Network Working Group
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) S. Perreault
Internet-Draft
Request for Comments: 6350 Viagenie
Obsoletes: 2425, 2426, 4770 May 26, August 2011
(if approved)
Updates: 2739 (if approved)
Intended status:
Category: Standards Track
Expires: November 27, 2011
ISSN: 2070-1721
vCard Format Specification
draft-ietf-vcarddav-vcardrev-22
Abstract
This document defines the vCard data format for representing and
exchanging a variety of information about individuals and other
entities (e.g., formatted and structured name and delivery addresses,
email address, multiple telephone numbers, photograph, logo, audio
clips, etc.). This document obsoletes RFCs 2425, 2426, and 4770, and
updates RFC 2739.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents an Internet Standards Track document.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list It represents the consensus of current Internet-
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Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for a maximum publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on
Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of six months RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
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material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on November 27, 2011.
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6350.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5
2. Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5
3. vCard Format Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5
3.1. Charset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5
3.2. Line Delimiting and Folding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5
3.3. ABNF Format Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6
3.4. Property Value Escaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 9
4. Property Value Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 9
4.1. TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 11
4.2. URI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 12
4.3. DATE, TIME, DATE-TIME, DATE-AND-OR-TIME, and TIMESTAMP . . 13 12
4.3.1. DATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 12
4.3.2. TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 13
4.3.3. DATE-TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 13
4.3.4. DATE-AND-OR-TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3.5. TIMESTAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 14
4.4. BOOLEAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 14
4.5. INTEGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.6. FLOAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 15
4.7. UTC-OFFSET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 15
4.8. LANGUAGE-TAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5. Property Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.1. LANGUAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 16
5.2. VALUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 16
5.3. PREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 17
5.4. ALTID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.5. PID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 19
5.6. TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 19
5.7. MEDIATYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 20
5.8. CALSCALE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 20
5.9. SORT-AS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 21
5.10. GEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 22
5.11. TZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 22
6. vCard Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 23
6.1. General Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 23
6.1.1. BEGIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 23
6.1.2. END . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 23
6.1.3. SOURCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 24
6.1.4. KIND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 25
6.1.5. XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 27
6.2. Identification Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 28
6.2.1. FN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 28
6.2.2. N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 29
6.2.3. NICKNAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 29
6.2.4. PHOTO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 30
6.2.5. BDAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 30
6.2.6. ANNIVERSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 31
6.2.7. GENDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 32
6.3. Delivery Addressing Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 32
6.3.1. ADR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 32
6.4. Communications Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 34
6.4.1. TEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 34
6.4.2. EMAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 36
6.4.3. IMPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 36
6.4.4. LANG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 37
6.5. Geographical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 37
6.5.1. TZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 37
6.5.2. GEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 38
6.6. Organizational Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 39
6.6.1. TITLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 39
6.6.2. ROLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 39
6.6.3. LOGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 40
6.6.4. ORG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 40
6.6.5. MEMBER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 41
6.6.6. RELATED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 42
6.7. Explanatory Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 43
6.7.1. CATEGORIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 43
6.7.2. NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 44
6.7.3. PRODID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 44
6.7.4. REV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 45
6.7.5. SOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 45
6.7.6. UID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 46
6.7.7. CLIENTPIDMAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 47
6.7.8. URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 47
6.7.9. VERSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 48
6.8. Security Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 48
6.8.1. KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 48
6.9. Calendar Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 49
6.9.1. FBURL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 49
6.9.2. CALADRURI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 50
6.9.3. CALURI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 50
6.10. Extended Properties and Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 51
7. Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 51
7.1. Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 51
7.1.1. Matching vCard Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 51
7.1.2. Matching Property Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 52
7.1.3. PID Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 52
7.2. Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 53
7.2.1. Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 53
7.2.2. Initial Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 53
7.2.3. Adding and Sharing a Property . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 54
7.2.4. Simultaneous Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 54
7.2.5. Global Context Simplification . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 56
8. Example: Author's vCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 56
9. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 57
10. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 58
10.1. Media Type Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 58
10.2. Registering New vCard Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 59
10.2.1. Registration Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 59
10.2.2. Vendor Namespace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 60
10.2.3. Registration Template for Properties . . . . . . . . . 63 61
10.2.4. Registration Template for Parameters . . . . . . . . . 63 61
10.2.5. Registration Template for Value Data Types . . . . . . 64 62
10.2.6. Registration Template for Values . . . . . . . . . . . 64 62
10.3. Initial vCard Elements Registries . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 63
10.3.1. Properties Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 64
10.3.2. Parameters Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 65
10.3.3. Value Data Types Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 65
10.3.4. Values Registries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 66
11. Acknowledgements Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 69
12. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 69
12.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 69
12.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 71
Appendix A. Differences from RFCs 2425 and 2426 . . . . . . . . . 75 73
A.1. New Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 73
A.2. Removed Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 73
A.3. New Properties and Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
A.4. Other Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Appendix B. Change Log (to 73
1. Introduction
Electronic address books have become ubiquitous. Their increased
presence on portable, connected devices as well as the diversity of
platforms that exchange contact data call for a standard. This memo
defines the vCard format, which allows the capture and exchange of
information normally stored within an address book or directory
application.
A high-level overview of the differences from RFCs 2425 and 2426 can
be removed by RFC Editor prior to
publication) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
B.1. Changes found in -22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
B.2. Changes Appendix A.
2. Conventions
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in -21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
B.3. Changes this document are to be interpreted as described in -20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
B.4. Changes
[RFC2119].
3. vCard Format Specification
The text/vcard MIME content type (hereafter known as "vCard"; see
Section 10.1) contains contact information, typically pertaining to a
single contact or group of contacts. The content consists of one or
more lines in -19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
B.5. Changes the format given below.
3.1. Charset
The charset (see [RFC3536] for internationalization terminology) for
vCard is UTF-8 as defined in -18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
B.6. Changes [RFC3629]. There is no way to override
this. It is invalid to specify a value other than "UTF-8" in -17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
B.7. Changes the
"charset" MIME parameter (see Section 10.1).
3.2. Line Delimiting and Folding
Individual lines within vCard are delimited by the [RFC5322] line
break, which is a CRLF sequence (U+000D followed by U+000A). Long
logical lines of text can be split into a multiple-physical-line
representation using the following folding technique. Content lines
SHOULD be folded to a maximum width of 75 octets, excluding the line
break. Multi-octet characters MUST remain contiguous. The rationale
for this folding process can be found in -16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
B.8. Changes in -15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
B.9. Changes [RFC5322], Section 2.1.1.
A logical line MAY be continued on the next physical line anywhere
between two characters by inserting a CRLF immediately followed by a
single white space character (space (U+0020) or horizontal tab
(U+0009)). The folded line MUST contain at least one character. Any
sequence of CRLF followed immediately by a single white space
character is ignored (removed) when processing the content type. For
example, the line:
NOTE:This is a long description that exists on a long line.
can be represented as:
NOTE:This is a long description
that exists on a long line.
It could also be represented as:
NOTE:This is a long descrip
tion that exists o
n a long line.
The process of moving from this folded multiple-line representation
of a property definition to its single-line representation is called
unfolding. Unfolding is accomplished by regarding CRLF immediately
followed by a white space character (namely, HTAB (U+0009) or SPACE
(U+0020)) as equivalent to no characters at all (i.e., the CRLF and
single white space character are removed).
Note: It is possible for very simple implementations to generate
improperly folded lines in -14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
B.10. Changes the middle of a UTF-8 multi-octet
sequence. For this reason, implementations SHOULD unfold lines in -13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
B.11. Changes in -12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
B.12. Changes
such a way as to properly restore the original sequence.
Note: Unfolding is done differently than in -11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
B.13. Changes [RFC5322]. Unfolding
in -10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
B.14. Changes [RFC5322] only removes the CRLF, not the space following it.
Folding is done after any content encoding of a type value.
Unfolding is done before any decoding of a type value in -09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
B.15. Changes a content
line.
3.3. ABNF Format Definition
The following ABNF uses the notation of [RFC5234], which also defines
CRLF, WSP, DQUOTE, VCHAR, ALPHA, and DIGIT.
vcard-entity = 1*vcard
vcard = "BEGIN:VCARD" CRLF
"VERSION:4.0" CRLF
1*contentline
"END:VCARD" CRLF
; A vCard object MUST include the VERSION and FN properties.
; VERSION MUST come immediately after BEGIN:VCARD.
contentline = [group "."] name *(";" param) ":" value CRLF
; When parsing a content line, folded lines must first
; be unfolded according to the unfolding procedure
; described in -08 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
B.16. Changes in -07 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
B.17. Changes Section 3.2.
; When generating a content line, lines longer than 75
; characters SHOULD be folded according to the folding
; procedure described in -06 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
B.18. Changes Section 3.2.
group = 1*(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")
name = "SOURCE" / "KIND" / "FN" / "N" / "NICKNAME"
/ "PHOTO" / "BDAY" / "ANNIVERSARY" / "GENDER" / "ADR" / "TEL"
/ "EMAIL" / "IMPP" / "LANG" / "TZ" / "GEO" / "TITLE" / "ROLE"
/ "LOGO" / "ORG" / "MEMBER" / "RELATED" / "CATEGORIES"
/ "NOTE" / "PRODID" / "REV" / "SOUND" / "UID" / "CLIENTPIDMAP"
/ "URL" / "KEY" / "FBURL" / "CALADRURI" / "CALURI" / "XML"
/ iana-token / x-name
; Parsing of the param and value is based on the "name" as
; defined in -05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
B.19. Changes ABNF sections below.
; Group and name are case-insensitive.
iana-token = 1*(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")
; identifier registered with IANA
x-name = "x-" 1*(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")
; Names that begin with "x-" or "X-" are
; reserved for experimental use, not intended for released
; products, or for use in -04 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
B.20. Changes bilateral agreements.
param = language-param / value-param / pref-param / pid-param
/ type-param / geo-parameter / tz-parameter / sort-as-param
/ calscale-param / any-param
; Allowed parameters depend on property name.
param-value = *SAFE-CHAR / DQUOTE *QSAFE-CHAR DQUOTE
any-param = (iana-token / x-name) "=" param-value *("," param-value)
NON-ASCII = UTF8-2 / UTF8-3 / UTF8-4
; UTF8-{2,3,4} are defined in -03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
B.21. Changes [RFC3629]
QSAFE-CHAR = WSP / "!" / %x23-7E / NON-ASCII
; Any character except CTLs, DQUOTE
SAFE-CHAR = WSP / "!" / %x23-39 / %x3C-7E / NON-ASCII
; Any character except CTLs, DQUOTE, ";", ":"
VALUE-CHAR = WSP / VCHAR / NON-ASCII
; Any textual character
A line that begins with a white space character is a continuation of
the previous line, as described in -02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
B.22. Changes Section 3.2. The white space
character and immediately preceeding CRLF should be discarded when
reconstructing the original line. Note that this line-folding
convention differs from that found in -01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
B.23. Changes [RFC5322], in -00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
1. Introduction
Electronic address books have become ubiquitous. Their increased
presence on portable, connected devices as well as the diversity of
platforms exchanging contact data call for a standard. This memo
defines the vCard format, which allows that the capture and exchange of
information normally stored within an address book or directory
application.
A high-level overview of sequence
<CRLF><WSP> found anywhere in the differences from RFCs 2425 content indicates a continued line
and 2426 can should be found in Appendix A.
2. Conventions
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", removed.
Property names and
"OPTIONAL" in this document parameter names are to case-insensitive (e.g., the
property name "fn" is the same as "FN" and "Fn"). Parameter values
MAY be interpreted case-sensitive or case-insensitive, depending on their
definition. Parameter values that are not explicitly defined as described in
[RFC2119].
3.
being case-sensitive are case-insensitive. Based on experience with
vCard Format Specification 3 interoperability, it is RECOMMENDED that property and
parameter names be upper-case on output.
The text/vcard MIME content type (hereafter known as "vCard", see
Section 10.1) contains contact information, typically pertaining to a
single contact or group of contacts. The content consists of one or
more lines in the format given below.
3.1. Charset
The charset (see [RFC3536] for internationalization terminology) for
vCard is UTF-8 as defined in [RFC3629]. There construct is no way used to override
this. It group related properties together.
The group name is invalid to specify a value other than "UTF-8" in the
"charset" MIME parameter (see Section 10.1).
3.2. Line Delimiting and Folding
Individual lines within vCard are delimited by syntactic convention used to indicate that all
property names prefaced with the [RFC5322] line
break, which is a CRLF sequence (U+000D followed same group name SHOULD be grouped
together when displayed by U+000A). Long
logical lines of an application. It has no other
significance. Implementations that do not understand or support
grouping MAY simply strip off any text can be split into before a multiple-physical-line
representation "." to the left of
the type name and present the types and values as normal.
Property cardinalities are indicated using the following folding technique. Content lines
SHOULD notation,
which is based on ABNF (see [RFC5234], Section 3.6):
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| Cardinality | Meaning |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| 1 | Exactly one instance per vCard MUST be folded to a maximum width of 75 octets, excluding the line
break. Multi-octet characters present. |
| *1 | Exactly one instance per vCard MAY be present. |
| 1* | One or more instances per vCard MUST remain contiguous. The rationale
for this folding process can be found in [RFC5322], Section 2.1.1.
A logical line present. |
| * | One or more instances per vCard MAY be continued present. |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------+
Properties defined in a vCard instance may have multiple values
depending on the next physical line anywhere
between two characters by inserting property cardinality. The general rule for encoding
multi-valued properties is to simply create a CRLF immediately followed by new content line for
each value (including the property name). However, it should be
noted that some value types support encoding multiple values in a
single white space character (space (U+0020) or horizontal tab
(U+0009)). The folded content line MUST by separating the values with a comma ",". This
approach has been taken for several of the content types defined
below (date, time, integer, float).
3.4. Property Value Escaping
Some properties may contain at least one character. Any
sequence of CRLF followed immediately or more values delimited by a single white space COMMA
character is ignored (removed) when processing the content type. For
example the line:
NOTE:This is (U+002C). Therefore, a long description that exists on COMMA character in a long line.
can value MUST be represented as:
NOTE:This is
escaped with a long description BACKSLASH character (U+005C), even for properties that exists on
don't allow multiple instances (for consistency).
Some properties (e.g., N and ADR) comprise multiple fields delimited
by a long line.
It could also be represented as:
NOTE:This is SEMICOLON character (U+003B). Therefore, a long descrip
tion that exists o
n SEMICOLON in a long line.
The process of moving from this folded multiple-line representation field
of such a "compound" property definition to its single line representation is called
unfolding. Unfolding is accomplished by regarding CRLF immediately
followed by MUST be escaped with a white space character (namely HTAB (U+0009) or SPACE
(U+0020)) as equivalent to no BACKSLASH
character. SEMICOLON characters at all (i.e., the CRLF and
single white space in non-compound properties MAY be
escaped. On input, an escaped SEMICOLON character are removed).
Note: It is possible for very simple implementations to generate
improperly folded lines in the middle of never a UTF-8 multi-octet
sequence. For this reason, implementations SHOULD unfold lines in
such field
separator. An unescaped SEMICOLON character may be a way as to properly restore field
separator, depending on the original sequence.
Note: Unfolding is done differently than in [RFC5322]. Unfolding property in [RFC5322] only removes the CRLF, not the space following it.
Folding is done after any content encoding which it appears.
Furthermore, some fields of compound properties may contain a type value.
Unfolding is done before any decoding list of
values delimited by a type value in COMMA character. Therefore, a content
line.
3.3. ABNF Format Definition
The following ABNF uses the notation COMMA character
in one of [RFC5234], which also defines
CRLF, WSP, DQUOTE, VCHAR, ALPHA, and DIGIT.
vcard-entity = 1*vcard
vcard = "BEGIN:VCARD" CRLF
"VERSION:4.0" CRLF
1*contentline
"END:VCARD" CRLF
; A vCard object MUST include the VERSION and FN properties.
; VERSION a field's values MUST come immediately after BEGIN:VCARD.
contentline = [group "."] name *(";" param) ":" value CRLF
; When parsing be escaped with a content line, folded lines must first
; BACKSLASH
character, even for fields that don't allow multiple values (for
consistency). Compound properties allowing multiple instances MUST
NOT be unfolded according to the unfolding procedure
; described encoded in section 3.2.
; When generating a single content line, lines longer than 75
; line.
Finally, BACKSLASH characters SHOULD in values MUST be folded according to the folding
; procedure described escaped with a
BACKSLASH character. NEWLINE (U+000A) characters in section 3.2.
group values MUST be
encoded by two characters: a BACKSLASH followed by either an 'n'
(U+006E) or an 'N' (U+004E).
In all other cases, escaping MUST NOT be used.
4. Property Value Data Types
Standard value types are defined below.
value = 1*(ALPHA text
/ DIGIT text-list
/ "-")
name = "SOURCE" / "KIND" / "FN" / "N" / "NICKNAME"
/ "PHOTO" / "BDAY" / "ANNIVERSARY" / "GENDER" / "ADR" / "TEL"
/ "EMAIL" / "IMPP" / "LANG" / "TZ" / "GEO" / "TITLE" / "ROLE"
/ "LOGO" / "ORG" / "MEMBER" / "RELATED" / "CATEGORIES"
/ "NOTE" / "PRODID" / "REV" date-list
/ "SOUND" time-list
/ "UID" date-time-list
/ "CLIENTPIDMAP" date-and-or-time-list
/ "URL" timestamp-list
/ "KEY" boolean
/ "FBURL" integer-list
/ "CALADRURI" float-list
/ "CALURI" URI ; from Section 3 of [RFC3986]
/ "XML" utc-offset
/ iana-token Language-Tag
/ x-name iana-valuespec
; Parsing of the param and Actual value is based type depends on the "name" as
; defined in ABNF sections below.
; Group and property name are case-insensitive.
iana-token = 1*(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")
; identifier registered with IANA
x-name and VALUE parameter.
text = "x-" 1*(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-")
; Names that begin with "x-" or "X-" are
; reserved for experimental use, not intended for released
; products, or for use in bilateral agreements.
param *TEXT-CHAR
TEXT-CHAR = language-param / value-param / pref-param "\\" / pid-param "\," / type-param "\n" / geo-parameter WSP / tz-parameter NON-ASCII
/ sort-as-param %x21-2B / calscale-param %x2D-5B / any-param %x5D-7E
; Allowed parameters depend on property name.
param-value Backslashes, commas, and newlines must be encoded.
component = *SAFE-CHAR "\\" / DQUOTE *QSAFE-CHAR DQUOTE
any-param = (iana-token "\," / x-name) "=" param-value *("," param-value)
NON-ASCII = UTF8-2 "\;" / UTF8-3 "\n" / UTF8-4
; UTF8-{2,3,4} are defined in [RFC3629]
QSAFE-CHAR = WSP / "!" / %x23-7E / NON-ASCII
; Any character except CTLs, DQUOTE
SAFE-CHAR = WSP
/ "!" %x21-2B / %x23-39 %x2D-3A / %x3C-7E %x3C-5B / NON-ASCII
; Any character except CTLs, DQUOTE, ";", ":"
VALUE-CHAR %x5D-7E
list-component = WSP component *("," component)
text-list = text *("," text)
date-list = date *("," date)
time-list = time *("," time)
date-time-list = date-time *("," date-time)
date-and-or-time-list = date-and-or-time *("," date-and-or-time)
timestamp-list = timestamp *("," timestamp)
integer-list = integer *("," integer)
float-list = float *("," float)
boolean = "TRUE" / VCHAR "FALSE"
integer = [sign] 1*DIGIT
float = [sign] 1*DIGIT ["." 1*DIGIT]
sign = "+" / NON-ASCII "-"
year = 4DIGIT ; Any textual character
A line that begins with a white space character is a continuation of
the previous line, as described in Section 3.2. The white space
character and immediately preceeding CRLF should be discarded when
reconstructing the original line. Note that this line-folding
convention differs from that found in [RFC5322], in that the sequence
<CRLF><WSP> found anywhere in the content indicates a continued line
and should be removed.
Property names and parameter names are case insensitive (e.g., the
property name "fn" is the same as "FN" and "Fn"). Parameter values
MAY be case-sensitive or case-insensitive, 0000-9999
month = 2DIGIT ; 01-12
day = 2DIGIT ; 01-28/29/30/31 depending on their
definition. Parameter values that are not explicitly defined as
being case-sensitive are case-insenstive. Based on experience with
vCard 3 interoperability, it is RECOMMENDED that property month and
parameter names be upper-case leap year
hour = 2DIGIT ; 00-23
minute = 2DIGIT ; 00-59
second = 2DIGIT ; 00-58/59/60 depending on output.
The group construct is used to group related properties together.
The group name is a syntactic convention used to indicate that all
property names prefaced with the same group name SHOULD be grouped
together when displayed by an application. It has no other
significance. Implementations that do not understand or support
grouping MAY simply strip off any text before leap second
zone = utc-designator / utc-offset
utc-designator = %x5A ; uppercase "Z"
date = year [month day]
/ year "-" month
/ "--" month [day]
/ "--" "-" day
date-noreduc = year month day
/ "--" month day
/ "--" "-" day
date-complete = year month day
time = hour [minute [second]] [zone]
/ "-" minute [second] [zone]
/ "-" "-" second [zone]
time-notrunc = hour [minute [second]] [zone]
time-complete = hour minute second [zone]
time-designator = %x54 ; uppercase "T"
date-time = date-noreduc time-designator time-notrunc
timestamp = date-complete time-designator time-complete
date-and-or-time = date-time / date / time-designator time
utc-offset = sign hour [minute]
Language-Tag = <Language-Tag, defined in [RFC5646], Section 2.1>
iana-valuespec = <value-spec, see Section 12>
; a "." to the left publicly defined valuetype format, registered
; with IANA, as defined in Section 12 of
the this
; document.
4.1. TEXT
"text": The "text" value type name and present the types and should be used to identify values as normal.
Property cardinalities are indicated using that
contain human-readable text. As for the following notation,
which language, it is controlled
by the LANGUAGE property parameter defined in Section 5.1.
Examples for "text":
this is a text value
this is based on ABNF (see [RFC5234], section 3.6):
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| Cardinality | Meaning |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| 1 | Exactly one instance per vCard MUST be present. |
| *1 | Exactly one instance per vCard MAY be present. |
| 1* | One or more instances per vCard value,this is another
this is a single value\, with a comma encoded
A formatted text line break in a text value type MUST be present. |
| * | One represented
as the character sequence backslash (U+005C) followed by a Latin
small letter n (U+006E) or more instances per vCard MAY be present. |
+-------------+--------------------------------------------------+
Properties defined in a vCard instance may have multiple values
depending on the property cardinality. The general rule for encoding
multi-valued properties is to simply create Latin capital letter N (U+004E), that
is, "\n" or "\N".
For example, a new content multiple line for
each NOTE value (including of:
Mythical Manager
Hyjinx Software Division
BabsCo, Inc.
could be represented as:
NOTE:Mythical Manager\nHyjinx Software Division\n
BabsCo\, Inc.\n
demonstrating the property name). However, it \n literal formatted line break technique, the
CRLF-followed-by-space line folding technique, and the backslash
escape technique.
4.2. URI
"uri": The "uri" value type should be
noted that some value types support encoding multiple used to identify values in a
single content line that
are referenced by separating the values with a comma ",". This
approach has been taken for several Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) instead of
encoded in-line. These value references might be used if the content types defined
below (date, time, integer, float).
3.4. Property Value Escaping
Some properties may contain one value
is too large, or more values delimited by a COMMA
character (U+002C). Therefore, a COMMA character otherwise undesirable to include directly. The
format for the URI is as defined in a Section 3 of [RFC3986]. Note
that the value MUST be
escaped with of a BACKSLASH character (U+005C), even property of type "uri" is what the URI points to,
not the URI itself.
Examples for properties that
don't allow multiple instances (for consistency).
Some properties (e.g. N "uri":
http://www.example.com/my/picture.jpg
ldap://ldap.example.com/cn=babs%20jensen
4.3. DATE, TIME, DATE-TIME, DATE-AND-OR-TIME, and ADR) comprise multiple fields delimited
by a SEMI-COLON character (U+003B). Therefore, a SEMI-COLON in a
field TIMESTAMP
"date", "time", "date-time", "date-and-or-time", and "timestamp":
Each of these value types is based on the definitions in
[ISO.8601.2004]. Multiple such a "compound" property MUST values can be escaped with a BACKSLASH
character. SEMI-COLON characters specified using the
comma-separated notation.
Only the basic format is supported.
4.3.1. DATE
A calendar date as specified in non-compound properties MAY be
escaped. On input, an escaped SEMI-COLON character [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.1.2.
Reduced accuracy, as specified in [ISO.8601.2004], Sections 4.1.2.3
a) and b), but not c), is never a field
separator. An unescaped SEMI-COLON character may be a field
separator, depending on permitted.
Expanded representation, as specified in [ISO.8601.2004], Section
4.1.4, is forbidden.
Truncated representation, as specified in [ISO.8601.2000], Sections
5.2.1.3 d), e), and f), is permitted.
Examples for "date":
19850412
1985-04
1985
--0412
---12
Note the property use of YYYY-MM in which it appears.
Furthermore, some fields the second example above. YYYYMM is
disallowed to prevent confusion with YYMMDD. Note also that
YYYY-MM-DD is disallowed since we are using the basic format instead
of compound properties may contain a list the extended format.
4.3.2. TIME
A time of
values delimited by a COMMA character. Therefore, a COMMA character day as specified in one of a field's values MUST be escaped [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.2.
Reduced accuracy, as specified in [ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.2.2.3,
is permitted.
Representation with a BACKSLASH
character, even for fields that don't allow multiple values (for
consistency). Compound properties allowing multiple instances MUST
NOT be encoded decimal fraction, as specified in a single content line.
Finally, BACKSLASH characters
[ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.2.2.4, is forbidden.
The midnight hour is always represented by 00, never 24 (see
[ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.2.3).
Truncated representation, as specified in values MUST be escaped with a
BACKSLASH character. NEWLINE (U+000A) characters [ISO.8601.2000], Sections
5.3.1.4 a), b), and c), is permitted.
Examples for "time":
102200
1022
10
-2200
--00
102200Z
102200-0800
4.3.3. DATE-TIME
A date and time of day combination as specified in values MUST be
encoded by two characters: [ISO.8601.2004],
Section 4.3.
Truncation of the date part, as specified in [ISO.8601.2000], Section
5.4.2 c), is permitted.
Examples for "date-time":
19961022T140000
--1022T1400
---22T14
4.3.4. DATE-AND-OR-TIME
Either a BACKSLASH followed by either an 'n'
(U+006E) DATE-TIME, a DATE, or an 'N' (U+004E).
In all other cases, escaping MUST NOT be used.
4. Property Value Data Types
Standard value types are defined below. a TIME value. To allow unambiguous
interpretation, a stand-alone TIME value = text
/ text-list
/ date-list
/ time-list
/ date-time-list
/ date-and-or-time-list
/ timestamp-list
/ boolean
/ integer-list
/ float-list
/ URI ; from Section 3 is always preceded by a "T".
Examples for "date-and-or-time":
19961022T140000
--1022T1400
---22T14
19850412
1985-04
1985
--0412
---12
T102200
T1022
T10
T-2200
T--00
T102200Z
T102200-0800
4.3.5. TIMESTAMP
A complete date and time of [RFC3986]
/ utc-offset
/ Language-Tag
/ iana-valuespec
; Actual day combination as specified in
[ISO.8601.2004], Section 4.3.2.
Examples for "timestamp":
19961022T140000
19961022T140000Z
19961022T140000-05
19961022T140000-0500
4.4. BOOLEAN
"boolean": The "boolean" value type depends on property name and VALUE parameter.
text = *TEXT-CHAR
TEXT-CHAR = "\\" / "\," / "\n" / WSP / NON-ASCII
/ %x21-2B / %x2D-5B / %x5D-7E
; Backslashes, commas, and newlines must be encoded.
component = "\\" / "\," / "\;" / "\n" / WSP / NON-ASCII
/ %x21-2B / %x2D-3A / %x3C-5B / %x5D-7E
list-component = component *("," component)
text-list = text *("," text)
date-list = date *("," date)
time-list = time *("," time)
date-time-list = date-time *("," date-time)
date-and-or-time-list = date-and-or-time *("," date-and-or-time)
timestamp-list = timestamp *("," timestamp)
integer-list = integer *("," integer)
float-list = float *("," float) is used to express boolean = "TRUE" / "FALSE"
integer = [sign] 1*DIGIT
float = [sign] 1*DIGIT ["." 1*DIGIT]
values. These values are case-insensitive.
Examples:
TRUE
false
True
4.5. INTEGER
"integer": The "integer" value type is used to express signed
integers in decimal format. If sign = "+" / "-"
year = 4DIGIT ; 0000-9999
month = 2DIGIT ; 01-12
day = 2DIGIT ; 01-28/29/30/31 depending on month is not specified, the value is
assumed positive "+". Multiple "integer" values can be specified
using the comma-separated notation. The maximum value is
9223372036854775807, and leap year
hour = 2DIGIT ; 00-23
minute = 2DIGIT ; 00-59
second = 2DIGIT ; 00-58/59/60 depending on leap second
zone = utc-designator / utc-offset
utc-designator = %x5A ; uppercase "Z"
date = year [month day]
/ year "-" month
/ "--" month [day]
/ "--" "-" day
date-noreduc = year month day
/ "--" month day
/ "--" "-" day
date-complete = year month day
time = hour [minute [second]] [zone]
/ "-" minute [second] [zone]
/ "-" "-" second [zone]
time-notrunc = hour [minute [second]] [zone]
time-complete = hour minute second [zone]
time-designator = %x54 ; uppercase "T"
date-time = date-noreduc time-designator time-notrunc
timestamp = date-complete time-designator time-complete
date-and-or-time = date-time / date / time-designator time
utc-offset = sign hour [minute]
Language-Tag = <Language-Tag, defined in [RFC5646], Section 2.1>
iana-valuespec = <value-spec, see Section 12>
; the minimum value is -9223372036854775808.
These limits correspond to a publicly-defined valuetype format, registered
; with IANA, as defined in section 12 of this
; document
4.1. TEXT
"text": signed 64-bit integer using two's-
complement arithmetic.
Examples:
1234567890
-1234556790
+1234556790,432109876
4.6. FLOAT
"float": The "text" "float" value type should be is used to identify express real numbers. If
sign is not specified, the value is assumed positive "+". Multiple
"float" values can be specified using the comma-separated notation.
Implementations MUST support a precision equal or better than that
contain human-readable text. As for of
the language, it IEEE "binary64" format [IEEE.754.2008].
Note: Scientific notation is controlled
by disallowed. Implementers wishing to
use their favorite language's %f formatting should be careful.
Examples:
20.30
1000000.0000001
1.333,3.14
4.7. UTC-OFFSET
"utc-offset": The "utc-offset" value type specifies that the LANGUAGE property parameter defined in Section 5.1.
Examples for "text":
this is a text
value
this is one value,this is another
this is a single value\, with a comma encoded
A formatted text line break in a text signed offset from UTC. This value type MUST can be represented
as specified
in the character sequence backslash (U+005C) followed by a Latin
small letter n (U+006E) or a Latin capital letter N (U+004E), that TZ property.
The value type is
"\n" or "\N".
For example an offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
It is specified as a multiple line NOTE value of:
Mythical Manager
Hyjinx Software Division
BabsCo, Inc.
could be represented as:
NOTE:Mythical Manager\nHyjinx Software Division\n
BabsCo\, Inc.\n
demonstrating the \n literal formatted line break technique, the
CRLF-followed-by-space line folding technique, positive or negative difference in units of
hours and the backslash
escape technique.
4.2. URI
"uri": minutes (e.g., +hhmm). The "uri" value type should be used time is specified as a 24-hour
clock. Hour values are from 00 to identify 23, and minute values that are referenced by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) instead of
encoded in-line. These value references might be used if the value
is too large, or otherwise undesirable from 00
to include directly. 59. Hour and minutes are 2 digits with high-order zeroes required
to maintain digit count. The basic format for the URI is ISO 8601 UTC offsets
MUST be used.
4.8. LANGUAGE-TAG
"language-tag": A single language tag, as defined in Section 3 of [RFC3986]. Note
that the value of a [RFC5646].
5. Property Parameters
A property of type "uri" is what can have attributes associated with it. These "property
parameters" contain meta-information about the URI points to,
not property or the URI itself.
Examples for "uri":
http://www.example.com/my/picture.jpg
ldap://ldap.example.com/cn=babs%20jensen
4.3. DATE, TIME, DATE-TIME, DATE-AND-OR-TIME, and TIMESTAMP
"date", "time", "date-time", and "timestamp": Each of these value
types is based on
property value. In some cases, the definitions in [ISO.8601.2004] standard.
Multiple such values property parameter can be specified using multi-
valued in which case the comma-separated
notation.
Only property parameter value elements are
separated by a COMMA (U+002C).
Property parameter value elements that contain the basic format is supported.
4.3.1. DATE
A calendar date as COLON (U+003A),
SEMICOLON (U+003B), or COMMA (U+002C) character separators MUST be
specified in [ISO.8601.2004] section 4.1.2.
Reduced accuracy, as specified in [ISO.8601.2004] sections 4.1.2.3 a)
and b), but not c), quoted-string text values. Property parameter values
MUST NOT contain the DQUOTE (U+0022) character. The DQUOTE character
is permitted.
Expanded representation, used as specified a delimiter for parameter values that contain restricted
characters or URI text.
Applications MUST ignore x-param and iana-param values they don't
recognize.
5.1. LANGUAGE
The LANGUAGE property parameter is used to identify data in [ISO.8601.2004] section
4.1.4, multiple
languages. There is forbidden.
Truncated representation, no concept of "default" language, except as
specified in [ISO.8601.2000] sections
5.2.1.3 d), e), and f), by any "Content-Language" MIME header parameter that is permitted.
Examples for "date":
19850412
1985-04
1985
--0412
---12
Note
present [RFC3282]. The value of the use LANGUAGE property parameter is a
language tag as defined in Section 2 of YYYY-MM [RFC5646].
Examples:
ROLE;LANGUAGE=tr:hoca
ABNF:
language-param = "LANGUAGE=" Language-Tag
; Language-Tag is defined in the second example above. YYYYMM section 2.1 of RFC 5646
5.2. VALUE
The VALUE parameter is
disallowed OPTIONAL, used to prevent confusion with YYMMDD. Note also that
YYYY-MM-DD is disallowed since we are using identify the basic value type
(data type) and format instead of the extended format.
4.3.2. TIME
A time value. The use of day as specified in [ISO.8601.2004] section 4.2.
Reduced accuracy, as specified in [ISO.8601.2004] section 4.2.2.3, is
permitted.
Representation with decimal fraction, as specified in [ISO.8601.2004]
section 4.2.2.4, these predefined
formats is forbidden.
The midnight hour encouraged even if the value parameter is always represented by 00, never 24 (see
[ISO.8601.2004] section 4.2.3).
Truncated representation, as specified in [ISO.8601.2000] sections
5.3.1.4 a), b), not explicitly
used. By defining a standard set of value types and c), is permitted.
Examples for "time":
102200
1022
10
-2200
--00
102200Z
102200-0800
4.3.3. DATE-TIME
A date their formats,
existing parsing and time of day combination as specified in [ISO.8601.2004]
section 4.3.
Truncation of the date part, as specified processing code can be leveraged. The
predefined data type values MUST NOT be repeated in [ISO.8601.2000] section
5.4.2 c), is permitted.
Examples for "date-time":
19961022T140000
--1022T1400
---22T14
4.3.4. DATE-AND-OR-TIME
Either a DATE-TIME, a DATE, or a TIME value. To allow unambiguous
interpretation, a standalone TIME COMMA-separated
value is always preceded by a "T".
Examples for "date-and-or-time":
19961022T140000
--1022T1400
---22T14
19850412
1985-04
1985
--0412
---12
T102200
T1022
T10
T-2200
T--00
T102200Z
T102200-0800
4.3.5. TIMESTAMP
A complete date lists except within the N, NICKNAME, ADR, and time of day combination CATEGORIES
properties.
ABNF:
value-param = "VALUE=" value-type
value-type = "text"
/ "uri"
/ "date"
/ "time"
/ "date-time"
/ "date-and-or-time"
/ "timestamp"
/ "boolean"
/ "integer"
/ "float"
/ "utc-offset"
/ "language-tag"
/ iana-token ; registered as specified described in
[ISO.8601.2004] section 4.3.2.
Examples for "timestamp":
19961022T140000
19961022T140000Z
19961022T140000-05
19961022T140000-0500
4.4. BOOLEAN
"boolean": 12
/ x-name
5.3. PREF
The "boolean" value type PREF parameter is used to express boolean
values. These values are case insensitive.
Examples:
TRUE
false
True
4.5. INTEGER
"integer": The "integer" value type OPTIONAL and is used to express signed
integers in decimal format. If sign indicate that the
corresponding instance of a property is not specified, preferred by the vCard
author. Its value is
assumed positive "+". Multiple "integer" values can MUST be specified
using the comma-separated notation. The maximum value is
9223372036854775807 an integer between 1 and 100 that
quantifies the minimum value is -9223372036854775808.
These limits level of preference. Lower values correspond to a signed 64-bit integer using two's-
complement arithmetic.
Examples:
1234567890
-1234556790
+1234556790,432109876
4.6. FLOAT
"float": The "float" value type is used to express real numbers. If
sign is not specified,
higher level of preference, with 1 being most preferred.
When the value parameter is assumed positive "+". Multiple
"float" values can be specified using absent, the comma-separated notation.
Implementations default MUST support a precision equal or better than be to interpret the
property instance as being least preferred.
Note that of the IEEE "binary64" format [IEEE.754.2008].
Note: Scientific notation value of this parameter is disallowed. Implementors wishing to
use their favorite language's %f formatting should be careful.
Examples:
20.30
1000000.0000001
1.333,3.14
4.7. UTC-OFFSET
"utc-offset": The "utc-offset" value type specifies that interpreted only in
relation to values assigned to other instances of the same property
value is a signed offset from UTC. This value type can be specified
in the TZ property.
The value type is an offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
It is specified as a positive same vCard. A given value, or negative difference in units the absence of
hours a value, MUST
NOT be interpreted on its own.
This parameter MAY be applied to any property that allows multiple
instances.
ABNF:
pref-param = "PREF=" (1*2DIGIT / "100")
; An integer between 1 and minutes (e.g., +hhmm). 100.
5.4. ALTID
The time ALTID parameter is specified as a 24-hour
clock. Hour values are from 00 used to 23, and minute values are from 00
to 59. Hour and minutes are 2-digits with high order zeroes required
to maintain digit count. The basic format for ISO 8601 UTC offsets
MUST be used.
4.8. LANGUAGE-TAG
"language-tag": A single language tag, "tag" property instances as defined being
alternative representations of the same logical property. For
example, translations of a property in [RFC5646].
5. Property Parameters
A multiple languages generates
multiple property can have attributes associated instances having different LANGUAGE (Section 5.1)
parameter that are tagged with it. These "property
parameters" contain meta-information about the property or the
property same ALTID value. In some cases the property parameter can
This parameter's value is treated as an opaque string. Its sole
purpose is to be multi-
valued in which case compared for equality against other ALTID parameter
values.
Two property instances are considered alternative representations of
the same logical property parameter if and only if their names as well as the
value elements of their ALTID parameters are
separated by a COMMA (U+002C). identical. Property parameter value elements that contain instances
without the COLON (U+003A),
SEMICOLON (U+003B) or COMMA (U+002C) character separators MUST be
specified as quoted-string text values. Property ALTID parameter values MUST NOT contain the DQUOTE (U+0022) character. The DQUOTE character
is used as a delimiter be considered an alternative
representation of any other property instance. Values for the ALTID
parameter values that contain restricted
characters or URI text.
Applications MUST ignore x-param and iana-param values are not globally unique: they don't
recognize.
5.1. LANGUAGE
The LANGUAGE MAY be reused for different
property names.
Property instances having the same ALTID parameter is used to identify data in multiple
languages. There is no concept of "default" language, except as
specified by any "Content-Language" MIME header parameter that is
present [RFC3282]. The value count as 1
toward cardinality. Therefore, since N (Section 6.2.2) has
cardinality *1 and TITLE (Section 6.6.1) has cardinality *, these
three examples would be legal:
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=jp:<U+5C71><U+7530>;<U+592A><U+90CE>;;;
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Yamada;Taro;;;
(<U+XXXX> denotes a UTF8-encoded Unicode character.)
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Boss
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Boss
TITLE;ALTID=2;LANGUAGE=en:Chief vCard Evangelist
while this one would not:
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=jp:<U+5C71><U+7530>;<U+592A><U+90CE>;;;
N:Yamada;Taro;;;
(Two instances of the LANGUAGE N property.)
and these three would be legal but questionable:
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE;ALTID=2;LANGUAGE=en:Boss
(Should probably have the same ALTID value.)
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE:LANGUAGE=en:Boss
(Second line should probably have ALTID=1.)
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=jp:<U+5C71><U+7530>;<U+592A><U+90CE>;;;
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Yamada;Taro;;;
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Smith;John;;;
(The last line should probably have ALTID=2. But that would be
illegal because N has cardinality *1.)
The ALTID property parameter is a
language tag as defined MAY also be used in Section 2 may contexts other than with
the LANGUAGE parameter. Here's an example with two representations
of [RFC5646].
Examples:
ROLE;LANGUAGE=tr:hoca the same photo in different file formats:
PHOTO;ALTID=1:data:image/jpeg;base64,...
PHOTO;ALTID=1;data:image/jp2;base64,...
ABNF:
language-param
altid-param = "LANGUAGE=" Language-Tag
; Language-Tag is defined in section 2.1 of RFC 5646
5.2. VALUE "ALTID=" param-value
5.5. PID
The VALUE PID parameter is OPTIONAL, used to identify a specific property among
multiple instances. It plays a role analogous to the value type
(data type) and format of the value. The use of these predefined
formats is encouraged even if the value parameter is not explicitly
used. By defining UID property
(Section 6.7.6) on a standard set per-property instead of value types and their formats,
existing parsing and processing code can be leveraged. The
predefined data type values per-vCard basis. It MAY
appear more than once in a given property. It MUST NOT appear on
properties that may have only one instance per vCard. Its value is
either a single small positive integer or a pair of small positive
integers separated by a dot. Multiple values may be repeated encoded in COMMA separated
value lists except within a
single PID parameter by separating the N, NICKNAME, ADR, and CATEGORIES
properties. values with a comma ",". See
Section 7 for more details on its usage.
ABNF:
value-param
pid-param = "VALUE=" value-type
value-type "PID=" pid-value *("," pid-value)
pid-value = "text"
/ "uri"
/ "date"
/ "time"
/ "date-time"
/ "date-and-or-time"
/ "timestamp"
/ "boolean"
/ "integer"
/ "float"
/ "utc-offset"
/ "language-tag"
/ iana-token ; registered as described in section 12
/ x-name
5.3. PREF 1*DIGIT ["." 1*DIGIT]
5.6. TYPE
The PREF TYPE parameter has multiple, different uses. In general, it is OPTIONAL and is used to indicate that a
way of specifying class characteristics of the
corresponding instance associated property.
Most of a property is preferred by the vCard
author. Its time, its value MUST be an integer between 1 and 100 that
quantifies the level of preference. Lower values correspond to is a
higher level comma-separated subset of preference, 1 being most preferred.
When the parameter is absent, the default MUST be to interpret the
property instance as being least preferred.
Note that a
predefined enumeration. In this document, the value following properties
make use of this parameter: FN, NICKNAME, PHOTO, ADR, TEL, EMAIL,
IMPP, LANG, TZ, GEO, TITLE, ROLE, LOGO, ORG, RELATED, CATEGORIES,
NOTE, SOUND, URL, KEY, FBURL, CALADRURI, and CALURI. The TYPE
parameter is to MUST NOT be interpreted only applied on other properties defined in
relation to this
document.
The "work" and "home" values assigned to other instances of act like tags. The "work" value implies
that the same property
in is related to an individual's work place, while the same vCard. A given value, or
"home" value implies that the absence of a value, MUST
NOT be interpreted on its own.
This parameter MAY be applied property is related to any an individual's
personal life. When neither "work" nor "home" is present, it is
implied that the property is related to both an individual's work
place and personal life in the case that allows multiple
instances. the KIND property's value is
"individual", or to none in other cases.
ABNF:
pref-param
type-param = "PREF=" (1*2DIGIT "TYPE=" type-value *("," type-value)
type-value = "work" / "100") "home" / type-param-tel
/ type-param-related / iana-token / x-name
; An integer between 1 and 100.
5.4. ALTID
The ALTID parameter This is used to "tag" property instances as being
alternative representations of the same logical property. For
example, translations of a property further defined in multiple languages generates
multiple individual property instances having different LANGUAGE (Section 5.1) sections.
5.7. MEDIATYPE
The MEDIATYPE parameter which are tagged is used with the same ALTID value.
This parameter's properties whose value is treated as an opaque string. a URI.
Its sole
purpose use is OPTIONAL. It provides a hint to be compared for equality against other ALTID parameter
values.
Two property instances are considered alternative representations of the same logical property if and only if their names as well as vCard consumer
application about the
value media type [RFC2046] of their ALTID parameters are identical. Property instances
without the ALTID parameter MUST NOT be considered an alternative
representation of any other property instance. Values for resource identified
by the ALTID
parameter are URI. Some URI schemes do not globally unique: they MAY need this parameter. For
example, the "data" scheme allows the media type to be reused for different
property names.
Property instances having explicitly
indicated as part of the same ALTID parameter value count URI [RFC2397]. Another scheme, "http",
provides the media type as 1
toward cardinality. Therefore, since N (Section 6.2.2) has
cardinality *1 and TITLE (Section 6.6.1) has cardinality *, these
three examples would be legal:
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=jp:<U+5C71><U+7530>;<U+592A><U+90CE>;;;
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Yamada;Taro;;;
(<U+XXXX> denotes a UTF8-encoded Unicode character.)
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Boss
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Boss
TITLE;ALTID=2;LANGUAGE=en:Chief vCard Evangelist
while this one would not:
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=jp:<U+5C71><U+7530>;<U+592A><U+90CE>;;;
N:Yamada;Taro;;;
(Two instances part of the N property.)
and these three would be legal but questionable:
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE;ALTID=2;LANGUAGE=en:Boss
(Should probably have URI resolution process, with
the same ALTID value.)
TITLE;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=fr:Patron
TITLE:LANGUAGE=en:Boss
(Second line should probably have ALTID=1.)
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=jp:<U+5C71><U+7530>;<U+592A><U+90CE>;;;
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Yamada;Taro;;;
N;ALTID=1;LANGUAGE=en:Smith;John;;;
(The last line should probably have ALTID=2. But that would be
illegal because N has cardinality *1.) Content-Type HTTP header [RFC2616]. The ALTID property MAY also MEDIATYPE parameter is
intended to be used in may contexts other than with
the LANGUAGE parameter. Here's an example with two representations
of the same photo in different file formats:
PHOTO;ALTID=1:data:image/jpeg;base64,...
PHOTO;ALTID=1;data:image/jp2;base64,... URI schemes that do not provide such
functionality (e.g., "ftp" [RFC1738]).
ABNF:
altid-param
mediatype-param = "ALTID=" param-value
5.5. PID "MEDIATYPE=" mediatype
mediatype = type-name "/" subtype-name *( ";" attribute "=" value )
; "attribute" and "value" are from [RFC2045]
; "type-name" and "subtype-name" are from [RFC4288]
5.8. CALSCALE
The PID CALSCALE parameter is used identical to identify a specific the CALSCALE property among
multiple instances. in
iCalendar (see [RFC5545], Section 3.7.1). It plays a role analogous is used to define the UID property
(Section 6.7.6) on a per-property instead of per-vCard basis. It MAY
appear more than once
calendar system in which a given property. It MUST NOT appear on
properties that may have only one instance per vCard. Its date or date-time value is
either a single small positive integer or a pair of small positive
integers separated expressed. The
only value specified by a dot. Multiple iCalendar is "gregorian", which stands for
the Gregorian system. It is the default when the parameter is
absent. Additional values may be encoded defined in a
single PID parameter by separating the values extension documents and
registered with a comma ",". See IANA (see Section 7 for more details on its usage. 10.3.4). A vCard implementation
MUST ignore properties with a CALSCALE parameter value that it does
not understand.
ABNF:
pid-param
calscale-param = "PID=" pid-value *("," pid-value)
pid-value "CALSCALE=" calscale-value
calscale-value = 1*DIGIT ["." 1*DIGIT]
5.6. TYPE "gregorian" / iana-token / x-name
5.9. SORT-AS
The TYPE "sort-as" parameter has multiple, different uses. In general, it is used to specify the string to be used for
national-language-specific sorting. Without this information,
sorting algorithms could incorrectly sort this vCard within a
way of specifying class characteristics
sequence of sorted vCards. When this property is present in a vCard,
then the associated property.
Most of given strings are used for sorting the time, its vCard.
This parameter's value is a comma-separated subset of a pre-
defined enumeration. In this document, list that MUST have as
many or fewer elements as the following properties make
use of this parameter: FN, NICKNAME, PHOTO, ADR, TEL, EMAIL, IMPP,
LANG, TZ, GEO, TITLE, ROLE, LOGO, ORG, RELATED, CATEGORIES, NOTE,
SOUND, URL, KEY, FBURL, CALADRURI, corresponding property value has
components. This parameter's value is case-sensitive.
ABNF:
sort-as-param = "SORT-AS=" sort-as-value
sort-as-value = param-value *("," param-value)
Examples: For the case of surname and CALURI. given name sorting, the
following examples define common sort string usage with the N
property.
FN:Rene van der Harten
N;SORT-AS="Harten,Rene":van der Harten;Rene,J.;Sir;R.D.O.N.
FN:Robert Pau Shou Chang
N;SORT-AS="Pau Shou Chang,Robert":Shou Chang;Robert,Pau;;
FN:Osamu Koura
N;SORT-AS="Koura,Osamu":Koura;Osamu;;
FN:Oscar del Pozo
N;SORT-AS="Pozo,Oscar":del Pozo Triscon;Oscar;;
FN:Chistine d'Aboville
N;SORT-AS="Aboville,Christine":d'Aboville;Christine;;
FN:H. James de Mann
N;SORT-AS="Mann,James":de Mann;Henry,James;;
If sorted by surname, the results would be:
Christine d'Aboville
Rene van der Harten
Osamu Koura
H. James de Mann
Robert Pau Shou Chang
Oscar del Pozo
If sorted by given name, the results would be:
Christine d'Aboville
H. James de Mann
Osamu Koura
Oscar del Pozo
Rene van der Harten
Robert Pau Shou Chang
5.10. GEO
The TYPE GEO parameter
MUST NOT can be applied on other properties defined in this document.
The "work" and "home" values act like tags. The "work" value implies used to indicate global positioning
information that the property is related specific to an individual's work place, while the
"home" address. Its value implies is the same as
that of the GEO property is related (see Section 6.5.2).
ABNF:
geo-parameter = "GEO=" DQUOTE URI DQUOTE
5.11. TZ
The TZ parameter can be used to an individual's
personal life. When neither "work" nor "home" is present, it is
implied indicate time zone information that the property
is related specific to both an individual's work
place and personal life in address. Its value is the case same as that of the KIND property's value is
"individual", or to none in other cases. TZ
property.
ABNF:
type-param = "TYPE=" type-value *("," type-value)
type-value
tz-parameter = "work" / "home" / type-param-tel
/ type-param-related / iana-token "TZ=" (param-value / x-name
; This is further defined in individual property sections.
5.7. MEDIATYPE
The MEDIATYPE parameter is used with properties whose value is a URI.
Its use DQUOTE URI DQUOTE)
6. vCard Properties
What follows is OPTIONAL. It provides a hint to an enumeration of the standard vCard consumer
application about properties.
6.1. General Properties
6.1.1. BEGIN
Purpose: To denote the media type [RFC2046] beginning of a syntactic entity within a
text/vcard content-type.
Value type: text
Cardinality: 1
Special notes: The content entity MUST begin with the resource identified
by the URI. Some URI schemes do not need this parameter. For
example, the "data" scheme allows BEGIN property
with a value of "VCARD". The value is case-insensitive.
The BEGIN property is used in conjunction with the media type END property to
delimit an entity containing a related set of properties within a
text/vcard content-type. This construct can be explicitly
indicated as part used instead of the URI [RFC2397]. Another scheme, "http",
provides the media type
including multiple vCards as part body parts inside of the URI resolution process, with
the Content-Type HTTP header [RFC2616]. The MEDIATYPE parameter a multipart/
alternative MIME message. It is
intended provided for applications that
wish to be used with URI schemes define content that do not provide such
functionality (e.g. "ftp" [RFC1738]). can contain multiple entities within
the same text/vcard content-type or to define content that can be
identifiable outside of a MIME environment.
ABNF:
mediatype-param
BEGIN-param = "MEDIATYPE=" mediatype
mediatype = type-name "/" subtype-name *( ";" attribute "=" value )
; "attribute" and "value" are from [RFC2045] 0" " ; "type-name" and "subtype-name" are from [RFC4288]
5.8. CALSCALE
The CALSCALE no parameter is identical to the CALSCALE property in
iCalendar (see [RFC5545], section 3.7.1). It is used to define allowed
BEGIN-value = "VCARD"
Example:
BEGIN:VCARD
6.1.2. END
Purpose: To denote the
calendar system in which end of a date or date-time value is expressed. syntactic entity within a text/vcard
content-type.
Value type: text
Cardinality: 1
Special notes: The
only value specified by iCalendar is "gregorian", which stands for
the Gregorian system. It is the default when the parameter is
absent. Additional values may be defined in extension documents and
registered from IANA (see Section 10.3.4). A vCard implementation content entity MUST ignore properties end with the END type with a CALSCALE parameter
value that it does
not understand.
ABNF:
calscale-param = "CALSCALE=" calscale-value
calscale-value = "gregorian" / iana-token / x-name
5.9. SORT-AS of "VCARD". The "sort-as" parameter value is case-insensitive.
The END property is used to specify in conjunction with the string BEGIN property to be used for
national-language-specific sorting. Without this information,
sorting algorithms could incorrectly sort this vCard within
delimit an entity containing a
sequence related set of sorted vCards. When this property is present in properties within a vCard,
then the given strings are
text/vcard content-type. This construct can be used instead of or
in addition to wrapping separate sets of information inside
additional MIME headers. It is provided for sorting applications that
wish to define content that can contain multiple entities within
the vCard.
This parameter's value is a comma-separated list which MUST have as
many same text/vcard content-type or fewer elements as the corresponding property value has
components. This parameter's value is case-sensitive. to define content that can be
identifiable outside of a MIME environment.
ABNF:
sort-as-param
END-param = "SORT-AS=" sort-as-value
sort-as-value 0" " ; no parameter allowed
END-value = param-value *("," param-value)
Examples: For "VCARD"
Example:
END:VCARD
6.1.3. SOURCE
Purpose: To identify the case source of surname and given name sorting, directory information contained
in the
following examples define common sort string usage with content type.
Value type: uri
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The SOURCE property is used to provide the N
property.
FN:Rene van der Harten
N;SORT-AS="Harten,Rene":van der Harten;Rene,J.;Sir;R.D.O.N.
FN:Robert Pau Shou Chang
N;SORT-AS="Pau Shou Chang,Robert":Shou Chang;Robert,Pau;;
FN:Osamu Koura
N;SORT-AS="Koura,Osamu":Koura;Osamu;;
FN:Oscar del Pozo
N;SORT-AS="Pozo,Oscar":del Pozo Triscon;Oscar;;
FN:Chistine d'Aboville
N;SORT-AS="Aboville,Christine":d'Aboville;Christine;;
FN:H. James de Mann
N;SORT-AS="Mann,James":de Mann;Henry,James;;
If sorted means by surname
which applications knowledgable in the results would be:
Christine d'Aboville
Rene van der Harten
Osamu Koura
H. James de Mann
Robert Pau Shou Chang
Oscar del Pozo
If sorted by given name the results would be:
Christine d'Aboville
H. James de Mann
Osamu Koura
Oscar del Pozo
Rene van der Harten
Robert Pau Shou Chang
5.10. GEO
The GEO parameter directory service
protocol can be used to indicate global positioning obtain additional or more up-to-date information that is specific to an address. Its value is from
the same directory service. It contains a URI as
that of defined in [RFC3986]
and/or other information referencing the GEO property (see Section 6.5.2).
ABNF:
geo-parameter = "GEO=" DQUOTE URI DQUOTE
5.11. TZ
The TZ parameter can be used vCard to indicate time zone information that
is specific to an address. Its value which the
information pertains. When directory information is available
from more than one source, the same as that of sending entity can pick what it
considers to be the TZ
property. best source, or multiple SOURCE properties can
be included.
ABNF:
tz-parameter
SOURCE-param = "TZ=" (param-value "VALUE=uri" / DQUOTE pid-param / pref-param / altid-param
/ mediatype-param / any-param
SOURCE-value = URI DQUOTE)
6. vCard Properties
What follows is an enumeration of the standard vCard properties.
6.1. General Properties
6.1.1. BEGIN
Examples:
SOURCE:ldap://ldap.example.com/cn=Babs%20Jensen,%20o=Babsco,%20c=US
SOURCE:http://directory.example.com/addressbooks/jdoe/
Jean%20Dupont.vcf
6.1.4. KIND
Purpose: To denote specify the beginning kind of a syntactic entity within a
text/vcard content-type. object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: 1 *1
Special notes: The content entity MUST begin with the BEGIN property
with a value may be one of "VCARD". The value is case-insensitive.
The BEGIN property the following:
"individual" for a vCard representing a single person or entity.
This is used in conjunction with the END property to
delimit an entity containing default kind of vCard.
"group" for a related set vCard representing a group of properties within an
text/vcard content-type. This construct persons or entities.
The group's member entities can be used instead of
including multiple other vCards as body parts inside or other types
of a multipart/
alternative MIME message. It is provided for applications that
wish to define content that can contain multiple entities within
the same text/vcard content-type entities, such as email addresses or web sites. A group
vCard will usually contain MEMBER properties to define content that specify the
members of the group, but it is not required to. A group vCard
without MEMBER properties can be
identifiable outside of a MIME environment.
ABNF:
BEGIN-param = 0" " ; no parameter allowed
BEGIN-value = "VCARD"
Example:
BEGIN:VCARD
6.1.2. END
Purpose: To denote the end of a syntactic entity within considered an abstract
grouping, or one whose members are known empirically (perhaps
"IETF Participants" or "Republican U.S. Senators").
All properties in a text/vcard
content-type.
Value type: text
Cardinality: 1
Special notes: The content entity MUST end with group vCard apply to the END type with group as a
value of "VCARD". The value is case-insensitive.
The END whole,
and not to any particular MEMBER. For example, an EMAIL
property is used in conjunction might specify the address of a mailing list associated
with the BEGIN group, and an IMPP property might refer to
delimit an entity containing a related set group
chat room.
"org" for a vCard representing an organization. An organization
vCard will not (in fact, MUST NOT) contain MEMBER properties,
and so these are something of properties a cross between "individual" and
"group". An organization is a single entity, but not a person.
It might represent a business or government, a department or
division within a business or government, a club, an
text/vcard content-type. This construct can be used instead of
association, or the like.
All properties in addition an organization vCard apply to wrapping separate sets of information inside
additional MIME headers. It the
organization as a whole, as is provided for applications that
wish to define content that can contain multiple entities within the same text/vcard content-type or to define content that can be
identifiable outside case with a group vCard.
For example, an EMAIL property might specify the address of a MIME environment.
ABNF:
END-param = 0" " ; no parameter allowed
END-value = "VCARD"
Example:
END:VCARD
6.1.3. SOURCE
Purpose: To identify the source of directory information contained
in the content type.
Value type: uri
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The SOURCE property is used to provide the means by
which applications knowledgable in the given directory service
protocol can obtain additional or more up-to-date information from
the directory service. It contains a URI as defined in [RFC3986]
and/or other information referencing the vCard to which the
information pertains. When directory information is available
from more than one source, the sending entity can pick what it
considers to be the best source, or multiple SOURCE properties can
be included.
ABNF:
SOURCE-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / altid-param
/ mediatype-param / any-param
SOURCE-value = URI
Examples:
SOURCE:ldap://ldap.example.com/cn=Babs%20Jensen,%20o=Babsco,%20c=US
SOURCE:http://directory.example.com/addressbooks/jdoe/
Jean%20Dupont.vcf
6.1.4. KIND
Purpose: To specify the kind of object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *1
Special notes: The value may be one of the following:
"individual"
contact point for a vCard representing a single person or entity.
This is the default kind of vCard.
"group" organization.
"location" for a vCard representing a group of persons or entities.
The group's member entities can be other vCards or other types
of entities, such as email addresses or web sites. named geographical place. A group location vCard will
usually contain MEMBER properties to specify the
members of the group, a GEO property, but it is not required to. A group
location vCard without MEMBER properties a GEO property can be considered an
abstract
grouping, location, or one whose members are definition is known empirically
(perhaps
"IETF Participants" "New England" or "Republican U.S. Senators"). "The Seashore").
All properties in a group vCard apply to the group as a whole,
and not to any particular MEMBER. For example, an EMAIL
property might specify the address of a mailing list associated
with the group, and an IMPP property might refer to a group
chat room.
"org" for a vCard representing an organization. An organization
vCard will not (in fact, MUST NOT) contain MEMBER properties,
and so these are something of a cross between "individual" and
"group". An organization is a single entity, but not a person.
It might represent a business or government, a department or
division within a business or government, a club, an
association, or the like.
All properties in an organization vCard apply to the
organization as a whole, as is the case with a group vCard.
For example, an EMAIL property might specify the address of a
contact point for the organization.
"location" for a named geographical place. A location vCard will
usually contain a GEO property, but it is not required to. A
location vCard without a GEO property can be considered an
abstract location, or one whose definition is known empirically
(perhaps "New England" or "The Seashore").
All properties in a location location vCard apply to the location
itself, and not with any entity that might exist at that
location. For example, in a vCard for an office building, an
ADR property might give the mailing address for the building,
and a TEL property might specify the telephone number of the
receptionist.
An x-name. vCards MAY include private or experimental values for
KIND. Remember that x-name values are not intended for general
use,
use and are unlikely to interoperate.
An iana-token. Additional values may be registered with IANA (see
Section 10.3.4). A new value's specification document MUST
specify which properties make sense for that new kind of vCard
and which do not.
Implementations MUST support the specific string values defined
above. If this property is absent, "individual" MUST be assumed
as the default. If this property is present but the
implementation does not understand its value (the value is an
x-name or iana-token that the implementation does not support),
the implementation SHOULD act in a neutral way, which usually
means treating the vCard as though its kind were "individual".
The presence of MEMBER properties MAY, however, be taken as an
indication that the unknown kind is an extension of "group".
Clients often need to visually distinguish contacts based on what
they represent, and the KIND property provides a direct way for
them to do so. For example, when displaying contacts in a list,
an icon could be displayed next to each one, using distinctive
icons for the different kinds; a client might use an outline of a
single person to represent an "individual", an outline of multiple
people to represent a "group", and so on. Alternatively, or in
addition, a client might choose to segregate different kinds of
vCards to different panes, tabs, or selections in the user
interface.
Some clients might also make functional distinctions among the
kinds, ignoring "location" vCards for some purposes and
considering only "location" vCards for others.
When designing those sorts of visual and functional distinctions,
client implementations have to decide how to fit unsupported kinds
into the scheme. What icon is used for them? The one for
"individual"? A unique one, such as an icon of a question-mark? question mark?
Which tab do they go into? It is beyond the scope of this
specification to answer these questions, but these are things
implementors
implementers need to consider.
ABNF:
KIND-param = "VALUE=text" / any-param
KIND-value = "individual" / "group" / "org" / "location"
/ iana-token / x-name
Example:
This represents someone named Jane Doe working in the marketing
department of the North American division of ABC Inc.
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
KIND:individual
FN:Jane Doe
ORG:ABC\, Inc.;North American Division;Marketing
END:VCARD
This represents the department itself, commonly known as ABC
Marketing.
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
KIND:org
FN:ABC Marketing
ORG:ABC\, Inc.;North American Division;Marketing
END:VCARD
6.1.5. XML
Purpose: To include extended XML-encoded vCard data in a plain
vCard.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The content of this property is a single XML 1.0
[W3C.REC-xml-20081126] element whose namespace MUST be explicitly
specified using the xmlns attribute and MUST NOT be the vCard 4
namespace ("urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:vcard-4.0"). (This implies
that it cannot duplicate a standard vCard property.) The element
is to be interpreted as if it was contained in a <vcard> element,
as defined in [I-D.ietf-vcarddav-vcardxml]. [RFC6351].
The fragment is subject to normal line folding and escaping, i.e. i.e.,
replace all backslashes with "\\", then replace all newlines with
"\n", then fold long lines.
Support for this property is OPTIONAL, but implementations of this
specification MUST preserve instances of this property when
propagating vCards.
See [I-D.ietf-vcarddav-vcardxml] [RFC6351] for more information on the intended use of this
property.
ABNF:
XML-param = "VALUE=text" / altid-param
XML-value = text
6.2. Identification Properties
These types are used to capture information associated with the
identification and naming of the entity associated with the vCard.
6.2.1. FN
Purpose: To specify the formatted text corresponding to the name of
the object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: 1*
Special notes: This property is based on the semantics of the X.520
Common Name attribute. attribute [CCITT.X520.1988]. The property MUST be
present in the vCard object.
ABNF:
FN-param = "VALUE=text" / type-param / language-param / altid-param
/ pid-param / pref-param / any-param
FN-value = text
Example:
FN:Mr. John Q. Public\, Esq.
6.2.2. N
Purpose: To specify the components of the name of the object the
vCard represents.
Value type: A single structured text value. Each component can have
multiple values.
Cardinality: *1
Special note: The structured property value corresponds, in
sequence, to the Family Names (also known as surnames), Given
Names, Additional Names, Honorific Prefixes, and Honorific
Suffixes. The text components are separated by the SEMI-COLON SEMICOLON
character (U+003B). Individual text components can include
multiple text values separated by the COMMA character (U+002C).
This property is based on the semantics of the X.520 individual
name attributes. attributes [CCITT.X520.1988]. The property SHOULD be present
in the vCard object when the name of the object the vCard
represents follows the X.520 model.
The SORT-AS parameter MAY be applied to this property.
ABNF:
N-param = "VALUE=text" / sort-as-param / language-param
/ altid-param / any-param
N-value = list-component 4(";" list-component)
Examples:
N:Public;John;Quinlan;Mr.;Esq.
N:Stevenson;John;Philip,Paul;Dr.;Jr.,M.D.,A.C.P.
6.2.3. NICKNAME
Purpose: To specify the text corresponding to the nickname of the
object the vCard represents.
Value type: One or more text values separated by a COMMA character
(U+002C).
Cardinality: *
Special note: The nickname is the descriptive name given instead of
or in addition to the one belonging to a the object the vCard
represents. It can also be used to specify a familiar form of a
proper name specified by the FN or N properties.
ABNF:
NICKNAME-param = "VALUE=text" / type-param / language-param
/ altid-param / pid-param / pref-param / any-param
NICKNAME-value = text-list
Examples:
NICKNAME:Robbie
NICKNAME:Jim,Jimmie
NICKNAME;TYPE=work:Boss
6.2.4. PHOTO
Purpose: To specify an image or photograph information that
annotates some aspect of the object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single URI.
Cardinality: *
ABNF:
PHOTO-param = "VALUE=uri" / altid-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / pref-param / pid-param / any-param
PHOTO-value = URI
Examples:
PHOTO:http://www.example.com/pub/photos/jqpublic.gif
PHOTO:data:image/jpeg;base64,MIICajCCAdOgAwIBAgICBEUwDQYJKoZIhv
AQEEBQAwdzELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxLDAqBgNVBAoTI05ldHNjYXBlIENvbW11bm
ljYXRpb25zIENvcnBvcmF0aW9uMRwwGgYDVQQLExNJbmZvcm1hdGlvbiBTeXN0
<...remainder of base64-encoded data...>
6.2.5. BDAY
Purpose: To specify the birth date 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
ABNF:
BDAY-param = BDAY-param-date / BDAY-param-text
BDAY-value = date-and-or-time / text
; Value and parameter MUST match.
BDAY-param-date = "VALUE=date-and-or-time"
BDAY-param-text = "VALUE=text" / language-param
BDAY-param =/ altid-param / calscale-param / any-param
; calscale-param can only be present when BDAY-value is
; date-and-or-time and actually contains a date or date-time.
Examples:
BDAY:19960415
BDAY:--0415
BDAY;19531015T231000Z
BDAY;VALUE=text:circa 1800
6.2.6. ANNIVERSARY
Purpose: The date of marriage, or equivalent, 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
ABNF:
ANNIVERSARY-param = "VALUE=" ("date-and-or-time" / "text")
ANNIVERSARY-value = date-and-or-time / text
; Value and parameter MUST match.
ANNIVERSARY-param =/ altid-param / calscale-param / any-param
; calscale-param can only be present when ANNIVERSARY-value is
; date-and-or-time and actually contains a date or date-time.
Examples:
ANNIVERSARY:19960415
6.2.7. GENDER
Purpose: To specify the components of the sex and gender identity of
the object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single structured value with two components. Each
component has a single text value.
Cardinality: *1
Special notes: The components correspond, in sequence, to the sex
(biological), and gender identity. Each component is optional.
Sex component: A single letter. M stands for "male", F stands
for "female", O stands for "other", N stands for "none or not
applicable", U stands for "unknown".
Gender identity component: Free-form text.
ABNF:
GENDER-param = "VALUE=text" / any-param
GENDER-value = sex [";" text]
sex = "" / "M" / "F" / "O" / "N" / "U"
Examples:
GENDER:M
GENDER:F
GENDER:M;Fellow
GENDER:F;grrrl
GENDER:O;intersex
GENDER:;it's complicated
6.3. Delivery Addressing Properties
These types are concerned with information related to the delivery
addressing or label for the vCard object.
6.3.1. ADR
Purpose: To specify the components of the delivery address for the
vCard object.
Value type: A single structured text value, separated by the SEMI-
COLON
SEMICOLON character (U+003B).
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The structured type value consists of a sequence of
address components. The component values MUST be specified in
their corresponding position. The structured type value
corresponds, in sequence, to
the post office box;
the extended address (e.g. (e.g., apartment or suite number);
the street address;
the locality (e.g., city);
the region (e.g., state or province);
the postal code;
the country name (full name in the language specified in
Section 5.1).
When a component value is missing, the associated component
separator MUST still be specified.
Experience with vCard 3 has shown that the first two components
(post office box and extended address) are plagued with many
interoperability issues. To ensure maximal interoperability,
their values SHOULD be empty.
The text components are separated by the SEMI-COLON SEMICOLON character
(U+003B). Where it makes semantic sense, individual text
components can include multiple text values (e.g., a "street"
component with multiple lines) separated by the COMMA character
(U+002C).
The property can include the "PREF" parameter to indicate the
preferred delivery address when more than one address is
specified.
The GEO and TZ parameters MAY be used with this property.
The property can also include a "LABEL" parameter to present a
delivery delivery address label for the address. Its value is a plain-text
string representing the formatted address. Newlines are encoded
as \n, as they are for property values.
ABNF:
label-param = "LABEL=" param-value
ADR-param = "VALUE=text" / label-param / language-param
/ geo-parameter / tz-parameter / altid-param / pid-param
/ pref-param / type-param / any-param
ADR-value = ADR-component-pobox ";" ADR-component-ext ";"
ADR-component-street ";" ADR-component-locality ";"
ADR-component-region ";" ADR-component-code ";"
ADR-component-country
ADR-component-pobox = list-component
ADR-component-ext = list-component
ADR-component-street = list-component
ADR-component-locality = list-component
ADR-component-region = list-component
ADR-component-code = list-component
ADR-component-country = list-component
Example: In this example example, the post office box and the extended
address are absent.
ADR;GEO="geo:12.3457,78.910";LABEL="Mr. John Q. Public, Esq.\n
Mail Drop: TNE QB\n123 Main Street\nAny Town, CA 91921-1234\n
U.S.A.":;;123 Main Street;Any Town;CA;91921-1234;U.S.A.
6.4. Communications Properties
These properties describe information about how to communicate with
the object the vCard represents.
6.4.1. TEL
Purpose: To specify the telephone number for telephony communication
with the object the vCard represents.
Value type: By default default, it is a single free-form text value (for
backward compatibility with vCard 3), but it SHOULD be reset to a
URI value. It is expected that the URI scheme will be "tel", as
specified in [RFC3966], but other schemes MAY be used.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: This property is based on the X.520 Telephone Number
attribute.
attribute [CCITT.X520.1988].
The property can include the "PREF" parameter to indicate a
preferred-use telephone number.
The property can include the parameter "TYPE" to specify intended
use for the telephone number. The predefined values for the TYPE
parameter are:
+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| Value | Description |
+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| text | Indicates that the telephone number supports text |
| | messages (SMS). |
| voice | Indicates a voice telephone number. |
| fax | Indicates a facsimile telephone number. |
| cell | Indicates a cellular or mobile telephone number. |
| video | Indicates a video conferencing telephone number. |
| pager | Indicates a paging device telephone number. |
| textphone | Indicates a telecommunication device for people with |
| | hearing or speech difficulties.. difficulties. |
+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------+
The default type is "voice". These type parameter values can be
specified as a parameter list (e.g., TYPE=text;TYPE=voice) or as a
value list (e.g., TYPE="text,voice"). The default can be
overridden to another set of values by specifying one or more
alternate values. For example, the default TYPE of "voice" can be
reset to a VOICE and FAX telephone number by the value list
TYPE="voice,fax".
If this property's value is a URI that can also be used for
instant messaging, the IMPP (Section 6.4.3) property SHOULD be
used in addition to this property.
ABNF:
TEL-param = TEL-text-param / TEL-uri-param
TEL-value = TEL-text-value / TEL-uri-value
; Value and parameter MUST match match.
TEL-text-param = "VALUE=text"
TEL-text-value = text
TEL-uri-param = "VALUE=uri" / mediatype-param
TEL-uri-value = URI
TEL-param =/ type-param / pid-param / pref-param / altid-param
/ any-param
type-param-tel = "text" / "voice" / "fax" / "cell" / "video"
/ "pager" / "textphone" / iana-token / x-name
; type-param-tel MUST NOT be used with a property other than TEL.
Example:
TEL;VALUE=uri;PREF=1;TYPE="voice,home":tel:+1-555-555-5555;ext=5555
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=home:tel:+33-01-23-45-67
6.4.2. EMAIL
Purpose: To specify the electronic mail address for communication
with the object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The property can include tye "PREF" parameter to
indicate a preferred-use email address when more than one is
specified.
Even though the value is free-form UTF-8 text, it is likely to be
interpreted by an MUA a Mail User Agent (MUA) as an "addr-spec", as
defined in [RFC5322],
section Section 3.4.1. Readers should also be aware
of the current work toward internationalized email addresses
[I-D.ietf-eai-rfc5335bis].
[RFC5335bis].
ABNF:
EMAIL-param = "VALUE=text" / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ altid-param / any-param
EMAIL-value = text
Example:
EMAIL;TYPE=work:[email protected]
EMAIL;PREF=1:[email protected]
6.4.3. IMPP
Purpose: To specify the URI for instant messaging and presence
protocol communications with the object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single URI.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The property may include the "PREF" parameter to
indicate that this is a preferred address and has the same
semantics as the "PREF" parameter in a TEL property.
If this property's value is a URI that can be used for voice
and/or video, the TEL property (Section 6.4.1) SHOULD be used in
addition to this property.
This property is adapted from [RFC4770], which is made obsolete by
this document.
ABNF:
IMPP-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / altid-param / any-param
IMPP-value = URI
Example:
IMPP;PREF=1:xmpp:[email protected]
6.4.4. LANG
Purpose: To specify the language(s) that may be used for contacting
the entity associated with the vCard.
Value type: A single language-tag value.
Cardinality: *
ABNF:
LANG-param = "VALUE=language-tag" / pid-param / pref-param
/ altid-param / type-param / any-param
LANG-value = Language-Tag
Example:
LANG;TYPE=work;PREF=1:en
LANG;TYPE=work;PREF=2:fr
LANG;TYPE=home:fr
6.5. Geographical Properties
These properties are concerned with information associated with
geographical positions or regions associated with the object the
vCard represents.
6.5.1. TZ
Purpose: To specify information related to the time zone of the
object the vCard represents.
Value type: The default is a single text value. It can also be
reset to a single URI or utc-offset value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: It is expected that names from the public-domain
Olson database [TZ-DB] will be used, but this is not a
restriction. See also [I-D.lear-iana-timezone-database]. [IANA-TZ].
Efforts are currently being directed at creating a standard URI
scheme for expressing time zone information. Usage of such a
scheme would ensure a high level of interoperability between
implementations that support it.
Note that utc-offset values SHOULD NOT be used because the UTC
offset varies with time - -- not just because of the usual daylight
saving time shifts that occur in may regions, but often entire
regions will "re-base" their overall offset. The actual offset
may be +/- 1 hour (or perhaps a little more) than the one given.
ABNF:
TZ-param = "VALUE=" ("text" / "uri" / "utc-offset")
TZ-value = text / URI / utc-offset
; Value and parameter MUST match match.
TZ-param =/ altid-param / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / any-param
Examples:
TZ:Raleigh/North America
TZ;VALUE=utc-offset:-0500
; Note: utc-offset format is NOT RECOMMENDED.
6.5.2. GEO
Purpose: To specify information related to the global positioning of
the object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single URI.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The "geo" URI scheme [RFC5870] is particularly well- well
suited for this property, but other schemes MAY be used.
ABNF:
GEO-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / altid-param / any-param
GEO-value = URI
Example:
GEO:geo:37.386013,-122.082932
6.6. Organizational Properties
These properties are concerned with information associated with
characteristics of the organization or organizational units of the
object that the vCard represents.
6.6.1. TITLE
Purpose: To specify the position or job of the object the vCard
represents.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: This property is based on the X.520 Title attribute. attribute
[CCITT.X520.1988].
ABNF:
TITLE-param = "VALUE=text" / language-param / pid-param
/ pref-param / altid-param / type-param / any-param
TITLE-value = text
Example:
TITLE:Research Scientist
6.6.2. ROLE
Purpose: To specify the function or part played in a particular
situation by the object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: This property is based on the X.520 Business Category
explanatory attribute. attribute [CCITT.X520.1988]. This property is
included as an organizational type to avoid confusion with the
semantics of the TITLE property and incorrect usage of that
property when the semantics of this property is intended.
ABNF:
ROLE-param = "VALUE=text" / language-param / pid-param / pref-param
/ type-param / altid-param / any-param
ROLE-value = text
Example:
ROLE:Project Leader
6.6.3. LOGO
Purpose: To specify a graphic image of a logo associated with the
object the vCard represents.
Value type: A single URI.
Cardinality: *
ABNF:
LOGO-param = "VALUE=uri" / language-param / pid-param / pref-param
/ type-param / mediatype-param / altid-param / any-param
LOGO-value = URI
Examples:
LOGO:http://www.example.com/pub/logos/abccorp.jpg
LOGO:data:image/jpeg;base64,MIICajCCAdOgAwIBAgICBEUwDQYJKoZIhvc
AQEEBQAwdzELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxLDAqBgNVBAoTI05ldHNjYXBlIENvbW11bm
ljYXRpb25zIENvcnBvcmF0aW9uMRwwGgYDVQQLExNJbmZvcm1hdGlvbiBTeXN0
<...the remainder of base64-encoded data...>
6.6.4. ORG
Purpose: To specify the organizational name and units associated
with the vCard.
Value type: A single structured text value consisting of components
separated by the SEMI-COLON SEMICOLON character (U+003B).
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The property is based on the X.520 Organization Name
and Organization Unit attributes. attributes [CCITT.X520.1988]. The property
value is a structured type consisting of the organization name,
followed by zero or more levels of organizational unit names.
The SORT-AS parameter MAY be applied to this property.
ABNF:
ORG-param = "VALUE=text" / sort-as-param / language-param
/ pid-param / pref-param / altid-param / type-param
/ any-param
ORG-value = component *(";" component)
Example: A property value consisting of an organizational name,
organizational unit #1 name name, and organizational unit #2 name.
ORG:ABC\, Inc.;North American Division;Marketing
6.6.5. MEMBER
Purpose: To include a member in the group this vCard represents.
Value type: A single URI. It MAY refer to something other than a
vCard object. For example, an e-mail email distribution list could
employ the "mailto" URI scheme [RFC6068] for efficiency.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: This property MUST NOT be present unless the value of
the KIND property is "group".
ABNF:
MEMBER-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / altid-param
/ mediatype-param / any-param
MEMBER-value = URI
Examples:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
KIND:group
FN:The Doe family
MEMBER:urn:uuid:03a0e51f-d1aa-4385-8a53-e29025acd8af
MEMBER:urn:uuid:b8767877-b4a1-4c70-9acc-505d3819e519
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:John Doe
UID:urn:uuid:03a0e51f-d1aa-4385-8a53-e29025acd8af
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:Jane Doe
UID:urn:uuid:b8767877-b4a1-4c70-9acc-505d3819e519
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
KIND:group
FN:Funky distribution list
MEMBER:mailto:[email protected]
MEMBER:xmpp:[email protected]
MEMBER:sip:[email protected]
MEMBER:tel:+1-418-555-5555
END:VCARD
6.6.6. RELATED
Purpose: To specify a relationship between another entity and the
entity represented by this vCard.
Value type: A single URI. It can also be reset to a single text
value. The text value can be used to specify textual information.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The TYPE parameter MAY be used to characterize the
related entity. It contains a comma-separated list of values that
are registered from with IANA as described in Section 10.2. The
registry is pre-populated with the values defined in [xfn]. This
document also specifies two additional values:
agent: an entity who may sometimes act on behalf of the entity
associated with the vCard.
emergency: indicates an emergency contact
ABNF:
RELATED-param = RELATED-param-uri / RELATED-param-text
RELATED-value = URI / text
; Parameter and value MUST match.
RELATED-param-uri = "VALUE=uri" / mediatype-param
RELATED-param-text = "VALUE=text" / language-param
RELATED-param =/ pid-param / pref-param / altid-param / type-param
/ any-param
type-param-related = related-type-value *("," related-type-value)
; type-param-related MUST NOT be used with a property other than
; RELATED.
related-type-value = "contact" / "acquaintance" / "friend" / "met"
/ "co-worker" / "colleague" / "co-resident"
/ "neighbor" / "child" / "parent"
/ "sibling" / "spouse" / "kin" / "muse"
/ "crush" / "date" / "sweetheart" / "me"
/ "agent" / "emergency"
Examples:
RELATED;TYPE=friend:urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6
RELATED;TYPE=contact:http://example.com/directory/jdoe.vcf
RELATED;TYPE=co-worker;VALUE=text:Please contact my assistant Jane
Doe for any inquiries.
6.7. Explanatory Properties
These properties are concerned with additional explanations, such as
that related to informational notes or revisions specific to the
vCard.
6.7.1. CATEGORIES
Purpose: To specify application category information about the
vCard. Also
vCard, also known as "tags".
Value type: One or more text values separated by a COMMA character
(U+002C).
Cardinality: *
ABNF:
CATEGORIES-param = "VALUE=text" / pid-param / pref-param
/ type-param / altid-param / any-param
CATEGORIES-value = text-list
Example:
CATEGORIES:TRAVEL AGENT
CATEGORIES:INTERNET,IETF,INDUSTRY,INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
6.7.2. NOTE
Purpose: To specify supplemental information or a comment that is
associated with the vCard.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: The property is based on the X.520 Description
attribute.
attribute [CCITT.X520.1988].
ABNF:
NOTE-param = "VALUE=text" / language-param / pid-param / pref-param
/ type-param / altid-param / any-param
NOTE-value = text
Example:
NOTE:This fax number is operational 0800 to 1715
EST\, Mon-Fri.
6.7.3. PRODID
Purpose: To specify the identifier for the product that created the
vCard object.
Type value: A single text value.
Cardinality: *1
Special notes: Implementations SHOULD use a method such as that
specified for Formal Public Identifiers in [ISO9070] or for
Universal Resource Names in [RFC3406] to ensure that the text
value is unique.
ABNF:
PRODID-param = "VALUE=text" / any-param
PRODID-value = text
Example:
PRODID:-//ONLINE DIRECTORY//NONSGML Version 1//EN
6.7.4. REV
Purpose: To specify revision information about the current vCard.
Value type: A single timestamp value.
Cardinality: *1
Special notes: The value distinguishes the current revision of the
information in this vCard for other renditions of the information.
ABNF:
REV-param = "VALUE=timestamp" / any-param
REV-value = timestamp
Example:
REV:19951031T222710Z
6.7.5. SOUND
Purpose: To specify a digital sound content information that
annotates some aspect of the vCard. This property is often used
to specify the proper pronunciation of the name property value of
the vCard.
Value type: A single URI.
Cardinality: *
ABNF:
SOUND-param = "VALUE=uri" / language-param / pid-param / pref-param
/ type-param / mediatype-param / altid-param
/ any-param
SOUND-value = URI
Example:
SOUND:CID:[email protected]
SOUND:data:audio/basic;base64,MIICajCCAdOgAwIBAgICBEUwDQYJKoZIh
AQEEBQAwdzELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxLDAqBgNVBAoTI05ldHNjYXBlIENvbW11bm
ljYXRpb25zIENvcnBvcmF0aW9uMRwwGgYDVQQLExNJbmZvcm1hdGlvbiBTeXN0
<...the remainder of base64-encoded data...>
6.7.6. UID
Purpose: To specify a value that represents a globally unique
identifier corresponding to the entity associated with the vCard.
Value type: A single URI value. It MAY also be reset to free-form
text.
Cardinality: *1
Special notes: This property is used to uniquely identify the object
that the vCard represents. The "uuid" URN namespace defined in
[RFC4122] is particularly well-suited well suited to this task, but other URI
schemes MAY be used. Free-form text MAY also be used.
ABNF:
UID-param = UID-uri-param / UID-text-param
UID-value = UID-uri-value / UID-text-value
; Value and parameter MUST match.
UID-uri-param = "VALUE=uri"
UID-uri-value = URI
UID-text-param = "VALUE=text"
UID-text-value = text
UID-param =/ any-param
Example:
UID:urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6
6.7.7. CLIENTPIDMAP
Purpose: To give a global meaning to a local PID source identifier.
Value type: A semicolon-separated pair of values. The first field
is a small integer corresponding to the second field of a PID
parameter instance. The second field is a URI. The "uuid" URN
namespace defined in [RFC4122] is particularly well-suited well suited to this
task, but other URI schemes MAY be used.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: PID source identifiers (the source identifier is the
second field in a PID parameter instance) are small integers that
only have significance within the scope of a single vCard
instance. Each distinct source identifier present in a vCard MUST
have an associated CLIENTPIDMAP. See Section 7 for more details
on the usage of CLIENTPIDMAP.
PID source identifiers MUST be strictly positive. Zero is not
allowed.
As a special exception, the PID parameter MUST NOT be applied to
this property.
ABNF:
CLIENTPIDMAP-param = any-param
CLIENTPIDMAP-value = 1*DIGIT ";" URI
Example:
TEL;PID=3.1,4.2;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
EMAIL;PID=4.1,5.2:[email protected]
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:3df403f4-5924-4bb7-b077-3c711d9eb34b
CLIENTPIDMAP:2;urn:uuid:d89c9c7a-2e1b-4832-82de-7e992d95faa5
6.7.8. URL
Purpose: To specify a uniform resource locator associated with the
object that to which the vCard refers to. refers. Examples for individuals
include personal web sites, blogs, and social networking site
identifiers.
Cardinality: *
Value type: A single uri value.
ABNF:
URL-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / altid-param / any-param
URL-value = URI
Example:
URL:http://example.org/restaurant.french/~chezchic.html
6.7.9. VERSION
Purpose: To specify the version of the vCard specification used to
format this vCard.
Value type: A single text value.
Cardinality: 1
Special notes: This property MUST be present in the vCard object,
and it must appear immediately after BEGIN:VCARD. The value MUST
be "4.0" if the vCard corresponds to this specification. Note
that earlier versions of vCard allowed this property to be placed
anywhere in the vCard object, or even to be absent.
ABNF:
VERSION-param = "VALUE=text" / any-param
VERSION-value = "4.0"
Example:
VERSION:4.0
6.8. Security Properties
These properties are concerned with the security of communication
pathways or access to the vCard.
6.8.1. KEY
Purpose: To specify a public key or authentication certificate
associated with the object that the vCard represents.
Value type: A single URI. It can also be reset to a text value.
Cardinality: *
ABNF:
KEY-param = KEY-uri-param / KEY-text-param
KEY-value = KEY-uri-value / KEY-text-value
; Value and parameter MUST match.
KEY-uri-param = "VALUE=uri" / mediatype-param
KEY-uri-value = URI
KEY-text-param = "VALUE=text"
KEY-text-value = text
KEY-param =/ altid-param / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ any-param
Examples:
KEY:http://www.example.com/keys/jdoe.cer
KEY;MEDIATYPE=application/pgp-keys:ftp://example.com/keys/jdoe
KEY:data:application/pgp-keys;base64,MIICajCCAdOgAwIBAgICBE
UwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEEBQAwdzELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxLDAqBgNVBAoTI05l
<... remainder of base64-encoded data ...>
6.9. Calendar Properties
These properties are further specified in [RFC2739].
6.9.1. FBURL
Purpose: To specify the URI for the busy time associated with the
object that the vCard represents.
Value type: A single URI value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: Where multiple FBURL properties are specified, the
default FBURL property is indicated with the PREF parameter. The
FTP [RFC1738] or HTTP [RFC2616] type of URI points to an iCalendar
[RFC5545] object associated with a snapshot of the next few weeks
or months of busy time data. If the iCalendar object is
represented as a file or document, its file extension should be
".ifb".
ABNF:
FBURL-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / altid-param / any-param
FBURL-value = URI
Examples:
FBURL;PREF=1:http://www.example.com/busy/janedoe
FBURL;MEDIATYPE=text/calendar:ftp://example.com/busy/project-a.ifb
6.9.2. CALADRURI
Purpose: To specify the calendar user address [RFC5545] to which a
scheduling request [RFC5546] should be sent for the object
represented by the vCard.
Value type: A single URI value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: Where multiple CALADRURI properties are specified,
the default CALADRURI property is indicated with the PREF
parameter.
ABNF:
CALADRURI-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / altid-param / any-param
CALADRURI-value = URI
Example:
CALADRURI;PREF=1:mailto:[email protected]
CALADRURI:http://example.com/calendar/jdoe
6.9.3. CALURI
Purpose: To specify the URI for a calendar associated with the
object represented by the vCard.
Value type: A single URI value.
Cardinality: *
Special notes: Where multiple CALURI properties are specified, the
default CALURI property is indicated with the PREF parameter. The
property should contain a URI pointing to an iCalendar [RFC5545]
object associated with a snapshot of the user's calendar store.
If the iCalendar object is represented as a file or document, its
file extension should be ".ics".
ABNF:
CALURI-param = "VALUE=uri" / pid-param / pref-param / type-param
/ mediatype-param / altid-param / any-param
CALURI-value = URI
Examples:
CALURI;PREF=1:http://cal.example.com/calA
CALURI;MEDIATYPE=text/calendar:ftp://ftp.example.com/calA.ics
6.10. Extended Properties and Parameters
The properties and parameters defined by this document can be
extended. Non-standard, private properties and parameters with a
name starting with "X-" may be defined bilaterally between two
cooperating agents without outside registration or standardization.
7. Synchronization
vCard data often needs to be synchronized between devices. In this
context, synchronization is defined as the intelligent merging of two
representations of the same object. vCard 4.0 includes mechanisms to
aid this process.
7.1. Mechanisms
Two mechanisms are available: the UID property is used to match
multiple instances of the same vCard, while the PID parameter is used
to match multiple instances of the same property.
The term "matching" is used here to mean recognizing that two
instances are in fact representations of the same object. For
example, a single vCard that is shared with someone results in two
vCard instances. After they have evolved separately, they still
represent the same object, and therefore may be matched by a
synchronization engine.
7.1.1. Matching vCard Instances
vCard instances for which the UID properties (Section 6.7.6) are
equivalent MUST be matched. Equivalence is determined as specified
in [RFC3986], Section 6.
In all other cases, vCard instances MAY be matched at the discretion
of the synchronization engine.
7.1.2. Matching Property Instances
Property instances belonging to unmatched vCards MUST NOT be matched.
Property instances whose name (e.g. (e.g., EMAIL, TEL, etc.) is not the
same MUST NOT be matched.
Property instances whose name is CLIENTPIDMAP are handled separately
and MUST NOT be matched. The synchronization MUST ensure that there
is consistency of CLIENTPIDMAPs among matched vCard instances.
Property instances belonging to matched vCards, whose name is the
same, and whose maximum cardinality is 1 1, MUST be matched.
Property instances belonging to matched vCards, whose name is the
same, and whose PID parameters match match, MUST be matched. See
Section 7.1.3 for details on PID matching.
In all other cases, property instances MAY be matched at the
discretion of the synchronization engine.
7.1.3. PID Matching
Two PID values for which the first fields are equivalent represent
the same local value.
Two PID values representing the same local value and for which the
second fields point to CLIENTPIDMAP properties whose second field
URIs are equivalent (as specified in [RFC3986], Section 6) also
represent the same global value.
PID parameters for which at least one pair of their values represent
the same global value MUST be matched.
In all other cases, PID parameters MAY be matched at the discretion
of the synchronization engine.
For example, PID value "5.1", in the first vCard below, and PID value
"5.2", in the second vCard below, represent the same global value.
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
EMAIL;PID=4.2,5.1:[email protected]
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:3eef374e-7179-4196-a914-27358c3e6527
CLIENTPIDMAP:2;urn:uuid:42bcd5a7-1699-4514-87b4-056edf68e9cc
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
EMAIL;PID=5.1,5.2:[email protected]
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:0c75c629-6a8d-4d5e-a07f-1bb35846854d
CLIENTPIDMAP:2;urn:uuid:3eef374e-7179-4196-a914-27358c3e6527
END:VCARD
7.2. Example
7.2.1. Creation
The following simple vCard is first created on a given device.
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN;PID=1.1:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
END:VCARD
This new vCard is assigned the UID
"urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1" by the creating
device. The FN and EMAIL properties are assigned the same local
value of 1, and this value is given global context by associating it
with "urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556", which
represents the creating device. We are at liberty to reuse the same
local value since instances of different properties will never be
matched. The N property has no PID because it is forbidden by its
maximum cardinality of 1.
7.2.2. Initial Sharing
This vCard is shared with a second device. Upon inspecting the UID
property, the second device understands that this is a new vCard
(i.e.
(i.e., unmatched) and thus the synchronization results in a simple
copy.
7.2.3. Adding and Sharing a Property
A new phone number is created on the first device, then the vCard is
shared with the second device. This is what the second device
receives:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN;PID=1.1:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
END:VCARD
Upon inspecting the UID property, the second device matches the vCard
it received to the vCard that it already has stored. It then starts
comparing the properties of the two vCards in same-named pairs.
The FN properties are matched because the PID parameters have the
same global value. Since the property value is the same, no update
takes place.
The N properties are matched automatically because their maximum
cardinality is 1. Since the property value is the same, no update
takes place.
The EMAIL properties are matched because the PID parameters have the
same global value. Since the property value is the same, no update
takes place.
The TEL property in the new vCard is not matched to any in the stored
vCard because no property in the stored vCard has the same name.
Therefore, this property is copied from the new vCard to the stored
vCard.
The CLIENTPIDMAP property is handled separately by the
synchronization engine. It ensures that it is consistent with the
stored one. If it was not, the results would be up to the
synchronization engine, and thus undefined by this document.
7.2.4. Simultaneous Editing
A new email address and a new phone number are added to the vCard on
each of the two devices, and then a new synchronization event
happens. Here are the vCards that are communicated to each other:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN;PID=1.1:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.1:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN;PID=1.1:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.2:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.2;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
CLIENTPIDMAP:2;urn:uuid:1f762d2b-03c4-4a83-9a03-75ff658a6eee
END:VCARD
On the first device, the same PID source identifier (1) is reused for
the new EMAIL and TEL properties. On the second device, a new source
identifier (2) is generated, and a corresponding CLIENTPIDMAP
property is created. It contains the second device's identifier,
"urn:uuid:1f762d2b-03c4-4a83-9a03-75ff658a6eee".
The new EMAIL properties are unmatched on both sides since the PID
global value is new in both cases. The sync thus results in a copy
on both sides.
Although the situation appears to be the same for the TEL properties,
in this case the synchronization engine is particularly smart and
matches the two new TEL properties even though their PID global
values are different. Note that in this case, the rules of section
Section 7.1.2 state that two properties MAY be matched at the
discretion of the synchronization engine. Therefore, the two
properties are merged.
All this results in the following vCard which is stored on both
devices:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.2:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.1,2.2;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
CLIENTPIDMAP:2;urn:uuid:1f762d2b-03c4-4a83-9a03-75ff658a6eee
END:VCARD
7.2.5. Global Context Simplification
The two devices finish their synchronization procedure by simplifying
their global contexts. Since they haven't talked to any other
device, the following vCard is for all purposes equivalent to the
above. It is also shorter.
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=3.1:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
END:VCARD
The details of global context simplification are unspecified by this
document. They are left up to the synchronization engine. This
example is merely intended to illustrate the possibility, which
investigating would be, in the authors' opinion, worthwhile.
8. Example: Author's vCard
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:Simon Perreault
N:Perreault;Simon;;;ing. jr,M.Sc.
BDAY:--0203
ANNIVERSARY:20090808T1430-0500
GENDER:M
LANG;PREF=1:fr
LANG;PREF=2:en
ORG;TYPE=work:Viagenie
ADR;TYPE=work:;Suite D2-630;2875 Laurier;
Quebec;QC;G1V 2M2;Canada
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,voice";PREF=1:tel:+1-418-656-9254;ext=102
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,cell,voice,video,text":tel:+1-418-262-6501
EMAIL;TYPE=work:[email protected]
GEO;TYPE=work:geo:46.772673,-71.282945
KEY;TYPE=work;VALUE=uri:
http://www.viagenie.ca/simon.perreault/simon.asc
TZ:-0500
URL;TYPE=home:http://nomis80.org
END:VCARD
9. Security Considerations
o Internet mail is often used to transport vCards and is subject to
many well known security attacks, including monitoring, replay,
and forgery. Care should be taken by any directory service in
allowing information to leave the scope of the service itself,
where any access controls or confidentiality can no longer be
guaranteed. Applications should also take care to display
directory data in a "safe" environment
o vCards can carry cryptographic keys or certificates, as described
in Section 6.8.1.
o vCards often carry information that can be sensitive (e.g.
birthday, address, and phone information). Although vCards have
no inherent authentication or confidentiality provisions, they can
easily be carried by any security mechanism that transfers MIME
objects to address authentication or confidentiality (e.g. S/MIME
[RFC5751], OpenPGP [RFC4880]). In cases where the confidentiality
or authenticity of information contained in vCard is a concern,
the vCard SHOULD be transported using one of these secure
mechanisms. The KEY property (Section 6.8.1) can be used to
transport the public key used by these mechanisms.
o The information in a vCard may become out of date. In cases where
the vitality of data is important to an originator of a vCard, the
SOURCE property (Section 6.1.3) SHOULD be specified. In addition,
the "REV" type described in section Section 6.7.4 can be specified
to indicate the last time that the vCard data was updated.
o Many vCard properties may be used to transport URIs. Please refer
to [RFC3986] section 7 for considerations related to URIs.
10. IANA Considerations
10.1. Media Type Registration
IANA is asked to register the following Media Type (in
<http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/>), and to mark the
text/directory Media Type as DEPRECATED.
To: [email protected]
Subject: Registration of media type text/vcard
Type name: text
Subtype name: vcard
Required parameters: none
Optional parameters: version
The "version" parameter is to be interpreted identically as the
VERSION vCard property. If this parameter is present, all vCards
in a text/vcard body part MUST have a VERSION property with value
identical to that of this MIME parameter.
"charset": as defined for text/plain [RFC2046]; encodings other
than UTF-8 [RFC3629] MUST NOT be used.
Encoding considerations: 8bit
Security considerations: See Section 9.
Interoperability considerations: The text/vcard media type is
intended to identify vCard data of any version. There are older
specifications of vCard [RFC2426][vCard21] still in common use.
While these formats are similar, they are not strictly compatible.
In general, it is necessary to inspect the value of the VERSION
property (see Section 6.7.9) for identifying the standard to which
a given vCard object conforms.
In addition, the following media types are known to have been used
to refer to vCard data. They should be considered deprecated in
favor of text/vcard.
* text/directory
* text/directory; profile=vcard
* text/x-vcard
Published specification: draft-ietf-vcarddav-vcardrev-22
Applications that use this media type: They are numerous, diverse,
and include mail user agents, instant messaging clients, address
book applications, directory servers, customer relationship
management software.
Additional information:
Magic number(s):
File extension(s): .vcf .vcard
Macintosh file type code(s):
Person & email address to contact for further information: vCard
discussion mailing list <[email protected]>
Intended usage: COMMON
Restrictions on usage: none
Author: Simon Perreault
Change controller: IETF
10.2. Registering New vCard Elements
This section defines the process for registering new or modified
vCard elements (i.e. properties, parameters, value data types, and
values) with IANA. It does not contain any immediate IANA actions.
10.2.1. Registration Procedure
The IETF will create a mailing list, [email protected] [1], which can
be used for public discussion of vCard element proposals prior to
registration. Use of the mailing list is strongly encouraged. The
IESG will appoint a designated expert who will monitor the
[email protected] [1] mailing list and review registrations.
Registration of new vCard elements MUST be reviewed by the designated
expert and published in an RFC. A Standard Track RFC is REQUIRED for
the registration of new value data types that modify existing
properties. A Standard Track RFC is also REQUIRED for registration
of vCard elements that modify vCard elements previously documented in
a Standard Track RFC.
The registration procedure begins when a completed registration
template, defined in the sections below, is sent to
[email protected] [1] and [email protected] [2]. The designated expert
is expected to tell IANA and the submitter of the registration within
two weeks whether the registration is approved, approved with minor
changes, or rejected with cause. When a registration is rejected
with cause, it can be re-submitted if the concerns listed in the
cause are addressed. Decisions made by the designated expert can be
appealed to the IESG Applications Area Director, then to the IESG.
They follow the normal appeals procedure for IESG decisions.
Once the registration procedure concludes successfully, IANA creates
or modifies the corresponding record in the vCard registry. The
completed registration template is discarded.
An RFC specifying new vCard elements MUST include the completed
registration templates, which MAY be expanded with additional
information. These completed templates are intended to go in the
body of the document, not in the IANA Considerations section.
Finally, note that there is an XML representation for vCard defined
in [I-D.ietf-vcarddav-vcardxml]. An XML representation SHOULD be
defined for new vCard elements.
10.2.2. Vendor Namespace
The vendor namespace is used for vCard elements associated with
commercially available products. "Vendor" or "producer" are
construed as equivalent and very broadly in this context.
A registration may be placed in the vendor namespace by anyone who
needs to interchange files associated with the particular product.
However, the registration formally belongs to the vendor or
organization handling the vCard elements in the namespace being
registered. Changes to the specification will be made at their
request, as discussed in subsequent sections.
vCard elements belonging to the vendor namespace will be
distinguished by the "VND-" prefix. This is followed by an IANA-
registered Private Enterprise Number (PEN), a dash, and a vCard
element designation of the vendor's choosing (e.g., "VND-123456-
MUDPIE").
While public exposure and review of vCard elements to be registered
in the vendor namespace is not required, using the
[email protected] [1] mailing list for review is strongly encouraged
to improve the quality of those specifications. Registrations in the
vendor namespace may be submitted directly to the IANA.
10.2.3. Registration Template for Properties
A property is defined by completing the following template.
Namespace: Empty for the global namespace, "VND-NNNN-" for a vendor-
specific property (where NNNN is replaced by the vendor's PEN).
Property name: The name of the property.
Purpose: The purpose of the property. Give a short but clear
description.
Value type: Any of the valid value types for the property value
needs to be specified. The default value type also needs to be
specified.
Cardinality: See Section 6.
Property parameters: Any of the valid property parameters for the
property MUST be specified.
Description: Any special notes about the property, how it is to be
used, etc.
Format definition: The ABNF for the property definition needs to be
specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of the property needs
to be specified.
10.2.4. Registration Template for Parameters
A parameter is defined by completing the following template.
Namespace: Empty for the global namespace, "VND-NNNN-" for a vendor-
specific property (where NNNN is replaced by the vendor's PEN).
Parameter name: The name of the parameter.
Purpose: The purpose of the parameter. Give a short but clear
description.
Description: Any special notes about the parameter, how it is to be
used, etc.
Format definition: The ABNF for the parameter definition needs to be
specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of the parameter needs
to be specified.
10.2.5. Registration Template for Value Data Types
A value data type is defined by completing the following template.
Value name: The name of the value type.
Purpose: The purpose of the value type. Give a short but clear
description.
Description: Any special notes about the value type, how it is to be
used, etc.
Format definition: The ABNF for the value type definition needs to
be specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of the value type
needs to be specified.
10.2.6. Registration Template for Values
A value is defined by completing the following template.
Value: The value literal.
Purpose: The purpose of the value. Give a short but clear
description.
Conformance: The vCard properties and/or parameters that can take
this value needs to be specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of the value needs to
be specified.
The following is a fictitious example of a registration of a vCard
value:
Value: supervisor
Purpose: It means that the related entity is the direct hierarchical
superior (i.e. supervisor or manager) of the entity this vCard
represents.
Conformance: This value can be used with the "TYPE" parameter
applied on the "RELATED" property.
Example(s):
RELATED;TYPE=supervisor:urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6
10.3. Initial vCard Elements Registries
The IANA is requested to create and maintain the following registries
for vCard elements with pointers to appropriate reference documents.
The registries will be grouped together under the heading "vCard
Elements".
10.3.1. Properties Registry
The following table is to be used to initialize the properties
registry.
+-----------+--------------+------------------------+
| Namespace | Property | Reference |
+-----------+--------------+------------------------+
| | SOURCE | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.3 |
| | KIND | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.4 |
| | XML | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.5 |
| | FN | RFCXXXX, Section 6.2.1 |
| | N | RFCXXXX, Section 6.2.2 |
| | NICKNAME | RFCXXXX, Section 6.2.3 |
| | PHOTO | RFCXXXX, Section 6.2.4 |
| | BDAY | RFCXXXX, Section 6.2.5 |
| | ANNIVERSARY | RFCXXXX, Section 6.2.6 |
| | GENDER | RFCXXXX, Section 6.2.7 |
| | ADR | RFCXXXX, Section 6.3.1 |
| | TEL | RFCXXXX, Section 6.4.1 |
| | EMAIL | RFCXXXX, Section 6.4.2 |
| | IMPP | RFCXXXX, Section 6.4.3 |
| | LANG | RFCXXXX, Section 6.4.4 |
| | TZ | RFCXXXX, Section 6.5.1 |
| | GEO | RFCXXXX, Section 6.5.2 |
| | TITLE | RFCXXXX, Section 6.6.1 |
| | ROLE | RFCXXXX, Section 6.6.2 |
| | LOGO | RFCXXXX, Section 6.6.3 |
| | ORG | RFCXXXX, Section 6.6.4 |
| | MEMBER | RFCXXXX, Section 6.6.5 |
| | RELATED | RFCXXXX, Section 6.6.6 |
| | CATEGORIES | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.1 |
| | NOTE | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.2 |
| | PRODID | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.3 |
| | REV | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.4 |
| | SOUND | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.5 |
| | UID | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.6 |
| | CLIENTPIDMAP | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.7 |
| | URL | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.8 |
| | VERSION | RFCXXXX, Section 6.7.9 |
| | KEY | RFCXXXX, Section 6.8.1 |
| | FBURL | RFCXXXX, Section 6.9.1 |
| | CALADRURI | RFCXXXX, Section 6.9.2 |
| | CALURI | RFCXXXX, Section 6.9.3 |
+-----------+--------------+------------------------+
10.3.2. Parameters Registry
The following table is to be used to initialize the parameters
registry.
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------+
| Namespace | Parameter | Reference |
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------+
| | LANGUAGE | RFCXXXX, Section 5.1 |
| | VALUE | RFCXXXX, Section 5.2 |
| | PREF | RFCXXXX, Section 5.3 |
| | ALTID | RFCXXXX, Section 5.4 |
| | PID | RFCXXXX, Section 5.5 |
| | TYPE | RFCXXXX, Section 5.6 |
| | MEDIATYPE | RFCXXXX, Section 5.7 |
| | CALSCALE | RFCXXXX, Section 5.8 |
| | SORT-AS | RFCXXXX, Section 5.9 |
| | GEO | RFCXXXX, Section 5.10 |
| | TZ | RFCXXXX, Section 5.11 |
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------+
10.3.3. Value Data Types Registry
The following table is to be used to initialize the parameters
registry.
+------------------+------------------------+
| Value Data Type | Reference |
+------------------+------------------------+
| BOOLEAN | RFCXXXX, Section 4.4 |
| DATE | RFCXXXX, Section 4.3.1 |
| TIME | RFCXXXX, Section 4.3.2 |
| DATE-TIME | RFCXXXX, Section 4.3.3 |
| DATE-AND-OR-TIME | RFCXXXX, Section 4.3.4 |
| TIMESTAMP | RFCXXXX, Section 4.3.5 |
| FLOAT | RFCXXXX, Section 4.6 |
| INTEGER | RFCXXXX, Section 4.5 |
| TEXT | RFCXXXX, Section 4.1 |
| URI | RFCXXXX, Section 4.2 |
| UTC-OFFSET | RFCXXXX, Section 4.7 |
| LANGUAGE-TAG | RFCXXXX, Section 4.8 |
+------------------+------------------------+
10.3.4. Values Registries
Separate tables will be used for property and parameter values.
The following table is to be used to initialize the property values
registry.
+----------+------------+------------------------+
| Property | Value | Reference |
+----------+------------+------------------------+
| BEGIN | VCARD | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.1 |
| END | VCARD | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.2 |
| KIND | individual | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.4 |
| KIND | group | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.4 |
| KIND | org | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.4 |
| KIND | location | RFCXXXX, Section 6.1.4 |
+----------+------------+------------------------+
The following table is to be used to initialize the parameter values
registry.
+------------------------+-----------+--------------+---------------+
| Property | Parameter | Value | Reference |
+------------------------+-----------+--------------+---------------+
| FN, NICKNAME, PHOTO, | TYPE | work | RFCXXXX, |
| ADR, TEL, EMAIL, IMPP, | | | Section 5.6 |
| LANG, TZ, GEO, TITLE, | | | |
| ROLE, LOGO, ORG, | | | |
| RELATED, CATEGORIES, | | | |
| NOTE, SOUND, URL, KEY, | | | |
| FBURL, CALADRURI, and | | | |
| CALURI | | | |
| FN, NICKNAME, PHOTO, | TYPE | home | RFCXXXX, |
| ADR, TEL, EMAIL, IMPP, | | | Section 5.6 |
| LANG, TZ, GEO, TITLE, | | | |
| ROLE, LOGO, ORG, | | | |
| RELATED, CATEGORIES, | | | |
| NOTE, SOUND, URL, KEY, | | | |
| FBURL, CALADRURI, and | | | |
| CALURI | | | |
| TEL | TYPE | text | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | voice | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | fax | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | cell | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | video | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | pager | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| BDAY, ANNIVERSARY | CALSCALE | gregorian | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.2.5 |
| RELATED | TYPE | contact | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | copied from the new vCard to the stored
vCard.
The CLIENTPIDMAP property is handled separately by the
synchronization engine. It ensures that it is consistent with the
stored one. If it was not, the results would be up to the
synchronization engine, and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | acquaintance | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | thus undefined by this document.
7.2.4. Simultaneous Editing
A new email address and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | friend | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | a new phone number are added to the vCard on
each of the two devices, and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | met | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | then a new synchronization event
happens. Here are the vCards that are communicated to each other:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN;PID=1.1:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.1:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN;PID=1.1:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.2:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.2;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
CLIENTPIDMAP:2;urn:uuid:1f762d2b-03c4-4a83-9a03-75ff658a6eee
END:VCARD
On the first device, the same PID source identifier (1) is reused for
the new EMAIL and TEL properties. On the second device, a new source
identifier (2) is generated, and a corresponding CLIENTPIDMAP
property is created. It contains the second device's identifier,
"urn:uuid:1f762d2b-03c4-4a83-9a03-75ff658a6eee".
The new EMAIL properties are unmatched on both sides since the PID
global value is new in both cases. The sync thus results in a copy
on both sides.
Although the situation appears to be the same for the TEL properties,
in this case, the synchronization engine is particularly smart and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | co-worker | RFCXXXX, |
| | | |
matches the two new TEL properties even though their PID global
values are different. Note that in this case, the rules of
Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | 7.1.2 state that two properties MAY be matched at the
discretion of the synchronization engine. Therefore, the two
properties are merged.
All this results in the following vCard, which is stored on both
devices:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.2:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.1,2.2;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
CLIENTPIDMAP:2;urn:uuid:1f762d2b-03c4-4a83-9a03-75ff658a6eee
END:VCARD
7.2.5. Global Context Simplification
The two devices finish their synchronization procedure by simplifying
their global contexts. Since they haven't talked to any other
device, the following vCard is for all purposes equivalent to the
above. It is also shorter.
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
UID:urn:uuid:4fbe8971-0bc3-424c-9c26-36c3e1eff6b1
FN:J. Doe
N:Doe;J.;;;
EMAIL;PID=1.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=2.1:[email protected]
EMAIL;PID=3.1:[email protected]
TEL;PID=1.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-555-555-5555
TEL;PID=2.1;VALUE=uri:tel:+1-666-666-6666
CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:53e374d9-337e-4727-8803-a1e9c14e0556
END:VCARD
The details of global context simplification are unspecified by this
document. They are left up to the synchronization engine. This
example is merely intended to illustrate the possibility, which
investigating would be, in the author's opinion, worthwhile.
8. Example: Author's vCard
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:Simon Perreault
N:Perreault;Simon;;;ing. jr,M.Sc.
BDAY:--0203
ANNIVERSARY:20090808T1430-0500
GENDER:M
LANG;PREF=1:fr
LANG;PREF=2:en
ORG;TYPE=work:Viagenie
ADR;TYPE=work:;Suite D2-630;2875 Laurier;
Quebec;QC;G1V 2M2;Canada
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,voice";PREF=1:tel:+1-418-656-9254;ext=102
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE="work,cell,voice,video,text":tel:+1-418-262-6501
EMAIL;TYPE=work:[email protected]
GEO;TYPE=work:geo:46.772673,-71.282945
KEY;TYPE=work;VALUE=uri:
http://www.viagenie.ca/simon.perreault/simon.asc
TZ:-0500
URL;TYPE=home:http://nomis80.org
END:VCARD
9. Security Considerations
o Internet mail is often used to transport vCards and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | colleague | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | is subject to
many well-known security attacks, including monitoring, replay,
and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | co-resident | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | forgery. Care should be taken by any directory service in
allowing information to leave the scope of the service itself,
where any access controls or confidentiality can no longer be
guaranteed. Applications should also take care to display
directory data in a "safe" environment.
o vCards can carry cryptographic keys or certificates, as described
in Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | 6.8.1.
o vCards often carry information that can be sensitive (e.g.,
birthday, address, and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | neighbor | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | phone information). Although vCards have
no inherent authentication or confidentiality provisions, they can
easily be carried by any security mechanism that transfers MIME
objects to address authentication or confidentiality (e.g., S/MIME
[RFC5751], OpenPGP [RFC4880]). In cases where the confidentiality
or authenticity of information contained in vCard is a concern,
the vCard SHOULD be transported using one of these secure
mechanisms. The KEY property (Section 6.8.1) can be used to
transport the public key used by these mechanisms.
o The information in a vCard may become out of date. In cases where
the vitality of data is important to an originator of a vCard, the
SOURCE property (Section 6.1.3) SHOULD be specified. In addition,
the "REV" type described in Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | child | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | 6.7.4 can be specified to
indicate the last time that the vCard data was updated.
o Many vCard properties may be used to transport URIs. Please refer
to [RFC3986], Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | 7, for considerations related to URIs.
10. IANA Considerations
10.1. Media Type Registration
IANA has registered the following Media Type (in
<http://www.iana.org/>) and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | parent | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | marked the text/directory Media Type as
DEPRECATED.
To: [email protected]
Subject: Registration of media type text/vcard
Type name: text
Subtype name: vcard
Required parameters: none
Optional parameters: version
The "version" parameter is to be interpreted identically as the
VERSION vCard property. If this parameter is present, all vCards
in a text/vcard body part MUST have a VERSION property with value
identical to that of this MIME parameter.
"charset": as defined for text/plain [RFC2046]; encodings other
than UTF-8 [RFC3629] MUST NOT be used.
Encoding considerations: 8bit
Security considerations: See Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | 9.
Interoperability considerations: The text/vcard media type is
intended to identify vCard data of any version. There are older
specifications of vCard [RFC2426][vCard21] still in common use.
While these formats are similar, they are not strictly compatible.
In general, it is necessary to inspect the value of the VERSION
property (see Section 6.7.9) for identifying the standard to which
a given vCard object conforms.
In addition, the following media types are known to have been used
to refer to vCard data. They should be considered deprecated in
favor of text/vcard.
* text/directory
* text/directory; profile=vcard
* text/x-vcard
Published specification: RFC 6350
Applications that use this media type: They are numerous, diverse,
and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | sibling | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | include mail user agents, instant messaging clients, address
book applications, directory servers, and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | spouse | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | customer relationship
management software.
Additional information:
Magic number(s):
File extension(s): .vcf .vcard
Macintosh file type code(s):
Person & email address to contact for further information: vCard
discussion mailing list <[email protected]>
Intended usage: COMMON
Restrictions on usage: none
Author: Simon Perreault
Change controller: IETF
10.2. Registering New vCard Elements
This section defines the process for registering new or modified
vCard elements (i.e., properties, parameters, value data types, and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | kin | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | |
values) with IANA.
10.2.1. Registration Procedure
The IETF has created a mailing list, [email protected], which can be
used for public discussion of vCard element proposals prior to
registration. Use of the mailing list is strongly encouraged. The
IESG has appointed a designated expert who will monitor the
[email protected] mailing list and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | muse | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | review registrations.
Registration of new vCard elements MUST be reviewed by the designated
expert and published in an RFC. A Standards Track RFC is REQUIRED
for the registration of new value data types that modify existing
properties. A Standards Track RFC is also REQUIRED for registration
of vCard elements that modify vCard elements previously documented in
a Standards Track RFC.
The registration procedure begins when a completed registration
template, defined in the sections below, is sent to [email protected]
and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | crush | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | [email protected]. Within two weeks, the designated expert is
expected to tell IANA and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | date | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | the submitter of the registration whether
the registration is approved, approved with minor changes, or
rejected with cause. When a registration is rejected with cause, it
can be re-submitted if the concerns listed in the cause are
addressed. Decisions made by the designated expert can be appealed
to the IESG Applications Area Director, then to the IESG. They
follow the normal appeals procedure for IESG decisions.
Once the registration procedure concludes successfully, IANA creates
or modifies the corresponding record in the vCard registry. The
completed registration template is discarded.
An RFC specifying new vCard elements MUST include the completed
registration templates, which MAY be expanded with additional
information. These completed templates are intended to go in the
body of the document, not in the IANA Considerations section.
Finally, note that there is an XML representation for vCard defined
in [RFC6351]. An XML representation SHOULD be defined for new vCard
elements.
10.2.2. Vendor Namespace
The vendor namespace is used for vCard elements associated with
commercially available products. "Vendor" or "producer" are
construed as equivalent and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | sweetheart | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | very broadly in this context.
A registration may be placed in the vendor namespace by anyone who
needs to interchange files associated with the particular product.
However, the registration formally belongs to the vendor or
organization handling the vCard elements in the namespace being
registered. Changes to the specification will be made at their
request, as discussed in subsequent sections.
vCard elements belonging to the vendor namespace will be
distinguished by the "VND-" prefix. This is followed by an IANA-
registered Private Enterprise Number (PEN), a dash, and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | me | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | a vCard
element designation of the vendor's choosing (e.g., "VND-123456-
MUDPIE").
While public exposure and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | agent | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| RELATED | TYPE | emergency | RFCXXXX, |
| | | | review of vCard elements to be registered
in the vendor namespace are not required, using the [email protected]
mailing list for review is strongly encouraged to improve the quality
of those specifications. Registrations in the vendor namespace may
be submitted directly to the IANA.
10.2.3. Registration Template for Properties
A property is defined by completing the following template.
Namespace: Empty for the global namespace, "VND-NNNN-" for a vendor-
specific property (where NNNN is replaced by the vendor's PEN).
Property name: The name of the property.
Purpose: The purpose of the property. Give a short but clear
description.
Value type: Any of the valid value types for the property value
needs to be specified. The default value type also needs to be
specified.
Cardinality: See Section 6.6.6 |
+------------------------+-----------+--------------+---------------+
11. Acknowledgements 6.
Property parameters: Any of the valid property parameters for the
property MUST be specified.
Description: Any special notes about the property, how it is to be
used, etc.
Format definition: The authors would like ABNF for the property definition needs to thank Tim Howes, Mark Smith, and Frank
Dawson, be
specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of the property need
to be specified.
10.2.4. Registration Template for Parameters
A parameter is defined by completing the following template.
Namespace: Empty for the global namespace, "VND-NNNN-" for a vendor-
specific property (where NNNN is replaced by the vendor's PEN).
Parameter name: The name of the parameter.
Purpose: The purpose of the parameter. Give a short but clear
description.
Description: Any special notes about the parameter, how it is to be
used, etc.
Format definition: The ABNF for the parameter definition needs to be
specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of the parameter need
to be specified.
10.2.5. Registration Template for Value Data Types
A value data type is defined by completing the following template.
Value name: The name of the value type.
Purpose: The purpose of the value type. Give a short but clear
description.
Description: Any special notes about the value type, how it is to be
used, etc.
Format definition: The ABNF for the original authors value type definition needs to
be specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of [RFC2425] and [RFC2426], Pete
Resnick, who got this effort started and provided help along the way,
as well as value type need
to be specified.
10.2.6. Registration Template for Values
A value is defined by completing the following individuals who have participated in the
drafting, review and discussion template.
Value: The value literal.
Purpose: The purpose of the value. Give a short but clear
description.
Conformance: The vCard properties and/or parameters that can take
this memo:
Aki Niemi, Andy Mabbett, Alexander Mayrhofer, Alexey Melnikov, Anil
Srivastava, Barry Leiba, Ben Fortuna, Bernard Desruisseaux, Bernie
Hoeneisen, Bjoern Hoehrmann, Caleb Richarson, Chris Bryant, Chris
Newman, Cyrus Daboo, Daisuke Miyakawa, Dan Brickley, Dan Mosedale,
Dany Cauchie, Darryl Champagne, Dave Thewlis, Filip Navara, Florian
Zeitz, Helge Hess, Jari Urpalainen, Javier Godoy, Jean-Luc Schellens,
Joe Hildebrand, Jose Luis Gayosso, Joseph Smarr, Julian Reschke,
Kepeng Li, Kevin Marks, Kevin Wu Won, Kurt Zeilenga. Lisa Dusseault,
Marc Blanchet, Mark Paterson, Markus Lorenz, Michael Haardt, Mike
Douglass, Nick Levinson, Peter K. Sheerin, Peter Mogensen, Peter
Saint-Andre, Renato Iannella, Rohit Khare, Sly Gryphon, Stephane
Bortzmeyer, Tantek Celik, and Zoltan Ordogh.
12. References
12.1. Normative References
[CCITT.E163.1988] International Telephone and
Telegraph Consultative Committee,
"Numbering Plan for value needs to be specified.
Example(s): One or more examples of instances of the value need to
be specified.
The following is a fictitious example of a registration of a vCard
value:
Value: supervisor
Purpose: It means that the related entity is the direct hierarchical
superior (i.e., supervisor or manager) of the
International Telephone Service",
CCITT Recommendation E.163, 1988.
[CCITT.X121.1988] International Telephone and
Telegraph Consultative Committee,
"International Numbering Plan for entity this vCard
represents.
Conformance: This value can be used with the Public Data Networks",
CCITT Recommendation X.121, 1988.
[CCITT.X520.1988] International International
Telephone and Telegraph
Consultative Committee,
"Information Technology - Open
Systems Interconnection - "TYPE" parameter
applied on the "RELATED" property.
Example(s):
RELATED;TYPE=supervisor:urn:uuid:f81d4fae-7dec-11d0-a765-00a0c91e6bf6
10.3. Initial vCard Elements Registries
The
Directory: Selected Attribute
Types", CCITT Recommendation
X.520, November 1988.
[CCITT.X521.1988] International International
Telephone IANA has created and Telegraph
Consultative Committee,
"Information Technology - Open
Systems Interconnection - will maintain the following registries for
vCard elements with pointers to appropriate reference documents. The
Directory: Selected Object
Classes", CCITT Recommendation
X.521, November 1988.
[I-D.ietf-vcarddav-vcardxml] Perreault, S.,
registries are grouped together under the heading "vCard Elements".
10.3.1. Properties Registry
The following table has been used to initialize the properties
registry.
+-----------+--------------+-------------------------+
| Namespace | Property | Reference |
+-----------+--------------+-------------------------+
| | SOURCE | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.3 |
| | KIND | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.4 |
| | XML
Representation",
draft-ietf-vcarddav-vcardxml-08
(work in progress), April 2011.
[IEEE.754.2008] Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers, "IEEE
Standard for Floating-Point
Arithmetic", IEEE Standard 754,
August 2008.
[ISO.8601.2000] International Organization for
Standardization, "Data elements
and interchange formats -
Information interchange -
Representation of dates and
times", ISO Standard 8601,
December 2000.
[ISO.8601.2004] International Organization for
Standardization, "Data elements
and interchange formats -
Information interchange -
Representation of dates and
times", ISO Standard 8601,
December 2004.
[RFC2045] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein,
"Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format
of Internet Message Bodies", | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.5 |
| | FN | RFC 6350, Section 6.2.1 |
| | N | RFC 2045, November 1996.
[RFC2046] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein,
"Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media
Types", 6350, Section 6.2.2 |
| | NICKNAME | RFC 2046, November 1996.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in
RFCs to Indicate Requirement
Levels", BCP 14, 6350, Section 6.2.3 |
| | PHOTO | RFC 2119,
March 1997.
[RFC2739] Small, T., Hennessy, D., and F.
Dawson, "Calendar Attributes for
vCard and LDAP", 6350, Section 6.2.4 |
| | BDAY | RFC 2739,
January 2000.
[RFC3629] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a
transformation format of ISO
10646", STD 63, 6350, Section 6.2.5 |
| | ANNIVERSARY | RFC 3629,
November 2003.
[RFC3966] Schulzrinne, H., "The tel URI for
Telephone Numbers", 6350, Section 6.2.6 |
| | GENDER | RFC 3966,
December 2004.
[RFC3986] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and
L. Masinter, "Uniform Resource
Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax",
STD 66, 6350, Section 6.2.7 |
| | ADR | RFC 3986, January 2005.
[RFC4122] Leach, P., Mealling, M., and R.
Salz, "A Universally Unique
IDentifier (UUID) URN Namespace", 6350, Section 6.3.1 |
| | TEL | RFC 4122, July 2005.
[RFC4288] Freed, N. and J. Klensin, "Media
Type Specifications and
Registration Procedures", BCP 13, 6350, Section 6.4.1 |
| | EMAIL | RFC 6350, Section 6.4.2 |
| | IMPP | RFC 6350, Section 6.4.3 |
| | LANG | RFC 6350, Section 6.4.4 |
| | TZ | RFC 6350, Section 6.5.1 |
| | GEO | RFC 6350, Section 6.5.2 |
| | TITLE | RFC 6350, Section 6.6.1 |
| | ROLE | RFC 6350, Section 6.6.2 |
| | LOGO | RFC 6350, Section 6.6.3 |
| | ORG | RFC 4288, December 2005.
[RFC5234] Crocker, D. and P. Overell,
"Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, 6350, Section 6.6.4 |
| | MEMBER | RFC 5234, January 2008.
[RFC5322] Resnick, P., Ed., "Internet
Message Format", 6350, Section 6.6.5 |
| | RELATED | RFC 5322,
October 2008.
[RFC5545] Desruisseaux, B., "Internet
Calendaring and Scheduling Core
Object Specification (iCalendar)", 6350, Section 6.6.6 |
| | CATEGORIES | RFC 5545, September 2009.
[RFC5546] Daboo, C., "iCalendar Transport-
Independent Interoperability
Protocol (iTIP)", 6350, Section 6.7.1 |
| | NOTE | RFC 5546,
December 2009.
[RFC5646] Phillips, A. and M. Davis, "Tags
for Identifying Languages",
BCP 47, 6350, Section 6.7.2 |
| | PRODID | RFC 5646, September 2009.
[RFC5870] Mayrhofer, A. and C. Spanring, "A
Uniform Resource Identifier for
Geographic Locations ('geo' URI)", 6350, Section 6.7.3 |
| | REV | RFC 5870, June 2010.
[W3C.REC-xml-20081126] Paoli, J., Yergeau, F., Bray, T.,
Maler, E., and C. Sperberg-
McQueen, "Extensible Markup
Language (XML) 1.0 (Fifth
Edition)", World Wide Web
Consortium Recommendation REC-xml-
20081126, November 2008, <http://
www.w3.org/TR/2008/
REC-xml-20081126>.
[xfn] Celik, T., Mullenweg, M., and E.
Meyer, "XHTML Friends Network
1.1", <http://gmpg.org/xfn/11>.
12.2. Informative References
[I-D.ietf-eai-rfc5335bis] Yang, A. and S. Steele,
"Internationalized Email Headers",
draft-ietf-eai-rfc5335bis-10 (work
in progress), March 2011.
[I-D.lear-iana-timezone-database] Lear, E. and P. Eggert, "IANA
Procedures for Maintaining the
Timezone Database", draft-lear-
iana-timezone-database-04 (work in
progress), May 2011.
[ISO9070] The International Organization for
Standardization, "ISO 9070,
Information Processing - SGML
support facilities - Registration
Procedures for Public Text Owner
Identifiers", April 1991.
[RFC1738] Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and
M. McCahill, "Uniform Resource
Locators (URL)", 6350, Section 6.7.4 |
| | SOUND | RFC 1738,
December 1994.
[RFC2397] Masinter, L., "The "data" 6350, Section 6.7.5 |
| | UID | RFC 6350, Section 6.7.6 |
| | CLIENTPIDMAP | RFC 6350, Section 6.7.7 |
| | URL
scheme", | RFC 2397, August 1998.
[RFC2425] Howes, T., Smith, M., and F.
Dawson, "A MIME Content-Type for
Directory Information", 6350, Section 6.7.8 |
| | VERSION | RFC 2425,
September 1998.
[RFC2426] Dawson, F. and T. Howes, "vCard
MIME Directory Profile", 6350, Section 6.7.9 |
| | KEY | RFC 2426,
September 1998.
[RFC2616] Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul,
J., Frystyk, H., Masinter, L.,
Leach, P., and T. Berners-Lee,
"Hypertext Transfer Protocol --
HTTP/1.1", 6350, Section 6.8.1 |
| | FBURL | RFC 2616, June 1999.
[RFC3282] Alvestrand, H., "Content Language
Headers", 6350, Section 6.9.1 |
| | CALADRURI | RFC 3282, May 2002.
[RFC3406] Daigle, L., van Gulik, D.,
Iannella, R., and P. Faltstrom,
"Uniform Resource Names (URN)
Namespace Definition Mechanisms",
BCP 66, 6350, Section 6.9.2 |
| | CALURI | RFC 3406, October 2002.
[RFC3536] Hoffman, P., "Terminology Used in
Internationalization in 6350, Section 6.9.3 |
+-----------+--------------+-------------------------+
10.3.2. Parameters Registry
The following table has been used to initialize the IETF", parameters
registry.
+-----------+-----------+------------------------+
| Namespace | Parameter | Reference |
+-----------+-----------+------------------------+
| | LANGUAGE | RFC 3536, May 2003.
[RFC4770] Jennings, C. and J. Reschke, Ed.,
"vCard Extensions for Instant
Messaging (IM)", 6350, Section 5.1 |
| | VALUE | RFC 4770,
January 2007.
[RFC4880] Callas, J., Donnerhacke, L.,
Finney, H., Shaw, D., and R.
Thayer, "OpenPGP Message Format", 6350, Section 5.2 |
| | PREF | RFC 6350, Section 5.3 |
| | ALTID | RFC 6350, Section 5.4 |
| | PID | RFC 6350, Section 5.5 |
| | TYPE | RFC 6350, Section 5.6 |
| | MEDIATYPE | RFC 6350, Section 5.7 |
| | CALSCALE | RFC 4880, November 2007.
[RFC5751] Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner,
"Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2
Message Specification", 6350, Section 5.8 |
| | SORT-AS | RFC 5751,
January 2010.
[RFC6068] Duerst, M., Masinter, L., and J.
Zawinski, "The 'mailto' URI
Scheme", 6350, Section 5.9 |
| | GEO | RFC 6068, October 2010.
[TZ-DB] Olson, A., "Time zone code and
data",
<ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/>.
[vCard21] Internet Mail Consortium, "vCard - 6350, Section 5.10 |
| | TZ | RFC 6350, Section 5.11 |
+-----------+-----------+------------------------+
10.3.3. Value Data Types Registry
The Electronic Business Card
Version 2.1", September September.
URIs
[1] <mailto:[email protected]>
[2] <mailto:[email protected]>
Appendix A. Differences from RFCs 2425 and 2426
This appendix contains a high-level overview of the major changes
that have been made in the vCard specification from RFCs 2425 and
2426. It is incomplete as it only lists the most important changes.
A.1. New Structure
o [RFC2425] and [RFC2426] have been merged.
o vCard is now not only a MIME type but a stand-alone format.
o A proper MIME type registration form following table has been included.
o UTF-8 is now used to initialize the only possible character set.
o New vCard elements can be registered from IANA.
A.2. Removed Features
o The CONTEXT and CHARSET parameters
registry.
+------------------+-------------------------+
| Value Data Type | Reference |
+------------------+-------------------------+
| BOOLEAN | RFC 6350, Section 4.4 |
| DATE | RFC 6350, Section 4.3.1 |
| DATE-AND-OR-TIME | RFC 6350, Section 4.3.4 |
| DATE-TIME | RFC 6350, Section 4.3.3 |
| FLOAT | RFC 6350, Section 4.6 |
| INTEGER | RFC 6350, Section 4.5 |
| LANGUAGE-TAG | RFC 6350, Section 4.8 |
| TEXT | RFC 6350, Section 4.1 |
| TIME | RFC 6350, Section 4.3.2 |
| TIMESTAMP | RFC 6350, Section 4.3.5 |
| URI | RFC 6350, Section 4.2 |
| UTC-OFFSET | RFC 6350, Section 4.7 |
+------------------+-------------------------+
10.3.4. Values Registries
Separate tables are no more.
o The NAME, MAILER, LABEL, and CLASS properties are no more.
o The "intl", "dom", "postal", used for property and "parcel" TYPE parameter values
for values.
The following table is to be used to initialize the ADR property have values
registry.
+----------+------------+-------------------------+
| Property | Value | Reference |
+----------+------------+-------------------------+
| BEGIN | VCARD | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.1 |
| END | VCARD | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.2 |
| KIND | individual | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.4 |
| KIND | group | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.4 |
| KIND | org | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.4 |
| KIND | location | RFC 6350, Section 6.1.4 |
+----------+------------+-------------------------+
The following table has been removed.
o Inline vCards (such as the value of used to initialize the AGENT property) are no
longer supported.
A.3. New Properties parameter values
registry.
+------------------------+-----------+--------------+---------------+
| Property | Parameter | Value | Reference |
+------------------------+-----------+--------------+---------------+
| FN, NICKNAME, PHOTO, | TYPE | work | RFC 6350, |
| ADR, TEL, EMAIL, IMPP, | | | Section 5.6 |
| LANG, TZ, GEO, TITLE, | | | |
| ROLE, LOGO, ORG, | | | |
| RELATED, CATEGORIES, | | | |
| NOTE, SOUND, URL, KEY, | | | |
| FBURL, CALADRURI, and Parameters
o The KIND, GENDER, | | | |
| CALURI | | | |
| FN, NICKNAME, PHOTO, | TYPE | home | RFC 6350, |
| ADR, TEL, EMAIL, IMPP, | | | Section 5.6 |
| LANG, ANNIVERSARY, XML, and CLIENTPIDMAP
properties have been added.
o [RFC2739], which defines the TZ, GEO, TITLE, | | | |
| ROLE, LOGO, ORG, | | | |
| RELATED, CATEGORIES, | | | |
| NOTE, SOUND, URL, KEY, | | | |
| FBURL, CALADRURI, CAPURI, and | | | |
| CALURI
properties, has been merged in.
o [RFC4770], which defines the IMPP property, has been merged in.
o The "work" | | | |
| TEL | TYPE | text | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | voice | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | fax | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | cell | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | video | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | pager | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| TEL | TYPE | textphone | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.4.1 |
| BDAY, ANNIVERSARY | CALSCALE | gregorian | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 5.8 |
| RELATED | TYPE | contact | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and "home" [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE parameter values are now applicable to
many more properties.
o The "pref" value of the | acquaintance | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE parameter is now a parameter of its
own, with a positive integer value indicating the level of
preference.
o The ALTID | friend | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and PID parameters have been added.
o The MEDIATYPE parameter has been added [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | met | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and replaces the [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE
parameter when it was used for indicating the media type of the
property's content.
A.4. Other Changes
o Synchronization is addressed in | co-worker | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 7.
o The N property is no longer mandatory.
o In the N property, each component may now contain multiple comma-
separated values.
o The value of TEL is now a URI.
o The AGENT property was replaced with a type of RELATED.
o Date 6.6.6 |
| | | | and time values now only support the basic format.
Truncation is now supported.
Appendix B. Change Log (to be removed by [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | colleague | RFC Editor prior to
publication)
B.1. Changes in -22
o Made reference to RFC3536 informative instead of normative.
o Adjusted ABNF for readability (no normative changes).
o Added informative reference to draft-lear-iana-timezone-database.
o Tweaked Appendix A a little bit.
o s/privacy/confidentiality/
o Changed all references to ASCII characters into Unicode code
points.
o Added pointer to URI security considerations.
o Adjusted GENDER examples.
o Clearly ask IANA to mark text/directory as DEPRECATED.
o Adjusted updating/obsoleting text in abstract.
B.2. Changes in -21
o Minor ABNF clarification.
B.3. Changes in -20
o Reworded security considerations.
o Specified range of integer 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and float value types.
o Adjusted IANA considerations wording.
o Added missing date-and-or-type to the VALUE ABNF.
o s/[email protected]/[email protected]/
o More precise wording: charset instead of character set
o Make parameter values case-insensitive by default.
o Escaping newlines can be done with \n or \N.
o Make SORT-AS value case-sensitive.
o Better formatting for ADR special notes.
o Removed Pete Resnick's example vCard.
o [email protected] is the contact person for the media type.
o Add missing pref-param, pid-param, [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | co-resident | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and any-param to the PHOTO
property.
o Re-added missing section on UTC-OFFSET value type.
B.4. Changes in -19
o Fixed nits.
o Fixed MEDIATYPE ABNF.
B.5. Changes in -18
o Fix missing text in KIND section.
B.6. Changes in -17
o s/individual/entity/
o Moved section 3.4 for better flow.
o Removed text overriding general MIME [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | neighbor | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and HTTP rules.
o Fixed redundant ABNF.
o Fixed parameter value quoting in examples.
o Added informative reference for Content-Language header.
o Moved cardinality table earlier for better flow.
o Added normative reference for XML 1.0.
o Added informative reference for mailto: scheme.
o Clarified where the VERSION property must go.
o Created the MEDIATYPE parameter.
o Fixed text/vcard encoding considerations.
o Added .vcard file extension.
o Removed need for extension documents to contain tables in their
IANA Considerations section.
o Removed underspecified "Status" column in IANA registry.
o Moved obsoleted references to Informative section.
o Moved iCalendar references to Normative section.
o Expanded specification of KIND values.
o Recommend defining an XML representation for new vCard elements.
B.7. Changes in -16
o RELATED: Added XFN values into IANA registry.
o RELATED: Added values "agent" [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | child | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and "emergency".
o EMAIL is now free-form text, with informative reference to EAI.
o GENDER now has two components: one for biological sex, the other
for gender identity.
o Bugfixes to the core ABNF.
o Clarified IANA considerations.
o UID may be reset to free-form text.
B.8. Changes in -15
o Reverted N to the 5-component format of vCard 3.
o Removed DDAY, BIRTH, [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | parent | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and DEATH.
o First two components in ADR SHOULD be empty.
o Removed the LABEL property.
o Removed the binary value type [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | sibling | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and the ENCODING [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | spouse | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and FMTTYPE
parameters.
o Renamed SEX to GENDER. Set predefined values to "male" [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | kin | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and
"female".
o Reverted TEL to take a text value by default, but SHOULD be reset
to a URI.
o Refer to iCalendar for CALSCALE.
o Removed the "thing" value for KIND.
o [xfn] |
| RELATED now uses XFN 1.1 for its value.
o Dropped the VERSION parameter. XML MUST be version 1.0.
o Dropped the CLASS property.
o Property | TYPE | muse | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and parameter names SHOULD be upper-case.
o Use ABNF for cardinality notation.
B.9. Changes in -14
o DQUOTE is US-ASCII decimal 34, not 22.
o Removed unused reference to [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | crush | RFC 2046.
o Updated reference to draft-ietf-vcarddav-vcardxml.
o Small fixes to the IANA registration text.
o Added notes on the usage of TEL 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and IMPP properties.
o Clarified "country name" component of ADR property.
o Removed usage of undefined type value "msg" in TEL example.
o Fixed parameter value quoting rules [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | date | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and ABNF.
o Added example to LANGUAGE property.
o Fixed synchronization example regarding the cardinality of FN.
o Added implementation note for float value type.
o Removed advice for always including VALUE parameter.
o FMTTYPE MUST include the full MIME type.
o Made ADR's ABNF more verbose.
o Organized TEL [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE values in a table.
o Replaced TOP-SECRET example with NOINDEX.
B.10. Changes in -13
o Changed global ABNF to make explicit that VERSION comes first.
o Reworked example for LANGUAGE property.
o s/TYPE/FMTTYPE/ in two examples.
o Allow LANGUAGE parameter for text-valued BDAY, DDAY, | sweetheart | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and RELATED.
o Tightened language on LANGUAGE parameter regarding cardinality.
o Removed the NAME property.
o Adjusted semi-colon escaping rules.
o Added the ALTID parameter.
B.11. Changes in -12
o Fixed example of LANGUAGE cardinality.
o Added note about YYYY-MM date format.
o Fixed appendix A.
o VERSION property must come first.
o Fixed mistake in PID example.
o Removed two changes from Appendix A which were probably intended [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | me | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| | | | and [xfn] |
| RELATED | TYPE | agent | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
| RELATED | TYPE | emergency | RFC 6350, |
| | | | Section 6.6.6 |
+------------------------+-----------+--------------+---------------+
11. Acknowledgments
The authors would like to go into this change log section.
o Explicitly state that the value for the BEGIN thank Tim Howes, Mark Smith, and END properties
is case-insensitive.
o Removed the SORT-STRING property. Created Frank
Dawson, the SORT-AS parameter.
o "T" original authors of [RFC2425] and "Z" in dates [RFC2426], Pete
Resnick, who got this effort started and times are now mandatory uppercase.
o Added provided help along the "version" MIME parameter.
o More consistent capitalization.
o Added missing "ANNIVERSARY" in name production rule.
o Added missing calscale-param way,
as well as the following individuals who have participated in param production rule.
o Moved definition of GEO the
drafting, review, and TZ parameters to section 5.
o Simplified discussion of encoding.
o Removed restriction this memo:
Aki Niemi, Andy Mabbett, Alexander Mayrhofer, Alexey Melnikov, Anil
Srivastava, Barry Leiba, Ben Fortuna, Bernard Desruisseaux, Bernie
Hoeneisen, Bjoern Hoehrmann, Caleb Richardson, Chris Bryant, Chris
Newman, Cyrus Daboo, Daisuke Miyakawa, Dan Brickley, Dan Mosedale,
Dany Cauchie, Darryl Champagne, Dave Thewlis, Filip Navara, Florian
Zeitz, Helge Hess, Jari Urpalainen, Javier Godoy, Jean-Luc Schellens,
Joe Hildebrand, Jose Luis Gayosso, Joseph Smarr, Julian Reschke,
Kepeng Li, Kevin Marks, Kevin Wu Won, Kurt Zeilenga, Lisa Dusseault,
Marc Blanchet, Mark Paterson, Markus Lorenz, Michael Haardt, Mike
Douglass, Nick Levinson, Peter K. Sheerin, Peter Mogensen, Peter
Saint-Andre, Renato Iannella, Rohit Khare, Sly Gryphon, Stephane
Bortzmeyer, Tantek Celik, and Zoltan Ordogh.
12. References
12.1. Normative References
[CCITT.X520.1988]
International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative
Committee, "Information Technology - Open Systems
Interconnection - The Directory: Selected Attribute
Types", CCITT Recommendation X.520, November 1988.
[IEEE.754.2008]
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
"Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic",
IEEE Standard 754, August 2008.
[ISO.8601.2000]
International Organization for "work" Standardization, "Data
elements and "home" values interchange formats - Information interchange
- Representation of TYPE parameter
w.r.t. the KIND property.
o XML value may now be binary.
o Created VERSION parameter dates and times", ISO Standard 8601,
December 2000.
[ISO.8601.2004]
International Organization for XML.
o BIRTH Standardization, "Data
elements and DEATH can now have URI values.
o Created the FMTTYPE parameter.
o KEY can now take a text value.
o Added references to RFC 5545 (iCalendar).
o Added namespace column in parameters registry.
B.12. Changes in -11
o Change "XML chunk" to "XML fragment".
o Cite W3C document containing definition of "fragment".
o Added "XML" to property name ABNF.
o Clarified newline escaping rule.
o Replaced one remaining "type" with "property".
o Removed case insensitivity interchange formats - Information interchange
- Representation of parameter values.
o XML property can now only contain one element that is not in the
vCard 4 namespace.
o Clarified interrelationship between LANGUAGE, cardinality, dates and
PID.
o Added "textphone" TEL type.
o Fixed quoting times", ISO Standard 8601,
December 2004.
[RFC2045] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of comma in ORG examples.
B.13. Changes in -10
o Added component in SORT-STRING for sorting by given name. Fixed Internet Message
Bodies", RFC 2045, November 1996.
[RFC2046] Freed, N. and expanded the examples.
o Fixed KIND-value ABNF.
o Fixed deprecated media type.
o Created the CALSCALE parameter.
o Strenghtened the stance on character set.
o Defined the Language-Tag ABNF.
o Made explicit the fact that IANA does not register templates.
o Created the XML property.
o Added social networking examples to URL property.
B.14. Changes in -09
o Removed special meaning N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", RFC 2046,
November 1996.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for groups. Removed the "work" and "home"
groups. Removed the group registry. Re-introduced the "work" and
"home" TYPE parameter values. Applied the TYPE parameter use in RFCs to
properties which supported the "work" Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC2739] Small, T., Hennessy, D., and "home" groups.
o Vendor namespace now uses private enterprise number in prefix.
o Added "thing" value F. Dawson, "Calendar
Attributes for KIND property.
B.15. Changes in -08
o Allow 1985 (year only) in date ABNF.
o Fixed missing country in ADR example.
o Added the DATE-AND-OR-TIME value.
o Made BDAY vCard and DDAY use DATE-AND-OR-TIME.
o Prefixed "param" LDAP", RFC 2739, January 2000.
[RFC3629] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, November 2003.
[RFC3966] Schulzrinne, H., "The tel URI for Telephone Numbers",
RFC 3966, December 2004.
[RFC3986] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and "value" production rules specific to
properties with the property name.
o Replaced the GENDER property with the SEX property.
o Added the ANNIVERSARY property.
o Added the "friend" L. Masinter, "Uniform
Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
RFC 3986, January 2005.
[RFC4122] Leach, P., Mealling, M., and "spouse" types of RELATED.
o TZ property now has text / uri value.
o Refined the definitions of TITLE R. Salz, "A Universally
Unique IDentifier (UUID) URN Namespace", RFC 4122,
July 2005.
[RFC4288] Freed, N. and ROLE.
B.16. Changes in -07
o PREF is now bounded. 100 is the maximum value.
o Added the "emergency" RELATED type.
o Made GEO a URI.
o Added GEO J. Klensin, "Media Type Specifications and TZ parameters to ADR.
o Changed wording of "default" use of SOUND property.
o Completely reworked the date, time,
Registration Procedures", BCP 13, RFC 4288, December 2005.
[RFC5234] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234, January 2008.
[RFC5322] Resnick, P., Ed., "Internet Message Format", RFC 5322,
October 2008.
[RFC5545] Desruisseaux, B., "Internet Calendaring and Scheduling
Core Object Specification (iCalendar)", RFC 5545,
September 2009.
[RFC5546] Daboo, C., "iCalendar Transport-Independent
Interoperability Protocol (iTIP)", RFC 5546,
December 2009.
[RFC5646] Phillips, A. and date-time grammars.
o Added the timestamp value type.
o REV now has the timestamp value type.
o Rewrote ABNF.
o ORG can now have a single level.
B.17. Changes in -06
o Corrected omission of resetability to text value M. Davis, "Tags for RELATED.
o Let KEY value type be reset to a URI value.
o ABNF fixes.
o Made gender values extensible.
o Gave the PREF parameter a positive integer value.
o Removed usage of the undefined "word" ABNF production rule.
o Defined property cardinalities.
o Defined properties allowable in WORK Identifying
Languages", BCP 47, RFC 5646, September 2009.
[RFC5870] Mayrhofer, A. and HOME groups.
o Simplified the LANG property to use the C. Spanring, "A Uniform Resource
Identifier for Geographic Locations ('geo' URI)",
RFC 5870, June 2010.
[RFC6351] Perreault, S., "xCard: vCard preference
mechanism.
o Created the "language-tag" value type.
o Added PID to ABNF of SOURCE allowed parameters.
o Clarified escaping rules.
o Changed ABNF definition of non-standard X- properties.
o Removed TYPE parameter from EMAIL properties in examples.
o Created the CLIENTPIDMAP property.
o Changed PID value to a pair of small integers.
o Completely reworked synchronization mechanisms.
o Created brand new synchronization example.
B.18. Changes in -05
o Added multi PID value proposal.
B.19. Changes in -04
o Added "location" value XML Representation",
RFC 6351, August 2011.
[W3C.REC-xml-20081126]
Maler, E., Yergeau, F., Sperberg-McQueen, C., Paoli, J.,
and T. Bray, "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fifth
Edition)", World Wide Web Consortium Recommendation REC-
xml-20081126, November 2008,
<http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-xml-20081126>.
[xfn] Celik, T., Mullenweg, M., and E. Meyer, "XFN 1.1 profile",
<http://gmpg.org/xfn/11>.
12.2. Informative References
[IANA-TZ] Lear, E. and P. Eggert, "IANA Procedures for KIND property.
o Some fixes to ABNF.
o Moved "pref" from being a TYPE value to a parameter in its own
right.
o Removed Maintaining
the "work" Timezone Database", Work in Progress, May 2011.
[ISO9070] International Organization for Standardization,
"Information Processing - SGML support facilities -
Registration Procedures for Public Text Owner
Identifiers", ISO 9070, April 1991.
[RFC1738] Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and "home" TYPE values.
o Reintroduced the group construct.
o Assigned meaning to WORK M. McCahill, "Uniform
Resource Locators (URL)", RFC 1738, December 1994.
[RFC2397] Masinter, L., "The "data" URL scheme", RFC 2397,
August 1998.
[RFC2425] Howes, T., Smith, M., and HOME groups.
o Restricted the TEL TYPE parameter value set.
o In N property, removed additional names, F. Dawson, "A MIME Content-Type
for Directory Information", RFC 2425, September 1998.
[RFC2426] Dawson, F. and replaced with
multiple given names.
o Removed TYPE parameter from EMAIL T. Howes, "vCard MIME Directory Profile",
RFC 2426, September 1998.
[RFC2616] Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H.,
Masinter, L., Leach, P., and IMPP properties.
o Replaced AGENT with a type of RELATED.
o Use example.org domain T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext
Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616, June 1999.
[RFC3282] Alvestrand, H., "Content Language Headers", RFC 3282,
May 2002.
[RFC3406] Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R., and P. Faltstrom,
"Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespace Definition
Mechanisms", BCP 66, RFC 3406, October 2002.
[RFC3536] Hoffman, P., "Terminology Used in URL example.
o Created initial IANA table of values.
o Defined meaning of PUBLIC, PRIVATE, CONFIDENTIAL.
B.20. Changes Internationalization in -03
o Various changes to
the synchronization mechanisms.
o Allowed truncated format IETF", RFC 3536, May 2003.
[RFC4770] Jennings, C. and J. Reschke, Ed., "vCard Extensions for dated. See issue #236.
B.21. Changes in -02
o Removed useless text in IMPP description.
o Added CalDAV-SCHED example to CALADRURI.
o Removed CAPURI property.
o Dashes in dates
Instant Messaging (IM)", RFC 4770, January 2007.
[RFC4880] Callas, J., Donnerhacke, L., Finney, H., Shaw, D., and R.
Thayer, "OpenPGP Message Format", RFC 4880, November 2007.
[RFC5335bis]
Yang, A. and colons S. Steele, "Internationalized Email Headers",
Work in times are now mandatory.
o Allow for dates such as 2008 and 2008-05 Progress, July 2011.
[RFC5751] Ramsdell, B. and times such as 07 S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message
Specification", RFC 5751, January 2010.
[RFC6068] Duerst, M., Masinter, L., and
07:54.
o Removed inline vCard value.
o Made AGENT only accept J. Zawinski, "The 'mailto'
URI references instead of inline vCards.
o Added the MEMBER property.
o Renamed the UID parameter to PID.
o Changed the value type of the PID parameter to "a small integer."
o Changed the presence of UID Scheme", RFC 6068, October 2010.
[TZ-DB] Olson, A., "Time zone code and PID when synchronization is to be
used data",
<ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/>.
[vCard21] Internet Mail Consortium, "vCard - The Electronic Business
Card Version 2.1", September 1996.
Appendix A. Differences from MUST to SHOULD.
o Added the RELATED (Section 6.6.6) property.
o Fixed many ABNF typos (issue #252).
o Changed formatting RFCs 2425 and 2426
This appendix contains a high-level overview of ABNF comments to make them easier to read
(issue #226).
B.22. Changes in -01
o Merged [RFC2739] in.
o Converted all foobar.com, abc.com, etc. to example.com.
o Fixed bugs in ABNF.
o Made explicit the major changes
that coordinates have been made in the GEO property are expressed
in vCard specification from RFCs 2425 and
2426. It is incomplete, as it only lists the WGS 84 reference system. most important changes.
A.1. New Structure
o Clarified folding issues with multi-byte characters. [RFC2425] and [RFC2426] have been merged.
o Made the value of TEL vCard is now not only a URI.
o Added the UID parameter.
o Made the UID property's value MIME type but a URI.
o Added Section 7.
o Created IANA process for registering new parameters, value types,
and properties.
o Created the initial IANA registries.
o Created vendor namespace based on text from RFC 4288.
B.23. Changes in -00
o Name change because draft stand-alone format.
o A proper MIME type registration form has been accepted as WG item.
Otherwise, same as draft-resnick-vcarddav-vcardrev-01. included.
o Removed reference to RFC 2234. UTF-8 is now the only possible character set.
o Fixed errata New vCard elements can be registered from
http://www.rfc-editor.org/errata_search.php?rfc=2426.
o IANA.
A.2. Removed passage referring to RFC 2425 profiles.
o Renamed Section 6.4 from "Telecommunications Adressing Properties"
to "Communications Properties. Features
o Added Appendix A The CONTEXT and Appendix B. CHARSET parameters are no more.
o Added reference to [RFC4770]. The NAME, MAILER, LABEL, and CLASS properties are no more.
o Removed The "intl", "dom", "postal", and "parcel" TYPE parameter values
for the group construct. ADR property have been removed.
o Made In-line vCards (such as the N property value of the AGENT property) are no
longer mandatory.
o Added the KIND property. supported.
A.3. New Properties and Parameters
o Clarified meaning of TYPE parameter value for PHOTO, LOGO, KEY, The KIND, GENDER, LANG, ANNIVERSARY, XML, and SOUND. CLIENTPIDMAP
properties have been added.
o Removed [RFC2739], which defines the CONTEXT parameter. FBURL, CALADRURI, CAPURI, and CALURI
properties, has been merged in.
o Removed [RFC4770], which defines the MAILER property.
o Made reference to [ISO9070] informative. IMPP property, has been merged in.
o Removed "intl", "dom", "postal", The "work" and "parcel" "home" TYPE parameter values for the ADR and LABEL are now applicable to
many more properties.
o Clarified meaning The "pref" value of "extended address" ADR field.
o Mentioned [RFC3406] as another method the TYPE parameter is now a parameter of generating PRODID values.
o Updated obsolete references. its
own, with a positive integer value indicating the level of
preference.
o Allowed BDAY The ALTID and DDAY value types to be text values for fuzzy
dates. PID parameters have been added.
o Removed the CHARSET property. Now The MEDIATYPE parameter has been added and replaces the encoding is always UTF-8,
except TYPE
parameter when overridden by it was used for indicating the Content-Type (which is considered a
compatibility feature). media type of the
property's content.
Author's Address
Simon Perreault
Viagenie
2875 Laurier, suite D2-630
Quebec, QC G1V 2M2
Canada
Phone: +1 418 656 9254
EMail: [email protected]
URI: http://www.viagenie.ca
