, Jerry Burchfiel and Tom Boynton for their suggestions.
+
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+                                 -5-
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