-- : : 10.2.3 Data decoding : : The data D shall be BER-decoded to give an ASN.1 : : value of type DigestInfo, which shall be separated : : into a message digest MD and a message-digest : : algorithm identifier. The message-digest algorithm : : identifier shall determine the "selected" : : message-digest algorithm for the next step.
Leichter, Jerry wrote: > The only reasonable reading of the text quoted above > is that the D must consist of, and *only* of, an ASN.1 > value of the given type. That is not what it says. It says "shall be decoded to give", not "shall be decoded to give and only give" Further, similar text appears in lots of places where the correct behavior, to allow for future extension, is to allow for more stuff. A major design consideration in ASN.1 was *to* allow for more stuff, in order that multiple versions of the specification can peacefully coexist. Therefore, in the context of ASN.1, the correct interpretation of the specification is to allow for arbitrary expansion - which is a bad spec. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG uTSBsEVoGqap3qSR80twUH+gg5Q8MDBgQhB2Wyxw 4AjRA5gK1azQkXrhC7CakjCPKw7vvSVL7qWID8o/o --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]