RFC 1311 (rfc1311) - Page 2 of 5

Introduction to the STD Notes

RFC 1311                    RFC on STD RFCs                   March 1992


         For example, the Domain Name System (DNS) is currently
         specified by the combination of RFCs 1034 and 1035.  Both of
         these documents are now labeled STD-13.

            To be completely clear the DNS "Concepts and Facilities"
            document can be referenced as "STD-13/RFC-1034".

      In such cases, whenever possible, the set of documents defining a
      particular standard will cross reference each other.

   One Standard or Multiple Standards:

      One difficult decision is deciding whether a set of documents
      describe one standard or multiple standards.  In the Appendix, one
      can see that there are several cases in which one STD applies to
      multiple RFCs (see STDs 5, 13, and 20).  There is one case in
      which a family of specifications has multiple STD numbers; that is
      the Telnet Options.

      The general rule is that a separate STD number is used when the
      specification is logically separable.  That is, logically
      separable options are assigned distinct STD numbers while
      amendments and non-optional extensions use the same STD number as
      the base specification.

   Multiple Versions or Editions of a Standard:

      It may occur that the documentation of a standard is updated or
      replaced with a new document.  In such cases, the same STD number
      will be used to label the standard.  No version numbers will be
      attached to STD numbers.  There need be no confusion about having
      the up-to-date document about STD-9 since each version of the
      document will have a distinct RFC number (and of course a
      different date).

   The complete identification of a specification and its document is
   the combination of the STD and the RFC.  For example, "STD-13/RFC-
   1035" completely identifies the current version of the second part of
   the Domain Name System specification.

      To completely identify all of the DNS standard the citation would
      be "STD-13/RFC-1034/RFC-1035".

   One way to think of this is that an acronym (like TCP) refers to a
   concept, which is called a protocol.  An RFC number (like RFC-793)
   indicates the specific version of the protocol specification.  An STD
   number (like STD-7) designates the status of the protocol.




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