RFC 1685 (rfc1685) - Page 1 of 11
Writing X
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group H. Alvestrand
Request for Comments: 1685 UNINETT
RARE Technical Report: 12 August 1994
Category: Informational
Writing X.400 O/R Names
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet Community. It does
not specify an Internet Standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
1. Introduction
There is a need for human beings who use X.400 systems to be able to
write down O/R names in a uniform way.
There has been a preexisting recommendation on how to write O/R names
for human consumption in the RARE community. Now that the ISO/ITU has
adopted a recommendation on how to do this [1], RARE needs to update
its recommendation on writing O/R names to take this standard into
account.
2. Recommendations on writing O/R names
RARE recommends that the ISO standard be followed when writing O/R
names. The ISO/ITU standard contains a number of options. RARE makes
the following recommendations:
- The "main" abbreviations, G, I, S, O, OU1, OU2, P, A and C
are used. They should be written using UPPER CASE.
- The separation character should be semicolon (;).
- The ADMD value "blank" is expressed by omitting the
attribute. No other interpretation of a missing ADMD
attribute is allowed.
- The recommended sequence is G=;I=;S=;O=;OU1=;OU2=;P=;A=;C=;
This means that the O, OU1 and so on will be in opposite order to the
fields of an Internet domain name; the reason for choosing the
ISO/ITU order is that this will be more common among users of X.400
services.
RARE Working Group on Mail and Messaging (WG-MSG)