Subject: [ipfix-protocol] Clarification for

From: Benoit Claise <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 17:30:40 +0200

Dear all,

While I have anyway to post a new version of the IPFIX-PROTO due to 
http://ipfix.doit.wisc.edu/archive/2875.html, let post a comment I receive.

      Field Count 
         Number of all fields in this Option Template Record, including 
         the Scope Fields.  Because an Option Template Set usually  
         contains multiple Option Template Records, this field allows  
         the Collecting Process to determine the end of the current  
         Option Template Record and the start of the next. 

The second sentence is misleading. The received comment is:

    The justification for not separating these out is "[combined field
    count] allows the collecting process to determine the end of the
    current option template record and the start of the next".  I guess I
    don't buy that :-) .  If there was no difference in field sizes i.e.
    no optional enterprise identifier, I could see some usefulness: if
    each field/scope in the template was the same length, you could
    multiply the total field count by a constant to get the offset to the
    next template record.  However, since you can have
    intermittent/randomly different sizes of fields depending on whether
    the enterprise bit is set, to get to the next template record, you
    ALWAYS must parse through the fields. 

The proposal is to remove this confusing sentence. The new definition 
becomes:

      Field Count 
         Number of all fields in this Option Template Record, including 
         the Scope Fields.

If you object this change, please react very fast ;) ... as I will be posting a new version of IPFIX-PROTO before the end of the week.

Regards, Benoit.