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Re: ABNF in RFC5321

2010-10-19 07:45:58

On Mon, 18 Oct 2010, John C Klensin wrote:
--On Monday, October 18, 2010 9:53 AM -0700 "Murray S.
Kucherawy" <msk(_at_)cloudmark(_dot_)com> wrote:

It looks to me like there's an ABNF citation issue in RFC5321.
Section 4.1.2's ABNF makes reference to "atext" but it's not
defined anywhere.  It is defined in RFC5322 though.

Without taking the time to search the document, I believe that
there is a statement that any productions that cannot be found
are defined either in the base ABNF spec or in 5322.

4.1.2.  Command Argument Syntax

   The syntax of the argument clauses of the above commands (using the
   syntax specified in RFC 5234 [7] where applicable) is given below.
   Some of the productions given below are used only in conjunction with
   source routes as described in Appendix C.  Terminals not defined in
   this document, such as ALPHA, DIGIT, SP, CR, LF, CRLF, are as defined
   in the "core" syntax in Section 6 of RFC 5234 [7] or in the message
   format syntax in RFC 5322 [4].

The last sentence of that quote would be better if it were moved to
section 2.4 General Syntax Principles and Transaction Model where ABNF is
first mentioned.

   The metalinguistic notation used in this document corresponds to the
   "Augmented BNF" used in other Internet mail system documents.  The
   reader who is not familiar with that syntax should consult the ABNF
   specification in RFC 5234 [7].  Metalanguage terms used in running
   text are surrounded by pointed brackets (e.g., <CRLF>) for clarity.
   The reader is cautioned that the grammar expressed in the
   metalanguage is not comprehensive.  There are many instances in which
   provisions in the text constrain or otherwise modify the syntax or
   semantics implied by the grammar.

Tony.
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