Core lexical syntax Lassi Kortela (25 Sep 2019 10:15 UTC)
Re: Core lexical syntax John Cowan (25 Sep 2019 14:09 UTC)
Machines vs humans Lassi Kortela (25 Sep 2019 14:25 UTC)
Re: Core lexical syntax Alaric Snell-Pym (25 Sep 2019 15:44 UTC)
Re: Core lexical syntax John Cowan (25 Sep 2019 14:13 UTC)
Re: Core lexical syntax John Cowan (25 Sep 2019 19:18 UTC)
Mechanism vs policy Lassi Kortela (25 Sep 2019 19:58 UTC)
Re: Mechanism vs policy Arthur A. Gleckler (25 Sep 2019 21:17 UTC)
Re: Mechanism vs policy Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 07:40 UTC)
Re: Mechanism vs policy John Cowan (25 Sep 2019 22:25 UTC)
Re: Mechanism vs policy Arthur A. Gleckler (26 Sep 2019 01:34 UTC)
Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 08:23 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding Alaric Snell-Pym (26 Sep 2019 08:56 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 02:38 UTC)
ASN.1 branding Lassi Kortela (27 Sep 2019 14:56 UTC)
Re: ASN.1 branding Alaric Snell-Pym (27 Sep 2019 15:24 UTC)
Re: ASN.1 branding Lassi Kortela (27 Sep 2019 18:54 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 01:57 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding Lassi Kortela (27 Sep 2019 16:24 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 17:37 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding Lassi Kortela (27 Sep 2019 18:28 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 18:39 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding Lassi Kortela (27 Sep 2019 18:46 UTC)
Re: Limits, symbols and bytevectors, ASN.1 branding John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 21:19 UTC)
Re: Mechanism vs policy Alaric Snell-Pym (26 Sep 2019 08:45 UTC)
Implementation limits Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 08:57 UTC)
Re: Implementation limits Alaric Snell-Pym (26 Sep 2019 09:09 UTC)
Re: Implementation limits Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 09:51 UTC)
Meaning of the word "format" Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 10:31 UTC)
Stacking it all up Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 11:05 UTC)
Brief spec-writing exercise Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 11:46 UTC)
Re: Brief spec-writing exercise John Cowan (26 Sep 2019 15:45 UTC)
Standards vs specifications Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 21:24 UTC)
Re: Standards vs specifications John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 04:29 UTC)
Re: Standards vs specifications Lassi Kortela (27 Sep 2019 13:47 UTC)
Re: Standards vs specifications John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 14:53 UTC)
Re: Meaning of the word "format" John Cowan (26 Sep 2019 20:59 UTC)
Re: Meaning of the word "format" Lassi Kortela (26 Sep 2019 21:09 UTC)
Re: Meaning of the word "format" John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 02:44 UTC)
Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 Lassi Kortela (27 Sep 2019 13:58 UTC)
Re: Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 14:22 UTC)
Re: Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 Alaric Snell-Pym (27 Sep 2019 15:02 UTC)
Re: Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 hga@xxxxxx (27 Sep 2019 15:26 UTC)
(missing)
Fwd: Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 16:40 UTC)
Re: Fwd: Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 Alaric Snell-Pym (27 Sep 2019 16:51 UTC)
Re: Fwd: Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 17:18 UTC)
Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 hga@xxxxxx (27 Sep 2019 16:58 UTC)
Re: Length bytes and lookahead in ASN.1 John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 17:21 UTC)
Re: Mechanism vs policy John Cowan (27 Sep 2019 03:52 UTC)
Re: Core lexical syntax Alaric Snell-Pym (26 Sep 2019 08:36 UTC)

Re: Meaning of the word "format" Lassi Kortela 26 Sep 2019 21:09 UTC

> In that case, I can put the ASN.1 format in three sentences:
>
> 1. First comes the type code of 1 or more bytes.  You have to look at each
> byte to see if there is another byte.
>
> 2. Second comes the length of 1 or more bytes.  You have to look at each
> byte to see if there is another byte.
>
> 3. Next comes the number of bytes specified by the length.

Is the length always the number of bytes? I was under the impression
it's the number of elements in case the value is a list/vector.

> While all that is indisputably true, it's hardly sufficient to do anything
> useful.

The type code in part 1 comes from an enumeration which affects the
format of the bytes in part 3. If part 2 is always the length in bytes,
then you could argue the contents of part 3 are a sub-format, and I
would be sympathetic to that interpretation. In my binary .ini example,
UTF-8 character encoding is a sub-format of the main format.

I like your interpretation of "format". I think it matches what I meant.
Precise terminology helps think clearly. Articulating the meaning of
"format" explained vague feelings of unease around specifications that
I've had for years but haven't been able to pin down why until now.