Annex H  JTC 1 Policy on Electronic Document Distribution Using the World Wide Web

H1 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:
H2  Medium

JTC 1 and SC documents shall be made available using the facilities of the World Wide Web (Web).  The preferred distribution mechanism is via http protocol software (commonly referred to as web browsers).  For the purposes of efficiency, ftp capability may be provided as an additional distribution mechanism at the discretion of the individual Secretariats.

H3 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 utilise 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 minimising the spread of the infestation.

H4 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.

H4.1 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:
          Notes:
                   1. Even though Word 97, Word 2000 and Word 2003 (XP) share a common file format, certain functions of the newest versions of the software are not supported in the previous ones. It is therefore recommended to avoid using these functions or to disable features not supported by the previous versions of the software if files are to be shared with users of the previous versions. Details regarding the formats used by the ISO/CS are provided in the document ISO Central Secretariat Requirements for Provision of Text and Graphics in Electronic Form.
                   2. To share files with the users of the previous versions, one possibility is to use the dual file save option which allows the information of the Word 97, Word 2000 and Word 2003 (XP) versions and that of the previous version to be saved in one file. For example, if a Word 2003 (XP) user chooses to save the file in the Microsoft Word 97-2003 & 6.0/95-RTF format, two data streams are created for the document file: one for version 97 2003 and one for version 6.0/95. However, document file size and save time increase due to the additional information. If a Word 6.0 or 95 user saves the file, features specific to Word 97-2002 may be lost. Similarly, if a Word 97-2003 user saves in the file in Word 97-2003 format only, the Word 6.0 or 95 data stream will be lost but can be regenerated if saved as a dual title at a later time.
                   3. For transmitting text files to the ISO/CS, it is necessary to conform to the ISO Central Secretariat requirements for provision of text and graphics in electronic form. [For background information, see ISO E-Services Guide, Publishing of standards (5.2.2), at http://www.iso.org/ISOeServicesGuide.] Exceptions will only be granted where prior agreement has been reached with ISO/CS.
           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.
          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.
Annex HE lists recommended formats for many different types of documents.  For all documents intended to be viewed on the web (including administrative documents such as agendas, SoVs, DoCs, meeting notices, etc), HTML is the preferred format.

It is recognised that in certain cases, standards documents may be prepared which utilise 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 minimising 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 HA defines the common areas for both North American paper (8 1/2" x 11") and A4 paper.

H4.1.1  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:
H4.2 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 readability 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 H4.1 will provide no usable version of the standard, those formats can be considered inappropriate in such situations.

H4.3 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:
Committees shall make use of the ISO/IEC forms supplied by the JTC 1 Secretariat and which are obtainable from JTC 1 Web and ftp sites.
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 HG is the overall Web Server Policy covering web page structure, web server content and web server maintenance.

H4.4 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 http://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 HD) on the JTC 1 web site may be copied between JTC 1 and SC web sites in order to simplify distribution without the need for multiple passwords.

H4.4.1 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.

H4.4.2    File Naming Schema

Specify filenames to be as meaningful as possible, e.g. iso-dis-3456-3. [The automated (wizard_ ISO template attributes a meaningful filename based on the administrative data entered in the STD manager of the template.] To differentiate between different versions of a draft, add extra information, e.g. add a version number.
As a practical limit for filenames use a maximum of 32 characters:
The period (.) shall only be used once per filename, to separate the actual filename from the file extension. The extensions are usually proposed by the application programs and should not normally be modified.

Some file systems are case sensitive ands some are not, and therefore it may be necessary to use only upper case or only lower case letters -this is necessary for example where file exchange occurs between Windows and Unix file systems. Lower case letters tend to be easier to type and read.

Ensure that the full path name is less than approximately 128 characters.

In accordance with ISO/IEC 9660, the rules for CD-ROMs are stricter (for example filenames are restricted to 8 characters, and folder names to 8 characters): see ISO/IEC 9660 for details.

Add any useful information to the document summary information, e.g. title, subject, author and any comments considered to be helpful.

If a document replaces an earlier document a new number shall be assigned (i.e. "n 346 Revised" is not permitted.)

Documents shall be named using the format YYnXXXXa.sss where:

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
 WordPerfect™ format
.xls
 Microsoft Excel™ format
.pdf
 Portable Document Format™
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 PKZIP™ or WINZIP™
Note: The ZIP file type is intended for block distribution, as a single file, of multiple files of the other types.

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.

Annex HB of this document provides examples of valid file names.

H4.4.3 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 organised 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 authorised 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, alternative sequence designators, etc.)
    16.    Document access level (See Annex HD)

H4.4.4  Announcement of Document Availability

Notice of newly posted documents to the web shall be announced via an e-mail message to the designated electronic distribution list as described in H6.1.  The e-mail message shall contain the following:

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

The Secretariat should work toward posting all new documents together in a "batched mailer" such that a group of documents can be downloaded together.  Secretariats are strongly encouraged to provide meeting agendas that are hyperlinked with all posted documents placed in a single folder for download prior to the meeting.

H4.4.5  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.

H4.5  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.

H5  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 PKZIPTM.  Refer to Tips and Techniques Guide for JTC 1 Web-based Distribution for how to address directory structures if applicable.

H6    Direct Electronic Distribution

H6.1 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 section 8.3 of these Directives, 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.

H6.2 Encoding Utilities

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

H6.3 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 logs 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.

H7  Access Control to JTC 1 documents

H7.1 Open and restricted documents

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

H7.2  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.

H7.3 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 H6.1.  The e-mail notification should be sent sufficiently far in advance of the change so that authorised 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.


Foreword   Table of Contents   List of Abbreviations   Index
Chapter: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Annex: A B C D E F G H HA HB HD HE  HF HG I J K  L  LA LB M MA  N O