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<div id="global_content">
<div id="table_faq">
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" width="100%">
<tr>
<td width="2%" valign="top"></td>
<td valign="top" colspan="3">
<span class="page_title">Frequently Asked Questions</span>
<p><a href="/helper"><img src="images/helper.png" alt="OID helper" height="55" width="55" border="0" align="middle"></a> Try to ask your question directly to your new <a href="http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=c6bc63db9e377b4f">OID helper</a></p>
<ol>
<li>
<a href="#1">What are the standards that define OIDs and the OID
tree?</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#2">Which kind of objects can be referenced by OIDs?</a></li>
<li><a href="#3">Where can I learn more about OIDs and their registration?</a></li>
<li><a href="#4">How to add information to the OID repository?</a></li>
<li><a href="#modify">How to modify the description of an OID?</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#6">How to delete an OID (or move it elsewhere in the OID
tree)?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#7">How does the OID repository provided on this website
compare with Harald Alvestrand's repository?</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#8">How to reference an OID description in this repository?</a></li>
<li><a href="#9">How many OIDs are currently described in this repository?</a></li>
<li><a href="#10">How to get an OID assigned?</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#national-RA">What decision needs be taken if a country
wants a national Registration Authority for OIDs?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#12">Are there guidelines or standards regarding subsequent
arcs of a country arc?</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#13">What is the Internet OID?</a></li>
<li><a href="#14">Where does the dot notation for OIDs come from?</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#15">Why are top-level arcs restricted to three arcs numbered
<tt>0</tt> to <tt>2</tt>, and why are arcs beneath top-level arcs
<tt>0</tt> and <tt>1</tt> restricted to fourty arcs numbered <tt>0</tt>
to <tt>39</tt>?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#16">What do we call a registration tree (or object identifier
tree)?</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#17">What is the ASN.1 notation of an OID?</a></li>
<li><a href="#management">How is the entire registration tree managed?</a></li>
<li><a href="#features">Which features are offered by this repository?</a></li>
<li>
<a href="#syntax-rules">What are the syntax rules to enter information
about OIDs through the web interface?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#oid-info">Which information is necessary to apply for
an OID?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#example">Is there a particular OID that can be used for
documenting examples of object identifiers?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#registration-authorities">What is the difference between
the first and current Registration Authorities that appear in the
description of some OIDs? What is their duty?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#mib">What constraints are imposed to OIDs used in SNMP
MIBs (Management Information Bases)?</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#lookup">Is there a way to look up an OID in the OID repository
from my web browser?</a>
</li>
<li><a href="#leaf">What is a leaf OID? What is a frozen OID?</a></li>
<li><a href="#orphan">What is an orphan OID?</a></li>
<li><a href="#iri">What is an OID-IRI (Internationalized Resource Identifier)?</a></li>
<li><a href="#29">What are the duties of a Registration Authority?</a></li>
<li><a href="#size-limitations">Are there size limitations for OID encoding?</a></li>
<li><a href="#31">Are there binary encoders/decoders for OIDs?</a></li>
<li><a href="#cookies">Does this web site use cookies?</a><br><li><a href="#33">How does this web site protect users' privacy?</a></li>
</ol><br /></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div id="table_answers_in_faq">
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" width="100%">
<tr>
<td width="2%" valign="top"></td>
<td valign="top" colspan="3">
<span class="page_title">Answers</span>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="1"></a>What are the standards that define OIDs and the OID tree?
<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#1" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Q1');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="display:block; width:auto; height:auto">
They are defined in the <a href="standards.htm">Recommendation ITU-T
X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834 series</a>. A new release of the whole series
has been published in 2008; a new release of <a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/X.660">Recommendation
ITU-T X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834-1</a> is planned for 2014 .<br>Binary encodings of OIDs are specified in <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.690/en">Rec.
ITU-T X.690 | ISO/IEC 8825-1</a> for the Binary (BER) and Distinguished
(DER) Encoding rules, in <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.691/en">Rec.
ITU-T X.691 | ISO/IEC 8825-2</a> for the Packed Encoding rules (PER).
An XML encoding of OIDs is specified in <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.693/en">Rec.
ITU-T X.693 | ISO/IEC 8825-3</a>. (See also <a href="faq.htm#31">question
31</a> about binary encoders/decoders for OIDs.)<br><br></div>
<li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="2"></a>Which kind of objects can be referenced by OIDs?
<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#2" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Q2');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Objects that can typically be identified by an object identifier are
(non exhaustively):
<ul>
<li>
an <a href="/cgi-bin/display?tree=0.0">ITU-T Recommendation</a>,
an <a href="/cgi-bin/display?tree=1.0&amp;see=all">ISO International
Standard</a>;
</li>
<li>
a <a href="country_oids.htm">country</a>, a company, a
project;
</li>
<li>
a certificate policy specified according to <a href="http://itu.int/ITU-T/X.500">Rec.
ITU-T X.500</a>;
</li>
<li>an encryption algorithm (for example <a href="/get/1.3.14.3.2.26">SHA-1</a>);</li>
<li>
<a href="/get/2.27">identification schemes</a> for tag-based
applications (see <a href="http://itu.int/ITU-T/X.668">Recommendation
ITU-T X.668 | ISO/IEC 9834-9</a>);
</li>
<li>
e-health data (for example, data from the <a href="/get/2.16.840.1.113883">HL7
Consortium</a>);
</li>
<li>
Common Alerting Protocol (<a href="/get/0.0.24.1303">CAP</a>)
emergency messages;
</li>
<li>
an attribute of an ITU-T X.500- or LDAP-based directory to make
up a <code>DistinguishedName</code>;
</li>
<li>
an ASN.1 module (for example, for the <a href="/get/2.41.0.1">BioAPI
Interworking Protocol</a>), an ASN.1 type (or abstract syntax);
</li>
<li>
a <a href="/cgi-bin/display?tree=2.1(1,2,3,4,5">set of ASN.1
encoding rules</a>;
</li>
<li>a MIB for SNMP network management;</li>
<li>
a managed object class, one of its attributes, a notification
or even other templates used in the area of network management
and the GDMO standard (see <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.722/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.722 | ISO/IEC 10165-4</a>);
</li>
<li>
an information object (see <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.681/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.681 | ISO/IEC 8824-2</a>);
</li>
<li>the type of some part of an ITU-T X.400 electronic message body;</li>
<li>a file format;</li>
<li>
etc.<br><br></li>
</ul>
</div>
 
<li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="3"></a>Where can I learn more about OIDs and their registration?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#3" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Q3');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Apart from the <a href="standards.htm">official standards</a> (see
<a href="faq.htm#1">question 1</a>), OIDs are explained in:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.itu.int/oth/T0B04000048/en">OID flyer</a>
from ITU-T Study Group 17;
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.itu.int/pub/T-HDB-LNG.4-2010">ITU handbook</a>
on Object identifiers (OIDs) and their registration authorities;
</li>
<li>
a quick <a href="doc/introduction%20to%20object%20identifiers%20(OIDs).pdf">introduction
to OIDs</a>, by Olivier Dubuisson;
</li>
<li>
section 10.8 of Olivier Dubuisson's <a href="http://www.oss.com/asn1/dubuisson.html">book
&quot;ASN.1 - Communication between heterogeneous systems&quot;</a>;
</li>
<li>
John Larmouth's <a href="http://www.oss.com/asn1/larmouth.html">book
&quot;ASN.1 complete&quot;</a>;
</li>
<li>
a tutorial by John Larmouth entitled &quot;Registration authorities
for OID components&quot; [<a href="doc/OID-tutorial.htm">html</a>]
[<a href="doc/OID-tutorial.ppt">ppt</a>];
</li>
<li>
a presentation entitled &quot;<a href="doc/MoU%20presentation%20on%20OIDs.pdf">Identifying
objects: The ASN.1 approach</a>&quot;;
</li>
<li>
see also <a href="#16">question 16</a>.<br><br></li>
</ul>
</div>
 
<li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="4"></a>How to add information to the OID repository? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#4" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
There are at least 4 ways of adding a new OID description to
the repository: <br>a. Enter the OID value in the box under "Add a description for the
following OID to the database" on the <a href="/">main page</a> and
click on the "Create" button; a new page will then be displayed with
some boxes to fill. You can also enter the OID in the following box:<br><form method="post" action="/cgi-bin/manage" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="create">
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>{</strong>
<input type="text" name="oid" size="30" value="">
<strong>}</strong>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Create">
</form>
b. Go to the parent OID of the OID that you want to add (i.e. the OID at the immediate upper level in the OID tree) and click
on the "Create a child OID" link on the top right-hand side of the
page; a new page will then be displayed with some boxes to fill.<br>c. Go to an OID at the same level as the OID that you want to add (a.k.a. sibling OID)
and click on the "Create a sibling OID" link on the top right-hand
side of the page; a new page will then be displayed with some boxes
to fill.<br>d. If you have a lot of OID descriptions to add, it is more convenient
to describe them in an XML document that conforms to our <a href="oid.xsd">XML
Schema for OIDs</a> and <a href="submit.htm">submit</a> this document
through the web interface. <br><em>
Note: In all 4 cases, the person (if any) you mention as <a href="#registration-authorities">registrant</a>
for the OID, and the person (if known) who is the <a href="#registration-authorities">registrant</a>
for the parent OID are automatically informed by email and can make
comments on your submission. The description of an OID will not be
visible until it is validated by the webmaster who is also automatically
informed by email.
</em><br><strong><br></strong>
 
</div>
<li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="modify"></a>How to modify the description of an OID? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#5" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
If you want to update an OID that is described in the OID repository,
please click on the &quot;Modify this OID&quot; hyperlink at the top-right
of the web page that describes the OID or enter the OID in the following
box:
<form method="post" action="/cgi-bin/manage" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="modify">
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>{</strong>
<input type="text" name="oid" size="30" value="">
<strong>}</strong>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Suggest a modification">
</form>
<em>
Note: Your proposed modifications will have to be validated by
the <a href="#registration-authorities">registrant</a> of the OID
being modified (if known), the <a href="#registration-authorities">registrant</a>
of the parent OID (if known) and the OID repository administrator
(who will all be automatically informed by e-mail) before they get
published.
</em><br>If the First or Current Registration Authorities requested privacy
protection, their postal address, email address and phone number are
not displayed (but you can receive them by email). In that case, please
use the &quot;Comments&quot; box at the bottom of the &quot;Suggest
a modification&quot; web page to describe the changes.<br>If an OID is misplaced in the OID tree and should be moved elsewhere
in the tree, please use the &quot;Comments&quot; box at the bottom
of the &quot;Suggest a modification&quot; web page to be displayed
to explain where (and why) the OID should be moved.<br>You can also mention in the &quot;Comments&quot; box that an OID is
a <a href="#leaf">leaf</a> in the OID tree (i.e. child OIDs cannot
be allocated) or is <a href="#leaf">frozen</a> (i.e. no more child
OIDs can be allocated).<br><br></div>
<li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="6"></a>How to delete an OID (or move it elsewhere in the OID
tree)? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#6" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
According to <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.660/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.660 | ISO 9834-1</a>, an OID shall not be deleted once it
has been allocated by a Registration Authority. However there be the
case that an OID is decribed in this OID repository but was never
officially allocated by the Registration Authority for the parent
OID (or is misplaced in the OID tree). In this case the OID has to
be deleted from the OID repository (or moved elsewhere). To request
the deletion (or to propose to move it elsewhere) please click on
the &quot;Modify this OID&quot; hyperlink at the top-right of the
web page that describes the OID or enter the OID in the following
box:
<form method="post" action="/cgi-bin/manage" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="modify">
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>{</strong>
<input type="text" name="oid" size="30" value="">
<strong>}</strong>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Suggest deletion">
</form>
Use the &quot;Comments&quot; box at the bottom of the web page to
be displayed to explain why the OID should be deleted (or moved elsewhere).
Your suggestion will have to be validated by the registrant of the
OID (if known), the registrant of the parent OID (if known) and the
OID repository administrator (who will all be automatically informed
by e-mail) before they get published.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="7"></a>How does the OID repository provided on this website
compare with Harald Alvestrand's repository? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#7" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
We get Harald's agreement to dump his repository and merge the data
into our repository. This was done in June 2003 and our OID repository
now encompasses <a href="http://www.alvestrand.no/objectid/">Harald's
registry</a>.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="8"></a>How to reference an OID description in this repository? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#8" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The shortest and easiest means is to append the OID (whether it is
in ASN.1 notation, dot notation or <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3061.txt">URN
notation</a>) to the <a href="/get/">http://oid-info.com/get/</a>
URL, <em>e.g.</em>:
<ul>
<li> <a href="/get/2.999">http://oid-info.com/get/2.999</a> (recommended);</li>
<li>
<a href="/get/%7Bjoint-iso-itu-t%20example(999)%7D">http://oid-info.com/get/{joint
iso-itu-t example(999)}</a> (ASN.1 notation);
</li>
<li>
<a href="/get/urn:oid:2.999">http://oid-info.com/get/urn:oid:2.999</a>
(URN notation);
</li>
<li>
<a href="/get//Joint-ISO-ITU-T/Example">http://oid-info.com/get//Joint-ISO-ITU-T/Example</a>
or <a href="/get//2/999">http://oid-info.com/get//2/999</a> (OID-IRI
notation; with a '/' at the beginning of the OID notation, hence
two '/'s after 'get');
</li>
<li>
<a href="/get//Example">http://oid-info.com/get//Example</a>
(OID-IRI notation using a long arc; with a '/' at the beginning
of the OID notation, hence two '/'s after 'get').<br><br></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="9"></a>How many OIDs are currently described in this repository? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#9" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
There are more than 930 000 OID descriptions stored in our repository
(see <a href="/cgi-bin/display?action=count_nodes">exact number</a>).
The repository is well alive and updated as often as necessary; <a href="/cgi-bin/display?action=count_nodes">statistics</a>
are available about the number of OIDs added to the repository (or
updated) over the past 12 months. A (non-exhaustive) list of standards
(and other documents that define OIDs) which have been captured in
our repository is <a href="captured-standards.htm">available</a>.
 
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="10"></a>How to get an OID assigned? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#10" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The original intention of the <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.660/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834</a> series was that anyone should be able
to get an OID if they needed one. There are registration authorities
from which it is easy and quite cheap (sometimes even free!) to have
an OID assigned, such as (<em>important note</em>: OIDs have to be requested
from those registrations authorities because this OID repository is
<em>not</em> a registration authority):</li>
<ul>
<li>
If you only need an OID for an example in a document, use <code><a href="/get/2.999">{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
example(999)}</a></code> as explained in <a href="#example">question
22</a>.
</li>
<li>
<a href="country_oids.htm#agreements">Several countries</a>
are handling out OIDs (usually after paying a fee decided by the
national registration authority) under their country arc <a href="/get/2.16"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
country(16)}</code></a> and/or <a href="/get/1.2"><code>{iso(1) member-body(2)}</code></a>
(see <a href="country_codes.htm">correspondence table between
country codes and OIDs</a>). (Note: If you are representing a country
and want to nominate a registration authority for your country arc
under <a href="/get/1.2"><code>{iso(1) member-body(2)}</code></a> or
<a href="/get/2.16"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2) country(16)}</code></a>,
please see <a href="#11">question 11</a> below.)
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://pen.iana.org/pen/PenApplication.page">IANA</a>
(Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) hands out OIDs for free under
<a href="/get/1.3.6.1.4.1"><code>{iso(1) identified-organization(3)
dod(6) internet(1) private(4) enterprise(1)}</code></a>; these OIDs
are used a lot (but not only) to identify Management Information
Bases (MIBs) for network management (SNMP).
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://webapp.etsi.org/ASN1ObjectTree/ASN1.asp">ETSI</a>
(European Telecommunication Standards Institute) hands out OIDs
under <code><a href="/get/0.4.0.127.0">{itu-t(0) identified-organization(4)
etsi(0) reserved(127) etsi-identified-organization(0)}</a></code>
even for non-ETSI-members.
</li>
<li>
Network operators can have an OID assigned by ITU-T under <code><a href="/get/0.3">{itu-t(0)
network-operator(3)}</a></code>; telecom operators can have an OID
assigned by their national PTT administration under <code><a href="/get/0.2">{itu-t(0)
administration(2)}</a></code>.
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
ViaThinkSoft <a href="https://www.viathinksoft.de/freeoid/index.php">freely
assigns</a> an OID to private persons and developers of freeware,
shareware or open-source software under <a href="/get/1.3.6.1.4.1.37476.9000"><code>{iso(1)
identified-organization(3) dod(6) internet(1) private(4) enterprise(1)
37476 freesub(9000)}</code></a>.
</li>
<li>
Dave Harvey (UK) <a href="http://www.medicalconnections.co.uk/Free_UID">sub-delegate
ranges of his own OID</a> to anyone who uses a <a href="http://medical.nema.org/">DICOM</a>
toolkit (communication in medicine).
</li>
<li>
You can <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ad/obtaining-an-object-identifier-from-microsoft">obtain
an OID from Microsoft</a> to extend the Active Directory schema.
</li>
<li>
You can <a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/asn1/uuid.html#UUID%20Generation%20&amp;%20Registration">generate
a UUID</a> (or use a UUID that you already hold) and append it as
a subsequent arc of <a href="/get/2.25"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
uuid(25)}</code></a> (without registering it because it is guaranteed
to be globally unique with a high probability) according to
<a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.667/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.667 | ISO/IEC 9834-8</a> (but see <a href="#size-limitations">question
30 about size limitations of OID encodings</a>).<br><br></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="national-RA"></a>What decision needs be taken if a country
wants a national Registration Authority for OIDs?
<a href="#11" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div align="right"><a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a></div>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Country arcs are the subsequent arcs of <a href="/get/1.2"><code>{iso(1)
member-body(2)}</code></a> and <a href="/get/2.16"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
country(16)}</code></a>. The values assigned to country arcs are the
<a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49alpha.htm">numerical
codes</a> (without leading zeros) assigned by the United Nations Statistics
Division together with the corresponding and the <a href="https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search">ISO
3166-1-alpha-2 code</a>. <a href="/get/1.2"><code>{iso(1) member-body(2)}</code></a>
was deprecated in favour of <a href="/get/2.16"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
country(16)}</code></a>, thus countries which have never been operating
a national Registration Authority (RA) for OIDs are encouraged to
request an arc under <a href="/get/2.16"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2) country(16)}</code></a>.
Countries are discouraged to request an arc under both <a href="/get/1.2"><code>{iso(1)
member-body(2)}</code></a> and <a href="/get/2.16"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
country(16)}</code></a>.<br><a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.660/en">Recommendation ITU-T
X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834-1</a>, clause A.4.5, specifies that the <a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/about/iso_members.htm">ISO
National Body</a> of the country and the <a href="http://www.itu.int/GlobalDirectory/search.html">administration
representing the country in the ITU</a> shall agree together (as a
national decision) on the organization that will be the RA for their
country arc. In the case of a country arc under <a href="/get/1.2"><code>{iso(1)
member-body(2)}</code></a> the decision is only taken by the <a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/about/iso_members.htm">ISO
National Body</a> of the country. For more detailed information, see
&quot;<a href="country_oids.htm">Operation of a country Registration
Authority</a>&quot;.<br>One way to know if your country is already operating an RA for OIDs
is too check the <a href="country_oids.htm#agreements">known
country RAs</a>.
 
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="12"></a>Are there guidelines or standards regarding subsequent
arcs of a country arc? <a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a>
<a href="#12" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Country arcs are the subsequent arcs of <a href="/get/1.2"><code>{iso(1)
member-body(2)}</code></a> and <a href="/get/2.16"><code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
country(16)}</code></a>.<br>The structure underneath a country arc is a national decision. The
basic standard is of course <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.660/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834-1</a>. It might be worth having a look
at <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.670/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.670</a> "<em>
Procedures for registration agents operating on
behalf of organizations to register organization names subordinate
to country names
</em>".<br>There is no guidelines besides the fact that any registration authority
needs to keep records according to the aforementioned standards. A
good idea is probably to look at <a href="country_oids.htm#agreements">how
other countries have organized subsequent arcs beneath their country
arc</a> as well as reading the ITU handbook on &quot;<a href="http://www.itu.int/pub/T-HDB-LNG.4-2010"><em>
Object
identifiers (OIDs) and their registration authorities
</em></a>&quot;.
 
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="13"></a>What is the Internet OID?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#13" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The Internet OID is <code><a href="/get/1.3.6.1">{iso(1) identified-organization(3)
dod(6) internet(1)}</a></code> or equivalently in dot notation <code><a href="/get/1.3.6.1">1.3.6.1</a></code>.
</div>
 
<li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="14"></a>Where does the dot notation for OIDs come from?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#14" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
(<em>from Harald Alvestrand's <a href="http://www.alvestrand.no/objectid/index.html">website</a></em>)<br>The dot notation is an IETF invention. The ASN.1 group thought it
better to have a notation using spaces and braces, with optional text
labels, so that <code>1.3.6.1</code> would become something like <code>{iso(1)
identified-organization(3) dod(6) internet(1)}</code> or <code>{1 3 6
1}</code> or variants thereof.<br>The IETF folks thought this was somewhat inconvenient, and decided
to use a space-free notation. This is, among other things, spelled
out in IETF <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1778.txt">RFC 1778,
section 2.15</a>, but was in use long before that time. IETF <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2252.txt">RFC
2252, section 4.1</a>, eliminates the "<code>ds.4.10</code>" form.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="15"></a>Why are top-level arcs restricted to three arcs numbered
<code>0</code> to <code>2</code>, and why are arcs beneath top-level arcs
<code>0</code> and <code>1</code> restricted to fourty arcs numbered <code>0</code>
to <code>39</code>?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#15" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
This enables optimized binary encodings in which all arcs beneath
top-level arcs <code>0</code> and <code>1</code>, and arcs <code>0</code> to <code>47</code>
beneath top-level arc <code>2</code> are encoded on a single octet (see
<a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.690/en">Rec. ITU-T X.690 |
ISO/IEC 8825-1</a>, clause 8.19). Arcs greater to <code>47</code> benath
top-level arc <code>2</code> are hence encoded on more than one octet.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="16"></a>What do we call a registration tree (or object identifier
tree)?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#16" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
In an open and international world such as the one of telecommunications
and information technologies, you often need to be able to reference
an "object" (see <a href="#1">question 1</a>) in a unique and universal
way. The ASN.1 standard defines an object as being "<em>
a well-defined
piece of information, definition or specification which requires a
name in order to identify its use in an instance of communication
</em>".<br>In general, an object is a class of information (for example, a file
format), rather than an instance of such a class (for example, an
individual file). It is thus the class of information (defined by
some referenceable specification), rather than the piece of information
itself, that is assigned a place in the tree.<br>The naming structure that has been chosen is a tree structure that
allows to name objects in a local or international context, without
beeing limited either by the registration authority, nor by the number
of objects they can register.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="17"></a>What is the ASN.1 notation of an OID?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#17" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Each OID arc is associated with a mandatory number (used for data
transfers) and an optional, recommended, identifier (for legibility).
This is called the NameAndNumberForm in Rec. ITU-T X.680 | ISO/IEC
8824-1, clause 32.<br>An "identifier" begins with a lower-case letter and is followed by
letters, digits and hyphens. In <a href="name-forms.htm">some cases</a>,
the identifier has been standardized and can be used alone (without
the associated number) in the ASN.1 notation; this is called the <a href="name-forms.htm">NameForm</a>
in Rec. ITU-T X.680 | ISO/IEC 8824-1, clause 32.<br>The number can only be used alone; this is called the NumberForm in
Rec. ITU-T X.680 | ISO/IEC 8824-1, clause 32.<br>An object identifier is semantically an ordered list of object identifier
components (NameAndNumberForm, NumberForm or NameForm). Starting with
the root of the object identifier tree, each object identifier component
identifies an arc in the object identifier tree. The last object identifier
component identifies an arc leading to a vertex to which an object
has been assigned. It is this object which is identified by the object
identifier.<br>Example: <code><a href="/cgi-bin/display?oid=2.5.4.49&amp;action=display">{joint-iso-itu-t(2)
ds(5) attributeType(4) distinguishedName(49)}</a></code> <br>(See also <a href="#14">question 14</a> for the dot notation and <a href="#iri">question
28</a> about the OID-IRI notation.)
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="management"></a>How is the entire registration tree managed?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#18" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The management of the entire registration tree is accomplished by
a process of delegation of authority. In this process the registration
authority responsible for a given arc in the registration tree may
partition that naming-domain. In doing so, it may or may not delegate
the registration responsibility for the naming-domain formed by each
partition to a subordinate Registration Authority. The naming of a
partition does not necessarily imply authority to register objects
under that partition. This delegation of registration responsibility
can be applied repeatedly with a subordinate registration authority
partitioning further the naming domain for which it is responsible
and delegating responsibility for those partitions to registration
authorities subordinate to it.<br>The registration authority responsible for a given naming-domain must
assign a name to the partition of that naming-domain that a given
sub-authority will manage. The name assigned shall be globally unambiguous,
and shall be concatenated as a prefix to all names assigned by that
sub-authority. The repeated application of this process through a
hierarchy of registration agents ensures the generation of unambiguous
names.<br>An organization, a standard or an automated facility can be the registration
authority for more than one partition of a naming-domain (see also
<a href="faq.htm#national-RA">questions 11 and 12</a> for how country arcs are managed).
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="features"></a>Which features are offered by this repository?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#19" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The <a href="display-example.htm">description page</a> for each OID
offers the ability to:
<ul type="disc">
<li>
have a synthetic <a href="/cgi-bin/display?tree=">graphical
view</a> of the tree (click on the<img src="images/pm.gif" width="19" height="18">
and<img src="images/mm.gif" width="19" height="18"> icons to
fold and unfold arcs);
</li>
<li>display the description of another OID (the &quot;Go&quot; button);</li>
<li>
use the &quot;remote control&quot; to display the description
of:
<ul>
<li>the parent OID,</li>
<li> the previous or next sibling OID,</li>
<li>the very first or very last sibling OID, or</li>
<li> the first child OID; </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
submit a description of a child OID under the current OID (see
also <a href="#syntax-rules">question 20</a>): After putting down
some information (description of the OID, its registrant...),
the registrant of the OID (if known), the registrant of the parent
OID (if known) and the OID repository administrator will be automatically
asked by email to review and validate your submission. Note that
the description page of the newly created OID will only be available
after validation;
</li>
<li>
submit a description of a sibling OID at the same level as the
current OID (see also <a href="#syntax-rules">question 20</a>);
</li>
<li>
propose modifications of the description of the current OID:
these modifications will have to be validated by the registrant
of the OID (if known), the registrant of the parent OID (if known)
and the OID repository administrator (who will all be automatically
informed by e-mail) before they get published;
</li>
<li>
do a <a href="basic-search.htm">quick search</a> of the entire
OID repository by searching for a particular string in all attributes;
</li>
<li>
do an <a href="advanced-search.htm">advanced search</a> of the entire
OID repository by searching for a particular value for each description
attribute or even by using regular expressions.
</li>
</ul>
Other features are available from the <a href="/">main page</a> of
the OID repository:
<ul>
<li>
display the <a href="/cgi-bin/display?action=count_nodes">number
of OIDs</a> in the repository as well as statistics about how
many OID descriptions were added or modified over the past 12
months;
</li>
<li>
add the description of a given OID (see also <a href="#syntax-rules">question
20</a>);
</li>
<li>
<a href="submit.htm">submit</a> many OIDs to the database by
describing them in an XML file.<br><br></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="syntax-rules"></a>What are the syntax rules to enter information
about OIDs through the web interface?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#20" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
When adding information about an OID into the OID repository, non-ASCII
characters such as accentuated letters are allowed in most fields
(&quot;Description&quot;, &quot;Information&quot;, registrant &quot;First
name&quot;, &quot;Last name&quot; and &quot;Address&quot;). The software
will replace them by their equivalent <a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_13.html#SEC106">HTML
code</a>.<br>The following HTML tags are allowed in the &quot;Description&quot;,
&quot;Information&quot; and &quot;Address&quot; fields: <code>&lt;a&gt;</code>,
<code>&lt;br/&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;code&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;em&gt;</code>,
<code>&lt;hr/&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;img&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;li&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;ol&gt;</code>,
<code>&lt;strong&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;sub&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;sup&gt;</code>
and <code>&lt;ul&gt;</code>. Use of <code>&lt;br&gt;</code> or <code>&lt;br/&gt;</code>
is not mandatory to break lines because the software will replace
by <code>&lt;br/&gt;</code> any newline character that appears in these
fields.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="21"></a>Which information is necessary to apply for
an OID?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#21" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
According to clause 8.2 f of <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.660/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834-1</a>, the registration record for an OID
shall include at least:<br>a) the definition of the object (when the registration authority of
the parent OID performs a technical role, it checks that the objet
can be registered under its node);<br>b) when applicable, the identifier (beginning with a lowercase letter)
assigned to the object (in addition to the unique number);<br>b) the name and contact information of the organization that proposed
the entry (usually it is the &quot;<a href="#registration-authorities">First
registration authority</a>&quot; for the requested OID);<br>c) the dates of submission/registration.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="example"></a>Is there a particular OID that can be used for
documenting examples of object identifiers?<a href="#22" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div align="right"><a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a></div>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
<a href="/get/2.999">{joint-iso-itu-t(2) example(999)}</a> (or <a href="/get/2.999">2.999</a>)
can be used by anyone, without any permission, for the purpose of
documenting examples of object identifiers (in the same way as "example.com"
is defined in <a href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2606.html">IETF
RFC 2606</a> as an example for web sites).
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="registration-authorities"></a>What is the difference between
the first and current Registration Authorities that appear in the
description of some OIDs? What is their duty?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#23" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
A <em>Registration Authority</em> (RA) is responsible for allocating
child arcs to the OID for which it manages. It ensures that an integer
is used once among the subsequent arcs (child OIDs). As much as possible,
it avoids the same identifier (beginning with a lowercase letter)
being used for multiple sub-arcs. It also keeps a record of information
(name of a contact person, postal address, telephone and fax numbers,
email address, etc.) about the RA for each child OID and delegates
its duty to each 'child' RA. Such information can be stored in the
OID repository but it is important to understand that an OID first
need to be <em>officially</em> allocated by an RA before it can be described
on this website which is not an official RA, but a <em>repository</em>
of information about existing OIDs.<br>The <em>first Registration Authority</em> of an OID is the very first
person or company to whom the OID was allocated by the RA of the superior
OID. According to the <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.660/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834-1</a><!-- clause 9.2.f.a --> standard, the first RA can't be changed
(if the responsibility is transfered to someone else, the information
is recorded in the &quot;Current Registration Authority&quot; section,
without changing the &quot;First Registration Authority&quot; section).<br>By default, if the OID has recently been allocated, the Current RA
is the First RA. So, if you are <a href="#4">entering information
in the OID repository</a>, please fill only the &quot;First Registration
Authority&quot; section, and don't copy the same information in the
&quot;Current Registration Authority&quot; section).<br>When someone or an organization takes over the duty from the First
RA, the relevant information is indicated in the &quot;Current Registration
Authority&quot; section without changing the &quot;First Registration
Authority&quot; section.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="mib"></a>What constraints are imposed to OIDs used in SNMP
MIBs (Management Information Bases)?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#24" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The constraints are gathered in sections 4.6.5, 4.6.6, and Appendix
D of IETF <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4181">RFC 4181</a>
(updated by <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4841">RFC 4841</a>)
which makes references to <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2578">RFC
2578</a>, sections 3.5, 3.6, 5.6, 7.10, and <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3416">RFC
3416</a>, section 4.1.<br>- According to RFC 2578, section 3.5, all OIDs are limited to 128
child OIDs.<br>- The last arc of an OID assigned to any object (be it table, row,
column, or scalar) must not be equal to 0.<br>- In some cases, a final arc 0 is used to translate between SNMPv1
and SNMPv2 notification parameters as explained in <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2576">RFC
2576</a>, section 3.<br>One example of a MIB module whose OID assignments follow the recommended
scheme is the <code>POWER-ETHERNET-MIB</code> defined in <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3621">RFC
3621</a>.<br>MIBs use a notation like ".2.999" where the leading dot shows that
this OID is absolute while "2.999" might be considered as a relative
OID by some tools which would then add a root OID in front of it.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;">
<a name="lookup"></a>Is there a way to look up an OID in the OID repository from my web browser?<a href="#25" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a>
</li>
<div align="right"><a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a></div>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
- If you're using <img src="images/firefox-icon.png" width="16" height="16" alt="[Firefox Icon]">
<a href="https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/">Mozilla Firefox</a> or <img src="images/mozilla-icon.png" width="16" height="16" alt="[Mozilla Icon]">
<a href="https://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/">Mozilla SeaMonkey</a>
(formerly known as Mozilla Application Suite) or <img src="images/microsoft_ie7.gif" width="16" height="16" alt="[Mozilla Icon]">
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx">Internet
Explorer 7</a> or <img src="images/google-chrome.ico" width="16" height="16" alt="[Chrome Icon]" border="0">
<a href="http://www.google.com/chrome/">Google Chrome</a>, an <a href="http://mycroft.mozdev.org/search-engines.html?name=oid+resolver&amp;skipcache=yes">OpenSearch
Plugin</a> (a.k.a. search engine) allows to display information about
an OID when an ASN.1, dot, <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3061.txt">URN</a>
or <a href="#iri">OID-IRI</a> notation is entered in the search bar
at the top-right.<br><!-- - If you're using <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/">Mozilla
Thunderbird</a>, <img src="images/firefox-icon.png" width="16" height="16" alt="[Firefox Icon]">
<a href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">Mozilla Firefox</a>
or <img src="images/mozilla-icon.png" width="16" height="16" alt="[Mozilla Icon]">
<a href="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/">Mozilla SeaMonkey</a>
(formerly known as Mozilla Application Suite), the <a href="http://dictionarysearch.mozdev.org">DictionarySearch
add-on</a> is easy to configure so that you can display information
about an OID by right-clicking on its selection:<br><ul>
<li>
install the DictionarySearch extension corresponding to your
tool from <a href="http://dictionarysearch.mozdev.org">http://dictionarysearch.mozdev.org</a>;
</li>
<li>
in the &quot;Tools&quot; menu of your tool, select the &quot;Extensions&quot;
item;
</li>
<li>
highlight the line for DictionarySearch, then click on the "Options"
button;
</li>
<li>
add a new Dictionary with the following information (this will
display the description of the selected OIDin dot notation; it
doesn't work well for a selected OID in ASN.1 notation because
the closing parentheses are removed for whatever reason):<br><em>Text</em>: <code>Search for OID "$"</code><br><em>Access key</em>: <code>O</code><br><em>URL</em>: <code>http://oid-info.com/cgi-bin/display?oid=$&amp;action=display</code>
</li>
<li>
This other new &quot;Dictionary&quot; may also be useful (it
will display a tree for the selected OID in dot notation):<br><em>Text</em>: <code>Display tree for OID "$"</code><br><em>Access key</em>: <code>T</code><br><em>URL</em>: <code>http://oid-info.com/cgi-bin/display?oid=$&action=tree</code>
</li>
</ul>
- If you're using <img src="images/firefox-icon.png" width="16" height="16" alt="[Firefox Icon]">
<a href="https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/">Mozilla Firefox</a>, the
<a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1940">&quot;URN
Support&quot; add-on</a> from <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/user/9480">SHIMODA
Hiroshi</a> redirects a <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3061.txt">URN</a>
of the form urn:oid:x.y.z to the description of this OID in this OID
repository. Note: This add-on is not compatible with the &quot;OID
resolver&quot; add-on mentioned in the first bullet above.<br>- See also <a href="#8">question 8</a>.-->
See also <a href="#8">question 8</a>.<br></div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="leaf"></a>What is a leaf OID? What is a frozen OID?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#26" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
These are not standardized concepts. In case an OID is a <em>leaf</em>
in the OID repository, no child OIDs can be allocated under that OID.
In case an OID is <em>frozen</em> in the OID repository, no more child
OIDs can be created in addition to the existing ones. In both cases,
the system does not accept the creation of child OIDs. The status
is also mentioned on the web page that describes an OID (see example
for a <a href="/get/0.0.2">leaf OID</a> and for a <a href="/get/2.25">frozen
OID</a>).<br>To report that an OID is a leaf or is frozen, please <a href="#modify">suggest
a modification</a> for this OID and use the &quot;Comments&quot; box
at the bottom.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="orphan"></a>What is an orphan OID?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#27" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
This is not a standardized concept but this term is used to qualify
an OID that is described in the OID repository, but some of its parent
OIDs are not described in the OID repository. This does not mean that
these unknown parent OIDs do not exist (actually they do exist because
an OID can only be allocated by the Registration Authority of its
parent OID). However the user who submitted the description of this
OID has no knowledge of how to describe these parent OIDs.<br><!-- This is useful in cases such as:<br>- you have found the description of an OID somewhere on the web or
in a document, but you don't know how to describe all arcs along the
path;<br>- you have a bunch of OIDs to submit to the OID repository, so you
can submit them in any order because there is no obligation to submit
the parent OID first.<br>-->
Orphan OIDs are not visible when one
<a href="/cgi-bin/display?tree=">walks down the OID tree</a>. However,
they are <a href="display-example.htm">displayed</a> when one asks
for the description of a particular OID. <em>Orphan grandchild OIDs</em>
(<em>i.e.</em>, OIDs for which we have a description as well as a description
of their grandparent OID, but no description of their parent OID)
are accessible from the <a href="display-example.htm">description
page</a> of their grandparent OID.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="iri"></a>What is an OID-IRI (Internationalized Resource Identifier)?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#28" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Historically, OIDs could only be denoted in <a href="#14">dot notation</a>
(<em>e.g.</em>, <code>2.27</code>) or in <a href="#17">ASN.1 notation</a>
(<em>e.g.</em>, <code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2) tag-based(27)}</code>) where only
ASCII identifiers are allowed. The need was identified for a human-friendly
notation which would not be limited to latin alphabets and would encompass
the diversity of <a href="http://www.unicode.org">Unicode alphabets</a>.<br>An OID-IRI (a.k.a. international OID) is a string of slash-separated
Unicode labels from the root of the OID tree, which unambiguously
identifies a node in the OID tree (e.g., &quot;<a href="/get//Joint-ISO-ITU-T/Example"><code>/Joint-ISO-ITU-T/Example</code></a>&quot;).<br>A Unicode label is a case-sensitive string of Unicode characters (except
the <code>SPACE</code> character). Just as an OID node can have multiple
identifiers in ASN.1 notation, it can have multiple Unicode labels
(this allows backwards-compatibility when a company changes its name,
for example). Each OID node has a default Unicode label which is its
number (<em>e.g.</em>, &quot;<a href="/get//2/999"><code>/2/999</code></a>&quot;).<br>A <em>long arc</em> is a particular kind of Unicode label which identifies
an OID that is not immediately beneath the root of the OID tree, <em>e.g.</em>,
OID <code>{joint-iso-itu-t(2) example(999)}</code> has a long arc named
&quot;<code>Example</code>&quot; which allows to build the OID-IRI &quot;<code><a href="/get//Example">/Example</a></code>&quot;
which is shorter than the OID-IRI &quot;<code><a href="/get//Joint-ISO-ITU-T/Example">/Joint-ISO-ITU-T/Example</a></code>&quot;.
Long arcs are only allowed under the <code>joint-iso-itu-t(2)</code> top-level
arc (see the <a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/com17/oid-registers.html">register
of long arcs</a>.<br>The <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.680/en">ASN.1 standard</a>
specifies an <code>OID-IRI</code> type for exchanging OID-IRI values between
machines.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="29"></a>What are the duties of a Registration Authority?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#29" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Guidance is given in sections 8.2 (Operation), 9 (registration procedures)
and 11 (recommended fee structure) of <a href="http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-X.660/en">Recommendation
ITU-T X.660 | ISO/IEC 9834-1</a>.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="size-limitations"></a>Are there size limitations for OID encoding?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#30" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The <a href="standards.htm">OID standards</a> have no limit whatsoever
about the depth of an OID in the OID tree (i.e., number of arcs) and
the size of the integer associated to each OID arc. However, some
tools may have size limitations (or bugs):<br>- The <a href="https://lapo.it/asn1js/">ASN.1 JavaScript decoder at
lapo.it</a>, <a href="http://www.bouncycastle.org">Bouncy Castle Crypto
APIs</a>, OpenSSL (0.9.8o, 1 Jun 2010) and the built-in Java class
"<code>org.ietf.jgss.Oid</code>" can handle <a href="/get/2.25">UUIDs
used as OIDs</a>.<br>- Windows CryptoAPI Shell Extension (tested with Windows XP and Windows
7) cannot handle <a href="/get/2.25">UUIDs used as OIDs</a>: The maximum
useable OID value in Windows is 2<sup>64</sup>-1 (e.g., <code>2.999.18446744073709551615</code>).
Windows will show whitespace when any higher value occurs.<br>- Mozilla software cannot handle <a href="/get/2.25">UUIDs used as
OIDs</a>: The maximum useable OID value in Mozilla software is 2<sup>32</sup>-1
(e.g., <code>2.999.4294967295</code>). The program will show "Unknown"
when an arc contains a higher value (e.g., <code>{2 999 Unknown 0}</code>).
<br>- Mac OS X cannot handle OIDs over 2.47 (it wrongly decodes OIDs which
need more than one octet in the first two arcs). <br>More details can be found in <a href="http://www.viathinksoft.de/~daniel-marschall/asn.1/oid_facts.html">Daniel
Marschall's study about OID encoding and size limitations</a>. Daniel's
<a href="https://www.viathinksoft.de/%7Edaniel-marschall/asn.1/oid-converter/online.php">DER
encoder</a> can also help you in your testing.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="31"></a>Are there binary encoders/decoders for OIDs?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#31" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
See for example (non-exhaustive list):<strong><br></strong>- OSS Nokalva's online <a href="https://asn1.io/asn1playground/">ASN.1
playground</a> encodes/decodes OIDs in any encoding rule (BER, DER,
PER, UPER, XER) with the following schema:<br><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;OID-Module DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;OID ::= OBJECT IDENTIFIER<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;END</code><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;The OID is provided in ASN.1 notation in the &quot;Data:
Encode&quot; box as follows:<br><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;oid OID ::= {2 999}</code><br>- Daniel Marschall's online <a href="https://www.viathinksoft.de/%7Edaniel-marschall/asn.1/oid-converter/online.php">DER encoder/decoder</a> (for PHP and C);<br>- <a href="http://bouncycastle.org">The Legion of the Bouncy Castle</a>'s
API for Java and C#;<br>- <a href="http://wireshark.org">Wireshark</a>'s subtool for ASN.1;<br>- Etc.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="32"></a><a name="cookies"></a>Does this web site use cookies?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#32" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
Only those users who have submitted information on OIDs (creation of a new OID or proposed modifications to an existing OID) have a unique cookie placed on their machine with their first name, last name and email address, so that the "submitter" section is automatically filled for them the next time they submit information.
The <a href="/helper">OID helper</a> chatbot is hosted by <a href="http://pandorabots.com/botmaster/en/~121e02c2b4d4270afe6afac6~/faq">Pandorabots</a> which normally tracks individual conversations by placing a cookie on your browser, in order to offer contextual answers to your questions. However, if you browser is not setup to accept cookies, an alternative mechanism is used through a hidden variable in the HTML form. <br>This web site relies on Google Analytics, a tool from Google Inc.,
that uses cookies in the form of textual data relative to your use
of Internet (including your IP address). This data is <a href="https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/2919631?hl=en&amp;ref_topic=1008008">anonymously
saved</a> on servers from Google Inc. located in the United States
of America. Users who don't want their data collected with Google
Analytics can install the <a href="https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/181881?hl=en">Google
Analytics opt-out browser add-on</a>.
</div>
<br><li style="font-weight:bold;"><a name="33"></a><a name="privacy"></a>How does this web site protect users' privacy?<a href="#top"><img src="images/page_top_fleche.jpg" width="27" height="17" border="0"></a><a href="#32" onclick="javascript: switchInfoPerso('Question');"></a></li>
<div id="question" style="width:auto; height:auto">
The purpose of this section (updated on 24 Jan 2019) is to inform
you about the way your personal data is handled on this web site.
By providing your personal data to this web site, you acknowledge
and consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal
data for a legitimate interest as explained hereunder. This web site
never sells, leases or rents your personal data.<br>Only users who have submitted information on OIDs (description of
a new OID or proposed modifications to an existing OID) have personal
data stored in the OID repository database. The only reason to keep
such information is to inform them when the OID description is validated
or modified by the OID repository administrator, or when modifications
are suggested by another user (see also <a href="#cookies">question
32 about cookies</a>). This information is not publicly disclosed
on the web site. (Note, however, that it may be sent by email to the
<a href="#registration-authorities">(current or first) registration
authority</a> of the OID and of its parent OID, when they are known).<br>Only those users who are the contact of a <a href="#registration-authorities">(current
or first) registration authority</a> for an OID and have not ticked
the box &quot;<i>
Protect the privacy of the Registration Authority
by not displaying the contact information on the web site
</i>&quot;
have their personal data (email address, postal address, phone number)
publicly visible on the web site. (Note, however, that even when the
&quot;privacy&quot; box is ticked, any user of this web site can <a href="/cgi-bin/manage?a=get-info">receive
by email a copy of such data</a> so as to be able to contact the registration
authority of an OID; such requests are recorded). These users are
automatically notified by email when information about them is entered
and can request deletion of such data.<br>In some cases, your personal data appears in the OID repository because
it is publicly available on another web site (e.g., <a href="https://www.iana.org/assignments/enterprise-numbers/enterprise-numbers">IANA
enterprise numbers</a>).<br>To check if personal data related to you appears in the OID repository,
please use the <a href="advanced-search.htm">advanced search</a>. You can
also <a href="/cgi-bin/manage?a=get-personal-data">get a copy</a>
of all personal data appearing in the OID repository. In any case,
your personal data is never used for sending any kind of publicity
to you.<br>A log of all modifications made to an OID is also kept (hence your
personal data may appear in that log) but it is not public and would
only be used by the OID repository administrator to explain or undo
changes if needed.<br>For any other question related to data protection or to request the
rectification or erasure of your personal data, you can <a href="/oid-helper">contact
the webmaster</a>. Repetitive, disproportionate or impracticable requests
may be rejected.
</div>
<br /></ol>
 
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