RFC 959, "File Transfer Protocol", October 1985

Note: This RFC has been updated by RFC 2228, RFC 2640, RFC 2773, RFC 3659, RFC 5797, RFC 7151

Errata ID: 3040
Status: Rejected
Type: Technical
Publication Format(s) : TEXT
Reported By: mark hays
Date Reported: 2011-12-01
Rejected by: Pete Resnick
Date Rejected: 2011-12-29

Section 5.3.2 says:

<number> ::= any decimal integer 1 through 255

It should say:

<byte-size> ::= any decimal integer 1 through 255
[...]
<number> ::= any decimal integer 0 through 255

Notes:

I agree with the author of errata ID 3039 that excluding 0 from <number> is problematic. However, <number> is also used in the definition of <byte-size>. The text in 3.1.1.4 says that"The value of Byte size must be a decimal integer; there is no default value." Strictly speaking, then, 0 is a valid value but I don't see how zero could lead to a sensible result. Indeed the term "decimal integer" is undefined so perhaps negative values are permissible?
--VERIFIER NOTES--
See Erratum 3039. Though the change there does allow for nonsense values for <byte-size>, so does the current syntax in 959. I have accepted 3039 and rejected this as duplicate.

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