ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2 N 3041
DATE: 1998-03-03
SC 2 N 2931

ISO/IEC JTC 1 N 5180

DATE: 1998.02.17

REPLACES JTC 1 N 4761

DOC TYPE: Other document (Defined)

TITLE: JTC 1 Policy on Electronic Document Distribution Using the World Wide Web

SOURCE: JTC 1 Ad Hoc Group on Strategy for Implementing Information Technology

PROJECT:

STATUS: Per San Diego Recommendation 11, this document is circulated to JTC 1 NBs for a 60-day letter ballot. Pleae respond to the JTC 1 Secretariat by the due date indicated.

ACTION ID: LB

DUE DATE: 1998.04.17

DISTRIBUTION: P and L Members

MEDIUM:

DISKETTE NO.:

NO. OF PAGES: 18

Secretariat, ISO/IEC JTC 1, American National Standards Institute, 11 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036; Telephone: 1 212 642 4932; Facsimile: 1 212 398 0023; Email: lrajchel@ansi.org

ISO/IEC JTC 1 N 5180 1998-02-05 Author: IT Implementation adhoc

1 Scope
Users and implementers of this policy should be aware of the philosophy change between diskette-based distribution and web-based distribution. Previously (with diskette distribution) users received documents with no action on their part. With web-based distribution, users are notified that new documents are available and they must then actively access or download them on their own initiative.

This document shall be used in conjunction with the ISO/IEC JTC 1 Directives (current edition) and in a manner that is consistent with the policies and procedures of the ISO Central Secretariat and the IEC Central Office. National laws and current ISO/IEC policies regarding copyright and intellectual property rights shall be respected.

This document should be used in conjunction with Tips and Techniques Guide for JTC 1 Web-based Distribution which provides important implementation guidelines for web authors and administrators.

Users of diskette and e-mail distribution mechanisms should refer to JTC 1 Policy on Electronic Document Distribution using diskettes and e-mail.

Related Documentation for Electronic Document Distribution:

• Strategy Recommendations from ISO/IEC JTC 1 ad hoc on IT Implementation Strategy
• Electronic Document Tips and Techniques Guide
• Tips and Techniques Guide for JTC 1 Web-based Distribution
• Transition Plan for IT Implementation
• IT Implementation timeline

3 Virus Checking
It is the responsibility of the webmaster and the Secretariat to use well maintained anti-virus software to verify that files are virus-free. End users also share the responsibility for an overall virus-free environment and are strongly encouraged to utilize up-to-date anti-virus software capable of scanning and verifying documents accessed via the Web.

It is the responsibility of any party, including the end user, to alert the Secretariat if it detects a virus in a distributed document. This will at least assist in minimizing the spread of the infestation.

4 Document Preparation and Distribution
An Executive Summary or abstract shall accompany all standards as early as possible during development. Such a summary will especially be of value for the machine readable standards.

4.1 Document Formats
The choice of the document format shall be a function of the type of document being distributed (i.e., revisable or non-revisable text). The following document formats are acceptable:

• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) version 2.0 or 3.2
• Plain DOS Text file, encoded in ISO/IEC 8859-1
• Microsoft Word^TM Version 2.0 - 7.0 6.0

Note: This refers to the document format, NOT the version of Word used to create the document. Word 6.0 documents may be created with Word 7.0 (Part of the Office '95 suite) by using "save-as" instead of "save"
• WordPerfect^TM Version 5.1 - 7.0
• Portable Document Format (PDF^TM) version 3.0

Note: PDF is recommended only where there is a requirement for a non-revisable form of the document, e.g. circulation of FDIS text, or when PDF is the only choice as a result of the document development tool being used.
• Rich Text Format (RTF)

Note: RTF is to be used only as a last resort, acceptable if none of the other formats can be produced. It is NOT a preferred file format.

It is recognized that in certain cases, standards documents may be prepared which utilize other formats to provide both human and machine readable content in the same document or standard. Specific JTC 1 approval to use such formats, in a normative manner, should be sought by the appropriate SC and such approval, if granted, does not remove the need to provide a copy of the human readable content for distribution in one of the formats above.

By itself, the use of one of the above file formats will not necessarily enable electronic documents to be successfully processed by a recipient. Guidance on avoiding problems and maximising the possibility of successful processing by the recipient of a document is contained in the Tips and Techniques Guide for JTC 1 Web-based Distribution. This guide should also be consulted for information on minimizing problems associated with the selection of fonts and the use of international versions of software and languages.

For those documents whose final intended use is to be printed, Annex A defines the common areas for both North American paper (8 1/2" x 11") and A4 paper.

4.1.1 Considerations for Upgrading Document Formats

Considerable problems can occur when changing application software versions. Secretariats should take the following into account when considering upgrading their applications:

• New Release Introduction - At least 6-months notice shall be given prior to moving to a new release for a particular document format. Consideration prior to making this change should include:
• Impact on users
• Stabilityof the application software
• availability of national versions
• How the newest software will benefit the user and secretariat
• Approval Mechanism
• Rapporteur group makes recommendation including time and date of introduction
• JTC 1 NB approval
• Migration policy
• Dual support for at least 6-months shall be provided by the secretariat

4.2 Graphics and other Non-Textual Data
Graphics embedded in web-based revisable documents should be either GIF or JPEG formats. If a more robust graphics package is required the final graphic must be editable by the graphics application of the accepted word processing packages. In any case, the use of the PDF document format will allow for readibility of the integrated document regardless of complexity.

For continuity and readability, graphics should be located at the appropriate location in the document, however they may be appended to the back of the document as alternative.

It is acknowledged that some documents, such as those prepared in Table and Tree Combined Notation (TTCN) are of value only when they are in machine readable format. As the document formats listed in Section 4.1 will provide no useable version of the standard, those formats can be considered inappropriate in such situations.

4.3 Document Structure
Non-standards documents should be in single column format which is more readable via electronic media.

Standards documents should conform to either of the following (as appropriate) concerning the rules for the presentation of ISs:

• ISO/IEC Directives, Part 3 - Drafting and presentation of International Standards
• ISO IEC JTC 1 Directives, Annex K - Guide for ITU-T and ISO/IEC JTC 1 Cooperation

Project editors are encouraged to make use of the templates provided by the ISO Central Secretariat, the IEC Central Office or the ITU-T Technical Standards Bureau as appropriate.

Annex G is the overall Web Server Policy covering web page structure, web server content and web server maintenance.

4.4 Document Server Navigation Structure / Document Distribution
Each SC should define their navigational structure for document distribution. Only SC documents should be posted to the SC level web pages. All parent JTC 1 documents should be located on the JTC 1 web pages but can be referenced (e.g. linked to) by the SCs as needed. The home page URL (Universal Resource Locator) is www.jtc1.org. Links to all SC home pages should be via the JTC 1 home page and vice versa.

Documents that are specified as "defined access" (Def in Annex D) on the JTC 1 web site may be copied to SC web sites in order to simplify distribution without the need for multiple passwords.

4.4.1 Directory Naming Schema
Knowledge of directory structure is not needed for navigation of the Web and its implementation is left to the discretion of the individual secretariats. The Tips and Techniques Guide for JTC 1 Web-based Distribution document contains additional information which may aid the secretariat.

4.4.2 File Naming Schema
Files should be named according to the following criteria:

1. Each file name shall have no more than eight characters mnemonic.
2. If a document replaces an earlier document a new number shall be assigned

(i.e., "n 346 Revised" is not permitted.)
3. Documents shall be named using the format YYnXXXXa.sss where:
• YY is the lowercase originating committee designator (j1 for JTC 1; 07 for SC 7, etc.)
• nXXXX is the letter "n" followed by a four-digit numeric document number. If a document number is over 9999, nXXXX indicates the last four digits of the document number. Leading zeros shall be prepended for all document numbers less than 1000.
• .SSS is the lowercase software application identifier according to the following table

File Extension	Originating Application Program or File Type
.htm	ASCII text file containing valid HTML tags suitable for direct viewing by a web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer
.txt	Plain DOS Text file, encoded in ISO/IEC 8859-1
.doc	Microsoft WordTM format
.wp	WordPerfectTM format
.pdf	Portable Document FormatTM  Note: PDF is recommended only where there is a requirement for a non-revisable form of the document, e.g. circulation of FDIS text, or when PDF is the only choice as a result of the document development tool being used.
.rtf	Rich Text Format  Note: RTF is NOT a preferred file format. It is to be used only as a last resort, acceptable if none of the other formats can be produced.
.zip	Compressed archive file created by PKZIPTM  Note: The ZIP file type is intended for block distribution, as a single file, of multiple files of the other types.

• a identifies specific file categories according to the following table:

c	Cover Sheet	Where possible all document categories should be combined into a single document (or zipped file) with no category letter. The use of categories should be used only for complex documents where no other option exists
b	Ballot form
t	Ballot Text
e	Explanatory Text
m	multiple file designator	If documents are prepared in multiple files (e.g. cross references, an index, or a table of contents created by combinations of master documents and sub documents), master documents should be named using the format YYnXXXXm.sss where YYnXXXX and .SSS are as defined above and m is the letter m. The author should name subdocuments as meaningfully as possible.
*	document element	For those instances where the elements of a document are stored in multiple files (e.g. annexes, graphics, etc), the files corresponding to these elements shall be named using the format YYnXXXX*.SSS where YYnXXXX and .SSS are as defined above and where * is the numerical serial number (1-9) of the multiple files of the same format.

 

4.4.3 Document Register Log
On the web site, a master document register log will be maintained in descending order (most recent document first), allowing for character string search of the register. This file will satisfy the requirement of a document register to be issued as per the ISO/IEC JTC 1 Directives.

To enable easier downloading of the register for local use, the register will also be organized in 50 document increments. The document register will contain those elements of the cover sheet deemed to be useful for document identification as defined below. The hyperlinked register will, when selected, provide a copy of the document to those with authorized access.

The secretariat shall ensure that the document register contains the following information. Cover sheets to documents shall contain a formatted version of this information per the JTC 1 Revised Electronic Document Templates Guide.

1. Committee designator ("j1" for JTC 1; "07" for SC 7)
2. Numeric Document number (without the "n" prefix)
3. Backward pointer (i.e., "Replaces N 346")
4. Document type
5. Date document placed on server ("CCYY-MM-DD")
6. Document title (Appropriately descriptive and including the specific technical topic)
7. Due date (if applicable) ("CCYY-MM-DD")
8. Approximate number of pages in document
9. Source
10. Project number
11. Status (brief description)
12. Action identifier
13. Approximate file size in kB (or MB)
14. Language used (as defined in ISO 639-2)
15. Optional field (used for additional references, alternate sequence designators, etc.)
16. Document access level (See Annex D)

1. Committee
2. Date of posting ("CCYY-MM-DD")
3. Sequential issue serial number (i.e., Issue 001)
4. Document numbers found on the issue

(e.g., "N 17, 19, 21"; "N 25-30"; or "Documents in the range of N 100-150")
5. Applicable segment of the document Register Log as defined above.

4.4.5 Use of Log File Data
The applicable segment of the Document Register Log included in the announcement shall be provided to the National Bodies for their use. Secretariats shall use this information, formatted according to JTC 1 Revised Electronic Document Templates Guide, to create applicable coversheets.

The applicable segment of the Document Register Log included in the announcement shall besuitable for use by the National Body document tracking databases and shall be a tab-delimited file containing the same fields in the same order identified in Section 4.4.3.

Final details of file formats including field sizes and record separators will be contained in the operation documents. ( Revision of JTC 1 N 4572, N 4573 and N 4575)

Secretariats shall use this information, formatted according to JTC 1 Revised Electronic Document Templates Guide, to create applicable coversheets.

4.5 Web Site Document Retention and Archiving
Documents shall be retained on the Web Site for two years or two Plenary cycles, whichever is greater. After this, documents may be removed from the Web but shall be available from the secretariat in a format of its choice. Alternatively the out of date documents may be retained in a compressed form. The use of CD ROMs to provide collections of documents on an annual or other basis is encouraged as another mechanism for archival of out of date documents.

5. Compression Utilities
Compression may be used if so agreed by the recipients of the file distribution. Compression should be considered if a file or block of files is more than 500K bytes. When compression is used, it shall be compatible with PKZIP^TM. Refer to Tips and Techniques Guide for JTC 1 Web-based Distribution for how to address directory structures if applicable.

6. Direct Electronic Distribution

6.1 E-mail Lists
Each Secretariat shall establish a list of electronic mail (e-mail) addresses that replicates the committee's formal distribution list as defined in ISO/IEC JTC 1 Directive Section 8.3, together with appropriate committee officers. Any member that does not have an e-mail address may be listed with a facsimile number.

In some instances, and only upon written confirmation of the member, responsibility for receipt and distribution of documents may be delegated to the member's Head of Delegation or other identified expert.

Secretariats may establish a separate distribution list including additional addresses (i.e., individual experts, etc.) for exchange of less formal documents. Registered experts on such mailing lists still require their national body agreement to gain regular access to formal documents.

6.2 Encoding Utilities
At this time, there is no expectation that encoding utilities will be needed for this medium.

6.3 Electronic Balloting
The JTC 1 Secretariat will investigate procedures for electronic responses to letter ballots. The process should take advantage of hyperlinking the letter ballot log to the letter ballots themselves. National bodies should be able to respond directly via the web to submit their letter ballot response. The Secretariat is empowered to make use of IT technology for automatic letter ballot tabulation.

7 Access Control to JTC 1 documents

7.1 Open and restricted documents
ISO, IEC and JTC 1 policies require that while some information be publicly available, other information must be kept private to defined recipients. Document availability is defined in Annex D

7.2 Access control
Privacy arrangements (using password and/or ID protection) shall be incorporated into Web sites where appropriate to meet these policies. When ftp capabilities are provided as an additional distribution mechanism, the same password/ID combinations should work no matter which method is used.

7.3 Password control
Document protection must include regular password changes, notified to designated recipients in a secure manner. Changes should be made once or twice per plenary cycle and at other times if a security breach occurs.

When passwords are about to be changed, an e-mail message containing the new password shall be sent to the distribution list as defined in 6.1. The e-mail notification should be sent sufficiently far in advance of the change so that authorized participants at the national body level will have received notice of the change by the time it is effective. Alternatively, if the responsible secretariat has the capability, an overlap of passwords during the change may be implemented.

Embedded passwords at the document level (e.g. use of passwords within documents) shall not be used. The document shall be freely readable without a password once it has been downloaded. This does not preclude the use of a password in order to be able to download or access the document in the first place.

Symmetrical margins which are more generous than the above minimum margins enhance electronic readability.

As there are different acceptable document formats, the following table of recommended document formats is based on the intended use of the final document.

Intended Use of Final Document	Document Format
	HTML	TXT	DOC	WP	PDF	RTF
Simple Administrative Document	HR	HR	P	P	-	P NR
Simple Technical	P	HR	P	P	P	P NR
ISO/IEC Standard in preparation	P	NR	HR	HR	P	P NR
Joint ISO/IEC and ITU-T Standard/Recommendation in Preparation	NR	NR	HR	P	NR	NR
Document intended for Web page browsing	HR	P	P	NR	P NR	NR
Complex * document in revisable form	P	NR	HR	HR	NR	P NR
Complex document in non-revisable form	NR	NR	NR	NR	HR	NR
Document needing template as defined in this document	IA	IA	IA	IA	NR	IA
		KEY HR Highly recommended  P Possible/Plausible  IA If template available  NR Not recommended  - No guidance

 

* Complex: Denotes the use of other than simple tables or graphics. Possibly also a function of volume/structure.

This is not a formal list of terms and definitions as found in most standards, but where appropriate, suitable definitions from existing vocabularies are cited.

ASCII	coding for a small subset of characters consisting of the numbers 0-9, upper and lower case letters a-z without diacritical marks, and simple punctuation normally used for creating simple text files equivalent to IEC 606
browser	computer program used to locate and display documents on the World Wide Web
diskette or floppy disk	small magnetic disk used for storage of data
ftp	abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol, the protocol used on the Internet for exchanging files
FAQs	abbreviation for Frequently Asked Questions, a document, often designed as a hypertext document, that answers questions on a technical topic
home page	main page of a web site, typically serving as an index or table of contents to other documents or services provided at the site
hypertext	database system in which various types of object (such as text, pictures, sound, video, programs) can be creatively linked to each other
HTML	abbreviation for Hypertext Markup Language, the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web and is similar to SGML, although not strictly a subset
Internet	global, decentralized communications network connecting millions of computers, providing exchange of data, news and opinions
link	reference to another document permitting, in the case of the World Wide Web, direct access to the document referenced
media	<communications> physical means of linking computers and similar devices together so that they can communicate (for example, cable, optical fibre)  <storage> form and technology used to communicate information; for example, multimedia combines text, sound, pictures and video, all of which are different types of media  objects on which data can be stored
PDF	abbreviation for Portable Document Format, a file format developed by Adobe which captures formatting information from a variety of applications and makes it possible to transmit and display documents in an identical way, independent of the platform

Note: This Annex was previously issued and balloted on as JTC 1 N 4572, but as a result of comment resolution has been combined with N 4571. Because of time constraints, it has been inserted en toto into this document. In the event of conflicting requirements between this annex and the main document, the main document shall be considered the primary document. This note is not part of this document.

1. Web Page Structure: The minimal structure of web based pages for JTC 1 and its SCs (jointly referred to simply as committee.) It is not intended to dictate structure or content at the WG level.
2. Web Server Content: The minimal structure/content of JTC 1 and SC web servers
3. Web Server Maintainance: Policy concerning the maintenance of those web pages

Every JTC 1/SC web page shall contain the following structural elements:
(These elements may appear in any order, however it is highly recommended that the committee retain the same style for all pages within the committee's purview.)

1. Title Block (should have a common "look-and-feel" within the committee)
1. Title of committee with the ISO/IEC logo.
2. The page author and date created or last modified (preferably generated automatically)
3. A version number
4. Optional use of a common background image may also be employed.
5. Optional committee logo if desired
2. Body - contains information specific to the committee. The use of forward navigational pointers is highly recommended
3. Web Master information - who to contact for errors, suggestions, etc.
4. Consistent Set of Back Pointers (for example the Parent Committee main page, Committee web-page design guidelines, primary site information, etc. )

Each web server (JTC 1 and SC) shall provide the following, manditory information in the form of web pages which conform to the common look and feel of the Web Page Structure appropriate to the committee.

1. Description of the Organization Structure of the committee
2. Committee Membership (List of P, O, L members and the contact information for liaisons and rapporteurs)
3. Committee Meeting schedule
4. Next meeting information
1. Agenda
2. Venue
5. Program of Work
6. A single document register for all committee documents
7. Personnel information on officers and members

1. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page
2. Ballot information
1. Due dates
2. Document number of balloted text
3. Document number of Summary of Voting
3. Procedures (which may simply point to the parent committee's procedures)
4. News and Press releases
5. Links to committee relevant Publications and Standards
6. Links to non-JTC 1 sites shall be done in such a way that it is obvious to the viewer that what is being viewed is NOT under the auspices or control of JTC 1. This is especially important in frame-based sites.

1. Open Access vs Defined Access Documents

The committee shall distinguish between open access vs defined access documents per Annex D
2. Password Protection

The server administrator shall provide appropriate limited access to non-members by use of group level passwords with appropriate notification to users. Non-members attempting to access protected pages shall be automatically replied to with a message stating the criteria for access.
3. Data Integrity
1. Site shall be backed up automatically
2. All Documents shall contain authorship and timestamp information as defined in the Web Page Structure Title Block
3. There shall be a single source for all documents. This does not preclude the use of mirroring by NBs for the purposes of efficiency, however in the event of a difference between the mirrored data and the original, the content of the original shall take preference. It is therefore up to the administrator of the mirror site to ensure the integrity of the site.

The original document shall be considered the "source" document. NBs or committees may utilize the source document in a variety of ways
:
1. By simply linking to it or emailing its URL (highly recommended in the event that there is no password involved)
2. Creating a new document with a unique document number representing a cover letter plus the content of the original document
3. NB Mirroring of the original document
In the event of a difference in content between the original and the copy, the content of the original shall take preference. It is therefore up to the administrator of the mirror site or new document to ensure its integrity.
4. Site shall utilize virus checking - In the event a virus is detected, the files shall be cleaned prior to updating or retransmission and the original sender of the infected file notified of the infection.
4. Document Registration, Retention and Archival
1. Hierarchy

Structured with a register list every 50^th document
2. Access

- Each register shall show all Document numbers, title, date, due date
- Register entries shall be hot-linked to the actual documents
- Provisions shall be provided to download documents as a package (e.g for documents with enclosures, annexes, drawings, embedded data, etc.)
- Provision shall be made for providing paper printouts of documents to those with no web access.
3. On-line Retention

Documents shall be retained for a minimum of two years or two complete plenary cycles, whichever is greater.
4. Archival

After the retention period, documents may be removed from on-line availability and shall be available from the secretariat in a format at the discretion of the secretariat.
5. Use of Embedded Executable Code (e.g. Java, Active-X, etc) in HTML Documents
1. Care should be taken to utilize only those constructs which can be viewed using all commonly available browsers.