Network Working Group M. Kerwin Internet-Draft Intended status: Standards Track June 21, 2013 Expires: December 23, 2013 The file URI Scheme draft-kerwin-file-scheme-01 Abstract This document specifies the file Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) scheme that was originally specified in [RFC1738]. The purpose of this document is to keep the information about the scheme on standards track, since [RFC1738] has been made obsolete. Status of This Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." This Internet-Draft will expire on December 23, 2013. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Kerwin Expires December 23, 2013 [Page 1] Internet-Draft File Scheme June 2013 Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. Scheme Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. Introduction URIs were previously defined in [RFC1738], which was updated by [RFC3986]. Those documents also specify how to define schemes for URIs. The first definition for many URI schemes appeared in [RFC1738]. Because that document has been made obsolete, this document copies the file URI scheme from it to allow that material to remain on standards track. 2. Scheme Definition The file URL scheme is used to designate files accessible on a particular host computer. This scheme, unlike most other URL schemes, does not designate a resource that is universally accessible over the Internet. A file URL takes the form: file:/// where is the fully quilified domain name of the system on which the is accessible, and is a hierarchical directory path of the form //... For example, a VMS file DISK$USER:[MY.NOTES]NOTE123456.TXT might become Kerwin Expires December 23, 2013 [Page 2] Internet-Draft File Scheme June 2013 As a special case, can be the string "localhost" or the empty string; this is interpreted as `the machine from which the URL is being interpreted'. The file URL scheme is unusual in that it does not specify an Internet protocol or access method for such files; as such, its utility in network protocols between hosts is limited. 3. Security Considerations As no Internet protocol or access method is defined, no security considerations are introduced by this document. 4. IANA Considerations This document does not modify the existing entry in the URI Schemes registry [IANA], except by updating its reference RFC. 5. References 5.1. Normative References 5.2. Informative References [IANA] IANA, "Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) Schemes registry", June 2013, . [RFC1738] Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and M. McCahill, "Uniform Resource Locators (URL)", RFC 1738, December 1994. [RFC3986] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66, RFC 3986, January 2005. Author's Address Matthew Kerwin EMail: matthew@kerwin.net.au Kerwin Expires December 23, 2013 [Page 3]