Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!rice!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!mss+ From: mss+@andrew.cmu.edu (Mark Sherman) Newsgroups: comp.text.sgml Subject: ODA encoded in SGML Message-ID: Date: 26 Sep 90 13:40:20 GMT References: Organization: Information Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 88 See fourth paragraph below. -Mark ---------- Forwarded message begins here ---------- Date: Tue, 25 Sep 90 17:37:16 CDT From: fdawson@dalhqic2.iinus1.ibm.com To: info-oda@andrew.cmu.edu Subject: NIST ODA SIG Update The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts quarterly meeting of the OSI Implementors Workshop (OIW). The Workshop is segmented into Special Interest Groups (SIG) for each of an OSI related set of standards. Implementation agreements for the ISO 8613, Open Document Architecture (ODA) and Interchange Format, base standard are addressed by the ODA SIG. These agreements take the form of document application profiles (DAP), as defined in part 1 of the base standard. The NIST OIW maintains two sets of implementation agreements. The developing agreements are maintained as OIW Working Agreements. The completed agreements are maintained as OIW Stable Agreements. The Stable Agreements are often found to be the basis for Government OSI Profile statements. The ODA SIG is involved in the development and international harmonization of three ODA DAPs. The NIST Level 2 DAP (NIST36) is intended to address the ODA requirements for advanced word processors supporting enhanced document structure with mixed content. The NIST Level 3 DAP (NIST26) is intended to address the ODA requirements for personal publishing applications supporting extended document structure with mixed content. The NIST Raster DAP is based on the CCITT Recommendation T.503 for facsimile documents, but takes into account the ODA extensions for tiled raster images. This DAP is also expected to referenced by the MILSTD 28002. The ODA SIG recently meet in conjunction with the September 10-14, 1990 NIST OIW Workshop in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Several significant decisions were taken by the NIST ODA SIG and endorsed by the Workshop Plenary. The Working Agreements for all three DAPs have been modified to support in one specification both the ODIF (binary encoding based on ISO 8824/8825, ASN.1) and the ODL/SDIF (clear text encoding based on ISO 8879, SGML) interchange formats. Support for the SGML encoding of ODA is perceived as a requirement in North America for acceptance of ODA documents. The recent NIST sponsored Electronic Document Processing Confererence on July 30, 1990 explicitly emphasized this requirement. The NIST Level 2 DAP is the final stages of international alignment with European (i.e., European Workshop on Open Systems) and pacific rim (i.e, Asian Oceania Workshop) ODA experts within their respective regional OSI workshops. This effort is complemented by the recent CCITT Study Group VIII Plenary decision to process an equivalent text for this DAP as a CCITT Recommendation. This proposed international standardized profile is called FOD26. It is expected to be submitted at the end of October to ISO for processing as an International Standardized Profile. This is a registration process for international profiles. It is expected that the NIST Level 2 DAP will be included in the OIW Stable Agreements published as a result of the December 1990 OIW. The NIST ODA SIG recommended to NIST that the NIST Level 2 DAP be the basis for GOSIP Version 2 support for ODA. EWOS has processed an equivalent form of this DAP in Europe as a European Temporary Norm (ENV), Q112. It is understood that support for this DAP became mandatory in the CEC in August 1990. For three years, the Piloting of ODA Project within ESPRIT has sponsored ODA interworking demonstrations at the CeBIT MESSE in Hannover, Germany. Q112 was the basis for the March 1990 demonstration. The NIST Level 3 DAP is maturing about six to nine months behind the NIST Level 2 DAP. The international alignment for this DAP is expected to be completed in March 1991. The NIST Raster DAP is be developed in response to a requirement from the technical document community for an agreement for scanned technical drawings of numerous page sizes. This DAP is also being shared with the EWOS ODA experts. The final draft text of the DAP is being circulated to the CALS community by NIST. The next meeting of the NIST ODA SIG is schedule for December 11- 13, 1990 in conjunction with the next NIST OIW, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Contact Brenda Gray, 301-975-3664, at NIST for more details concerning this SIG and other OIW activities. ODA SIG Chair Frank Dawson IBM, 03-03-50, 5 W. Kirkwood Blvd., Roanoke, Texas 76299-0001 (tel) +1-817-962-3828 (fax) +1-817-962-3464