[netmod] YANG module vs YANG data model

[IGNACIO DOMINGUEZ MARTINEZ-CASANUEVA <[e-mail]>]

Dear NETMOD WG,

Since I started working with YANG, I have felt the impression that we tend to use the terms “module” and “model” indistinctly, leading to misunderstandings.

According to RFC7950:

“a data model describes how data is represented and accessed.”

And later we can find:

                “YANG structures data models into modules and submodules.”
And:
                “YANG data models are defined in modules.  A module contains a collection of related definitions.”

The identification and versioning of YANG modules and submodules is clear, and in fact, keeps evolving as we have seen in the YANG Semantic Versioning<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-netmod-yang-semver/> discussions. However, when it comes to YANG data models, to the best of my knowledge, there are no means for identifying them.

In my opinion, this is a limitation that is hindering the cataloguing and access to YANG data. From the standpoint of a data consumer, what you care about is the data model, that is, the compiled hierarchy or collection of imported, deviation, and augmentation modules. Let’s put an example with two different data models:


  1.  Module A (name: module-A) • augmented by Module B (name:module-B)
  2.  Module A (name: module-A) • augmented by Module C (name:module-C)

How do we refer to the first data model? Should we name it “module-A”, like the parent or root module? Please, also note here that concepts like “parent module” or “root module” have not been formally defined in the scope of YANG data modelling.

How about the second data model in the example? We cannot name it “module-A” as we would have a naming conflict with the first data model.

I have seen other activities within the IETF that have come across this issue. For instance, An Architecture for YANG-Push to Message Broker Integration<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-nmop-yang-message-broker-integration/00/> with the implementation of the YANG Schema Registry. In this case, the YANG data models (not the modules), and therefore, the YANG schemas, need to be uniquely identified in the registry. However, the algorithm used for generating the schema IDs is still unclear.

I think the YANG Packages<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-netmod-yang-packages/> draft aimed at solving this, though I’m missing why the document was abandoned. I would kindly appreciate I someone could shed some light.

Many thanks!

Best regards,
Nacho.


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