Hi Folks, (Just stirring the pot; please respond and keep this discussion going. :)
I've seen the following proposals for the Meta-Data field: Use strict XML such as: <cookie msgno="123" encoding="USASCII" /> Use loose rules so the information can be easily converted to XML (if one wishes) such as: <cookie msgno=123 encoding=USASCII> Define the format and delimiters with little regard to any conversion to XML, such as: [cookie msgno=123 encoding=USASCII] Please take the time to state your preference and your reasons. We also need to have a bit of a discussion on "How are the meta-data attributes defined?". We need to have two things nailed down in this area before we can progress syslog-protocol. 1) What attributes are going to be defined in syslog-protocol. 2) How can others define additional attributes in the future. In (1), Rainer has given some examples in his notes. This group will need to agree upon them and get them into the syslog-protocol document. In (2), we will need to define the name-space and give instructions to IANA on what has been defined, and how new attributes will be defined and standardized in the future. One method is to force non-IETF attributes to prepend attribute names with a known tag, such as "vend-abcdef" for "vendor defined" attributes. Another possibility is to offer no such guidance. This would mean that all non-IETF-defined attributes are free to be used by anyone in any manner. Speaking personally, this has a certain attraction since syslog is historically a free-form text format. :-) This could however cause some problems in the future. For example, Group A could start using an attribute of "counter-1" with a starting value of "0". Group B could independently use an attribute of the same name with a starting value of "1". The two groups would then have to come to some agreement and perhaps write an RFC to define the attribute and the starting value. Please send your thoughts to the list on these things. Thanks, Chris
