| TITLE: | Policy for the Review of ISO 8879 |
| SOURCE: | WG8 |
| PROJECT: | 1.18.15.1 |
| PROJECT EDITOR: | C. F. Goldfarb |
| STATUS OF DOCUMENT: | Agreed WG8 Position |
| REQUESTED ACTION: | For information |
| DATE: | 11 Oct 1991 |
| DISTRIBUTION: | WG8 and liaisons |
WG8 has directed the Project Editor of ISO 8879 to conduct a detailed review of the standard to consider future development. The review process will ensure that every clause, paragraph, note, and syntax production of ISO 8879 is reviewed.
The review is not expected to result in any substantive change to the scope of ISO 8879. All proposed changes will adhere to the principles expressed in WG8 N1289, "Future development of ISO 8879."
NOTE -- WG8 N1289 mandates upward compatibility such that conforming SGML documents and applications will remain conforming regardless of changes to ISO 8879. However, it does not necessarily protect existing conforming systems: SGML parsers, for example, may need to be modified to recognize new constructs (that is, to recognize documents that do not conform to the current standard but may conform to a future version). Nor does N1289 protect nonconforming documents: text that is currently erroneous might be considered valid by a future version of ISO 8879.
If the review results in function being added to a future version of ISO 8879, there shall be a revised SGML declaration that will allow identification of the ISO 8879 version to which a document conforms.
A document conforming to the 1986 version (with a 1986 SGML declaration) shall continue to conform in any future system, and to be interpreted in exactly the same way.
NOTE -- This rule applies to all of SGML, including the element structure, entity structure, and nesting of marked sections.
It shall be possible to create an equivalent future SGML declaration for every 1986 SGML declaration. The prolog and document instance set of a 1986 conforming SGML document will be interpreted identically by any future SGML system with either of the equivalent SGML declarations.
As SGML end users and their managers can now learn about SGML in a less formal way than by studying the standard, any proposed changes to the standard resulting from the review process will be written for an audience consisting primarily of software developers, software testers, and members of standards committees.
The review process will be a single-stage process. Any future development of the standard will be done in a coherent manner, not piecemeal. The complete design from the top down will be understood before development of details is prioritized. Technical work and possible reorganization will be completed before final wording of individual paragraphs is attempted.
If experts disagree for good reason over the interpretation of some provision of the standard, the provision shall be considered ambiguous and resolution of the ambiguity shall be considered a corrigendum, rather than added function.
To protect users and implementers from having to make multiple revisions to remain current with the standard, intermediate publication of corrigenda will be considered only in the unlikely event that serious problems with the current version are encountered. However, any changes in a revised version of ISO 8879 that are in fact corrigenda will be identified as such, as they could affect the determination of whether upward compatibility has been maintained.
The user requirements for SGML as presented by each participating expert will be given equal respect, even if other experts have not encountered some requirements in their own work. SGML must accommodate all the requirements.
It is expected that not all SWG meetings will be equally well attended. Complete records will be kept of meetings to keep absent members informed, and to assure consistency of direction from meeting to meeting. In particular, major issues that were resolved at a large meeting will not be reopened at a subsequent smaller meeting in which advocates of one side or the other are not present.
For related information, see: ISO 8879 Review Current Information Set, maintained by Charles Goldfarb.
Contact Robin Cover with corrections and updates, or to submit contributions to the ISUG online document database.
