Several new data types are introduced as a textual convention in this MIB document. These textual conventions enhance the readability of the specification and can ease comparison with other specifications if appropriate. It should be noted that the introduction of the these textual conventions has no effect on either the syntax nor the semantics of any managed objects. The use of these is merely an artifact of the explanatory method used. Objects defined in terms of one of these methods are always encoded by means of the rules that define the primitive type. Hence, no changes to the SMI or the SNMP are necessary to accommodate these textual conventions which are adopted merely for the convenience of readers and writers in pursuit of the elusive goal of clear, concise, and unambiguous MIB documents.
The new data types are AreaID, RouterID, TOSType, Metric, BigMetric, Status, PositiveInteger, HelloRange, UpToMaxAge, InterfaceIndex, and DesignatedRouterPriority.