If it is just for IETF purposes it could be added to the downref list without being reclassified. Stewart > On 6 Dec 2014, at 03:52, John C Klensin <john-ietf@xxxxxxx> wrote: > > Barry (and IESG generally), > > This has come up multiple times and will undoubtedly keep coming > up, especially since RFC 20 is a stable reference to one > particular version of ASCII and actually includes the code > tables while X3.4-1968 (the version to which it refers) is > largely unobtainable today (only the current version is) and > ANSI X3.4, aka ANSI/INCITS 4, is not a stable reference without > a date. > > Most, perhaps all, versions of ANSI X3.4 (and ANSI/INCITS 4) > also specify the repertoire and coding, i.e., the CCS, but not > what we would call the encoding form today (in the case of RFC > 20, the familiar "seven bits in and eight bit byte with high > order bit always zero"). So, for most IETF purposes, RFC 20 > really should be the normative reference for ASCII (or, if one > prefers, "US-ASCII"). > > RFC 20 has status "Unknown" only because it comes from a time > that predates both the IETF and our use of the term "standard" > (with or without qualifications) to describe Internet technical > specifications. > > So, rather than go through a discussion about downrefs and the > like every time RFC 20 is referenced from a Standards-Track > specification, I suggest that the IESG reclassify it to Internet > Standard and waste as little more time doing so as possible. > > The implementation report is that, whether they explicitly > reference RFC 20 or not, substantially every application-layer > protocol we have depends on the ASCII CCS and encoding form > specified in that RFC. In addition, RFC 5234 and its > predecessors are heavily dependent on ASCII so that > substantially any specification that depends on ABNF is also an > ASCII implementation. > > Thanks, > john > > > --On Friday, December 05, 2014 17:38 -0500 Barry Leiba > <barryleiba@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> Hi, David. One note on your review: >> >>> idnits didn't like the reference to RFC 20 for ASCII: >>> >>> ** Downref: Normative reference to an Unknown state RFC: >>> RFC 20 >>> >>> RFC 5234 (ABNF) uses this, which looks like a better >>> reference: >>> >>> [US-ASCII] American National Standards Institute, "Coded >>> Character Set -- 7-bit American Standard Code for >>> Information Interchange", ANSI X3.4, 1986. >> >> Except that (1) many IETF documents do use RFC 20 and (2) the >> RFC 20 reference is not for ASCII: it's for RS, the Record >> Separator character, which is explained in RFC 20, Section 5.2. >> >> Barry > > > >