RE: OSPF TLVs

["Naidu, Venkata" <Venkata.Naidu@Marconi.com>]

Adrain,

-> >   We have two cases here: 
-> >
-> >   1. Actual (Value) length carried in a TLV is explicit by the
-> >      "Length" field. In this case, padding/reserved space is
-> >      implicitly ignored based on next boundary math (here 32-bit)
-> >      if any, so that parser jump to next TLV with out ambiguity.
-> 
-> No. This is NOT what 3630 says.
-> 3630 says that if a TLV is not a multiple of 32-bits, 
-> padding is inserted 
-> between it and the next TLV.
-> It does not comment on the contents of the TLV.
-> For example, if a TLV had five reserved bytes at the end, we 
-> would not 
-> modify this so that it had only one reserved byte.
-> In other words, the contents of the TLV are opaque to the 
-> TLV packing rules. 
-> The length field specifies the length of the V without 
-> saying anything about 
-> the format of the data in the V. All packing can be 
-> performed using the 
-> length field. 
-> 
-> >   2. Actual (Value) length carried in a TLV is implicit by the
-> >      "Type" field. In this case, the "Length" field signifies
-> >      total (actual + pad/reserved). So that, parser can jump
-> >      to next TLV with out ambiguity. 
-> >
-> >   I thought, (1) is what followed by TE community. I think,
-> >   you are supporting (2).
-> 
-> I am?
-> Length may be defined by type (with respect to 
-> documentation), but it is not 
-> implicit.
-> That is, the length field ALWAYS gives the length of the V field.
-> If the V field contains explicit padding or reserved bits, 
-> they are included 
-> in the length. 

  If V field contains explicit padding/reserve bits, the current
  value length must be known some how (mostly implicit by the type
  field). That is what I am saying.

  Let us come to a consensus. Let me know we are on same page or not
  based on below diagram:

  RFC 3630 section 2.3.2.  TLV Header

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |              Type             |             Length            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                            Value...                           |
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   The Length field defines the length of the value portion in octets
   (thus a TLV with no value portion would have a length of zero).  The
   TLV is padded to four-octet alignment; padding is not included in the
   length field (so a three octet value would have a length of three,
   but the total size of the TLV would be eight octets).  


[Start Modification]

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |              Type             |             Length            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Value Current...                         |
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      .                      Value Reserved...                        .
      .                                                               .
      .               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      .               |                   Pad ... (0-3 octet)         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   

   The Length field defines the length of the value portion (current +
   reserved) in octets. Length of current value portion is implicit by 
   the type field. The TLV is padded to four-octet alignment; padding 
   is not included in the length field (so a three octet value would 
   have a length of three, but the total size of the TLV would be eight 
   octets).  
   
[End Modification]


Venkata.