ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 8632-4
Second edition
1999-12-01
Information technology — Computer
graphics — Metafile for the storage and
transfer of picture description
information —
Part 4:
Clear text encoding
Technologies de l'information — Infographie — Métafichier de stockage
et de transfert des informations de description d'images —
Partie 4: Codage en clair des textes
Reference number
ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
©
ISO/IEC 1999

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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
Contents Page
1 Scope.1
2 Conformance .1
3 Normative references .2
4 Notational conventions .2
5 Entering and leaving the metafile environment.2
5.1 Generic clear text and instantiations.2
5.2 Implicitly entering the metafile environment.2
5.3 Designating and invoking the CGM coding environment from ISO 2022 .3
6 Metafile format.3
6.1 Character repertoire.3
6.2 Separators.4
6.2.1 Element separators.4
6.2.2 Parameter separators .5
6.2.3 Comments in the metafile .5
6.3 Encoding of parameter types.5
6.3.1 Integer-bound types.5
6.3.2 Real-bound types .6
6.3.3 String-bound types .7
6.3.4 Enumerated types .8
6.3.5 Derived types.8
6.3.6 Bitstream datatype.9
6.3.7 Structured data record operands .9
6.4 Forming names .9
6.4.1 Words deleted .9
6.4.2 Words added .10
6.4.3 Words used unabbreviated.10
6.4.4 Abbreviations .10
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
6.4.5 The derived element names .12
7 Encoding the CGM elements .17
7.1 Encoding delimiter elements .17
7.2 Encoding metafile descriptor elements.18
7.3 Encoding picture descriptor elements.25
7.4 Encoding control elements .28
7.5 Encoding graphical primitive elements .30
7.6 Encoding attribute elements.36
7.7 Encoding escape elements .42
7.8 Encoding external elements .43
7.9 Encoding segment control and segment attribute elements .43
7.10 Encoding application structure descriptor elements.45
8 Clear text encoding defaults .45
9 Profile encoding rules, proforma, and Model Profile .46
9.1 Encodings .46
9.2 Metafile defaults .46
9.3 Profile Proforma tables (PPF) .46
Annex A (normative) Clear text encoding dependent format grammar.48
Annex B (informative) Clear text encoding example .49
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission)
form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC
participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the
respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees
collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in
liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 3.
In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
Draft International Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting.
Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this part of ISO/IEC 8632 may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard ISO/IEC 8632-4 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information
technology, Subcommittee SC 24, Computer graphics and image processing.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 8632-4:1992), which has been technically
revised. Note that the previous edition of ISO/IEC 8632-4, published in 1992, was a first edition but second edition
was indicated by error on its cover page and in the foreword.
ISO/IEC 8632 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Computer graphics
— Metafile for the storage and transfer of picture description information:
— Part 1: Functional specification
— Part 3: Binary encoding
— Part 4: Clear text encoding
Annex A forms a normative part of this part of ISO/IEC 8632. Annex B is for information only.
NOTE In previous editions of ISO/IEC 8632, Part 2 defined a Character Encoding. Part 2 was withdrawn in 1998, due to its lack
of implementation and use.
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
Introduction
0.1 Purpose of the clear text encoding
The Clear Text Encoding of the Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) provides a representation of the Metafile
syntax that is easy to type, edit and read. It allows a metafile to be edited with any standard text editor, using the
internal character code of the host computer system.
0.2 Primary objectives
a) Human editable: The Clear Text Encoding should be able to be hand edited or, if desired, hand constructed.
b) Human friendly: The Clear Text Encoding should be easy and natural for people to read and edit. Although
what is easiest and most natural is a subjective judgment that varies among users, contributing factors such as
ease of recognition, ease of remembering, avoidance of ambiguity, and prevention of mistyping have all been
considered.
c) Machine readable: The Clear Text Encoding should be able to be parsed by software.
d) Suitable for use in a wide variety of editors: The Clear Text Encoding should not have any features that make
it difficult to edit in normal text editors.
e) Facilitate interchange between diverse systems: The Clear Text Encoding should be encoded in such a way
as to maximize the set of systems which can utilize it. No assumptions should be made as to word size or
arithmetic modes used to interpret the metafile.
f) Use standardized abbreviations as much as possible: Where language encoding of other graphics standards
have established standard abbreviations, or where common practice in the data processing and graphics
industries has established well known abbreviations, these abbreviations are used. In accordance with the
principle of “least astonishment”, this approach should minimize the time needed to learn to use this encoding.
0.3 Secondary objectives
Because the other CGM encoding (the CGM Binary Encoding) is targeted toward CPU efficiency and information
density, these objectives are considered of secondary importance for the CGM Clear Text Encoding.
0.4 Relationship to other International Standards
The set of characters required to implement the Clear Text Encoding is a subset of those included in national
versions of ISO/IEC 646. Any character set that can be mapped to and from that subset may be used to implement
the encoding.
For certain elements, the CGM defines value ranges as being reserved for registration. The values and their
meanings will be defined using the established procedures (see ISO/IEC 8632-1, 6.12.)
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
Information technology — Computer graphics — Metafile for the
storage and transfer of picture description information —
Part 4:
Clear text encoding
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 8632 specifies a clear text encoding of the Computer Graphics Metafile. For each of the
elements specified in ISO/IEC 8632-1, a clear text encoding is specified. Allowed abbreviations are specified. The
overall format of the metafile and the means by which comments may be interspersed in the metafile is specified.
This encoding of the CGM allows metafiles to be created and maintained in a form which is simple to type, easy to
edit and convenient to read.
2 Conformance
Conformance of metafiles to ISO/IEC 8632 is defined in terms of profiles. A metafile conforms to this encoding if it
conforms to a profile and meets the following criteria:
� Each metafile element described in this part shall be encoded in the manner described in this part of this
International Standard and a profile.
� Metafile elements which are not defined in Part 1 or in this encoding are all encoded using the GENERALIZED
DRAWING PRIMITIVE or ESCAPE metafile elements as appropriate. According to the profile rules of Part 1
(see clause 9, subclause 9.5.2.8), such elements shall either be profile defined or registered, in order that the
profile be valid. Inclusion of private elements is not permissible in a valid profile of ISO/IEC 8632 and this
encoding.
� Values of index parameters, which are used as enumeration selectors from lists of implicitly defined attribute
values, shall either be standard, registered, or profile defined. The standard and registered values are all non-
negative, and the profile-defined shall be negative. Use of private, implicitly-defined negative index values
which are not profile defined is not permissible in a valid profile of ISO/IEC 8632 and this encoding.
� Values specified as being "reserved for registered values" shall not be used unless their meaning has been
registered or standardized.
� All characters in the metafile shall be from the enumerated character repertoire (see 6.1), except for those
within a parameters of type String and String Fixed, eligible parameters within specific data records, and
format effectors as described in 6.1.
� Numbers shall be formatted as defined in 6.3.1 and 6.3.2.
� Inclusion of non-graphical data in the metafile shall be accomplished with the APPLICATION DATA element or
with the APPLICATION STRUCTURE ATTRIBUTE element.
See clause 9 for additional conformance information about this encoding.
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
3 Normative references
The following normative documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of
this part of ISO/IEC 8632. For dated references, subsequent amendments to, or revisions of, any of these
publications do not apply. However, parties to agreements based on this part of ISO/IEC 8632 are encouraged to
investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the normative documents indicated below. For
undated references, the latest edition of the normative document referred to applies. Members of ISO and IEC
maintain registers of currently valid International Standards.
ISO/IEC 646:1991, Information technology — ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange.
ISO 2022:1986, Information processing — ISO 7-bit and 8-bit coded character sets — Code extension techniques.
4 Notational conventions
Unbracketed strings are terminals of this grammar. They appear in valid Clear Text data streams exactly as
indicated in the specifications of this part, except for allowable variations on case and null characters described
below.
Bracketed strings are either non-terminals (with further productions given), character symbol names (such as
COMMA), or parameters of the CGM element in the form (see ISO/IEC 8632-1 for further explanation of
these items).
"::=" is read as "becomes" or "is realized as".
<.>* = star closure (0 or more occurrences).
<.>+ = plus closure (1 or more occurrences).
<.>o = optional (exactly 0 or 1 occurrences).
= parameter type x with meaning y
= exactly one of x or y
{.} = a comment (not part of the production)
<.>(n) = exactly n occurrences, n=0,1,2,.
SPACES are used for readability in the grammar description; SPACES in the actual metafile are indicated through
the separator productions given below.
The metasymbols used in describing the grammar do not appear in the actual metafile.
5 Entering and leaving the metafile environment
5.1 Generic clear text and instantiations
The Clear Text Encoding is described in a generic fashion that permits it to be used with any character set capable
of representing those characters enumerated in the Character Repertoire (see part 1, 6.7.3.2). An instantiation of
the Clear Text Encoding is specified by defining the character set and coding technique to be used (for example,
standard national character sets based on ISO/IEC 646, non-standard character sets such as EBCDIC, etc).
It is recommended that an instantiation of the Clear Text Encoding bound to the standard national character set
based on ISO/IEC 646 be used in order to maximize portability of Clear Text metafiles between diverse systems.
This also provides an encoding which can be incorporated into an ISO 2022 text environment as a complete code,
to permit intermixing of text and graphics for applications which place a high priority on human readability.
5.2 Implicitly entering the metafile environment
The Clear Text coding environment may be entered implicitly by agreement between the interchanging parties. This
is suitable only if there is not to be any interchange with services using other coding techniques, and if it is known
by prior agreement which instantiation of the syntax is being used.
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
5.3 Designating and invoking the CGM coding environment from ISO 2022
For interchange with services using the code extension techniques of ISO 2022, the (standard national version)
ISO/IEC 646 instantiation of the CGM Clear Text Encoding may be designated and invoked from the ISO 2022
environment by the following escape sequence:
ESC 2/5 F
where ESC is the bit combination 1/11, and F refers to a bit combination that will be assigned by the ISO
Registration Authority for ISO 2375.
The first bit combination occurring after this escape sequence will then represent the beginning of a CGM metafile
element or one of the “soft separators” or “null characters” defined below.
The following escape sequence may be used to return to the ISO 2022 coding environment:
ESC 2/5 4/0
This not only returns to the ISO 2022 coding environment, but also restores the designation and invocation of
coded character sets to the state that existed prior to entering the ISO/IEC 646 CGM coding environment with the
ESC 2/5 F sequence. (The terms “designation” and “invocation” are defined in ISO 2022.)
It is permissable to make transitions between ISO 2022 and the metafile environment between pictures in the
metafile as well as between metafiles.
The state of the metafile interpreter and the state of the ISO 2022 environment are maintained separately and not
stacked.
The state of the metafile interpreter before BEGIN METAFILE or after END METAFILE is undefined, and sending a
picture without a preceding BEGIN METAFILE and metafile descriptor is nonconforming interchange.
6 Metafile format
A metafile in the Clear Text Encoding consists of a stream of characters forming a series of elements, each of
which starts with an element name and ends with one of the element delimiters, either the SLASH character (also
known as SLANT or SOLIDUS) or the SEMICOLON character. These characters do not act as element delimiters
when occurring within the bounds of a string parameter, as defined below.
6.1 Character repertoire
In order to achieve objective (e) of sub-clause 0.2, the character repertoire of the Clear Text Encoding will be
limited to those characters enumerated below, except for string parameters, which may contain any characters
from the repertoire described in 4.7.3.2 ISO/IEC 8632-1.
- Upper-case characters:
"A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I",
“J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", "Q", "R",
“S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "Z"
- Lower-case characters:
“a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i",
“j", "k", "l", "m", "n", "o", "p", "q", "r",
“s", "t", "u", "v", "w", "x", "y", "z"
- Digits:
“0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"
- " " (SPACE character)
- "+" (PLUS character)
- "-" (MINUS character)
- "#" (NUMBER SIGN)
- ";" (SEMICOLON character)
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
- "/" (SLASH, SLANT, or SOLIDUS character)
- "(" (LEFT or OPEN PARENTHESIS character)
- ")" (RIGHT or CLOSE PARENTHESIS character)
- "," (COMMA character)
- "." (DECIMAL POINT or PERIOD character)
- "'" (APOSTROPHE or SINGLE QUOTE character)
- """ (DOUBLE QUOTE character)
- "_" (UNDERSCORE character)
- "$" (DOLLAR SIGN or CURRENCY symbol)
- "%" (PERCENT SIGN character)
Lower-case characters are considered to be the same as upper-case characters, when occurring outside of string
parameters. Any combination of lower-case and upper-case characters may be used within an element or
enumerated parameter name.
The UNDERSCORE and DOLLAR SIGN symbols are defined as “null characters” within this encoding. They may
appear anywhere within the metafile, and are mandated to have no effect on parsing (outside of string parameters).
They are available for the generator or editor of the metafile to use in enhancing readability of tokens.
EXAMPLE:
The following are all equivalent:
linetype, LINETYPE, LineType, line_type, $LINETYPE, L_I_N_E$T_Y_P_E;
similarly, the following are all equivalent:
123456, $123456, 123_456, $123_456, $12$34$56.
Those control characters that are format effectors (BACKSPACE, CARRIAGE RETURN, LINEFEED, NEWLINE,
HORIZONTAL TAB, VERTICAL TAB, and FORMFEED) are permitted in the metafile, but are treated as SPACE
characters (that is, as soft delimiters) by the metafile interpreter whenever they occur outside of string parameters.
They may be used to assist in formatting the metafile to improve its readability. The effect of such format effectors
within string parameters is as defined in ISO/IEC 8632-1.
A metafile written in the Clear Text Encoding is considered to be non-conforming if it includes characters other than
those listed in the repertoire and the format effectors (outside of string parameters). Implementation-dependent
extensions which require use of characters other than the above should be embedded in the string parameters of
the ESCAPE, MESSAGE, or APPLICATION DATA elements, or in comments.
The code set of the characters is not fixed by this part of ISO/IEC 8632. In order to accomplish the objective of
editability, it is permitted to encode the Clear Text Encoding using the character set codes native to the system. It is
presumed that standard conversion facilities can be used in translating Clear Text CGM files from one system’s
character set codes to another, consistent with the treatment of other text files being transferred between systems.
It is recommended that the ISO/IEC 646 codes be used to encode Clear Text metafiles for transport between
diverse systems.
Null characters or format effectors outside of text strings which do not exist in the target system’s encoding may be
dropped in such translation, and lower-case letters translated to upper case as necessary, without altering the
information content of the metafile. Likewise, the two statement delimiter characters are interchangeable and may
be changed in such a translation without affecting the information content of the metafile. The two string delimiter
characters are interchangeable, but any translation shall correctly handle the possible occurrence of either string
delimiter character within the string parameter.
6.2 Separators
6.2.1 Element separators
::=
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
The SEMICOLON and SLASH characters may be used interchangeably to delimit elements in a Clear Text
metafile. These elements do not, however, terminate an element when they occur within a string parameter, as
described below.
The elements of the metafile are not terminated by the ends of records, as indicated by control characters such as
CR (carriage return) or LF (linefeed). Multiple elements may exist on one line, and any element may extend over
multiple lines.
6.2.2 Parameter separators
The following productions are used in the Clear Text Encoding for parameter separators:
::= | HORIZONTAL TAB | VERTICAL TAB | FORMFEED>
::= +
::= *
::=
::= |
Most commands require a SOFTSEP after the element name (e.g., at least one space). This permits element
names to be formed from a mixture of alpha and numeric characters.
The separator between parameters is usually a SEP. This format permits omission of parameters. (Two
consecutive COMMAs indicate an omitted parameter.)
Since the enclosing APOSTROPHE or DOUBLE QUOTE character sufficiently delineates string parameters, and
the statement delimiter SLASH also sets off the data on either side of it, the separators between these characters
and adjacent parameters or element names are optional (OPTSEP).
SEPCHAR characters are not permitted within a name (element or enumerated type), or within the representation
of a numeric parameter. Any place where a SEPCHAR is permitted (other than inside a string parameter), an
arbitrary number of SEPCHARs may be used.
6.2.3 Comments in the metafile
Comments may be included in a Clear Text metafile, to enhance its readability and usefulness. Some uses of
comments might be to document hand-edited changes to the metafile, or as “notes to one’s self” made while
reading a metafile. To include other forms of nongraphical information in the metafile, it is suggested that the
APPLICATION DATA element be used. If it is desired to convert a Clear Text metafile to one of the other
encodings, comments may be either dropped or converted to APPLICATION DATA elements.
Comments are encoded as a series of printing characters and s surrounded by “%” (PERCENT
SIGN) characters. The text of the comment may not include this comment delimiter character.
Comments may be included any place that a separator may be used, and are equivalent to a ; they
may be replaced by a SPACE character in parsing, without affecting the meaning of the metafile.
6.3 Encoding of parameter types
6.3.1 Integer-bound types
Integers, integer coordinates, indexes, names, and the components of direct colour parameters are all bound to
signed integers, indicated in the encoding as I.
The data types UI8 and UI32 of ISO/IEC 8632-1 are bound to non-negative values of signed integers, also
indicated in this encoding as I.
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ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999(E)
::= |
::= o +
::= |
::= o +
::= 2| 3| 4| 5 | 6| 7| 8 | 9| 10| 11| 12| 13 | 14| 15| 16
::= 0| 1| 2| 3 | 4| 5| 6 | 7| 8| 9
::= | A| B | C| D| E| F | a| b| c| d| e| f
The null characters are permitted within numbers, but are not shown in the productions for simplicity.
A decimal integer has an optional sign and at least one digit. If the sign appears, it imme
...