RFC 4910
Robust XML Encoding Rules (RXER) for Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
Pages: 80
Experimental
Experimental
Part 3 of 4 – Pages 34 to 60
6.7. Character Data Translations
For the majority of ASN.1 built-in types, encodings of values of those types never have element content. The encoding of a value of an ASN.1 combining type (except a UNION or LIST type) typically has element content. For those types that do not produce element content, the translation of an abstract value is described as a character string of ISO 10646 characters [UCS]. This character data translation will be destined to become either part of the [normalized value] of an attribute item, or a series of character items in the [children] of an element item (which becomes the [parent] for the character items). The case that applies is determined in accordance with Section 6.2. For a non-canonical RXER encoding, if the type of the abstract value is not directly or indirectly a restricted character string type, the NULL type, or a UNION type, then leading and/or trailing white space characters MAY be added to the character data translation. Aside: White space characters are significant in the encoding of a value of a restricted character string type, and a restricted character string type can be a member type of a UNION type. The encoding of a NULL value produces no character data. Aside: Optional white space characters are not permitted in a CRXER encoding. For a non-canonical RXER encoding, if the type of the abstract value is directly or indirectly the AnyURI, NCName, or Name type, then leading and trailing white space characters MAY be added to the character data translation.
Aside: These types are indirectly a restricted character string
type (UTF8String); however, their definitions exclude white space
characters, so any white space characters appearing in an encoding
are not part of the abstract value and can be safely ignored.
This exception does not apply to other subtypes of a restricted
character string type that happen to exclude white space
characters.
6.7.1. Restricted Character String Types
The character data translation of a value of a restricted character
string type is the sequence of characters in the string.
Depending on the ASN.1 string type, and an application's internal
representation of that string type, a character may need to be
translated to or from the equivalent ISO 10646 character code [UCS].
The NumericString, PrintableString, IA5String, VisibleString
(ISO646String), BMPString, UniversalString, and UTF8String character
encodings use the same character codes as ISO 10646. For the
remaining string types (GeneralString, GraphicString, TeletexString,
T61String, and VideotexString), see X.680 [X.680].
The null character (U+0000) is not a legal character for XML. It is
omitted from the character data translation of a string value.
Certain other control characters are legal for XML version 1.1, but
not for version 1.0. If any string value contains these characters,
then the RXER encoding must use XML version 1.1 (see Section 6.12).
All white space characters in the RXER encoding of a value of a
restricted character string type (excluding the AnyURI, NCName, and
Name subtypes) are significant, i.e., part of the abstract value.
Examples
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of an IA5String value:
<value> Don't run with scissors! </value>
<value>Markup (e.g., <value>) has to be escaped.</value>
<value>Markup (e.g., <![CDATA[<value>]]>)
has to be escaped. </value>
6.7.2. BIT STRING
The character data translation of a value of the BIT STRING type is either a binary digit string, a hexadecimal digit string, or a list of bit names. A binary digit string is a sequence of zero, one, or more of the binary digit characters '0' and '1' (i.e., U+0030 and U+0031). Each bit in the BIT STRING value is encoded as a binary digit in order from the first bit to the last bit. For a non-canonical RXER encoding, if the BIT STRING type has a NamedBitList, then trailing zero bits MAY be omitted from a binary digit string. A hexadecimal digit string is permitted if and only if the number of bits in the BIT STRING value is zero or a multiple of eight and the character data translation is destined for the [children] of an element item. A hexadecimal digit string is a sequence of zero, one, or more pairs of the hexadecimal digit characters '0'-'9', 'A'-'F', and 'a'-'f' (i.e., U+0030-U+0039, U+0041-U+0046 and U+0061-U+0066). Each group of eight bits in the BIT STRING value is encoded as a pair of hexadecimal digits where the first bit is the most significant. An odd number of hexadecimal digits is not permitted. The characters 'a'-'f' (i.e., U+0061-U+0066) SHALL NOT be used in the CRXER encoding of a BIT STRING value. If a hexadecimal digit string is used, then the enclosing element's [attributes] MUST contain an attribute item with the [local name] "format", the [namespace name] "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx", and the [normalized value] "hex" (i.e., asnx:format="hex"). The [prefix] of the attribute item is determined as specified in Section 6.2.3.1. Aside: The hexadecimal digit string is intended to conform to the lexical representation of the XML Schema [XSD2] hexBinary data type. For a non-canonical RXER encoding, if the preconditions for using a hexadecimal digit string are satisfied, then a hexadecimal digit string MAY be used. A list of bit names is permitted if and only if the BIT STRING type has a NamedBitList and each '1' bit in the BIT STRING value has a corresponding identifier in the NamedBitList. Aside: ASN.1 does not require that an identifier be assigned for every bit.
A list of bit names is a sequence of names for the '1' bits in the BIT STRING value, in any order, each separated from the next by at least one white space character. If the BitStringType is not subject to a VALUES encoding instruction, then each '1' bit in the BIT STRING value is represented by its corresponding identifier from the NamedBitList. If the BitStringType is subject to a VALUES encoding instruction, then each '1' bit in the BIT STRING value is represented by the replacement name [RXEREI] for its corresponding identifier. For a CRXER encoding, if the BIT STRING type has a NamedBitList, then a binary digit string MUST be used, and trailing zero bits MUST be omitted from the binary digit string; else if the number of bits in the BIT STRING value is greater than or equal to 64, and the preconditions for using a hexadecimal digit string are satisfied, then a hexadecimal digit string MUST be used; otherwise, a binary digit string MUST be used. Aside: Because the asnx:format attribute adds an overhead to a hexadecimal encoding (including a namespace declaration for the "asnx" prefix), a bit string of less than 64 bits is more compactly encoded as a binary digit string. Examples Consider this type definition: BIT STRING { black(0), red(1), orange(2), yellow(3), green(4), blue(5), indigo(6), violet(7) } The content and attributes of each of the following <value> elements are an RXER encoding of the same abstract value: <value> green violet orange</value> <value> 001<!--Orange-->01001 </value> <value xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx" asnx:format="hex"> 29 </value> <value>00101001</value> The final case contains the CRXER encoding of the abstract value.
6.7.3. BOOLEAN
For a non-canonical RXER encoding, the character data translation of the BOOLEAN value TRUE is the string "true" or "1", at the encoder's discretion. For a CRXER encoding, the character data translation of the BOOLEAN value TRUE is the string "true". For a non-canonical RXER encoding, the character data translation of the BOOLEAN value FALSE is the string "false" or "0", at the encoder's discretion. For a CRXER encoding, the character data translation of the BOOLEAN value FALSE is the string "false". Aside: The RXER encoding of BOOLEAN values is intended to conform to the lexical representation of the XML Schema [XSD2] boolean data type. Examples The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER encoding of a BOOLEAN value: <value>1</value> <value> false </value> <value> fal<!-- a pesky comment -->se </value>6.7.4. ENUMERATED
The character data translation of a value of an ENUMERATED type where the EnumeratedType is not subject to a VALUES encoding instruction is the identifier corresponding to the actual value. Examples Consider this type definition: ENUMERATED { sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday } The content of both of the following <value> elements is the RXER encoding of a value of the above type:
<value>monday</value>
<value>
thursday
</value>
The character data translation of a value of an ENUMERATED type where
the EnumeratedType is subject to a VALUES encoding instruction is the
replacement name [RXEREI] for the identifier corresponding to the
actual value.
Examples
Consider this type definition:
[RXER:VALUES ALL CAPITALIZED,
sunday AS "SUNDAY", saturday AS "SATURDAY"]
ENUMERATED { sunday, monday, tuesday,
wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday }
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of a value of the above type:
<value>SUNDAY</value>
<value>
Monday
</value>
<value> Tuesday </value>
6.7.5. GeneralizedTime
The character data translation of a value of the GeneralizedTime type
is a date, the letter 'T' (U+0054), a time of day, optional
fractional seconds, and an optional time zone.
The date is two decimal digits representing the century, followed by
two decimal digits representing the year, a hyphen ('-', U+002D), two
decimal digits representing the month, a hyphen ('-', U+002D), and
two decimal digits representing the day.
The time of day is two decimal digits representing the hour, followed
by a colon (':', U+003A), two decimal digits representing the
minutes, a colon (':', U+003A), and two decimal digits representing
the seconds.
Note that the hours value "24" is disallowed [X.680].
A GeneralizedTime value with fractional hours or minutes is first
converted to the equivalent time with whole minutes and seconds and,
if necessary, fractional seconds.
The minutes are encoded as "00" if the GeneralizedTime value omits
minutes. The seconds are encoded as "00" if the GeneralizedTime
value omits seconds.
The fractional seconds part is a full stop ('.', U+002E) followed by
zero, one, or more decimal digits (U+0030-U+0039). For a CRXER
encoding, trailing zero digits (U+0030) in the fractional seconds
SHALL be omitted, and the full stop SHALL be omitted if there are no
following digits.
The time zone, if present, is either the letter 'Z' (U+005A) to
indicate Coordinated Universal Time, a plus sign ('+', U+002B)
followed by a time zone differential, or a minus sign ('-', U+002D)
followed by a time zone differential.
A time zone differential indicates the difference between local time
(the time specified by the preceding date and time of day) and
Coordinated Universal Time. Coordinated Universal Time can be
calculated from the local time by subtracting the differential.
For a CRXER encoding, a GeneralizedTime value with a time zone
differential SHALL be encoded as the equivalent Coordinated Universal
Time, i.e., the time zone will be "Z".
A local time GeneralizedTime value is not converted to Coordinated
Universal Time for a CRXER encoding. Other canonical ASN.1 encoding
rules specify that local times must be encoded as Coordinated
Universal Time but do not specify a method to convert a local time to
a Coordinated Universal Time. Consequently, canonicalization of
local time values is unreliable and applications SHOULD NOT use local
time.
A time zone differential is encoded as two decimal digits
representing hours, a colon (':', U+003A), and two decimal digits
representing minutes. The minutes are encoded as "00" if the
GeneralizedTime value omits minutes from the time zone differential.
Aside: The RXER encoding of GeneralizedTime values is intended to
conform to the lexical representation of the XML Schema [XSD2]
dateTime data type.
Examples
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of a GeneralizedTime value:
<value>2004-06-15T12:00:00Z</value>
<value> 2004-06-15T02:00:00+10:00 </value>
<value>
2004-06-15T12:00:00.5
</value>
6.7.6. INTEGER
For a CRXER encoding, the character data translation of a value of an
IntegerType is a canonical number string representing the integer
value.
A canonical number string is either the digit character '0' (U+0030),
or an optional minus sign ('-', U+002D) followed by a non-zero
decimal digit character (U+0031-U+0039) followed by zero, one, or
more of the decimal digit characters '0' to '9' (U+0030-U+0039).
For a non-canonical RXER encoding, the character data translation of
a value of the IntegerType without a NamedNumberList is a number
string representing the integer value.
A number string is a sequence of one or more of the decimal digit
characters '0' to '9' (U+0030-U+0039), with an optional leading sign,
either '+' (U+002B) or '-' (U+002D). Leading zero digits are
permitted in a number string for a non-canonical RXER encoding.
Aside: The RXER encoding of values of the IntegerType without a
NamedNumberList is intended to conform to the lexical
representation of the XML Schema [XSD2] integer data type.
For a non-canonical RXER encoding, if the IntegerType has a
NamedNumberList, and the NamedNumberList defines an identifier for
the actual value, and the IntegerType is not subject to a VALUES
encoding instruction, then the character data translation of the
value is either a number string or the identifier.
Examples
Consider this type definition:
INTEGER { zero(0), one(1) }
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of a value of the above type:
<value>0</value>
<value> zero </value>
<value> 2 <!-- This number doesn't have a name. --> </value>
<value>00167</value>
For a non-canonical RXER encoding, if the IntegerType is subject to a
VALUES encoding instruction (it necessarily must have a
NamedNumberList) and the NamedNumberList defines an identifier for
the actual value, then the character data translation of the value is
either a number string or the replacement name [RXEREI] for the
identifier.
Examples
Consider this type definition:
[RXER:VALUES ALL UPPERCASED] INTEGER { zero(0), one(1) }
The content of both of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of a value of the above type:
<value>0</value>
<value> ZERO </value>
6.7.7. NULL
The character data translation of a value of the NULL type is an
empty character string.
Examples
<value/>
<value><!-- Comments don't matter. --></value>
<value></value>
The final case is the CRXER encoding.
6.7.8. ObjectDescriptor
A value of the ObjectDescriptor type is translated according to the GraphicString type.6.7.9. OBJECT IDENTIFIER and RELATIVE-OID
The character data translation of a value of the OBJECT IDENTIFIER or RELATIVE-OID type is a full stop ('.', U+002E) separated list of the object identifier components of the value. Each object identifier component is translated as a non-negative number string. A non-negative number string is either the digit character '0' (U+0030), or a non-zero decimal digit character (U+0031-U+0039) followed by zero, one, or more of the decimal digit characters '0' to '9' (U+0030-U+0039). Examples The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER encoding of an OBJECT IDENTIFIER value: <value>2.5.6.0</value> <value> 2.5.4.10 </value> <value> 2.5.4.3 <!-- commonName --> </value>6.7.10. OCTET STRING
The character data translation of a value of the OCTET STRING type is the hexadecimal digit string representation of the octets. The octets are encoded in order from the first octet to the last octet. Each octet is encoded as a pair of the hexadecimal digit characters '0'-'9', 'A'-'F', and 'a'-'f' (i.e., U+0030-U+0039, U+0041-U+0046, and U+0061-U+0066) where the first digit in the pair corresponds to the four most significant bits of the octet. An odd number of hexadecimal digits is not permitted. The characters 'a'- 'f' (i.e., U+0061-U+0066) SHALL NOT be used in the CRXER encoding of an OCTET STRING value. Aside: The RXER encoding of OCTET STRING values is intended to conform to the lexical representation of the XML Schema [XSD2] hexBinary data type.
Examples
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of an OCTET STRING value:
<value>27F69A0300</value>
<value>
efA03bFF
</value>
6.7.11. QName
The character data translation of a value of the QName type
(Section 4.5) is a qualified name conforming to the QName production
of Namespaces in XML 1.0 [XMLNS10].
The local part (i.e., LocalPart) of the qualified name SHALL be the
value of the local-name component of the QName value.
If the namespace-name component of the QName value is absent, then
the namespace prefix (i.e., Prefix) of the qualified name SHALL be
absent; otherwise, the namespace prefix is determined as specified in
Section 6.7.11.1 using the value of the namespace-name component of
the QName value as the namespace name.
6.7.11.1. Namespace Prefixes for Qualified Names
This section describes how the namespace prefix of a qualified name
is determined given the namespace name to which the namespace prefix
must map.
For a CRXER encoding, the namespace prefix of the qualified name is
any unused non-canonical namespace prefix unless the
[in-scope namespaces] property of the enclosing element item contains
a namespace item with a [namespace name] that matches the namespace
name. In that case, the [prefix] of that namespace item SHALL be
used as the namespace prefix of the qualified name.
Aside: If the qualified name appears in the [normalized value] of
an attribute item, then the enclosing element item is the
[owner element] for that attribute item.
For a non-canonical RXER encoding, the namespace prefix of the
qualified name is any unused namespace prefix unless the
[in-scope namespaces] property of the enclosing element item contains
a namespace item with the same [namespace name] as the element item.
In that case, the [prefix] of that namespace item MAY be used as the
namespace prefix of the qualified name. Note that the [prefix] of a namespace item for the default namespace has no value. If the namespace prefix of the qualified name is an unused namespace prefix, then a namespace declaration attribute item associating the namespace prefix with the namespace name MUST be added to the [namespace attributes] of the enclosing element item, and a corresponding namespace item MUST be added to the [in-scope namespaces] of the enclosing element item.6.7.12. REAL
The character data translation of a value of the REAL type is the character string "0" if the value is positive zero, the character string "-0" if the value is negative zero, the character string "INF" if the value is positive infinity, the character string "-INF" if the value is negative infinity, the character string "NaN" if the value is not a number, or a real number otherwise. A real number is the mantissa followed by either the character 'E' (U+0045) or 'e' (U+0065) and the exponent. The character 'e' SHALL NOT be used for a CRXER encoding. If the exponent is zero, then the 'E' or 'e' and exponent MAY be omitted for a non-canonical RXER encoding. The mantissa is a decimal number with an optional leading sign, either '+' (U+002B) or '-' (U+002D). A decimal number is a sequence of one or more of the decimal digit characters '0' to '9' (U+0030-U+0039) optionally partitioned by a single full stop character ('.', U+002E) representing the decimal point. Multiple leading zero digits are permitted for a non-canonical RXER encoding. The exponent is encoded as a number string (see Section 6.7.6). Aside: The RXER encoding of REAL values is intended to be compatible with the lexical representation of the XML Schema [XSD2] double data type, but allows real values outside the set permitted by double. For a CRXER encoding: (1) The real number MUST be normalized so that the mantissa has a single non-zero digit immediately to the left of the decimal point. (2) Leading zero digits SHALL NOT be used.
(3) A leading plus sign SHALL NOT be used in the mantissa or the
exponent.
(4) The fractional part of the mantissa (i.e., that part following
the decimal point) MUST have at least one digit (which may be
'0') and MUST NOT have any trailing zeroes after the first digit.
(5) The exponent SHALL be present and SHALL be a canonical number
string (see Section 6.7.6).
Examples
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of a REAL value:
<value>3.14159<!-- pi --></value>
<value> 1.0e6 </value>
<value> INF </value>
<value>
-01e-06
</value>
6.7.13. UTCTime
The character data translation of a value of the UTCTime type is a
date, the letter 'T' (U+0054), a time of day, and a time zone.
The date is two decimal digits representing the year (no century), a
hyphen ('-', U+002D), two decimal digits representing the month, a
hyphen ('-', U+002D), and two decimal digits representing the day.
The time of day is two decimal digits representing the hour, followed
by a colon (':', U+003A), two decimal digits representing the
minutes, a colon (':', U+003A), and two decimal digits representing
the seconds.
Note that the hours value "24" is disallowed [X.680].
The seconds are encoded as "00" if the UTCTime value omits seconds.
The time zone is either the letter 'Z' (U+005A) to indicate
Coordinated Universal Time, a plus sign ('+', U+002B) followed by a
time zone differential, or a minus sign ('-', U+002D) followed by a
time zone differential.
A time zone differential indicates the difference between local time
(the time specified by the preceding date and time of day) and
Coordinated Universal Time. Coordinated Universal Time can be
calculated from the local time by subtracting the differential.
For a CRXER encoding, a UTCTime value with a time zone differential
SHALL be encoded as the equivalent Coordinated Universal Time, i.e.,
the time zone will be "Z".
A time zone differential is encoded as two decimal digits
representing hours, a colon (':', U+003A), and two decimal digits
representing minutes.
6.7.14. CHOICE as UNION
The chosen alternative of a value of a UNION type corresponds to some
NamedType in the UNION type definition (a ChoiceType).
The character data translation of a value of a UNION type is the
character data translation of the value of the type of the chosen
alternative, i.e., without any kind of encapsulation.
Leading and trailing white space characters are not permitted to be
added to the character data translation of a value of a UNION type
(see Section 6.7); however, this does not preclude such white space
being added to the character data translation of the value of the
chosen alternative.
The character data translation of a value of a UNION type is
necessarily destined for the [children] of an enclosing element item.
Aside: This is because the ATTRIBUTE encoding instruction cannot
be applied to a NamedType with a type that is a UNION type.
The chosen alternative can be identified by a member attribute item,
i.e., an attribute item with the [local name] "member" and
[namespace name] "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx", added to the
[attributes] of the enclosing element item. The [prefix] of this
attribute item is determined as specified in Section 6.2.3.1. The
[normalized value] of the attribute item is a qualified name for the
expanded name of the NamedType (see [RXEREI]) corresponding to the
chosen alternative.
Aside: It is not possible to associate a namespace name with a
NamedType in a UNION type using the current specification for RXER
encoding instructions. Consequently, the [normalized value] of
the member attribute item will always contain a qualified name
without a namespace prefix.
For a CRXER encoding, the member attribute item MUST be used, and the
[normalized value] of the attribute item MUST be the CRXER
translation of the QName value equal to the expanded name.
In the absence of a member attribute item, an RXER decoder MUST
determine the chosen alternative by considering the alternatives of
the choice in the order prescribed below and accepting the first
alternative for which the encoding is valid.
If the UNION encoding instruction has a PrecedenceList, then the
alternatives of the ChoiceType referenced by the PrecedenceList are
considered in the order identified by that PrecedenceList, then the
remaining alternatives are considered in the order of their
definition in the ChoiceType. If the UNION encoding instruction does
not have a PrecedenceList, then all the alternatives of the
ChoiceType are considered in the order of their definition in the
ChoiceType.
A non-canonical RXER encoder MUST use the member attribute item if an
RXER decoder would determine the chosen alternative to be something
other than the actual chosen alternative of the CHOICE value being
translated; otherwise, the member attribute item MAY be used.
Examples
Consider this type definition:
[RXER:UNION PRECEDENCE serialNumber] CHOICE {
name [0] IA5String,
serialNumber [1] INTEGER
}
In the absence of a member attribute, an RXER decoder would first
consider whether the received encoding was a valid serialNumber
(an INTEGER) before considering whether it was a valid name (an
IA5String).
The content and attributes of each of the following <value>
elements are the RXER encoding of a value of the above type:
<value>Bob</value>
<value xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"
asnx:member="name">Alice</value>
<value>
<!-- Don't have a name for this one! --> 344
</value>
<value xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"
asnx:member="name"><!-- A strange name. -->100</value>
The member attribute is required in the final case to prevent the
value being interpreted as a serialNumber.
If the UNION (i.e., CHOICE) type is extensible [X.680], then an
application MUST accept and be prepared to re-encode (using the same
encoding rules) any unknown extension in received encoded values of
the type. An unknown extension in a value of a UNION type (an
unknown alternative) takes the form of an unknown name in the
[normalized value] of the member attribute and/or character data in
the [children] of the enclosing element item that do not conform to
any of the known alternatives.
To enable re-encoding of an unknown alternative, it is necessary to
retain the [normalized value] of the member attribute, if present,
and the [children] property of the enclosing element item.
The character data for an unknown alternative may contain qualified
names that depend on the [in-scope namespaces] of the enclosing
element item for their interpretation. Therefore, semantically
faithful re-encoding of an unknown alternative may require
reproduction of at least some part of the [in-scope namespaces] of
the enclosing element item. The problem is deciding which of the
namespace items are actually needed. In the absence of type
information, it is not possible to discern whether anything that
syntactically resembles a qualified name in the character data of the
enclosing element item actually is a qualified name. The simplest
approach is to retain all the namespace items from the
[in-scope namespaces] of the enclosing element item and output them
as namespace declaration attribute items in the
[namespace attributes] of the enclosing element item when re-encoding
the unknown alternative. At best, an application can omit the
namespace items that do not define the namespace prefix of any
potential qualified name.
An application MUST retain the namespace items in the
[in-scope namespaces] of the enclosing element item that define the
namespace prefixes of all the potential qualified names in the
[children] of the enclosing element item. Other namespace items in
the [in-scope namespaces] of the enclosing element item MAY be
retained. The effect of these retained namespace items on the
[namespace attributes] and [in-scope namespaces] of the enclosing
element item when re-encoding is considered in Section 6.2.2.1.
Aside: The context attribute (Section 6.8.8) is not added to the
[attributes] of the enclosing element item when re-encoding an
unknown alternative since the type of a NamedType in a UNION type
cannot be the Markup type.
6.7.15. SEQUENCE OF as LIST
The character data translation of a value of a LIST type (a
SEQUENCE OF NamedType) is the concatenation of the character data
translations of the component values, i.e., the abstract values of
the type of the NamedType, each separated from the next by at least
one white space character. For a CRXER encoding, separating white
space MUST be exactly one space character (U+0020).
Example
Consider this type definition:
[LIST] SEQUENCE OF timeStamp GeneralizedTime
The content of the following <value> element is the RXER encoding
of a value of the above type:
<value>
2004-06-15T12:14:56Z
2004-06-15T12:18:13Z
2004-06-15T01:00:25Z
</value>
6.8. Combining Types
The encoding of a value of an ASN.1 combining type (except a UNION or
LIST type) typically has element content.
The Infoset translation of a value of a specific ASN.1 combining type
(excluding a UNION or LIST type) contains zero or more attribute
items to be added to the [attributes] of the enclosing element item
and zero or more element items to be added to the [children] of the
enclosing element item. These translations are described in Sections
6.8.1 to 6.8.7.
For a non-canonical RXER encoding, white space character items MAY be
added to the [children] of the enclosing element item (before or
after any other items).
For a CRXER encoding, a character item with the [character code]
U+000A (a line feed) MUST be inserted immediately before each element
item in the [children] of the enclosing element item. No other white
space character items are permitted to be added to the [children] of
the enclosing element item.
Aside: Without the single line feed character before each child
element, a typical CRXER encoding would be a single, very long
line.
6.8.1. CHARACTER STRING
A value of the unrestricted CHARACTER STRING type is translated
according to the corresponding SEQUENCE type defined in Clause 40.5
of X.680 [X.680].
6.8.2. CHOICE
The chosen alternative of a value of a CHOICE type corresponds to,
and is a value of (see Section 6), some NamedType in the CHOICE type
definition.
The translation of a value of a CHOICE type other than the Markup
type or a UNION type (see Section 6.7.14) is the translation of the
value of the NamedType corresponding to the actual chosen
alternative.
Examples
Consider this type definition:
CHOICE {
name [0] IA5String,
serialNumber [1] INTEGER
}
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of a value of the above type:
<value><name>Bob</name></value>
<value>
<name>Alice</name>
</value>
<value>
<!-- Don't have a name for this one! -->
<serialNumber>
344
</serialNumber>
</value>
<value>
<!-- A strange name. -->
<name>100</name>
</value>
If the CHOICE type is extensible [X.680], then an application MUST
accept, and be prepared to re-encode (in RXER), any attribute item or
child element item with a name that is not recognized (see
Section 6.8.8).
6.8.3. EMBEDDED PDV
A value of the EMBEDDED PDV type is translated according to the
corresponding SEQUENCE type defined in Clause 33.5 of X.680 [X.680].
6.8.4. EXTERNAL
A value of the EXTERNAL type is translated according to the
corresponding SEQUENCE type defined in Clause 8.18.1 of X.690
[X.690].
6.8.5. INSTANCE OF
A value of the INSTANCE OF type is translated according to the
corresponding SEQUENCE type defined in Annex C of X.681 [X.681].
6.8.6. SEQUENCE and SET
Each component value of a value of a SEQUENCE or SET type corresponds
to, and is a value of (see Section 6), some NamedType in the SEQUENCE
or SET type definition.
A value of a SEQUENCE or SET type, other than the QName type
(Section 4.5), is translated by translating in turn each component
value actually present in the SEQUENCE or SET value and adding the
resulting attribute items and/or element items to the [attributes]
and/or [children] of the enclosing element item. Attribute items may
be added to the [attributes] of the enclosing element item in any
order. Element items resulting from the translation of component
values MUST be appended to the [children] of the enclosing element
item in the order of the component values' corresponding NamedType
definitions in the SEQUENCE or SET type definition.
Aside: In the case of the SET type, this is a deliberate departure
from BER [X.690], where the components of a SET can be encoded in
any order.
If a DEFAULT value is defined for a NamedType and the value of the
NamedType is the same as the DEFAULT value, then the translation of
the value of the NamedType SHALL be omitted for a CRXER encoding and
MAY be omitted for a non-canonical RXER encoding.
Examples
Consider this type definition:
SEQUENCE {
name [0] IA5String OPTIONAL,
partNumber [1] INTEGER,
quantity [2] INTEGER DEFAULT 0
}
The content of each of the following <value> elements is the RXER
encoding of a value of the above type:
<value>
<partNumber>23</partNumber>
<!-- The quantity defaults to zero. -->
</value>
<value>
<name>chisel</name>
<partNumber> 37 </partNumber>
<quantity> 0 </quantity>
</value>
<value>
<!-- The name component is optional. -->
<partNumber>1543</partNumber>
<quantity>29</quantity>
</value>
If the SEQUENCE or SET type is extensible [X.680], then an
application MUST accept, and be prepared to re-encode (in RXER), any
attribute item or child element item with a name that is not
recognized (see Section 6.8.8).
6.8.7. SEQUENCE OF and SET OF
Each component value of a value of a type that is a SET OF NamedType or a SEQUENCE OF NamedType corresponds to, and is a value of (see Section 6), the NamedType in the type definition. A value of a type that is a SET OF NamedType, or a SEQUENCE OF NamedType other than a LIST type (see Section 6.7.15), is translated by adding the translation of each value of the NamedType to the [children] of the enclosing element item. Aside: An ATTRIBUTE encoding instruction cannot appear in the component type for a SEQUENCE OF or SET OF type, so there are no attribute items to add to the [attributes] of the enclosing element item. If the type is a SEQUENCE OF NamedType, then the values of the NamedType are translated in the order in which they appear in the value of the type. For a non-canonical RXER encoding, if the type is a SET OF NamedType, then the values of the NamedType may be translated in any order. For a CRXER encoding, if the type is a SET OF NamedType, then the values of the NamedType MUST be translated in ascending order where the order is determined by comparing the octets of their CRXER encodings (which will be UTF-8 encoded character strings; see Section 6.12.2). A shorter encoding is ordered before a longer encoding that is identical up to the length of the shorter encoding. Examples Consider this type definition: SEQUENCE OF timeStamp GeneralizedTime The content of the following <value> element is the RXER encoding of a value of the above type: <value> <timeStamp>2004-06-15T12:14:56Z</timeStamp> <timeStamp>2004-06-15T12:18:13Z</timeStamp> <timeStamp> 2004-06-15T01:00:25Z </timeStamp> </value>
Consider this type definition (also see Section 6.6):
SEQUENCE OF INTEGER
The content of the following <value> element is the RXER encoding
of a value of the above type:
<value>
<item>12</item>
<item>
9
</item>
<item> 7 <!-- A prime number. --></item>
</value>
6.8.8. Extensible Combining Types
An application must accept and be prepared to re-encode (using the
same encoding rules) any unknown extension appearing in the encoding
of a value of an extensible CHOICE, SEQUENCE, or SET type. An
unknown extension in a value of an extensible combining type (except
UNION types) takes the form of unknown element and/or attribute
items. Section 6.8.8.1 describes the processing of unknown element
items and Section 6.8.8.2 describes the processing of unknown
attribute items.
An application cannot produce a canonical encoding if an abstract
value contains unknown extensions. However, the method for
re-encoding unknown extensions does not prevent a receiving
application with knowledge of the extension from producing the
correct canonical encoding.
6.8.8.1. Unknown Elements in Extensions
To enable re-encoding of an unknown element item it is necessary to
retain the [prefix], [local name], [attributes],
[namespace attributes], and [children] properties of the element
item.
Definition (inherited namespace item): An inherited namespace item
is a namespace item in the [in-scope namespaces] of an element item
for which there is no corresponding namespace declaration attribute
item in the [namespace attributes] of the element item.
The content and attributes of an unknown element item may contain
qualified names whose interpretation depends on inherited namespace
items. Semantically faithful re-encoding of the unknown item may
require reproduction of at least some of the inherited namespace
items. The problem is deciding which of the inherited namespace items are actually needed. Qualified names as the names of elements and attributes are easily recognized, but in the absence of type information it is not possible to discern whether anything that syntactically resembles a qualified name in the value of an attribute or the character data of an element actually is a qualified name. The simplest approach is to retain all the inherited namespace items and output corresponding namespace declaration attribute items in the [namespace attributes] of the unknown element item when re-encoding the element item. At best, an application can omit the inherited namespace items that do not define the namespace prefix of any definite or potential qualified name, though this requires examining the content and attributes of the unknown extension. Regardless of how clever an implementation tries to be, adding any namespace declaration attribute items to an unknown element item is harmful to canonicalization if the ASN.1 type for the element item turns out to be the Markup type. To counter this problem, a special attribute is used to identify the namespace declaration attribute items added to an unknown element item so that they can be removed later, if it proves necessary. If the outermost element item in an unknown extension does not have an attribute item with the [local name] "context" and [namespace name] "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx" in its [attributes], then namespace declaration attribute items corresponding to the inherited namespace items that define the namespace prefixes of all the definite and potential qualified names in the content and attributes of the element item MUST be added to the retained [namespace attributes]. Other inherited namespace items MAY be added to the retained [namespace attributes]. If there are one or more of these added namespace declaration attribute items, then an attribute item with the [local name] "context" and [namespace name] "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx" MUST be added to the retained [attributes]. The [prefix] of the context attribute item is any namespace prefix that does not match the [local name] of any namespace declaration attribute item in the [namespace attributes] unless the [namespace attributes] property contains a namespace declaration attribute item with a non-empty [prefix] and a [normalized value] of "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx". In that case, the [local name] of that namespace declaration attribute item MAY be used as the [prefix] of the context attribute item.
If the [prefix] of the context attribute item does not match the
[local name] of any namespace declaration attribute item, then an
attribute item with the [prefix] "xmlns", [namespace name]
"urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx", and [local name] equal to the [prefix]
of the context attribute item MUST be added to the retained
[namespace attributes] of the element item.
The [normalized value] of the context attribute is the white-space-
separated unordered list of the [local names] of the added namespace
declaration attribute items (i.e., a list of the namespace prefixes),
including any namespace declaration attribute item added to define
the [prefix] of the context attribute. Note that the [local name]
for a namespace declaration attribute item declaring the default
namespace is "xmlns".
Aside: A receiver that knows about the extension will use the
context attribute to strip out the added namespace declaration
attributes if the type of the associated NamedType is the Markup
type (Section 6.10), and will discard the context attribute
otherwise. A receiver that does not know about the extension will
re-encode the extension as is.
Adding the required namespace declaration attribute items to an
element item effectively makes the element item self-contained. A
received encoding has an encoding error if it contains an element
item that is not self-contained but has a context attribute item in
its [attributes].
An RXER encoder MUST NOT add the context attribute item to an element
item corresponding to a NamedType that is known to it.
An RXER decoder MUST accept the context attribute item on an element
item corresponding to a NamedType that does not appear to be an
extension.
Aside: It is not uncommon for extension markers to be neglected in
specifications traditionally using only BER, since extension
markers do not alter BER encodings. Consequently, it is not
immediately obvious in later versions of the specification which
instances of NamedType belong to extensions of the original base
specification.
Example
Suppose there are three applications, A, B, and C. Suppose that
Application A uses the first edition of an ASN.1 specification
containing the following type definition:
MyType ::= SEQUENCE {
field1 INTEGER, -- present in first edition
...
}
Suppose that Application B uses the second edition of the ASN.1
specification:
MyType ::= SEQUENCE {
field1 INTEGER, -- present in first edition
...,
field2 QName -- added in second edition
}
Suppose that Application C uses the third edition of the ASN.1
specification:
MyType ::= SEQUENCE {
field1 INTEGER, -- present in first edition
...,
field2 QName, -- added in second edition
field3 Markup -- added in third edition
}
Application C produces the following RXER encoding and sends it to
Application B:
<value xmlns:p2="http://example.com/ns2">
<field1> 100 </field1>
<field2> p2:foobar </field2>
<field3 xmlns:p1="http://example.com/ns1"> p1:foobar </field3>
</value>
Application B doesn't know about <field3>, so it adds the
asnx:context attribute to <field3> when it re-encodes the abstract
value to send to Application A:
<value xmlns:p1="http://example.com/ns2">
<!-- Application B knows the white space in field1 and
field2 is optional and discards it. -->
<field1>100</field1>
<field2>p1:foobar</field2>
<!-- Application B doesn't know about field3
so it leaves the character data alone. -->
<field3 asnx:context="asnx p2"
xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"
xmlns:p1="http://example.com/ns1"
xmlns:p2="http://example.com/ns2"> p1:foobar </field3>
</value>
Application A doesn't know about <field2> and <field3>, so it adds
the asnx:context attribute to <field2> and leaves <field3> alone
when it re-encodes the abstract value:
<value>
<!-- Application A knows about field1 and chooses
to add some white space. -->
<field1> 100 </field1>
<!-- Application A doesn't know about field2 or field3
so it leaves the character data alone. -->
<field2 asnx:context="asnx p1"
xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"
xmlns:p1="http://example.com/ns2">p1:foobar</field2>
<field3 asnx:context="asnx p2"
xmlns:asnx="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:asnx"
xmlns:p1="http://example.com/ns1"
xmlns:p2="http://example.com/ns2"> p1:foobar </field3>
</value>
If Application C receives this final encoding, it has sufficient
information to discard the asnx:context, xmlns:asnx, and xmlns:p2
attributes from the received Markup value of <field3> to recover
the original value. Application C knows about <field2>, so it
uses the namespace declaration for p1 when decoding the QName
value and ignores the other declarations.
6.8.8.2. Unknown Attributes in Extensions
To enable re-encoding of an unknown attribute item it is necessary to
retain at least the [local name], [namespace name], and
[normalized value] properties of the attribute item.
The [normalized value] of an unknown attribute item may contain
qualified names whose interpretation depends on the
[in-scope namespaces] of the [owner element]. Semantically faithful
re-encoding of the unknown attribute item may require reproduction of
at least some part of the [in-scope namespaces]. In the absence of
type information, it is not possible to discern whether anything that
syntactically resembles a qualified name in the [normalized value] of
an unknown attribute item actually is a qualified name.
The simplest approach is to retain all the namespace items of the
[in-scope namespaces] and output corresponding namespace declaration
attribute items in the [namespace attributes] of the [owner element]
when re-encoding the extension. At best, an application can omit the
namespace items that do not define the namespace prefix of any
potential qualified name in the [normalized value].
An application MUST retain the namespace items in the
[in-scope namespaces] of the [owner element] that define the
namespace prefixes of all the potential qualified names in the
[normalized value] of the unknown attribute item. Other namespace
items in the [in-scope namespaces] of the [owner element] MAY be
retained.
Aside: If the enclosing element item has more than one unknown
attribute item, then it is sufficient to save the union of the
retained namespace items with the element item, rather than saving
the retained namespace items with each unknown attribute item.
When the unknown attribute item is re-encoded, the retained namespace
items affect the [namespace attributes] and [in-scope namespaces] of
the enclosing element item as specified in Section 6.2.2.1, and the
[prefix] of the attribute item is determined as specified in
Section 6.2.3.1.
Aside: The context attribute is not added to the [attributes] of
the [owner element] when re-encoding an unknown attribute item
because the type of a NamedType subject to an ATTRIBUTE or
ATTRIBUTE-REF encoding instruction cannot be the Markup type.
(page 60 continued on part 4)