XEP-0232: Software Information

WARNING: Consideration of this document has been Deferred by the XMPP Standards Foundation. Implementation of the protocol described herein is not recommended.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Service Discovery Extensions [1] defines a way for an XMPP entity to include extended information in its responses to Service Discovery [2] information requests. This document specifies a usage of XEP-0128 whereby an XMPP entity can provide detailed data about itself in such responses. This protocol is intended to replace Software Version [3] for software information discovery (thus reducing or eliminating the need for distinct software version requests) and also provides a format that can be encapsulated into Entity Capabilities [4] notifications.

2. Use Case

To illustrate this usage, consider the following example of a disco#info request-response interaction that includes detailed client information:

Example 1. Entity queries client for information

<iq from='romeo@montaguue.lit/orchard'
    to='juliet@capulet.lit/chamber'
    id='disco1'
    type='get'>
  <query xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/disco#info'/>
</iq>
  

Upon receiving the disco#info request, the software replies and includes extended information in a data form (Data Forms [5]), where the icon is communicated using the format defined in Data Forms Media Element [6].

Example 2. Client communicates information

<iq from='juliet@capulet.lit/chamber'
    to='romeo@montague.lit/orchard'
    id='disco1'
    type='result'>
  <query xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/disco#info'>
    <identity category='client' name='Exodus' type='pc'/>
    <feature var='http://jabber.org/protocol/disco'/>
    <x xmlns='jabber:x:data' type='result'>
      <field var='FORM_TYPE' type='hidden'>
        <value>urn:xmpp:dataforms:softwareinfo</value>
      </field>
      <field var='icon'>
        <media xmlns='urn:xmpp:media-element'
               height='80'
               width='290'>
          <uri type='image/jpeg'>
            http://www.shakespeare.lit/clients/exodus.jpg
          </uri>
          <uri type='image/jpeg'>
            cid:sha1+f24030b8d91d233bac14777be5ab531ca3b9f102@bob.xmpp.org
          </uri>
        </media>
      </field>
      <field var='os'>
        <value>Windows</value>
      </field>
      <field var='os_version'>
        <value>XP</value>
      </field>
      <field var='software'>
        <value>Exodus</value>
      </field>
      <field var='software_version'>
        <value>0.9.1</value>
      </field>
    </x>
  </query>
</iq>
  

The fields have the following meaning:

• icon -- A default icon to show for a device running the software
• os -- The operating system on which the XMPP software is running
• os_version -- The operating system version
• software -- The XMPP software running at the entity (if this field is provided, its value SHOULD override any software name provided as the value of the 'name' attribute in the service discovery <identity/> element)
• software_version -- The XMPP software version

3. Security Considerations

Service discovery information is typically world-readable. Therefore, care should be taken in exposing information that may make it easier for a potential attacker to target the publishing entity's system (e.g., the operating system on which the software is running).

4. IANA Considerations

This document requires no interaction with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) [7].

5. XMPP Registrar Considerations

The XMPP Registrar [8] shall include the following information in its registries.

<form_type>
  <name>urn:xmpp:dataforms:softwareinfo</name>
  <doc>XEP-0232</doc>
  <desc>
    Forms enabling the communication of detailed information
    about an XMPP client.
  </desc>
  <field
      var='icon'
      type='text-single'
      label='A URL for an icon representing the software, no matter the
             presence or availability status of the XMPP entity'/>
  <field
      var='os'
      type='text-single'
      label='The operating system on which the XMPP software is running'/>
  <field
      var='os_version'
      type='text-single'
      label='The operating system version'/>
  <field
      var='software'
      type='text-single'
      label='The XMPP software running at the entity'/>
  <field
      var='software_version'
      type='text-single'
      label='The XMPP software version'/>
</form_type>
    

6. Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dave Cridland, Olivier Goffart, Joe Hildebrand, Etan Reisner, Remko Tronçon, and Jiří Zárevúcký for their comments.

Appendices

Appendix A: Document Information

Series: XEP
Number: 0232
Publisher: XMPP Standards Foundation
Status: Deferred
Type: Standards Track
Version: 0.3
Last Updated: 2009-02-26
Approving Body: XMPP Council
Dependencies: XMPP Core, XEP-0004, XEP-0030
Supersedes: None
Superseded By: None
Short Name: NOT_YET_ASSIGNED
Source Control: HTML  RSS

Appendix B: Author Information

Appendix C: Legal Notices

Appendix D: Relation to XMPP

The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is defined in the XMPP Core (RFC 3920) and XMPP IM (RFC 3921) specifications contributed by the XMPP Standards Foundation to the Internet Standards Process, which is managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force in accordance with RFC 2026. Any protocol defined in this document has been developed outside the Internet Standards Process and is to be understood as an extension to XMPP rather than as an evolution, development, or modification of XMPP itself.

Appendix E: Discussion Venue

The primary venue for discussion of XMPP Extension Protocols is the <standards@xmpp.org> discussion list.

Discussion on other xmpp.org discussion lists might also be appropriate; see <http://xmpp.org/about/discuss.shtml> for a complete list.

Errata can be sent to <editor@xmpp.org>.

Appendix F: Requirements Conformance

The following requirements keywords as used in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119: "MUST", "SHALL", "REQUIRED"; "MUST NOT", "SHALL NOT"; "SHOULD", "RECOMMENDED"; "SHOULD NOT", "NOT RECOMMENDED"; "MAY", "OPTIONAL".

Appendix G: Notes

Appendix H: Revision History

Note: Older versions of this specification might be available at http://xmpp.org/extensions/attic/

END