The moving frames for differential equations. I. The change of independent variable

summary:The article concerns the symmetries of differential equations with short digressions to the underdetermined case and the relevant differential equations with delay. It may be regarded as an introduction into the method of moving frames relieved of the geometrical aspects: the stress is made on the technique of calculations employing only the most fundamental properties of differential forms. The present Part I is devoted to a single ordinary differential equation subjected to the change of the independent variable, the unknown function is preserved