Network Working Group A. Rundgren
Internet-Draft Independent
Intended status: Informational February 9, 2019
Expires: August 13, 2019

"Comparable" JSON (JSONCOMP)
draft-rundgren-comparable-json-00

Abstract

This application note describes how JCS [JCS] can be utilized to support applications needing canonicalization beyond the core JSON [RFC8259] level, with comparisons as the primary target.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

The purpose of JCS [JCS] is creating "Hashable" JSON [RFC8259] data intended for cryptographic solutions. JCS accomplishes this by combining normalization of the native JSON String and Number primitives with a deterministic property sorting scheme. That is, JCS provides canonicalization at the core JSON level. For interoperability reasons JCS also constrains data to the I-JSON [RFC7493] subset.

However, if you rather would like to compare JSON data from different sources or runs, JCS would in many cases be inadequate since the JSON String type is commonly used for holding subtypes like "DateTime" or "BigNumber" objects.

This application note outlines how JCS in spite of having a limited canonicalization scope still may be utilized by applications like above.

2. Terminology

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.

3. String Subtype Normalization

Assume you want to compare productions of JSON data where the schema designer assigned the property "big" for holding a "BigInteger" subtype and "time" for holding a "DateTime" subtype, while "val" is supposed to be a JSON Number compliant with JCS. The example below shows such a string:

  {"time": "2019-01-28T07:45:10Z", "big": "055", "val": 3.5}

A problem here is that "055" clearly is not a canonical form for a "BigInteger" while a "DateTme" object like "2019-01-28T07:45:10Z" might as well be expressed as "2019-01-28T08:45:10.000+01:00" making comparisons based on JCS canonicalization fail.

To resolve this issue using JCS the following measures MUST be taken:

A positive side effect of this arrangement is that it enforces strict definitions of subtypes which improves interoperability in general as well.

Below is an example how such a serializer could be expressed in ECMAScript [ECMASCRIPT] for a "DateTime" subtype:

  Date.prototype.toJSON = function() {
      let date = this.toISOString();
      // In this particular case we selected a UTC notation
      // yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ
      return date.substring(0, date.indexOf('.')) + 'Z';
  };

Defining specific subtypes and their normalized form is out of scope for this application note.

4. IANA Considerations

This document has no IANA actions.

5. Security Considerations

TBD.

6. Acknowledgements

TBD.

7. References

7.1. Normative References

[JCS] A. Rundgren, B. Jordan, S. Erdtman, "JSON Canonicalization Scheme - Work in progress"
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997.
[RFC7493] Bray, T., "The I-JSON Message Format", RFC 7493, DOI 10.17487/RFC7493, March 2015.
[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174, May 2017.
[RFC8259] Bray, T., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data Interchange Format", STD 90, RFC 8259, DOI 10.17487/RFC8259, December 2017.

7.2. Informal References

[ECMASCRIPT] Ecma International, "ECMAScript 2015 Language Specification"

Author's Address

Anders Rundgren Independent Montpellier, France EMail: anders.rundgren.net@gmail.com URI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andersrundgren/