Narrative:

I'm filing this as soon as possible to highlight the confusion that can occur with cpdlc revised route clearances. I asked sfo clearance delivery for clarification on our revised route before pushing from the gate. He was very helpful in the clarification; but said he received the same exact question from the same exact flight the morning prior. He was happy to clarify but seemed to not understand (in my opinion) the need for clarification.sfo uses the new cpdlc system for clearance delivery. Our flight had filed:ksfo TRUKN2 tipre.. Jsica.. Dta..che.. (Rest of route) to [destination]cpdlc provided the following:cleared to dta via route clearance.free text: NIITE3.tipre. This is a revised clearance. After dta cleared to [destination] airport as filed.at first glance I would assume that ATC wants us to fly the niite 3 departure to tipre; and then the next point would be jsica and dta as was filed in our flight plan.when the load button is selected via the cpdlc system; the new route was populated with the following:NIITE3.tipre.Q126.inslo..dta..che..(rest of route)my first issue (and the confusion) is with the Q126.inslo.dta portion of the revised clearance. This routing is not available anywhere for reference/verification by the flight crew. It's not on the flight plan; and ATC is not including it in the free text of cpdlc. The flight crew has no way to verify the routing except by verbal contact with clearance delivery. Previously using datalink; the revised routing would be separated by dashes and would be accessible for verification through the ACARS system.the second potential issue with the revised clearance is the possibility of the flight crew not using the load prompt and thereby loading an incorrect route into the FMC. Had we manually changed the departure to the NIITE3.tipre and then rejoined the flight plan to jsica; we could have easily created the potential for a pilot deviation during the flight.[the manual] directs crews to use the load select prompt (step 9) but doesn't seem to stress the importance of not manually typing in the route. Also (step 10) requires the crew to review and verify the new clearance; which cannot be done if the revised route is not visible to the crew either by free text (cpdlc) or on the release.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier First Officer reported ambiguity issues with the CPDLC domestic system.

Narrative: I'm filing this ASAP to highlight the confusion that can occur with CPDLC revised route clearances. I asked SFO Clearance Delivery for clarification on our revised route before pushing from the gate. He was very helpful in the clarification; but said he received the same exact question from the same exact flight the morning prior. He was happy to clarify but seemed to not understand (in my opinion) the need for clarification.SFO uses the new CPDLC system for clearance delivery. Our flight had filed:KSFO TRUKN2 TIPRE.. JSICA.. DTA..CHE.. (rest of route) to [destination]CPDLC provided the following:Cleared to DTA via route clearance.FREE TEXT: NIITE3.TIPRE. THIS IS A REVISED CLEARANCE. AFTER DTA CLEARED TO [destination] AIRPORT AS FILED.At first glance I would assume that ATC wants us to fly the NIITE 3 Departure to TIPRE; and then the next point would be JSICA and DTA as was filed in our flight plan.When the LOAD button is selected via the CPDLC system; the new route was populated with the following:NIITE3.TIPRE.Q126.INSLO..DTA..CHE..(rest of route)My first issue (and the confusion) is with the Q126.INSLO.DTA portion of the revised clearance. This routing is not available anywhere for reference/verification by the Flight Crew. It's not on the flight plan; and ATC is not including it in the free text of CPDLC. The Flight Crew has no way to verify the routing except by verbal contact with Clearance Delivery. Previously using DATALINK; the revised routing would be separated by dashes and would be accessible for verification through the ACARS system.The second potential issue with the revised clearance is the possibility of the Flight Crew not using the LOAD prompt and thereby loading an incorrect route into the FMC. Had we manually changed the departure to the NIITE3.TIPRE and then rejoined the flight plan to JSICA; we could have easily created the potential for a Pilot Deviation during the flight.[The manual] directs Crews to use the Load Select prompt (step 9) but doesn't seem to stress the importance of not manually typing in the route. Also (step 10) requires the Crew to review and verify the new clearance; which cannot be done if the revised route is not visible to the Crew either by free text (CPDLC) or on the Release.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.