vCard birth and death: vCard Format Extensions: Place of Birth, Place and Date of Death
Three new vCard 4.0 properties for recording where someone was born, where they died, and when they died.
Li, K. and B. Leiba, "vCard Format Extensions: Place of Birth, Place and Date of Death", RFC 6474, DOI 10.17487/RFC6474, December 2011, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6474>.
@misc{rfc6474,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 6474,
howpublished = {RFC 6474},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC6474},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6474},
author = {K. Li and B. Leiba},
title = {{vCard Format Extensions: Place of Birth, Place and Date of Death}},
pagetotal = 6,
year = 2011,
month = dec,
} RFC text
Contents
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) K. Li
Request for Comments: 6474 B. Leiba
Category: Standards Track Huawei Technologies
ISSN: 2070-1721 December 2011
vCard Format Extensions: Place of Birth, Place and Date of Death
Abstract
The base vCard 4.0 specification defines a large number of
properties, including date of birth. This specification adds three
new properties to vCard 4.0: place of birth, place of death, and date
of death.
Status of This Memo
This is an Internet Standards Track document.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on
Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6474.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2011 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. Code Components extracted from this document must
include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
1.1. Terminology Used in This Document ..........................2
2. Identification Property Extensions ..............................2
2.1. Property: BIRTHPLACE .......................................2
2.2. Property: DEATHPLACE .......................................3
2.3. Property: DEATHDATE ........................................4
3. Security Considerations .........................................5
4. IANA Considerations .............................................5
5. Acknowledgements ................................................5
6. Normative References ............................................5
1. Introduction
The base vCard 4.0 specification [RFC6350] defines a large number of
properties, including date of birth. This specification adds three
new properties to vCard 4.0: place of birth, place of death, and date
of death.
1.1. Terminology Used in This Document
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
Syntax specifications shown here use the augmented Backus-Naur Form
(ABNF) as described in [RFC5234], and are specified as in the base
vCard specification [RFC6350].
2. Identification Property Extensions
2.1. Property: BIRTHPLACE
Namespace:
Property name: BIRTHPLACE
Purpose: To specify the place of birth of the object the vCard
represents.
Value type: A single text value (default) or a single URI value.
Cardinality: *1
Property parameters: VALUE, LANGUAGE
Description:
Format definition:
BIRTHPLACE-param = "VALUE=" ("text" / "uri")
BIRTHPLACE-value = text / uri
; Value type and VALUE parameter MUST match.
BIRTHPLACE-param =/ altid-param / language-param / any-param
Examples:
BIRTHPLACE:Babies'R'Us Hospital
BIRTHPLACE;VALUE=uri:http://example.com/hospitals/babiesrus.vcf
BIRTHPLACE;VALUE=uri:geo:46.769307,-71.283079
2.2. Property: DEATHPLACE
Namespace:
Property name: DEATHPLACE
Purpose: To specify the place of death of the object the vCard
represents.
Value type: A single text value (default) or a single URI value.
Cardinality: *1
Property parameters: VALUE, LANGUAGE
Description:
Format definition:
DEATHPLACE-param = "VALUE=" ("text" / "uri")
DEATHPLACE-value = text / uri
; Value type and VALUE parameter MUST match.
DEATHPLACE-param =/ altid-param / language-param / any-param
Examples:
DEATHPLACE:Aboard the Titanic\, near Newfoundland
DEATHPLACE;VALUE=uri:http://example.com/ships/titanic.vcf
DEATHPLACE;VALUE=uri:geo:41.731944,-49.945833
2.3. Property: DEATHDATE
Namespace:
Property name: DEATHDATE
Purpose: To specify the date of death of the object the vCard
represents.
Value type: The default is a single date-and-or-time value. It can
also be reset to a single text value.
Cardinality: *1
Property parameters: VALUE, CALSCALE, LANGUAGE
CALSCALE can only be present when the value is a
date-and-or-time value and actually contains a date or date-time.
LANGUAGE can only be present when the value is text.
Description: The presence of a DEATHDATE property indicates that the
subject of the vCard is known to be dead. The absence
of this property makes no statement one way or the
other.
Format definition:
DEATHDATE-param = DEATHDATE-param-date / DEATHDATE-param-text
DEATHDATE-value = date-and-or-time / text
; Value type and VALUE parameter MUST match.
DEATHDATE-param-date = "VALUE=date-and-or-time" / calscale-param
; calscale-param can only be present when DEATHDATE-value is
; date-and-or-time and actually contains a date or date-time.
DEATHDATE-param-date = "VALUE=text" / language-param
DEATHDATE-param =/ altid-param / any-param
Examples:
DEATHDATE:19960415
DEATHDATE:--0415
DEATHDATE;19531015T231000Z
DEATHDATE;VALUE=text:circa 1800
3. Security Considerations
The properties defined in this document present no security
considerations beyond those in Section 9 of the base vCard
specification [RFC6350].
4. IANA Considerations
IANA has added the following entries to the vCard Properties
registry, defined in Section 10.3.1 of [RFC6350].
+-----------+--------------+------------------------+
| Namespace | Property | Reference |
+-----------+--------------+------------------------+
| | BIRTHPLACE | [RFC6474], Section 2.1 |
| | DEATHPLACE | [RFC6474], Section 2.2 |
| | DEATHDATE | [RFC6474], Section 2.3 |
+-----------+--------------+------------------------+
5. Acknowledgements
The authors of this document would like to thank Simon Perreault and
Pete Resnick, the authors of a draft version of RFC 6350 whence the
properties defined herein originated.
6. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC5234] Crocker, D., Ed., and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for
Syntax Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234,
January 2008.
[RFC6350] Perreault, S., "vCard Format Specification", RFC 6350,
August 2011.
Authors' Addresses
Kepeng Li
Huawei Technologies
Huawei Base, Bantian, Longgang District
Shenzhen, Guangdong 518129
P.R. China
Phone: +86-755-28974289
EMail: likepeng@huawei.com
Barry Leiba
Huawei Technologies
Phone: +1 646 827 0648
EMail: barryleiba@computer.org
URI: http://internetmessagingtechnology.org/
AI ELI5
On this page
§1Introduction
RFC 6474 extends vCard 4.0, the contact-card format defined in RFC 6350. That base specification defines a large number of properties, including date of birth. This document adds three more: BIRTHPLACE, DEATHPLACE and DEATHDATE.
The Acknowledgements section says the properties originated in a draft version of RFC 6350, whose authors Simon Perreault and Pete Resnick are thanked.
A contact card is like a small form with boxes for a person's details. This RFC adds three new boxes to the form.
§1.1Terminology and Notation
The key words MUST, SHOULD, MAY and the others are used as described in RFC 2119. Syntax is written in augmented Backus-Naur Form (ABNF) as described in RFC 5234, and is specified the same way as in the base vCard specification, RFC 6350.
Each property is described with the same template as the base format: property name, purpose, value type, cardinality, allowed parameters, description, format definition and examples.
The RFC fills in each new box using the same form layout as the old ones, so the new boxes look familiar.
§2.1BIRTHPLACE and DEATHPLACE
BIRTHPLACE specifies the place of birth of the object the vCard represents. DEATHPLACE does the same for the place of death. They are defined identically apart from the name.
The value is a single text value by default, or a single URI value. The VALUE parameter says which (text or uri), and the value type and the VALUE parameter MUST match. Cardinality is *1, so each property may appear at most once. Allowed parameters are VALUE and LANGUAGE, plus altid and any other parameter through the ABNF.
A URI value can point to a description of the place or use the geo: scheme to give coordinates.
You can write the place as plain words, like a hospital name, or as a link or map coordinates that point to it.
§2.3DEATHDATE
DEATHDATE specifies the date of death. Its default value type is a single date-and-or-time value, and it can be reset to a single text value with VALUE=text. Cardinality is *1. Allowed parameters are VALUE, CALSCALE and LANGUAGE.
CALSCALE can only be present when the value is a date-and-or-time value that actually contains a date or date-time. LANGUAGE can only be present when the value is text, which is useful for vague dates such as circa 1800.
The presence of a DEATHDATE property indicates that the subject of the vCard is known to be dead. Its absence makes no statement one way or the other.
If the death-date box is filled in, we know the person has died. If it is empty, it just means nobody wrote anything, not that the person is alive.
§2.4Examples from the RFC
The examples show the three value styles: plain text, a URI to a description, and a geo: URI with coordinates. For dates they show a full date, a month and day with no year (--0415), and a free-text value.
One DEATHDATE example in the RFC text is printed as DEATHDATE;19531015T231000Z, without the VALUE= parameter name that the syntax would normally require. Treat the ABNF, not that line, as the rule.
The examples show different ways to fill in the boxes: words, a link, map numbers, or a date.
BIRTHPLACE:Babies'R'Us Hospital
BIRTHPLACE;VALUE=uri:geo:46.769307,-71.283079
DEATHPLACE:Aboard the Titanic\, near Newfoundland
DEATHPLACE;VALUE=uri:geo:41.731944,-49.945833
DEATHDATE:19960415
DEATHDATE:--0415
DEATHDATE;VALUE=text:circa 1800§3Security Considerations
The properties present no security considerations beyond those in Section 9 of the base vCard specification, RFC 6350. In short, nothing new is added to the risks of the format itself.
These boxes are no riskier than the boxes that were already on the contact card.
§4IANA Considerations
IANA has added three entries to the vCard Properties registry, which is defined in Section 10.3.1 of RFC 6350. Each has an empty namespace and points back to this RFC: BIRTHPLACE to Section 2.1, DEATHPLACE to Section 2.2 and DEATHDATE to Section 2.3.
The official list of contact-card boxes got three new lines so everyone uses the same names.