RFC 3987 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 2005

Internationalized Resource Identifiers

Overview

RFC 3987, “Internationalized Resource Identifiers”, is a Proposed Standard document published in January 2005 by M. Duerst, M. Suignard. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

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

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

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Proposed Standard” means

An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.

Read this RFC

The canonical text of RFC 3987 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

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