RFC 1685 (rfc1685) - Page 1 of 11

Writing X

Alternative Format: Original Text Document
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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.





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