Network Working Group                                 D. Harrington, Ed.
Request for Comments: 5249                     Huawei Technologies (USA)
BCP: 139                                                       July 2008
Category: Best Current Practice


          Templates for Internet-Drafts Containing MIB Modules

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This memo references three annotated templates for IETF documents
   that contain the definition of MIB modules.  It is intended to reduce
   the work of the editors of such documents, making these documents
   more uniform and easier to read and review, thus furthering the
   quality of such documents and expediting their publication.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
   2.  Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
   3.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   4.  Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   5.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.  Introduction

   This memo references three annotated templates for IETF documents
   that contain the definition of MIB modules.  It is intended to reduce
   the work of the editors of such documents, making these more uniform
   and easier to read and review, thus furthering the quality of such
   documents and expediting their publication.

2.  Overview

   The MIB Doctors directorate has produced three templates specifically
   aimed at Internet-Drafts containing MIB modules.  The templates are
   available at the IETF Tools web site, listed as "Templates for MIB
   Documents".

   o  The first is an XML template for editors that use XML2RFC.  Some
      advice echoing guidelines from RFC 4181 is embedded in comments.

   o  A second template is a text template for MIB documents with advice
      embedded in the document.

   o  A third template is a plain text template with no advice included.

   The templates were developed to make IETF documents that contain MIB
   modules more consistent.  This makes it easier for a MIB Doctor and
   other IETF participants to review the document.  There are a number
   of MUSTs in the templates, especially in the advice; these usually
   refer to IESG requirements for Internet-Drafts, and MIB Doctors are
   likely to check for these requirements.

   The templates contain boilerplates that are required for IETF MIB
   module documents.  It has been common practice for editors to use
   existing MIB module documents as templates.  This approach has
   problems because boilerplates and other required elements change over
   time.  The templates referenced by this document will be made
   available on the IETF Tools web site, and occasionally updated to
   reflect the latest requirements.  The most up-to-date revisions of
   the templates are available at http://www.tools.ietf.org.

   The templates contain sections that describe the purpose and
   organization of the MIB module, and the relationship between this MIB
   module and other MIB modules.  This makes it easier for MIB Doctors
   to understand the MIB module, which speeds the review process.

   Editors should read RFC 4181 "Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of
   MIB Documents" [RFC4181], which describes best current practices for
   MIB module document editing.

   The document templates do not include a template for the MIB module
   itself.  Tools to validate MIB modules typically require that the MIB
   module be separated from the surrounding document.  The MIB Doctors
   feel that the simplest approach is to develop the MIB module outside
   the document that contains the surrounding text, and then include the
   MIB module into the surrounding document written using the templates.

3.  Security Considerations

   This memo recommends templates for editing; it has no direct impact
   on network security.  The templates include boilerplates and
   associated advice for writing the Security Considerations section of
   an Internet-Draft that documents a MIB module.

4.  Contributors

   These templates are based on contributions from the MIB Doctors,
   especially Juergen Schoenwaelder, Dave Perkins, C.M. Heard, and Randy
   Presuhn.

5.  Normative References

   [RFC4181]  Heard, C., "Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of MIB
              Documents", BCP 111, RFC 4181, September 2005.

Author's Address

   David Harrington (editor)
   Huawei Technologies (USA)
   1700 Alma Drive, Suite 100
   Plano, TX 75075
   USA

   Phone: +1 603 436 8634
   EMail: dharrington@huawei.com

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