RFC 1037 (rfc1037) - Page 1 of 86


NFILE - a file access protocol



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



Network Working Group                                      B. Greenberg
Request for Comments:  1037                                    S. Keene
                                                          December 1987


                    NFILE -  A File Access Protocol


STATUS OF THIS MEMO

   This document includes a specification of the NFILE file access
   protocol and its underlying levels of protocol, the Token List
   Transport Layer and Byte Stream with Mark.  The goal of this
   specification is to promote discussion of the ideas described here,
   and to encourage designers of future file protocols to take advantage
   of these ideas.  A secondary goal is to make the specification
   available to sites that might benefit from implementing NFILE.  The
   distribution of this document is unlimited.

                             TABLE OF CONTENTS
                                                                    Page
   1.  INTRODUCTION                                                    3

   2.  NFILE PROTOCOL LAYERING                                         4

   3.  OVERVIEW OF AN NFILE SESSION                                    5

   4.  NFILE CONTROL AND DATA CONNECTIONS                              6

   5.  NFILE FILE OPENING MODES                                        7

   6.  NFILE CHARACTER SET                                             9

   7.  CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS DOCUMENT                              10

       7.1  Mapping Data Types Into Token List Representation         10
       7.2  Format of NFILE Commands and Responses                    10
       7.3  Data Channel Handles and Direct File Identifiers          13
       7.4  Syntax of File and Directory Pathname Arguments           13
       7.5  Format of NFILE File Property/Value Pairs                 14

   8.  NFILE COMMANDS                                                 16

       8.1  ABORT Command                                             16
       8.2  CHANGE-PROPERTIES Command                                 16
       8.3  CLOSE Command                                             17
       8.4  COMPLETE Command                                          19
       8.5  CONTINUE Command                                          20



Greenberg & Keene