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RFC 6920 / NAMED INFORMATION

Read a human-speakable name

06

The nih scheme uses lowercase hexadecimal digest text, optional hyphen groups and an optional checkdigit to help people copy or speak a name.

RFC 6920 · § 7EXAMPLE
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Read a human-speakable nameThe nih scheme uses lowercase hexadecimal digest text, optional hyphen groups and an optional checkdigit to help people copy or speak a name.Copied: nih:6;5326-9056;brecompute checkdigitCHECKDIGIT MISMATCHEven a pass is not authenticationRFC6920 · chapter6 state4 · public / fictional examples
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Catch a transcription error

Separate copied value 5326-9056 with the old checkdigit b does not pass the check. Stop this teaching comparison; do not turn a passing checkdigit into identity proof.

Source for this drawing: RFC 6920 · Read RFC section 7 ↗

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A message needs an address.

Think of a packet as a small addressed envelope. Devices pass it onward; transport protocols decide what delivery promises an application gets.

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KEY POINT

The digest is lowercase ASCII hex. Hyphens MAY be inserted for readability; authority and query are not included. There are no relative nih URIs.

  • The digest is lowercase ASCII hex. Hyphens MAY be inserted for readability; authority and query are not included. There are no relative nih URIs.
  • The optional checkdigit MUST use Luhn mod16 over only the hex digest with hyphens removed. Algorithm names and separators do not enter that calculation.
  • For supported suites with assigned IDs, implementations MUST match the decimal ID form even without binary-format support. A checkdigit catches some transcription errors; it does not authenticate a person or key.
DETAILS

Also RFC6920 §§8.2–8.3,9.4,10. This illustrates the optional checkdigit when present; it is not a mandatory field. Worked values are public RFC examples or fictional teaching data. Naming, locating, and checking integrity are distinct operations.

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