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RE: Base for first-byte-pos, last-byte-pos, suffix-length

From: Brian Smith <brian@briansmith.org>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2009 19:39:53 -0500
To: "'Mark Nottingham'" <mnot@mnot.net>, "'Julian Reschke'" <julian.reschke@gmx.de>
Cc: "'HTTP Working Group'" <ietf-http-wg@w3.org>
Message-ID: <001c01c9cabe$85011f10$8f035d30$@org>
Mark Nottingham wrote:
> It gives me a bit of pause, but I think that's OK (as long as they're 
> all clearly defined as DIGITs).
>
> Julian Reschke wrote:
...
> > We currently have more place where we say "decimal"; should I 
> > simplify those as well?
...

Yes. Let the ABNF define the notation and let the prose focus on the
semantics. The grammar isn't good enough unless a 100%-compliant recognizer
can be automatically generated from it. Being able to understand the ABNF is
a precondition for understanding the spec. Consequently, any description of
the syntax in the prose is superfluous at best, and misleading at worst.

- Brian
Received on Saturday, 2 May 2009 00:40:41 UTC

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