Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!munnari!otc!metro!bunyip!brolga!ggm
From: ggm@brolga.cc.uq.oz (George Michaelson)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: RFC 1101
Message-ID: <310@brolga.cc.uq.oz>
Date: 8 May 89 23:49:23 GMT
References: <8905021943.AA21368@venera.isi.edu>
Organization: University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Lines: 38

From article <8905021943.AA21368@venera.isi.edu>, by pvm@VENERA.ISI.EDU (Paul Mockapetris):
> phone number, we would need something like the IN-ADDR.ARPA tree (Which
> we might be able to get along without, just as we get along without such
> a directory in the real world).  From experience, there's a fair amount
> of work involved in standardizing the data (e.g. include area code?,
> international code?, extensions?), especially if you want an Internet
> standard.

Since the X.500 standards define encodings for many of the real-world data 
types one wants to store in a directory service, and the NS is offering such 
hugely aligned functionality, surely RFC's could be used to define mappings 
from the OSI DS object family into suitable Bind record types?

Existing Bind definitions stay as-is. New ones where possible adopt forms
"compatible" with X.500 defined objects.

Lots of wins from this approach.

Parallel Proposal:  Is anyone going to define "authorised" mappings from
POSIX or other standard unix data structures into ASN.1? There is a huge
crossover period when we can all expect to have to pass data to and from
Internet to OSI aligned systems. One global mapping across all RFC-compliant
systems would aid things hugely here. 

The problem is ASN.1's richness allows more than one form for structured
data. (analogous to choosing arrays or structs or linked lists) Rather than
have two groups define divergent forms for one structure eg stuct passwd,
there should be one RFC-defined mapping, and if possible procedure bindings 
to do en- and de-coding.

I propose ISODE tools to be used, and an RFC to be used to collect
common data structure mappings and their associated coders. 

-george
-- 
ACSnet: ggm@brolga.cc.uq.oz                    Phone: +61 7 377 4079
Postal: George Michaelson, Prentice Computer Centre
          Queensland University, St Lucia, QLD 4067