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Rename tags/types/identifiers/numbers to (type) IDs

Daniel Huigens requested to merge twisstle/rfc4880bis:packet-type-id into main

This MR attemps to unify the naming of tags, types, identifiers and numbers as follows:

  • Numbers that refer to an external algorithm or data format are "IDs"
  • Numbers that refer to a type of data defined in this spec are "type IDs"
  • Numbers that encode (but aren't necessarily the same as) a type ID are "encoded type IDs"

So, concretely, the following concepts are renamed:

  • "Packet Tag" -> "[Encoded] Packet Type ID"
  • (Signature / User Attribute) "Subpacket Type" -> "[Encoded] Subpacket Type ID" (when referring to a numeric type identifier only; "subpacket type" now refers to the kind of subpacket it is)
  • "Image Format Type/Value" -> "Image Format ID"
  • (symmetric/compression/etc) "algorithm identifier/number/octet" -> "algorithm ID"

Note that the registries are still named as defining (sub)packet types, not type IDs; the (type) ID is the first column of the type registries.

Then, this MR also does some cleanups to clarify the description of encoded (sub)packet type IDs, please see the diff for details.


FWIW, I don't think this naming is 100% perfect, and it would be nice to have a single word for "type ID" that's unambiguous and doesn't clash with any of the other terms in use. If you know one, let me know :) That being said, I think this is still much more consistent than before.


This MR builds upon and is an alternative to !319 (closed).

Feel free to ignore this if it's too late for changes or if it would hamper the release of the crypto refresh, etc.

Edited by Daniel Huigens

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