A.      The rfc Element  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   B.      The RFC DTD  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   C.      Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   Index  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
   Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31









 
RFC 2629            Writing I-Ds and RFCs using XML            June 1999


1. Introduction

   This memo describes how to write a document for the I-D and RFC
   series using the Extensible Markup Language [1] (XML). This memo has
   three goals:

   1.  To describe a simple XML Document Type Definition (DTD) that is
       powerful enough to handle the simple formatting requirements of
       RFC-like documents whilst allowing for meaningful markup of
       descriptive qualities.

   2.  To describe software that processes XML source files, including a
       tool that produces documents conforming to RFC 2223 [2], HTML
       format, and so on.

   3.  To provide the proof-of-concept for the first two goals (this
       memo was written using this DTD and produced using that
       software).

   It is beyond the scope of this memo to discuss the political
   ramifications of using XML as a source format for RFC-like documents.
   Rather, it is simply noted that adding minimal markup to plain text:

   o  allows the traditional production of textual RFC-like documents
      using familiar editors;

   o  requires some, albeit minimal, additions to existing software
      environments; and,

   o  permits information to be organized, searched, and retrieved using
      both unstructured and structured mechanisms.





















 
RFC 2629            Writing I-Ds and RFCs using XML            June 1999


2. Using the DTD to Write I-Ds and RFCs

   We do not provide a formal or comprehensive description of XML.
   Rather, this section discusses just enough XML to use a Document Type
   Declaration (DTD) to write RFC-like documents.

   If you're already familiar with XML, skip to Appendix B to look at
   the DTD.

2.1 XML basics

   There are very few rules when writing in XML, as the syntax is
   simple. There are five terms you'll need to know:

   1.  An "element" usually refers to a start tag, an end tag, and all
       the characters in between, e.g., "text and/or nested
       elements"

   2.  An "empty element" combines the start tag and the end tag, e.g.,
       "". You don't find these in HTML.

   3.  An "attribute" is part of an element. If present, they occur in
       the start tag, e.g., "<example name='value'>". Of course, they
       can also appear in empty elements, e.g., "<empty name='value'/>".

   4.  An "entity" is a textual macro that starts with "&". Don't worry