RFC 2218 (rfc2218) - Page 3 of 8


A Common Schema for the Internet White Pages Service



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



RFC 2218                 Common Schema for IWPS             October 1997


   some syntax are listed as requirements vs specific encodings.  The
   general IWPS syntax is included in section 6.0 for reference.

   The IWPS Person Object specifies a limited set of recommended
   attributes that a White Pages Service must include.  Storage of user
   attributes are a local issue, therefore, this memo suggests storage
   sizes but not storage types.

   This document lists the syntax with the attributes for developers of
   user interface (UIs) to use as a reference, but it does not specify
   how the UI should display these attributes.

   Attributes that contain multiple-line text (i.e. Address) must use
   the procedure defined in RFC 822 in section 3.1.1 on "folding" long
   header lines [RFC-822].

5.0     Information Object Template Definitions

   This section describes the IWPS Person Information Object Template
   and its associated attributes.  The Person Object is a simple list of
   attributes, no structure nor object inheritance is implied.

   IWPS client applications should use the following size
   recommendations as the maximum sizes of the attributes.  However,
   applications should be able to handle attributes of arbitrary size,
   returned by a server which may not comply with these recommendation.
   All size recommendations are in characters.

   Note: Because many characters in many encodings require more than one
   byte, the size recommendations cannot be interpreted as sizes in
   bytes.

   This set of attributes describes information types, and are not
   defined attributes in a particular schema.  Any technology deploying
   a White Page service (WHOIS ++, LDAP, vCard, etc.) will need to
   publish as a companion document, their specific schema detailing how
   the general attributes of the White Pages schema are expressed.

   SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

   Phone number:  The full international form is recommended;
                  i.e. +1 206 703 0852.  The field may contain
                  additional information following the phone
                  number.  For example:

                           +1 800 759 7243 #123456
                           +1 505 882 8080 ext. 30852




Genovese & Jennings        Standards Track