VALUE definitions

The VALUE definition consists of a single line of text, with four fields, as shown below:

  • VALUE

    • The keyword that indicates the format of this entry.

  • attribute-name

    • The name of the ATTRIBUTE.

  • value-name

    • The name given to this enumerated value.

  • number

    • The number associated with the name for this enumerated value.

The following is an example of a VALUE entry in the dictionary file:

VALUE    Framed-Protocol    PPP    1

This entry defines a value named PPP for the attribute Framed-Protocol that maps to the number 1.

The VALUE name field is usually taken from the RFCs for standardized attributes or from vendor documentation for VSAs. The name cannot have spaces or other special characters in it. A good rule of thumb is to keep the name to a three to four word description of the purpose of the attribute, separated by a dash (-) character, e.g., Framed-User.

The number field is a decimal number, in some cases a hex number, starting with 0x. Again, it is usually take from the RFCs for standardized attributes or from vendor documentation for VSAs. In almost all cases, this number will be a value between 0 and 65535. However, as the integer data type is a 32-bit number, the maximum value is 4294967295.

Since each VALUE maps a name to a number and vice-versa, a VALUE definition can only refer to integer, short, or byte attribute types. The native limitations of each integer then limit the range of possible values. See the table below (Attribute Type Value Ranges) for the possible value ranges for each attribute type.

Table 1. Attribute Type Value Ranges
Attribute Type Integer Type Numerical Range

byte

8 bit numbers

0 to 255

short

16 bit numbers

0 to 65535

integer

32 bit number

0 to 4294967295

integer64

64 bit number

0 to 4294967295*4294967295