Application Exchange Working Group (apex) in the Applications Area of the IETF has been concluded. The IESG contact persons are Ted Hardie and Ned Freed. +++ The group was chartered to: "specify protocols and data formats that define a relaying mesh service for loosely-coupled Internet applications, along with specifying services to provide access control and rendezvous-by-subscription. In addition, the working group shall specify CPIM-compliant application services for text-based instant messaging and for online presence, based on the APEX service." RFCs 3340,3341, and 3342 document the core elements of APEX, its access service, and a common set of options. The group did not define a service for text-based instant messaging and online presence, though an individual RFC with an experimental specification of an APEX-based presence service will be forthcoming. Work on protocols for instant messaging and presence is ongoing in the XMPP and SIMPLE working groups, and interested parties should consult those working group charters and archives for related work.
