



Editorial Stream                                              P. Hoffman
Request for Comments: 9720                                         ICANN
Obsoletes: 7990                                              H. Flanagan
Updates: 9280                                   Spherical Cow Consulting
Category: Informational                                     January 2025
ISSN: 2070-1721


                        RFC Formats and Versions

Abstract

   In order to improve the readability of RFCs while supporting their
   archivability, the definitive version of the RFC Series transitioned
   from plain-text ASCII to XML using the RFCXML vocabulary; different
   publication versions are rendered from that base document.  This
   document describes how RFCs are published.

   This document obsoletes RFC 7990.  This document also updates the
   stability policy in RFC 9280.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the RFC Series Policy Definition
   Process.  It represents the consensus of the RFC Series Working Group
   approved by the RFC Series Approval Board.  Such documents are not
   candidates for any level of Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC
   7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9720.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction
     1.1.  Changes to RFC 7990
     1.2.  Changes to RFC 9280
     1.3.  Key Changes from the Earlier RFC Process
   2.  Definitive Version of an RFC
     2.1.  Updating the Definitive Version of an RFC
     2.2.  Expected Updates to RFCXML
   3.  Publication Versions
   4.  Archived Documents
   5.  IANA Considerations
   6.  Security Considerations
   7.  References
     7.1.  Normative References
     7.2.  Informative References
   Acknowledgments
   Authors' Addresses

1.  Introduction

   "RFC Series Format Requirements and Future Development" [RFC6949]
   discussed the need to improve the display of items such as author
   names and artwork in RFCs as well as the need to improve the ability
   of RFCs to be displayed properly on various devices.  Based on
   discussions with communities of interest, such as the IETF, the RFC
   Series Editor decided to explore a change to the format of the
   Series.  [RFC7990] was the culmination of that exploration.

   This document is concerned with the production of RFCs, focusing on
   the published documents.  It does not address any changes to the
   processes each stream uses to develop and review their submissions
   (specifically, how Internet-Drafts are developed).  While I-Ds have a
   similar set of issues and concerns, directly addressing those issues
   for I-Ds should be discussed within each document stream.

   The details described in this document are expected to continue to
   change over time as the community and the RFC Production Center (RPC)
   gain further experience implementing the policies described here.

   Implementors of these components are advised to avoid assuming that
   all such changes will be backwards compatible.

1.1.  Changes to RFC 7990

   [RFC7990] defined a framework for how RFCs would be published,
   including new "publication formats" and a new "canonical format".  It
   talked about "the XML file" as if there would only be one XML file
   for an RFC because that was the expectation at the time [RFC7990] was
   published.  It also talked about "publication formats" as the
   versions of HTML, plain text, and PDF derived from the "canonical
   format".

   After extensive experience with publishing RFCs in the RFCXML format
   [RFC7991], it has been decided that an RFC's XML file can be updated
   for narrowly limited purposes.  This document changes [RFC7990] in
   significant ways:

   *  It defines four terms that replace the use of the term "canonical"
      and clarifies "format":

      -  The "definitive format", which is RFCXML

      -  The "definitive version", which is a published RFC in the
         definitive format

      -  A "publication format", which is currently one of HTML, plain
         text, and PDF

      -  A "publication version", which is a published RFC in one of the
         publication formats

   *  It defines a policy governing how the RFCXML format changes.

   *  It defines a policy for when the definitive version of an RFC can
      be updated and older definitive versions archived.

   *  It defines a policy for when the publication versions of an RFC
      can be updated and older publication versions archived.

   When using the new terminology, it is important to note that
   [RFC7990] used the term "canonical format" to mean two very different
   things.  Quoting from RFC 7990:

   |  Canonical format: the authorized, recognized, accepted, and
   |  archived version of the document

   and

   |  At the highest level, the changes being made to the RFC format
   |  involve breaking away from solely ASCII plain text and moving to a
   |  canonical format that includes all the information required for
   |  rendering a document into a wide variety of publication formats.

   This document uses two terms, "definitive version" and "definitive
   format", for the earlier term "canonical format".

   This document also makes the following terminology changes:

   *  It changes the phrase "xml2rfc version 3" to "RFCXML".

   *  It changes the name of the body that publishes RFCs from "RFC
      Editor" to "RFC Production Center" (RPC).

   Historical text from [RFC7990], such as Section 2 ("Problem
   Statement"), Section 4 ("Overview of the Decision-Making Process"),
   and Section 10 ("Transition Plan"), was purposely omitted from this
   document.  Text from [RFC7990] that repeated what was in other RFCs,
   particularly Section 8 ("Figures and Artwork") and Section 9
   ("Content and Page Layout"), was also removed.

1.2.  Changes to RFC 9280

   Section 7.6 of [RFC9280] says:

   |  Once published, RFC Series documents are not changed.

   This document replaces that sentence with:

   |  Once published, RFCs may be reissued, but the semantic content of
   |  publication versions shall be preserved to the greatest extent
   |  possible.

   This document also adds a new policy to Section 7 of [RFC9280]:

   |  7.8.  Consistency
   |  
   |     RFCs are copyedited, formatted, and then published.  They may
   |     be reissued to maintain a consistent presentation.

   Sections 2.1 and 3 in this document are based on this policy in
   [RFC9280].

1.3.  Key Changes from the Earlier RFC Process

   The first RFC to be published following the guidance of the group of
   RFCs described in [RFC7990] was [RFC8651], published in October 2019.
   In the time since then, all published RFCs have followed the general
   plan from [RFC7990].

   At the highest level, the changes that [RFC7990] made to the RFC
   format involved breaking away from solely ASCII [RFC20] plain text
   and moving to a definitive format that includes all the information
   required for rendering a document into a wide variety of publication
   formats.  The RPC became responsible for more than just the plain-
   text file and a PDF rendering that was created from the plain text at
   the time of publication; the RPC now creates the definitive version
   and three publication versions of the RFC in order to meet the
   diverse requirements of the community.

   The final RFCXML file produced by the RPC is the definitive version
   for RFCs; it holds all the information intended for an RFC.
   Additional publication versions (HTML, plain text, and PDF) are also
   published by the RPC.  The publication formats are fully specified in
   other RFCs.

2.  Definitive Version of an RFC

   The definitive version produced by the RPC holds all the information
   intended for an RFC.  The RPC may change the definitive version of an
   RFC over time (that is, change the XML file), as described in
   Section 2.1.  See [RFC7991] for the original complete description of
   RFCXML.

   The XML may contain SVG line art, as originally described in
   [RFC7996].  That SVG will also appear in the HTML publication
   version.  The XML may contain non-ASCII characters, as originally
   described in [RFC7997].  These characters will appear in all the
   publication versions.

   The definitive version must contain all information necessary to
   render the specified publication versions; any question about what
   was intended in the publication will be answered from this file.  It
   is self-contained with all the semantic content known at publication
   time.  For instance, all features that reference externally defined
   input are expanded.  It does not contain src attributes for <artwork>
   or <sourcecode> elements.  It does not contain comments or processing
   instructions.

2.1.  Updating the Definitive Version of an RFC

   RFCs may be reissued, as described in Section 1.2.  Such changes must
   preserve the semantics expressed in the original RFC.  Reasons to
   make such changes include updates to the RFCXML schema, errors
   discovered in the XML, and changes to the tooling used to generate
   the publication versions of the definitive version of the RFC.  The
   RPC will keep a public record of when it reissues any RFC and give a
   short description of its reasoning for each change.

2.2.  Expected Updates to RFCXML

   It is anticipated that [RFC7991] will be updated.  Updates to the
   RFCXML specification that are applied to existing RFCs should
   preserve the semantics expressed in the original RFC to the greatest
   extent possible.  The goal of limiting changes only to syntax is to
   preserve the semantic meaning encoded in the published document.

   This policy does not require that updates to RFCXML avoid all risk of
   introducing semantic changes to existing RFCs.  Instead, considering
   the potential for semantic changes, taking steps to understand the
   risk of a semantic change (either deliberate or inadvertent), and
   limiting associated risks are the only requirements.

3.  Publication Versions

   The RPC is permitted but not required to reissue publication versions
   of an RFC, as described in Section 1.2.  In deciding whether to
   update the publication versions of an RFC, the RPC will take into
   account both the risk of semantic changes and consistency of the
   Series.

   XML format errors and better design choices have been discovered by
   the community since the first RFCs were published using the RFCXML
   format.  When the XML in a definitive version changes, the
   publication versions may change, even if this might not result in
   observable differences.  Similarly, as production tools change,
   publication versions may be regenerated to ensure a consistent
   presentation.

4.  Archived Documents

   The RPC will keep an archived set of all definitive versions of RFCs
   as well as archived sets of the publication versions for an RFC that
   were previously published.  These archived sets must be available
   using the same access methods as for current definitive and
   publication versions.  Every archived set shall record the date that
   a definitive and/or publication version was created or reissued.

   When the RPC archives definitive and publication versions, it does so
   in a manner that allows them to be found by people who want the
   historical (as compared to current) files.

   This document does not specify how archives are maintained or how
   archived documents might be located or identified.  The methods for
   storage and access will be determined by the RPC in consultation with
   the technical community.

5.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

6.  Security Considerations

   Allowing changes to the definitive version and publication versions
   of RFCs introduces risks.  A significant risk is that unintended
   changes could occur in either the definitive version or publication
   versions of an RFC as a result of an editing error.  In addition,
   unintended changes may be introduced into a publication version when
   it is regenerated from the definitive version.  This may result in
   the corruption of a standard, practice, or critical piece of
   information about a protocol, which may harm the reputation of the
   RFC Series.

   The RPC is expected to identify, track, and actively mitigate risks
   introduced by this new policy.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC7991]  Hoffman, P., "The "xml2rfc" Version 3 Vocabulary",
              RFC 7991, DOI 10.17487/RFC7991, December 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7991>.

   [RFC7996]  Brownlee, N., "SVG Drawings for RFCs: SVG 1.2 RFC",
              RFC 7996, DOI 10.17487/RFC7996, December 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7996>.

   [RFC7997]  Flanagan, H., Ed., "The Use of Non-ASCII Characters in
              RFCs", RFC 7997, DOI 10.17487/RFC7997, December 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7997>.

   [RFC9280]  Saint-Andre, P., Ed., "RFC Editor Model (Version 3)",
              RFC 9280, DOI 10.17487/RFC9280, June 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9280>.

7.2.  Informative References

   [RFC20]    Cerf, V., "ASCII format for network interchange", STD 80,
              RFC 20, DOI 10.17487/RFC0020, October 1969,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc20>.

   [RFC6949]  Flanagan, H. and N. Brownlee, "RFC Series Format
              Requirements and Future Development", RFC 6949,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6949, May 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6949>.

   [RFC7990]  Flanagan, H., "RFC Format Framework", RFC 7990,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7990, December 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7990>.

   [RFC8651]  Cheng, B., Wiggins, D., and L. Berger, Ed., "Dynamic Link
              Exchange Protocol (DLEP) Control-Plane-Based Pause
              Extension", RFC 8651, DOI 10.17487/RFC8651, October 2019,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8651>.

Acknowledgments

   Martin Thomson wrote a great deal of the significant text here as
   part of draft-thomson-rswg-syntax-change-01.

   This document has greatly benefited from the input of the RSWG.  In
   particular, Alexis Rossi, Brian Carpenter, Eliot Lear, Jay Daley,
   Jean Mahoney, John Levine, and Pete Resnick provided significant
   input on the early draft versions of this document.

Authors' Addresses

   Paul Hoffman
   ICANN
   Email: paul.hoffman@icann.org


   Heather Flanagan
   Spherical Cow Consulting
   Email: hlf@sphericalcowconsulting.com
