Subject: RFC 4439 (FC AM MIB) issues and errata

From: Alfred Hönes <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2006 15:09:34 +0200 (MESZ)

Hello,
after studying the recently published Fibre Channel MIB RFCs,
I would like to submit a few comments on RFC 4439 authored by you,
pointing out the issues I found with the RFC text, and supplying
material for an appropriate RFC Errata Note.

The items below are presented in RFC textual order.
I use change bars ('|' in column 1) and occasionally
up/down pointing marker lines ('^^^'/'vvv') to emphasize
the location of textual issues and/or proposed corrections.
Modified text has been re-adjusted to match RFC formatting
rules, where appropriate.

(1)  typo (missing article)

On page 16, the third paragraph of the DESCRIPTION clause for the
t11FamAutoReconfigure OBJECT-TYPE macro invocation says:

|          If value of this object is 'true', the switch will
           send an RCF (ReConfigureFabric) to rebuild the
           Fabric.

It should say:

             vvvvv
|          If the value of this object is 'true', the switch will
           send an RCF (ReConfigureFabric) to rebuild the
           Fabric.

(2)  typo (missing article)

On page 17, the first paragraph of the DESCRIPTION clause for the
t11FamPriority OBJECT-TYPE macro invocation says:

           "The initial or configured priority of a particular switch
|          to be used in Principal Switch selection process.

It should say:

           "The initial or configured priority of a particular switch
|          to be used in the Principal Switch selection process.
                        ^^^^^

(3)  "s/e\.g\./i\.e\./"

On page 19, the t11FamAvailableFcIds OBJECT-TYPE DESCRIPTION clause
says:

           "The number of Fibre Channel Address Identifiers that are
           unassigned and currently available for immediate assignment
|          on the Fabric, e.g., with the 'Clean Address' bit set to 1."
                          ^^^^
It should say:

           "The number of Fibre Channel Address Identifiers that are
           unassigned and currently available for immediate assignment
|          on the Fabric, i.e., with the 'Clean Address' bit set to 1."
                          ^^^^

(4)  redundant text

The DESCRIPTION clauses for t11FamRestart, t11FamRcFabricNotifyEnable,
t11FamEnable, and t11FamFabricName (on pages 22..24) all contain the
same phrase:

           For the persistence of values across reboots, see the
           MODULE-IDENTITY's DESCRIPTION clause."

This is a very complicated way to say nothing.  (The named
clause says: the behaviour is implementation dependent.)
Perhaps it would have been better to omit this phrase in all
instances.

(5)  typo (wrong word)

The third paragraph of the DESCRIPTION clause for
t11FamRcFabricNotifyEnable, on page 22, says:

           If an implementation requires all Fabrics to have the
           same value, then setting one instance of this object
|          to a new object will result in all corresponding
           instances being set to that same new value.

It should say (replacing 'object' by 'value'):

           If an implementation requires all Fabrics to have the
           same value, then setting one instance of this object
|          to a new value will result in all corresponding
           instances being set to that same new value.

(6)  typo (word omission)

The DESCRIPTION clause of the t11FamIfTable OBJECT-TYPE macro
invocation, on page 24, contains the bullet:
                                                      v
|          c) the row in the t11FamTable corresponding the fabric
              identified by t11FamFabricID no longer exists.

It should say:
                                                      vvvv
|          c) the row in the t11FamTable corresponding to the fabric
              identified by t11FamFabricID no longer exists.

Please comment.

Preferrably, you should submit an Author's Errata Note to the
RFC Editor's RFC Errata web pages to address the above items,
perhaps with the exception of item (4), making freely use of
the material supplied above.  But if you like, I can formally
submit an Errata Note on my own, with your consent.

Best regards,
  Alfred Hönes.

-- 

+------------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| TR-Sys Alfred Hoenes   |  Alfred Hoenes   Dipl.-Math., Dipl.-Phys.  |
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