RFC 3987 on Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs)

A new Request for Comments is now available in online RFC libraries.

        RFC 3987

        Title:      Internationalized Resource Identifiers (IRIs)
        Author(s):  M. Duerst, M. Suignard
        Status:     Standards Track
        Date:       January 2005
        Mailbox:    duerst@w3.org, michelsu@microsoft.com
        Pages:      46
        Characters: 111190
        Updates/Obsoletes/SeeAlso:    None

        I-D Tag:    draft-duerst-iri-11.txt

        URL:        ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc3987.txt

This document defines a new protocol element, the Internationalized
Resource Identifier (IRI), as a complement to the Uniform Resource
Identifier (URI).  An IRI is a sequence of characters from the
Universal Character Set (Unicode/ISO 10646).  A mapping from IRIs to
URIs is defined, which means that IRIs can be used instead of URIs,
where appropriate, to identify resources.

The approach of defining a new protocol element was chosen instead
of extending or changing the definition of URIs.  This was done in
order to allow a clear distinction and to avoid incompatibilities with
existing software.  Guidelines are provided for the use and deployment
of IRIs in various protocols, formats, and software components that
currently deal with URIs.

This is now a Proposed Standard Protocol.

This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for
the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions
for improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the
"Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the
standardization state and status of this protocol.  Distribution
of this memo is unlimited.

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Joyce K. Reynolds and Sandy Ginoza
USC/Information Sciences Institute

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