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Subject: I-D ACTION:draft-ietf-drums-abnf-05.txt
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 11:03:31 -0400
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A Revised Internet-Draft is available from the on-line Internet-Drafts directories.
This draft is a work item of the Detailed Revision/Update of Message Standards Working Group of the IETF.

Note: This revision reflects comments received during the last call period.

	Title		: Augmented BNF for Syntax Specifications: ABNF
	Author(s)	: D. Crocker, P. Overell
	Filename	: draft-ietf-drums-abnf-05.txt
	Pages		: 9
	Date		: 17-Oct-97
	
Internet technical specifications often need to define a format
syntax and are free to employ whatever notation their authors
deem useful.  Over the years, a modified version of Backus-Naur
Form (BNF), called Augmented BNF (ABNF), has been popular among
many Internet specifications.  It balances compactness and
simplicity, with reasonable representational power.  In the early
days of the Arpanet, each specification contained its own
definition of ABNF.  This included the email specifications,
RFC733 and then RFC822 which have come to be the common citations
for defining ABNF.  The current document separates out that
definition, to permit selective reference.  Predictably, it also
provides some modifications and enhancements.
 
The differences between standard BNF and ABNF involve naming
rules, repetition, alternatives, order-independence, and value
ranges.  Appendix A (Core) supplies rule definitions and encoding
for a core lexical analyzer of the type common to several
Internet specifications.  It is provided as a convenience and is
otherwise separate from the meta language defined in the body of
this document, and separate from its formal status.


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