Marc,
On 3/17/25 11:13 PM, Marc Petit-Huguenin wrote:
Hi,
I am rewriting the tool I use to build a knowledge graph (KG) of all RFCs and
ancillary files[1], and I have some questions about what properties of an RFC
are mutable.
— The “status” field in the JSON file (in the "ietf/rfc" directory from rsync)
changes from time to time, as opposed to the “pub_status” field that was the status at
publication time, and thus is immutable. Is there a database with the changes, with
timestamp, made to the “status” field? Something like
https://www.rfc-editor.org/status_changes.php.
[JM] The data served on status_changes.php is pulled from the
rfc-editor.org database, but the date of change and the link to the
status change message are not shared via an API currently.
— Can the “format” field change, for example, when a new rendering file is
added?
[JM] Yes, the format field can change with additional file-formats
added. However, there are no plans to add new formats at the moment.
(related question: I saw both “ASCII” and “TEXT” used in the JSON files. What
is the difference between these two formats?)
[JM] TEXT is used for RFCs created in the RFCXML v3 era. ASCII is for
older RFCs. The TEXT label indicates the file can contain non-ASCII
characters [2].
— Is the “keyword” field immutable?
[JM] Keywords can be updated after an RFC is published.
— Disturbingly, RFCXML files are now mutable. How do I know that an RFCXML
file was modified and that I need to update my KG?
[JM] The RPC has not updated any RFCXML files. We have updated the PDF
of a few RFCs. Please see [3]. When a publication version of an RFC is
reissued, a message is sent to the ietf-announce and rfc-dist lists and
a note is added to the RFC's datatracker History tab.
— I understand that the RFC(s) associated with STD and BCP change from time to
time. Here again, is there a database that provides a history of these changes?
[JM] Providing histories for RFCs and subseries are feature enhancements
for the new rfc-editor.org database.
— IPR disclosures can be added at any time to an RFC, but are they immutable?
[JM] IPR disclosures can be updated by other IPR disclosures or they can
be withdrawn.
— Is there other mutable properties of an RFC that I did not list here (apart
the errata)?
[JM] As Stream, Area, and WG/RG information is used to route errata
reports, these properties can be updated as groups are closed or merged
or as we update the metadata for older RFCs (e.g., move an RFC from the
Legacy stream to the IETF stream).
Best regards,
Jean
[1] https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc-index.xml
[2]
https://www.rfc-editor.org/rpc/wiki/doku.php?id=rfc_metadata_in_the_v3_era
[3] https://www.rfc-editor.org/rpc/wiki/doku.php?id=rerendering
Thank you.
[1] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-petithuguenin-rfc-ontology/
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