This is a purely informative rendering of an RFC that includes verified errata. This rendering may not be used as a reference.
The following 'Verified' errata have been incorporated in this document:
EID 3340, EID 3341, EID 3342
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) D. Cauchie
Request for Comments: 6715 France Telecom - Orange
Category: Standards Track B. Leiba
ISSN: 2070-1721 K. Li
Huawei Technologies
August 2012
vCard Format Extensions: Representing vCard Extensions Defined by the
Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Converged Address Book (CAB) Group
Abstract
This document defines extensions to the vCard data format for
representing and exchanging certain contact information. The
properties covered here have been defined by the Open Mobile Alliance
(OMA) Converged Address Book group, in order to synchronize, using
OMA Data Synchronization, contact fields that were not already
defined in the base vCard 4.0 specification.
Status of This Memo
This is an Internet Standards Track document.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on
Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6715.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2012 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
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the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
1.1. A Brief Introduction to the Converged Address Book .........2
1.2. Terminology Used in This Document ..........................3
2. vCard Extensions: Properties ....................................3
2.1. Property: EXPERTISE ........................................3
2.2. Property: HOBBY ............................................4
2.3. Property: INTEREST .........................................5
2.4. Property: ORG-DIRECTORY ....................................6
3. vCard Extensions: Parameters ....................................7
3.1. Parameter: INDEX ...........................................7
3.2. Parameter: LEVEL ...........................................8
4. Security Considerations .........................................8
5. IANA Considerations .............................................9
6. Acknowledgments .................................................9
7. References .....................................................10
7.1. Normative References ......................................10
7.2. Informative References ....................................10
1. Introduction
Synchronization of an Open Mobile Alliance Converged Address Book
[OMA-CAB], using Open Mobile Alliance Data Synchronization [OMA-DS],
commonly uses vCard as an exchange format between the DS Server and
the DS Client. In order to properly perform synchronization of an
OMA-CAB, the CAB specification defines some CAB contact fields not
already defined in the vCard base specification. This document
reuses the definitions found in the OMA-CAB specification and
describes them as vCard extensions. The following sections define
the necessary Properties and Parameters.
1.1. A Brief Introduction to the Converged Address Book
The Converged Address Book (CAB) Enabler provides consistent
mechanisms to manage contact information both in user-facing
applications and in support of network-facing activities. At the
core of this enabler is a network-based contact repository in which a
user can store contact information. That information can be
retrieved by any CAB-enabled device. The network-based repository is
also able to provide specific contact information to other users and
to keep their copies up to date whenever the information is changed.
The CAB Enabler provides synchronization of the contact information
available in the user device(s) with the network-based contact
repository.
The CAB Enabler also manages the distribution of a user's own contact
information. In essence, a user fills out a Personal Contact Card,
which includes all the information a user wishes to store about
himself or herself.
Because systems that are supporting the CAB Enabler are likely
supporting multiple users, the CAB Enabler also defines a search
paradigm that permits other users to query those systems to locate
information about the available users.
The CAB Enabler supports many different types of information. It
therefore has a data model that is flexible and extensible. It
manages traditional types of contact information (such as name,
address, email, phone number, mobile number) as well as new types of
information (such as websites, blogs, presence subscription
references).
1.2. Terminology Used in This Document
Syntax specifications shown here use the augmented Backus-Naur Form
(ABNF) as described in [RFC5234] and are specified as in the base
vCard specification [RFC6350].
2. vCard Extensions: Properties
The following sections define the CAB Properties.
Note:
Some string-value vCard properties are defined herein for which no
specific list of allowed strings is specified. For those properties,
it is intended that de facto taxonomies might develop. One vCard
can, for example, specify a hobby of "philately", while another uses
"stamp collecting", and a third has "old postage stamps". Usage, not
specification, may lead to a preference over time for a single term.
In general, these are meant to be understood by humans, rather than
to be used for automated categorization that might require standard
terms and registries.
2.1. Property: EXPERTISE
Namespace:
Property name: EXPERTISE
Purpose: To specify a field of expertise for the object to which the
vCard refers.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *
Property parameters: LEVEL (possible values: "beginner", "average",
"expert"), INDEX
Description: This is intended to be a free-form naming of fields of
expertise, meant for human consumption, and no specific
expertise fields are defined. See the note at the
beginning of Section 2.
Format definition:
EXPERTISE-param = LEVEL-param / INDEX-param / language-param /
pref-param / altid-param / type-param /
any-param
EXPERTISE-value = text
Examples:
EXPERTISE;LEVEL=beginner;INDEX=2:chinese literature
EXPERTISE;INDEX=1;LEVEL=expert:chemistry
2.2. Property: HOBBY
Namespace:
Property name: HOBBY
Purpose: To specify the hobbies of the object to which the vCard
refers.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *
Property parameters: LEVEL (possible values: "high", "medium",
"low"), INDEX
Description: This is intended to be a free-form naming of hobbies,
meant for human consumption, and no specific hobbies
are defined. See the note at the beginning of
Section 2.
A hobby, as opposed to an interest (see Section 2.3),
is an activity that one actively engages in for
entertainment, intellectual stimulation, creative
expression, or the like.
* "Art" might be a hobby if one actively sculpts or paints.
* "Tennis" might be a hobby if one enjoys playing, rather than
just watching, matches.
Format definition:
HOBBY-param = LEVEL-param / INDEX-param / language-param /
pref-param / altid-param / type-param / any-param
HOBBY-value = text
Examples:
HOBBY;INDEX=1;LEVEL=high:reading
HOBBY;INDEX=2;LEVEL=high:sewing
2.3. Property: INTEREST
Namespace:
Property name: INTEREST
Purpose: To specify the interest(s) of the object to which the vCard
refers.
Value type: A single text value
Cardinality: *
Property parameters: LEVEL (possible values: "high", "medium",
"low"), INDEX
Description: This is intended to be a free-form naming of interests,
meant for human consumption, and no specific interests
are defined. See the note at the beginning of
Section 2.
An interest, as opposed to a hobby (see Section 2.2),
is an activity or topic that one finds interesting but
doesn't necessarily actively engage in.
* "Art" might be an interest if one likes looking at art but
doesn't create art.
* "Tennis" might be an interest if one enjoys watching matches
but doesn't play.
Format definition:
INTEREST-param = LEVEL-param / INDEX-param / language-param /
pref-param / altid-param / type-param /
any-param
INTEREST-value = text
Examples:
INTEREST;INDEX=1;LEVEL=medium:r&b music
INTEREST;INDEX=2;LEVEL=high:rock 'n' roll music
2.4. Property: ORG-DIRECTORY
Namespace:
Property name: ORG-DIRECTORY
Purpose: To specify a directory of an organization to which the
vCard's entity belongs.
Value type: A single URI value.
Cardinality: *
Property parameters: PREF, INDEX
Description: This is intended to be a URI that can be used to do an
organization-directory lookup. Presumably, the entity
the vCard represents would be found in the directory,
though that isn't required. This might be used to make
it easier to find someone's coworkers, management
chain, and so on, in a company or organizational
directory.
How the lookup is done depends upon the URI scheme, and
no attempt is made here to specify details of the
lookup mechanism. An HTTP URI might, for example, lead
to a web form that's intended for manual lookup in a
browser; thus, this URI might or might not be usable
for automated lookup or searching.
Format definition:
ORG-DIRECTORY-param = pref-param / INDEX-param / language-param
/ pid-param / pref-param / altid-param /
type-param / any-param
ORG-DIRECTORY-value= uri
Examples:
ORG-DIRECTORY;INDEX=1:http://directory.mycompany.example.com
ORG-DIRECTORY;PREF=1:ldap://ldap.tech.example/
o=Example%20Tech,ou=Engineering
3. vCard Extensions: Parameters
The following sections define Parameters used within Properties
definitions.
3.1. Parameter: INDEX
Namespace:
Parameter name: INDEX
Purpose: Used in a multi-valued property to indicate the position of
this value within the set of values.
Description:
When a property is multi-valued, INDEX can be used to indicate an ordering or sequence of the values. INDEX values must be strictly positive. Zero is not allowed.
If an instance of a multi-valued property does not have an INDEX value, then it is included at the end of the ordered sequence, as if it had a very high INDEX value.
EID 3342 (Verified) is as follows:Section: 3.1
Original Text:
Description:
When a property is multi-valued, INDEX can be used to indicate an ordering or sequence of the values. INDEX values must be strictly positive. Zero is not allowed.
Corrected Text:
Description:
When a property is multi-valued, INDEX can be used to indicate an ordering or sequence of the values. INDEX values must be strictly positive. Zero is not allowed.
If an instance of a multi-valued property does not have an INDEX value, then it is included at the end of the ordered sequence, as if it had a very high INDEX value.
Notes:
It is not clear how a list of properties should be sorted if some of them have INDEX parameters and others do not. This errata submission proposes that properties without an INDEX parameter be pushed to the end of the sorted list, as if they had a very high INDEX value.
For example, the ordering of the following properties is very clear, since they all have INDEX parameters:
However, the spec does not provide guidance on how to sort a list of properties if some properties have INDEX parameters and others do not. This errata submission suggests that the properties missing the INDEX parameter be pushed to the end of the sorted list. For example:
EID 3340 (Verified) is as follows:Section: 3.1
Original Text:
Examples:
ORG-URI;INDEX=1:http://mycompany.example1.com
ORG-URI;PREF=1;INDEX=2:http://mycompany.example2.com
Corrected Text:
Examples:
ORG-DIRECTORY;INDEX=1:http://mycompany.example1.com
ORG-DIRECTORY;PREF=1;INDEX=2:http://mycompany.example2.com
Notes:
In the examples, the ORG-DIRECTORY property is incorrectly referred to as ORG-URI.
3.2. Parameter: LEVEL
Namespace:
Parameter name: LEVEL
Purpose: Used to indicate a level of expertise, hobby, or interest
attained by the object the vCard represents.
Description: Allowable values:
* "beginner", "average", "expert" when used with EXPERTISE
* "high", "medium", "low" when used with HOBBY or INTEREST
Format definition:
LEVEL-param = "LEVEL=" LEVEL-value
LEVEL-value = "beginner" / "average" / "expert" / "high" /
"medium" / "low"
Examples:
EXPERTISE;LEVEL=beginner:chinese literature
HOBBY;LEVEL=high:reading
INTEREST;LEVEL=medium:r&b music
4. Security Considerations
This document presents no security considerations beyond those in
Section 9 of the base vCard specification [RFC6350].
5. IANA Considerations
IANA has added the following entries to the "vCard Properties"
registry, defined in [RFC6350] Section 10.3.1.
+-------+------------------------+------------------------+
| Name- | | |
| space | Property | Reference |
+-------+------------------------+------------------------+
| | EXPERTISE | RFC 6715, Section 2.1 |
| | HOBBY | RFC 6715, Section 2.2 |
| | INTEREST | RFC 6715, Section 2.3 |
| | ORG-DIRECTORY | RFC 6715, Section 2.4 |
+-------+------------------------+------------------------+